Well, Chris, people were taking various positions in the thread:
1. that "alas" is cringeworthy when it's used without irony in a modern poem;
2. that it's common in older people's speech but not in younger people's;
3. that it's OK as a connector with adverbial force but not as a standalone interjection;
4. that it's more acceptable in speech than in print;
5. that when it is used it's usually used with self-consciously archaic intent;
and so on.
I mostly wanted to address points 4 and 5 by showing that "alas" is common in print, and not primarily in satirical or self-consciously archaic contexts. To that end, I posted one quote from a contemporary poem and several from contemporary prose. It seemed relevant to the discussion as it had developed to that point.
But even with regard to modern poetry, I think the evidence suggests that "alas" has plenty of life in it yet. You could argue that Richard Wilbur gets a pass because he's a holdover from an earlier generation. But given that we have several posters' testimony for the currency of "alas" in speech, and we have plenty of evidence for its currency in prose, what basis do we have for saying it's not acceptable in poetry?
I'm not saying that it would fit easily in every poet's lexicon, nor that it is still used (and usable) in all the same contexts where it was used (and usable) in centuries past. But surely it isn't entirely out of place in today's poetry. And I don't think we can say it works only in explicitly comical or parodic contexts.
yours,
Peter
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