tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3759353.post5716724342909725763..comments2023-08-29T02:42:23.063-05:00Comments on ¡Bemsha SWING!: Jonathanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09371893596402673898noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3759353.post-33967566262847757752008-10-31T12:29:00.000-05:002008-10-31T12:29:00.000-05:00As I say, we all have different definitions. I su...As I say, we all have different definitions. I suppose it behooves us, for the sake of intellectual clarity, to try to authorize some authorized notion of what poetry is... & maybe I'm just being contrarian, as usual...<BR/><BR/>- but in my view, a prose poem is more accurately defined as "poetic prose". And poetry is quite distinct from prose of all kinds. What is the substance of this basic distinction? It's that (1) poetry is measured, and (2) in poetry, this measure is emphasized - accented - ie., "measurable". (By this I distinguish it from rhythmic prose, even though such prose may be highly ornate in terms of rhythm.)Henry Gouldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06763188178644726622noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3759353.post-46713625277146382008-10-31T12:02:00.000-05:002008-10-31T12:02:00.000-05:00Silliman's prose is closer to poetry than to the k...Silliman's prose is closer to poetry than to the kind of "prose" that might usefully be opposed to "poetry." The prose poem is more than 100 years old as a genre in European languages. I don't see poetry as a genre, but as a mode of discourse that can take multiple forms: oral, written, versified, etc...Jonathanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09371893596402673898noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3759353.post-23209496184963627002008-10-31T11:33:00.000-05:002008-10-31T11:33:00.000-05:00Silliman is a good writer. His sentences, and the...Silliman is a good writer. His sentences, and their juxtapositions, have a certain bite and humor.<BR/><BR/>We all have different definitions of poetry. In my book, what Ron is doing here is prose, not poetry.<BR/><BR/>I am somewhat opposed to the "big tent", inclusive notion of what defines poetry. In my book, poetry is, in a certain sense, NOT writing.<BR/><BR/>Poetry is writing's flight from itself. Poetry is a poet's attempt to sing or play-act rhythmically, to dramatize eloquently, using recalcitrant, minimalist materials (words).<BR/><BR/>Some might say this last paragraph is actually a characterization of what Ron is doing. I disagree. Poetry is a kind of flight from prose. Poetry is against prose.Henry Gouldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06763188178644726622noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3759353.post-32341698527831870522008-10-31T10:57:00.000-05:002008-10-31T10:57:00.000-05:00Thanks, but my point was that -- quoting or paraph...Thanks, but my point was that -- quoting or paraphrasing -- the "necessarily" was an essential part of what I was saying. Your paraphrase oversimplified for rhetorical effect.Joseph Duemerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07650314132179290321noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3759353.post-79065256563502963842008-10-31T09:21:00.000-05:002008-10-31T09:21:00.000-05:00Parataxis-without-end is crazy-making, then relaxi...Parataxis-without-end is crazy-making, then relaxing, then crazy-making again.<BR/><BR/>Happy Halloween!Jordanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10451174274596699645noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3759353.post-54708284470477210272008-10-31T08:49:00.000-05:002008-10-31T08:49:00.000-05:00I was paraphrasing not quoting, but I will put tha...I was paraphrasing not quoting, but I will put that necessarily in right now.Jonathanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09371893596402673898noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3759353.post-12385292260787258192008-10-31T08:45:00.000-05:002008-10-31T08:45:00.000-05:00Jonathan, you misquoted me. There was an essential...Jonathan, you misquoted me. There was an essential "necessarily" in my comment. For the record, I think Silliman is much more right about poetry than Gioia. That "necessarily" was meant to imply, by the way, that I wasn't drawing circles of exclusion. Perhaps too much work for one poor little word to do.Joseph Duemerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07650314132179290321noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3759353.post-39515187440596464242008-10-30T23:18:00.000-05:002008-10-30T23:18:00.000-05:00Thanks for the kind words,RonThanks for the kind words,<BR/><BR/>RonRonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09250950725876683923noreply@blogger.com