Ask the Poet Guy

[fridayam]

That does sound pretty cool

I think all poetry by definition should sound delicious when said; should be fun to read out loud. I think budding poets especially either pay too much attention to sound (obvious, painful rhyming) or not enough and it winds up prose with line breaks.

Chaucer opened my eyes to the sound of words when I first read him out loud. On the page it looked like double-dutch to my schoolboy eyes, but when said it's meaning(s) were wonderfully explicit. It sings across the centuries.

(and as I sit here in December gloom I am watching the traffic on the A2 which is Chaucer's high road to Canterbury)

 

[twelveoone]

I always thought "best minds of my generation" referred to the others of his craft and similar age. The great minds having destroyed themselves probably just referred to his literary friends that never really accomplished anything in the realm of literature, people we wouldn't know by name had he mentioned them.

I think I read somewhere some of his friends were destroyed by the psychiatric profession, this mentions one, I could have swore there were others.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howl
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Solomon

 

[twelveoone]

Dear il miglior fabbro:

Perhaps Poet Guy is suffering from too much indulgence in the more psychotropic beverages that accompany the holiday season, but he fails to "get" quite what you are referring to, unless it be that he think of The Waste Land as a kind of twenties version of Daft Punk.

He pardons himself from further analysis, having now a sudden urge to watch My Fair Lady.

Happy year to newself.

PG

I suspect I should call you that

I am much more like the original dedication

we'll pursue at a later daye

enjoy

 

[butters]

Dear chipbutty:

Poet Guy assumes you do not want an exhaustive reconstruction of his reasons why he did not respond to that quite welcoming post. The simple answer is that it did not seem to require a reply--it certainly was not a question, and did not appear to require acknowledgement other than for reasons of social convention.

As you may have perhaps noticed, Poet Guy is a bit stiff on matters of social convention, and has perhaps committed a faux pas here, for which he duly apologizes. He would, accordingly and with great pleasure, exchange bumhugs with you, but alas cannot, due to reasons of physical distance.

Rest assured that he feels warmly about you and your bum, however, and hopes to be able to hug it in person some time in the near future.

PG

it's the thought that counts

 

[twelveoone]

oo quick one
what's this pathetic phallusy thing I keep hearing about?
9 inch slongs (fishing lures?) subway foot longs (sandwiches?)
I can see the metaphors
I see lot of it in new poems.

How can we avoid it?

Without resort to surgery?
as in cock-cock-ca-
pon

 

[PoetGuy]

oo quick one
what's this pathetic phallusy thing I keep hearing about?
9 inch slongs (fishing lures?) subway foot longs (sandwiches?)
I can see the metaphors
I see lot of it in new poems.

How can we avoid it?

Without resort to surgery?
as in cock-cock-ca-
pon

Dear twelveoone:

Poet Guy suspects that you have misheard the initial plosive consonant in that phrase, which has led to your confusion. He politely, but firmly, corrects the phrase to the clearly more useful and descriptive "bathetic balustry," commonly used by scholars of the lesser-known Romantic poets to describe these poets' unfortunate tendency to employ astoundingly inapt metaphors in their depictions of staircases. One of the more famous, and egregious, of these passages is from the long narrative poem, "Stairway to Heaven" by Sir David Chatterton-Nash:

Its gleaming treads were slabs of gold
Wound helical t'ward God,
The ballustrade of ebon, cold
As iced Pacific cod.​

where for 673 stunningly bad stanzas he waxes eloquent about the main stairwell at the family estate of Neverton (not to be confused with the Liverpool FC of the same name).

PG

 

[butters]

oo quick one
what's this pathetic phallusy thing I keep hearing about?
9 inch slongs (fishing lures?) subway foot longs (sandwiches?)
I can see the metaphors
I see lot of it in new poems.

How can we avoid it?

Without resort to surgery?
as in cock-cock-ca-
pon

Dear twelveoone:

Poet Guy suspects that you have misheard the initial plosive consonant in that phrase, which has led to your confusion. He politely, but firmly, corrects the phrase to the clearly more useful and descriptive "bathetic balustry," commonly used by scholars of the lesser-known Romantic poets to describe these poets' unfortunate tendency to employ astoundingly inapt metaphors in their depictions of staircases. One of the more famous, and egregious, of these passages is from the long narrative poem, "Stairway to Heaven" by Sir David Chatterton-Nash:

Its gleaming treads were slabs of gold
Wound helical t'ward God,
The ballustrade of ebon, cold
As iced Pacific cod.​

where for 673 stunningly bad stanzas he waxes eloquent about the main stairwell at the family estate of Neverton (not to be confused with the Liverpool FC of the same name).

PG

you two have an agent?

