What is American poetry? What is UK poetry?
 

I've been reading a 1954 essay by Marius Bewley titled "Some Aspects of Modern American Poetry". It first appeared in "The Complex Fate" (Chatto and Windus Ltd.) though I'm reading it in Modern Poetry: Essays in Criticism, editor John Hollander.

Go West Young Man

—James Laughlin

Yessir they're all named
either Ken or Stan or Don
every one of them and

those aren't just nick-
names either no they're
really christened like

that just Ken or Stan or
Don and you shake hands
with anybody you run into

no matter who the hell
it is and say "glad to
know you Ken glad to

know you Don" and then
two minutes later (you
may not have said ten

words to the guy) you
shake hands again and
say "glad to have met

you Stan glad to" and
they haven't heard much
about Marx and the class

struggle because they
haven't had to and by
god it makes a country

that is fit to live in
and by god I'm glad to
know you Don I'm glad!

Fifty years ago this poem was considered a good representative of American poetry. In my opinion it firmly holds its own "as a poem" even today, though it did make my mind go whizzing in two directions at once: weirdly, one part raced to the Tea Party and Congressional shutdowns, and another part plonked down in conceptual poetry http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poet...ne/poem/237062 .

Marius Bewley had this to say about American poetry of fifty years ago:

"What the vast horde of American poets mean by American experience is, of course, something that cannot safely be generalized about for more than one poet at a time, but all the poets have this—and perhaps only this—in common: each is aware that his own experience is American, and the sense of it gives him confidence and a feeling that what he has to say is important . (…) Like a great deal of American writing, it is pure and emphatic assertion. Whether it has logic or not, it has a good deal of will in its make-up, and one is really surprised at the strength of the conviction behind it."


How would you characterize contemporary American poetry? And since Marius Bewly is—or so I believe—an Englishman, what characterizes contemporary poetry in the UK?

What characterizes a lot of contemporary poetry in the UK is a sort of snivelling pc boringness. How lucky they are that Wendy, Ann and me are around to improve matters. Oldies rule!

And the great James Fenton of course.

And any English person on Eratosphere of course. Plus other people who win Speccie competitions.

Ah, John, Rose Kelleher agrees with you, here.

I wonder...
Shall I get in before my Word Nerd Police boss, Janice, to point out that "Wendy, Ann and me" should be ''Wendy, Ann and I'' in this instance? Aside from that, I agree with what you said, John.

... And Rose's piece is hilarious, Julie :)

Jayne

American, that's a big word. In Valpairaso they write poems on the rocks, in white paint, maybe in honour of Neruda, I know little Spanish so can't say what they said. When I saw them I was a little scandalized as I thought it spoilt the natural scene, but I like the idea of poetry reaching the street, like graffitti art. I'd do that if I wasn't old and lazy, put poetry in places where it surprises people.

As for the USA, I think poetry is in great shape, it's online, that makes it wonderful for me as I can access so much. It's free so you'd better have two careers and it speaks of a culture that despite its problems still innovates and leads, with occasional stumbles.
And of course Canada has Leonard Cohen. And a few Erato girls who shall remain nameless.

Slightly off topic, but did you catch this one?

http://laphamsquarterly.org/arts-let...raphs/day-jobs

http://laphamsquarterly.org/sites/de...2_day_jobs.png

Apropos Bill's post, I'd add that EA Robinson worked in the US Customs office. It came about because Kermit Roosevelt, Teddy's son, was a fan of his poetry, and recommended it to his father, who was also quite taken with it. When he learned that Robinson was in financial difficulties, he set him up in a government job that paid pretty well for the times, and let him know that he didn't expect him to do customs work at all but to spend his time writing more poetry. There's an American story!

Bill, those adjusted salaries are FAR TOO LOW. Charlotte Bronte would have died of starvation at that rate and Eliot was very well paid, thank you very much. The best guy is Wallace Stevens of course. He had shedloads of money. And don't forget our James Fenton who is a millionaire. How? I'll tell you if you want to know.

Me. I'm poor as a church mouse. Or so I tell the Revenue and Customs. I haven't paid tax for years. Thank you, Gordon Brown.

As for me - Me and my shadow, walking down the avenue.

John,

See here for some discussion of Governess salaries at the time: https://janeaustensworld.wordpress.c...f-jane-austen/

Can't have been fun. Merrill, of course, was absolutely loaded, and by the early 20's, Yeats was essentially a church mouse. But I wonder: who was the richest historical English poet?

The story is that when Faulkner sold his first novel he quit his post office job, proclaiming that, "I will no longer be at the beck and call of every son-of-a-bitch with three cents for a postage stamp."