tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-829168697372726752.post8293430961674093059..comments2024-02-10T03:45:25.354-05:00Comments on Blogalicious: Meanness in PoetryDiane Lockwardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07614479152159652577noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-829168697372726752.post-91073753408802060452007-08-07T11:20:00.000-04:002007-08-07T11:20:00.000-04:00I think poetry suffers when the effort is to be ni...I think poetry suffers when the effort is to be nice for the sake of being nice. When it comes into the poem out of a fear of being perceived as not nice. I like to be uplifted, but I don't like to be forced to be uplifted. Jane Kenyon comes to mind as a poet who does both, ie, faces the darkness and still finds something positive (without forciing the latter).Diane Lockwardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07614479152159652577noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-829168697372726752.post-86616043657412692262007-08-06T21:05:00.000-04:002007-08-06T21:05:00.000-04:00Do you really think poetry suffers from nice-ism? ...Do you really think poetry suffers from nice-ism? I think it's just that too many versifiers think meanness in itself is craft, so that on average there are more well-crafted niceys floating around.<BR/><BR/>And I think the argument about "My Husband..." was a bit off the mark - I think inexperienced poetry readers are sometimes so afraid of emotional power that they avoid it with labels like "too mean" or "too dark" (the "amateur" error of assuming fact in narration also suggests a somewhat shallow experience with the art).David Vincentihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10572861860566117361noreply@blogger.com