Dickinson, Yeats, Keats? Donne and Herbert did pretty well for themselves. Whitman. Look outside of English. Pessoa, Baudelaire, Reverdy, lots of good stuff is coming from Eastern Europe, Africa, Latin America. The question is bigger than poetry though. How long will written art be considered vital? Look what television and movies have done to drama.
There are many writers of the last five hundred years who will be remembered as long as any writers are remembered. I’d suggest worrying about your own writing if you are truly moved to write, as others have said.
|