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Originally Posted by Elise Hempel
What I don't understand, then, is why I've seen poets get scolded ...
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Um, maybe we number a few scolds among us? Just like every human community?
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Elise Hempel
"My main question is why post a poem at all?"
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Well, I can't speak for others, but I can discuss my own motivations. They're really three-fold: to see, to learn, and to discuss.
First, we never really see things until we see them through the eyes of others. This is invaluable to me, and I use those ways of seeing in subsequent poems.
Second, it really does help to learn the responses of others. Even if those responses necessarily say more about the critiquers themselves than the poem, they're still immensely valuable. And even if those lessons may not help the poem in question, they still inform one's practice in the next poem. I'm deeply indebted to everyone here, not because someone told me to cut a stanza here or a line there, but because their critiques are my teachers.
Third, the discussions of aesthetics are what interest me the most, but it seems those discussions best take place when there's some object to be worked on, something to be directly treated, as a physician works directly on a patient. The discussion and commiseration back and forth between doctors is valuable. And poets themselves are extremely reticent. I often compare them to woodworkers in this: few will talk to you about theory of woodworking. They'd find such talk useless. But you can pick up an awful lot of theory and ideas if you listen closely while they're working over a newly crafted cabinet.
Best,
Bill