Quote:
Originally Posted by W.F. Lantry
Now, before we actually get to the point, we should give these people their due. They are actually willing to make an aesthetic statement, to take a position. If we were to ask each other "what are your poetics?" how many of us would have a ready answer? Think about it. Take just a minute now, and describe your aesthetics. What do you write, why do you write it, what does it do, what's the goal? I dare you (not you in particular, Rose, everybody.) Even just fifty words. Less than this paragraph. Heck, use a hundred, if you need them. And if you're reluctant to do that in public, check Inferno, Canto III, lines 30-51...  |
I know that you think aesthetic statements are very important, Bill, perhaps essential. If having one and being willing to say it out loud is a star you steer by, that’s fine with me: after all, you’ve written some amazing poetry. Although I’m uncomfortable using a term like that, I personally happen to have strong feelings about what I do and why I do it; so however blinkered or primitive it might sound, and however embarrassed I’d be to do so, I suppose I could make an aesthetic statement.
I don’t, though, because my personal feeling is that they don’t matter. I don’t read statements, I read poetry. If a poem is beautiful, I don’t care if it was typed by a million monkeys taking a holiday from writing Shakespeare. On the other hand, if a poem is terrible, why should I care about the poet’s aesthetics, any more than I would care about the stitching technique used in making the Emperor’s new clothes?
Honestly, I’m not even sure what sandbox we’re talking about. Is it the sandbox of Art, which is vast indeed, or the sandbox of Posing at Being an Artist, that arid wasteland where no birds sing? Has Goldsmith written a single good poem? That’s really how I’ll judge him at the end of the day: poet, or poser.
So: has Goldsmith written good poetry? If so, send in the clowns; I'll go along with the joke. If not, there’s always the 3rd Canto.
Best,
Ed