I just posted something about this on my
blog and facebook, wondering how to talk about such a poem for the general reader in newspaper articles, on the internet, etc. I'm about to do some articles and feeling a little unsure.
Some say they have no trouble with "epic." Some say it might put people off, as might "novel in verse." "Saga" is mentioned.
The most recent comment from a poet is pretty interesting:
Quote:
The trouble is that the Thaliad really *is* an epic, whereas no other modern poem I can think of that gets called an epic is anything like one. So what a modern poetry reader expects of an "epic" is "a hideously overgrown, knotted-up lyric poem with pretensions to philosophy, full of learned abstruse allusions that will make you feel stupid. (v. Ezra Pound, Cantos of.)"
I wonder if a "story-poem" might find more readers?
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Is "story-poem" appealing in a way that "epic" is not? Saga? Tale in verse? Is he right? Does it all matter?
If anybody wanders back to this thread and has thoughts or advice, I'd love to hear, as I have not made up my mind on the whole issue, and it's time to get out some promised articles.