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The Wasteland Of Poetry

Jul 16, 2013
by Caroline Miller
"Poetry Slam", Harper's, Mark Edmundson
2 Comments

A year ago, my blog contained a complaint about a poem in Harper’s that struck me as too inscrutable to mean anything to anyone except its author who, incidentally, won a Nobel prize for his art. Recently, a reader replied to that blog, offering his understanding of the piece. The interpretation was plausible, but I replied with another interpretation just as plausible — my point being that when a poem means everything to everyone, it means nothing.

 I felt like a curmudgeon as I wrote. But I take umbrage with poetry that coils in upon itself like a nautilus seashell. I want reflection that dazzles and reveals. When meaning becomes too abstruse or images too private, the link between the artist and his or her audience is broken. A parasite invades, known as “the critic.”

 In my view, art shouldn’t need an intermediary and frankly, those who claim expertise can be as deaf, dumb and blind as the rest of us.

 Imagine my joy when I recently discovered I am not alone in my peevishness. Mark Edmundson, who teaches English at the University of Virginia, likewise complains that, “our poets now speak a deeply internal language.” (“Poetry Slam,” Harper’s July 2012 pg. 62.) To him, It would almost seem as if the goal is to become culturally irrelevant.

 …at a time when collective issues –communal issues, political issues – are pressing, our poets have become ever more private, idiosyncratic and withdrawn. .. too hermetic even to overhear with anything like comprehension. (Ibid, pg. 62.)

 Here! Here! Mark Edmundson. Welcome to the wasteland.

nautilus seashell

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Courtesy of www.innermichael.com)

 

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2 Comments
  1. MaryBethKelly July 16, 2013 at 11:27 am Reply
    Your point is well made. Yes, much poetry does not hold my reading through the whole poem.
    • Caroline Miller July 16, 2013 at 11:40 am Reply
      I confess, the fault may be mine, MaryBeth, but I'm glad to read you sometimes have a similar reaction. Now we are 3.

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Contact Caroline at

carolinemiller11@yahoo.com

Portland, Oregon author Caroline Miller had distinguished careers as an educator, union president, elected official and artist/advocate.

Her play, Woman on the Scarlet Beast, was performed at the Post5 Theatre, Portland, OR, January/February 2015

Caroline published a serialized novelette, Marie Eau-Claire, on the website, The Colored Lens.  She also published the story Gustav Pavel,  a parable about ordinary lives, choice and alternate potential, on the website Fixional.co.

Caroline has published four novels

  • Ballet Noir
  • Trompe l’Oeil
  • Gothic Spring
  • Heart Land

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