Jayne, I can't speak for the other guys, but when I crit a supposedly humorous poem as "trivial" or "meaningless", it isn't because it's "light" - it's because it's not very good. There is a difference between somewhat indiscriminately championing anything that passes itself off as "light", and being as demanding when critting light verse as when discussing love sonnets or metaphysical ruminations.
I also have to admit that this entire thing has me a bit snarky. David Anthony is a good guy and a friend - and I apologize to David in advance for using his poem as an example - but he has just posted a "light" poem on Metrical that I assume was prompted by this thread. I would give it about a C+ for humor and originality, if we were passing out grades, but (except for me) the reaction was extraordinarily positive. If you think that was a "brilliant" poem, Jayne, and if that tired, tired "my pocket conceals a big pen" line had you in hysterics, I believe we inhabit different planets. (I also believe that it's permissible to "crit the critter" on a Discussion thread - otherwise we would not have much of a discussion.)
What gets
my goat is not automatically criticizing light verse because it's not ponderous, but what I think is frequently more common on the Sphere - using "it's light verse" as an excuse for bad poetry. There is a great deal of second-rate work posted here and elsewhere (and frequently in
Light Quarterly) as "light verse", and a disturbing incllnation on the part of many to applaud it because, after all, it's "light".
It is at least as difficult to write
good light verse as it is to write good "serious" verse. If it's mockery you're after it has to be fresh and effective, and apparent-without-being-too-apparent; word play should be unique; imagery vivid; and the overall theme challenging and unusual - not warmed-over sitcom treacle. And politically-oriented or "serious" light verse has to be pointed and hopefully scathing, but avoid preachiness. It's not easy. And
I agree with what Sean said about focusing on good verse and bad verse, and with what Susan said:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Susan McLean
Anyone who tries writing it quickly learns that there are fewer things harder than managing to be funny. I think to a lot of people "light verse" denotes verse that is not serious, but most good light verse I know manages to make many serious points and make them more effectively than serious poetry often does. My favorite light verse is often very dark indeed, addressing losses with a bravado that can be heartbreaking or satirizing injustice intelligently and fearlessly. Even when light verse does nothing but make me laugh, it is doing something that I welcome and long for... in the hands of the best writers it is a scalpel.
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In short, I don't think the real problem on the Sphere is that we are denigrating light verse because it is "light" or humorous. I think the major problem is that far too frequently bad poetry is getting a free pass here because once it is regarded as "light", too many crits are undemanding.