Quote:
Originally posted by Mark Allinson:
[b]Now there is a truly puzzling statement, David.
Can you explain why you feel it is "gauche" to compare ancient and modern poetry?
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I simply meant that I venerate the poetry of the ancient masters to such a degree that it seems gauche to drag their stuff out and compare it to modern poets. There seems something semi-religious about the writings of the Chinese and Japanese masters--and a lot of them wrote from an inspiration in Zen Buddhism or Taoism. So I say it seems cheeky and inappropriate to take these delicate, contemplative poems and force them into harsh light as material witnesses against Pound's poems or anyone else's. They don't belong in a poetic line-up.
That was mainly what I meant.