Muddle

Semester Two is on now.
There is a huge list of books to read so, naturally, I'm not reading anything.
I'm in the middle of a couple of books and writing a few poems.
Just want to share this lovely quote on poetry from Stephen Fry's book on poetry.
Fry quotes Jan Schreiber:

"The writing of poetry has been made laughably easy. There are no technical constraints. Knowledge of the tradition is not necessary, nor is a desire to communicate, this having been supplanted in many practitioners by the more urgent desire to express themselves. Even sophistication in the manipulation of syntax is not sought. Poetry, it seems, need no longer be at least as well written as prose."

How true is that? Its why I revert to the canon. Because there are too many people who say with great ease that they write poetry (I might be one among them) and produce mulch.
This makes me, personally, hunger for the discipline. Its not about expressing oneself. That's what Dr. James Stewart says ( one of our Professors whom I revere). Art is impersonal. Or else I ought to return to the indulgent confines of my personal diary.


Fry goes on to say that he finds writing without form "fantastically difficult." Why? He quotes W.H. Auden:

"The poet who writes free verse is like Robinson Crusoe on his desert island: he must do all his cooking, laundry and darning for himself. In a few exceptional cases, this manly independence produces something original and impressive, but more often the result is squalor - dirty sheets on the unmade bed and empty bottles on the unswept floor."

So true.
I personally feel a real lack in "communication" as I read contemporary poetry. As if by speaking clearly we would muddle our meanings.

Alright, must go and sip from my cup of Tesco "anti cold and flu" brew.