[Gregory Dowling]

Thanks, Janice, for these. They're both great fun - and as a benighted Brit I didn't know them.

And, Dan, I agree about Brooke's "Heaven". I'm also very fond of The Old Vicarage, Grantchester .

For Cambridge people rarely smile,
Being urban, squat, and packed with guile...

I love "packed with guile".

[Peter Wyton]

How about Housman's "The goal stands up, the keeper/stands up to keep the goal"

[ignazio salvatore basile]

I’m not so sure we can distinguish between bad and good poetry. I would prefer to talk of bad and good readers. Hence I think it can be said the same for bad good poems. I mean that if someone reads a Dante’s or a Keat’s sonnet and he/she does not like it, we have a bad reader (not certainly a bad poet!). May be we could discuss of poetry and other stuff ( which is not poetry). There is a long, unbroken line that links up poetry from the ancient greek-roman poets until nowdays’s and that’s a line of love, brotherhood, friendship and generally good, deep sentiments. Poetry belongs to Good, the other stuff don’t. We cannot call poetry writings on Denying-Holocaust Naziskin or writers instigating racism or texts stirring up with hate. However who should decide what is good or bad poetry? It’s the same for any other kind of art. Van Gogh was not certainly considered a good artist, while alive! But who dares today to say is not it? It’s better then to leave any judgement to the readers.

[Richard Epstein]

"However who should decide what is good or bad poetry?"

Me.

Or, if I won't do, Johnson's common reader: “I rejoice to concur with the common reader; for by the common sense of readers, uncorrupted by literary prejudices, after all the refinements of subtilty and the dogmatism of learning, must be finally decided all claim to poetical honours.”


RHE

[Catherine Lindsey]

Some really bad poetry, intentionaly written so, or otherwise, is really funny for any number of reasons. Be it content, punctuation, or grammar, and I am all for a good laugh!