It strikes me that Quincy is right. Whatever the failings of the New Formalists, they helped to bring form more to the forefront. Mainstream writers like Natasha Trethewey and Michael Robbins both make regular use of meter and rhyme.
The Rebel Angels bit always struck me as comical. There's nothing rebellious in what they were doing, and trying to characterize themselves as such always struck me as silly rhetorical decision; they merely refused to abandon two tools in the poet's toolbox. Some of them took other tools out. I came across some writers I'm glad I did in that collection (Emily Grosholz, Sam Gwynn, Charles Martin) but I found most of it mediocre. Often well executed, mind you, just not my cup of tea.
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