Fascinating subject Clive. In every poem I look for an answering of the questions put forth by the reasoning faculties, and then for a series of sensual images that prove that that poem has demonstrated that the answers to those questions can be proven by empirical evidence.
E.g. The Divine Comedy, as well Robert Frost's poems, not to mention others, put forth a world described in the poem that clearly follows a certain logic. Dante's Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven followed what are called the theological sciences and Frost, who I quote readily because I have read him but will not feign an intimacy which our beloved formal poets here have, puts for a morality that is quite embodies the "Common Sense" of New England, that Common Sense philosophy that drove patriots to oust the English from the Colonies and establish republican government.
Dante is enduring and Frost will prove enduring because they appeal to Reason, which is possibly the noblest human virtue, according to myself and Aristotle, Aquinas, Avicenna, et al. Then the world of ideas in Dante and Frost is put into flesh and blood, in the case of Dante with the descriptions of the deeds of suffering sinners and with Frost the simple choices one has to make in life, whether to trod down the beaten path or the unbeaten one.
It would be curious to find out what the Formalists here think of Lord Byron.
I admit your post Clive, while intellectually sound, suffers a bit from tedium. Since I pride myself on my prose, I could add some pointers. Hey, I have to show confidence in some form of writing if I want to keep my dignity as a Spherean.
Alvaro
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