What do I think of William Logan? A brilliant and courageous critic who has at times made me very angry (in some of his criticisms of Wilbur and Hecht, for example) and has more often given me uncanny pleasure (saying of Edna St. Vincent Millay that she was "Olds before her time," for example). I've read most of Logan's poetry and must say that I often found it verbally acute but emotionally cold. More recently I seem to be finding a greater number of poems I can warm to.
How many poems do I write in a year? I have no idea. I write more than I publish, and I publish more than I end up putting in books. My last book took me eight years to assemble and contains 34 poems. Damned if I know what that means.
Do I think formalism will stay? Well, it has been around for roughly three thousand years, so yes, if poetry stays, formalism will stay (if by formalism we mean meter, that is). It might be true that the poetry of the slam scene is usually no good, but my students, wishing to be respected when they perform, often come to realize that aural effects like meter and rhyme are useful to them. Where six years ago students would disparage formal attributes, they're now begging me to teach them more forms. The new aural culture means that you've got to have a good sense of timing and you might as well play with sound.
[This message has been edited by David Mason (edited September 06, 2004).]
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