[graywyvern]

Originally posted by Alan Sullivan:
But I'm not a prolific reader. I fear that if I read as widely as gray, I might lose rather than gain perspective, as he evidently has.

A.S.

the less you read, the more you know;
my cat grows daily wiser, so.

Text

[Terese Coe]

Alicia

Many women novelists wrote in hopes of earning an income from their work, and did so, as Virginia Woolf pointed out long ago.

Has anyone ever studied which poets through time, male or female, ever managed to earn a living from their work?

Terese

[graywyvern]

the "good old days" of patronage can't be compared with
how poets fare after the advent of the mercantile system,
obviously. Firdausi (who supposedly received one gold piece
for every line of the Shah-Namah) had to have been the best
compensated poet...until Jewel. Shakespeare had a comfortable living, as we all know. Aphra Behn was known as
the first Englishwoman to make her livelihood by writing.
Byron in his own day was a best seller (though he didn't
need the money). Tennyson, Longfellow, Browning were in
every literate household (though piracy was rampant across
the seas). as late as the 20's a well-regarded poet
could still be popular (Millay). then we enter the age of
university patronage, & rock 'n' roll. Ashbery i'm sure
makes a great deal less than even a one-hit rock band, i
figure... silence, exile, cunning: mandatory.

search yahoo for the mellifluously-named Sahara Sunday
Spain, for a poet who is certainly getting remunerated...

[This message has been edited by graywyvern (edited June 15, 2001).]