If popularity were the goal we would be writing more like Billy Collins. There is a difference, in my opinion, between wanting one's poetry to have an effect on someone - the ideal reader, if you will - and wanting to be popular.
There are instances of art that have become canon infuriating large portions of their first audiences - Stravinsky's Rite of Spring is a famous example - or meeting with incomprehension. Van Gogh was not appreciated in his lifetime. Neither was Emily Dickinson.
Some contemporary artists put forth pieces that are intended merely to shock or infuriate the audience - which I think is cheap. On the other hand, I think we have to be willing to be true to our own vision even if it frustrates or alienates our audience at times. There is the ideal reader and there are the readers one actually has.
|