I never thought Sally Cook was confusing Whitman with Williams, but just thought that she was using both as exemplars of free verse. She was attacking free verse by attacking them. But whatever one's personal tastes (and I uphold everyone's right to having personal tastes in poetry), making the equation of free verse=bad, formal verse=good is oversimplifying. Furthermore, switching to "wit and humor" as being synonymous with formal verse is ridiculous. That is a whole different issue. Has she never read Billy Collins or Tony Hoagland, both of whom are witty and humorous in free verse? How about Ogden Nash, who may rhyme but who is often very far from metrical?
Susan
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