Jerry, I think it matters here because the poet wants to make a determination that other poets will agree with. Because we analyze meter carefully, it's the first thing we'll criticize on the met boards.
When Bob Bolick posted a nonmet piece in Deep End by accident, the mistake was clear very soon. When it's not an accident--if, for example, I decide on purpose to write something that's extremely bumpy and put it on a met board--I'd better prepare myself to hear criticism. If I know very well that the meter's bumpy and wish that commenters would focus on other things, posting at nonmet is a big temptation.
I was reading in the collected works of Merrill last night and finding some pieces that made me smile, thinking how their meter might be carved around here.
Maryann
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