tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3759353.post6227562580637852935..comments2023-08-29T02:42:23.063-05:00Comments on ¡Bemsha SWING!: Gnosticism: Bloom and DuncanJonathanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09371893596402673898noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3759353.post-15446802080522924692011-06-16T23:38:15.290-05:002011-06-16T23:38:15.290-05:00Does any contemporary writer resemble Blake?
I l...Does any contemporary writer resemble Blake? <br /><br />I like Ginsberg -- sometimes a lot -- but his claiming of Blake's mantle always embarrasses me. He claimed status as a visionary poet because he heard Blake's voice one afternoon. Uh, OK. What did Blake say to you? Anything . . . visionary?<br /><br />Interesting question about what constitutes contemporaneity. I was born about a year before Frank O'Hara died; one of my favorite poets. Are we contemporaries? Bloom was born a year or two before Crane died. My understanding is that Bloom considered Crane a contemporary; and when I started studying poetry seriously, about 1982, O'Hara felt like one to me.<br /><br />That said, I agree, Vance. Since Crane, Bloom's choices have been of a particular team, and it's interesting that the most vatic poets -- the point of Jonathan's post! -- like Olson and Duncan -- haven't interested Bloom.Johnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07000424514491809383noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3759353.post-7504194551154261322011-06-15T18:37:04.030-05:002011-06-15T18:37:04.030-05:00Yeah, "academic" isn't the right lit...Yeah, "academic" isn't the right litmus test. But it's a gesture in the right direction, expressing a sense (which I share) that Bloom has been interested in a particular team or faction of contemporary poets. (We classify the classics by different affinities. None of Bloom's contemporary canon resembles Blake, for instance, though they probably all admire him.)Vance Maverickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07477306994564623348noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3759353.post-62370976257801637892011-06-15T13:34:42.113-05:002011-06-15T13:34:42.113-05:00Of course, The Bridge -- yes, he headed east!
But...Of course, The Bridge -- yes, he headed east!<br /><br />But -- Crane was not academic; neither was Whitman, nor Dickinson, nor Stevens, all of whom Bloom champions.Johnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07000424514491809383noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3759353.post-53254955532638117512011-06-15T11:43:01.640-05:002011-06-15T11:43:01.640-05:00From Ohio, but identified with New York -- his big...From Ohio, but identified with New York -- his big piece is <i>The Bridge</i>.Vance Maverickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07477306994564623348noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3759353.post-58024545463926328342011-06-14T18:21:31.161-05:002011-06-14T18:21:31.161-05:00Hart Crane. From Ohio. Not historically considered...Hart Crane. From Ohio. Not historically considered "Eastern." Though, if I remember right, Crane headed East in adulthood.Johnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07000424514491809383noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3759353.post-37635325025182614822011-06-14T16:14:57.969-05:002011-06-14T16:14:57.969-05:00You'll notice that I called Bloom "East-...You'll notice that I called Bloom "East-Coast" but the poets he championed only "Eastern." Not to be too nit-picky here, but since your objection to my phrasing was nitpicking, it is only fair to point that out. And what West Coasters or midwesterners are part of Bloom's canon? I cannot think of one. It was all Bishop, Ashbery, Ammons, Emerson. If Nevada is the West than the finger-lakes regions certainly qualifies as the East.Jonathanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09371893596402673898noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3759353.post-63519403009502547772011-06-14T14:32:42.956-05:002011-06-14T14:32:42.956-05:00How does Ammons—born and raised in rural North Car...How does Ammons—born and raised in rural North Carolina and engaged in teaching most of his adult life in Ithaca (upstate/western NY, closer to Toronto than NYC)—qualify as "east coast"?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3759353.post-70757774726448009782011-06-13T22:37:58.713-05:002011-06-13T22:37:58.713-05:00Bloom was deeply afflicted with the anxiety of inf...Bloom was deeply afflicted with the anxiety of influence. You can find a number of his riffs in poets he dismisses or ignores, including Duncan on "strength" ("strong sentences"), and also Oppen on Orpheus, and Eshleman on the brutal battle with the precursor (in his case, Vallejo).Johnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07000424514491809383noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3759353.post-20108212716080232872011-06-13T21:25:44.883-05:002011-06-13T21:25:44.883-05:00Yes, with Yeats for example. But you're right...Yes, with Yeats for example. But you're right that it's mostly solitary.Jonathanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09371893596402673898noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3759353.post-62274323255010900312011-06-13T21:13:03.972-05:002011-06-13T21:13:03.972-05:00Did Bloom ever approve of, or express interest in,...Did Bloom ever approve of, or express interest in, anyone else's take on Gnosticism? I admit I haven't read much Bloom, but my impression was that his Gnosticism was a solitary pursuit.Vance Maverickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07477306994564623348noreply@blogger.com