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  #21  
Unread 03-04-2016, 07:30 PM
Roger Slater Roger Slater is online now
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Gregory Dowling View Post
I find it a tremendously moving poem, one of Frost's finest narratives.
.
I agree completely. In fact, I had just assumed that just about everyone here took that verdict for granted. And now I find that my enthusiasm for "Hired Man" and my enthusiasm for Dr. Seuss (as discussed in a separate thread) are not as universal as I had imagined.
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  #22  
Unread 03-04-2016, 09:22 PM
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W.F. Lantry W.F. Lantry is offline
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Originally Posted by Roger Slater View Post
In fact, I had just assumed that just about everyone here took that verdict for granted.
Once again I find myself writing the minority report. The subject comes up frequently offsite. "Wonderful poem," someone says. "What makes you say that?" I ask. "He's brilliant," someone else says. "Because?" I return. And the answer is often, "Because he writes wonderful poems."

And the whole circular thing continues, but no-one ever explains what constitutes "Wonderful," or the elements of brilliance. Now, I know, I'm fairly ignorant, and really dense. All I ever hope for is an argument that doesn't assume its conclusion. Alas!

There must be something more to Frost than cultural adhesion, early exposure and immediate availability. So many people think well of his work. Perhaps I just have a blind spot?

Best,

Bill
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  #23  
Unread 03-04-2016, 11:08 PM
ross hamilton hill ross hamilton hill is offline
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Bill
I think I could convice you in a line by line analysis that Frost is a fine lyric poet.
Maybe only a few 'great' poems but what poet writes more than a few.
I'm sure someone here could also analyse 'Death of..." and explain its virtues. But it's not my cup of tea.
Had I come to it 40 years ago I may have loved it.
Now I'd rather watch an episode of Breaking Bad than read the Illiad.
Woops, I'm writing in rhyme again.
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  #24  
Unread 03-05-2016, 09:20 AM
Gregory Dowling Gregory Dowling is offline
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Yes, Bill, I think it must be a blind spot. For me there's no doubt Frost is one of the greatest poets of the last century. And there is plenty of very good criticism that could help you to see it. Just to list a few major poets who have written appreciatively and convincingly on him: Auden, Randall Jarrell, Hecht, Wilbur, Heaney, Brodsky, Walcott (you can get all of these last three Nobel laureates on him in one handy volume, Homage to Robert Frost), Elizabeth Jennings, David Mason, Tim Steele (a brilliant essay on his metre and versification).

A book I often recommend to my students because it is clearly written, perceptive and extremely handy (it contains the texts of all the poems he criticises) is the fairly recent The Art of Robert Frost by Tim Kendall.

And another great book is The Art of Knowing by Richard Poirier.
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  #25  
Unread 03-05-2016, 01:07 PM
ross hamilton hill ross hamilton hill is offline
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one of the greatest poets of the last century.

But how big is that group, 10, 100, 1,000, 10,000.

Wislawa Szymborska, a gentle and reclusive Polish poet who won the 1996 Nobel Prize in Literature, died on Wednesday in Krakow, Poland. She was 88.

Is she on the list?
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  #26  
Unread 03-05-2016, 02:09 PM
Gregory Dowling Gregory Dowling is offline
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Ross, I would never presume to pronounce on the greatness of a poet who writes in a language I don't know. Perhaps I should have limited myself to saying "one of the greatest English-language poets of the last century". I think of all those French and Russians who thought Poe was a great poet...
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  #27  
Unread 03-05-2016, 05:09 PM
ross hamilton hill ross hamilton hill is offline
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Gregory I popped in to delete that post, I was being argumentative.
I have caught the arguing bug from the Primaries thread.
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  #28  
Unread 03-05-2016, 05:45 PM
Gregory Dowling Gregory Dowling is offline
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No reason to delete it, Ross. It was a fair enough question after I'd made such a sweeping statement.
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  #29  
Unread 03-05-2016, 07:08 PM
ross hamilton hill ross hamilton hill is offline
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Alan Bates reading the 'The Road Not Taken'

https://youtu.be/ZzUm0wqhE7E
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  #30  
Unread 03-05-2016, 07:42 PM
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Michael F Michael F is offline
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I repeat myself, but I would put Frost and Szymborska (in translation) in my top 20 list of 20th century poets that I have read. Maybe both in my top 10.
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