Yes, Maz, it is dangerous to disagree here at the Able Muse. You can say that as many times as you like and I'll agree with you
I mean absolutely no ill will towards this poet or to our gracious Lariat who definitely is much more experienced than most of us here in terms of digressing on why a poem works or not. I wish I knew what she did, not just about poetry but about the life of a well known poet.
One that I enjoy reading now that I know her name. I am often out of the loop over here in the Middle East, noting that for eleven years I lived in a police state that forbid most modern works of poesy. I doubt though that Rhina's would have been banned, it is just that there aren't very good book buyers in the bookstalls of Riyad.
Now:
The Justification for "there's not much one can say about this type of thing" or, why I wouldn't want to
:
This poem feels pretty stuffy. Unfortunately. For the poet who intends no harm (quite obvious in that tearful ending, which also some might venture to say, is a maudlin ending). Yikes I don't like to be the bearer of un-glad tidings. There is so much the poet leaves to me as the reader to "approach" and apparently this has escaped your notice (Rhina) and his/hers. Again, yikes.
I could continue outside the boundaries of this painting as I often do when looking at paintings and imagine what is OUTSIDE of this poem...dangerous. But that is what a critic should do as a service to future poets and likely students of poetry because that is what happens when people bring their own histories into poems i.e. they apply their biases.
When I venture there I might pose myself a question (really I'm posing it to the poet but nevermind) and ask, "Did she leave you because of your stuffiness or your tendency to get really maudlin?" I'd like to believe she died of some dreaded disease. I don't know the age of the poet nor the sex and that is a good thing! Because then I would be horribly, horribly biased. It could have been written by a very talented sixteen year old female crack addict that is also a lesbian. But we know it is not. It is so well done that it appears to be written by this, a man at an advanced age while he is remembering the good old days in le tout Paris. Nice place Paree. (I especially liked the bones in the Natural History Museum, the bones of the Siamese Twins (specifically) that are fused at the heart, I luv u but u r killing me (captioned by a funny teenager in my brood)).
As well, the form chosen to express the case emphasizes the maudlin ending..villanelles or villanelle-like...they are pretty but they seem to be hazardous to the content of some poems. I actually like them a whole bunch although I've heard some people around here say they absolutely hate them so I must be wrong, certainly, in that opinion.
I could also venture into the political aspect of all poetry. The gender specifics, the elitisms, nature of oppression and the whatnots but that would truly destroy an otherwise "charming" poem, one that you (Rhina) have selected as one of the truly best ones. Okay. I hope you feel justified in that and I'm relatively sure that you will have company in defending the aspect of "not looking too deep into this piece". I'm in the other camp unfortunately and will likely stand all by my little self and say, nope...no chicken pot pie for him/her!
But maybe a hug/kiss/triste sandwich for a poet who is feeling genuinely heart broken (I sure hope this little poem is true because it is a lovely love poem and I LIKE fairy tales to escape the bitter realities we face nowdays!)
The diagnosis:
This has entertainment value. Not much more. Maybe a little ironical shadenfraude (the maybe-he-deserved-it kind of thing) IF and ONLY IF the poet intended us to take it apart in such a picky manner. But that of course, we'll probably never know.
Kind of like how many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll Tootsie Pop.
All my thanks to Rhina for allowing us to digress and for sharing her knowledge and experience here.
[This message has been edited by Maggie Porter (edited December 06, 2004).]