*popcorn moment*

 

[fridayam]

Dear twelveoone:

Poet Guy suspects that you have misheard the initial plosive consonant in that phrase, which has led to your confusion. He politely, but firmly, corrects the phrase to the clearly more useful and descriptive "bathetic balustry," commonly used by scholars of the lesser-known Romantic poets to describe these poets' unfortunate tendency to employ astoundingly inapt metaphors in their depictions of staircases. One of the more famous, and egregious, of these passages is from the long narrative poem, "Stairway to Heaven" by Sir David Chatterton-Nash:

Its gleaming treads were slabs of gold
Wound helical t'ward God,
The ballustrade of ebon, cold
As iced Pacific cod.​

where for 673 stunningly bad stanzas he waxes eloquent about the main stairwell at the family estate of Neverton (not to be confused with the Liverpool FC of the same name).

PG

As a native of that antithesis of Liverpool known as Birkenhead (popularly called there "the one-eyed city of undiscovered crime"), I deny any knowledge of a place called Neverton, despite nonecyclopedias. But I did laugh

 

[Palba_Noruda]

the works that make them famous

his literary friends that never really accomplished anything in the realm of literature, people we wouldn't know by name had he mentioned them.

These comments beg a question:

How do fame and name recognition influence poetry?

 

[bronzeage]

These comments beg a question:

How do fame and name recognition influence poetry?

Ask Bob Dylan.

If one's muse is the stress and desperation of youthful poverty, combined with youthful heartbreak, a successful literary career can relieve both and the muse leaves.

In 1962, John Lennon wrote the song "Do You Want to Know a Secret" for his bride to be. When the song was recorded, they could not afford a honeymoon. That soon changed. In 1966, George Harrison wrote the song "Taxman" when he discovered he was now in the 95% tax rate group.

 

[PoetGuy]

you two have an agent?

*popcorn moment*

Dear chipbutty:

"We" do not. Poet Guy would personally refer you to the William Morris Agency.

Not that he is represented by them, but he should be.

PG

 

[PoetGuy]

As a native of that antithesis of Liverpool known as Birkenhead (popularly called there "the one-eyed city of undiscovered crime"), I deny any knowledge of a place called Neverton, despite nonecyclopedias. But I did laugh

Dear fridayam:

The ancient and ancestral home of Neverton is, on good report, located in one of the Lost Counties, wherever they may be. They are, of course, lost, which makes their exact location a point of contention and a significant problem for tourists looking to visit the great houses located in those environs.

Poet Guy is only slightly empathetic to your dissatisfaction with the existence or non- of Neverton and weaselly suggests that you might want to Get a Life and spend more time just watching Corrie or something.

Though, contrarily and rather obsequiously, he might then also ask if you could DVR the upcoming Ashes test match and Bit Torrent it to him, given that he lives in a land where "cricket" is simply a small arthropod, dammit.

PG

 

[PoetGuy]

These comments beg a question:

How do fame and name recognition influence poetry?

Dear Palba_Noruda:

Poet Guy wishes to acknowledge your excellent question and wishes he could respond in the manner the intelligence of the question would dictate.

Unfortunately, your clever and intelligent question has fallen into his Question Bin at the holidays, and Poet Guy, being always a man of flesh and strong drink, is otherwise occupied and unable to (at least coherently) respond to your fine question.

He would like to say that he would note your question for later discussion, but is currently involved in chasing a "senior administrative assistant" around a desk, while periodically imbibing ethanol-laced beverages. He apologizes for this, but cannot at this time properly field your question.

GP

 

[Epmd607]

Alicia Keys wrote a rubbish book or two of poetry. Did terrible with it in terms of sales and reviews. That girl from Traveling Pants SisterHood(sic) wrote books of poetry, one about Thelonius Monk, I'm not sure how they did. Famous people usually don't get by with their poetry. Most still have to make a name in poems first, win some fancy award from one of their professors before they can have the name and minimal fame. But they do sell some books based off those 'national' awards wins Poetry is still centered in the academy, maybe not as much a meritocracy as it once was.

 

[vrosej10]

Dear fridayam:

The ancient and ancestral home of Neverton is, on good report, located in one of the Lost Counties, wherever they may be. They are, of course, lost, which makes their exact location a point of contention and a significant problem for tourists looking to visit the great houses located in those environs.

Poet Guy is only slightly empathetic to your dissatisfaction with the existence or non- of Neverton and weaselly suggests that you might want to Get a Life and spend more time just watching Corrie or something.

Though, contrarily and rather obsequiously, he might then also ask if you could DVR the upcoming Ashes test match and Bit Torrent it to him, given that he lives in a land where "cricket" is simply a small arthropod, dammit.

PG

i wish it was a fricken arthopod here.

bloody boring is the cricket
I wish the lot would stick it
With all three wicket stumps
I wish the whole lot would get dumped
or the all the players bumped off by snipers
at which time, I'd watch.

I was rooting for the poms in The Ashes. Then we might stop hearing about how great the damn game is....

 

[twelveoone]

Dear twelveoone:

Poet Guy suspects that you have misheard the initial plosive consonant in that phrase, which has led to your confusion. He politely, but firmly, corrects the phrase to the clearly more useful and descriptive "bathetic balustry," commonly used by scholars of the lesser-known Romantic poets to describe these poets' unfortunate tendency to employ astoundingly inapt metaphors in their depictions of staircases. One of the more famous, and egregious, of these passages is from the long narrative poem, "Stairway to Heaven" by Sir David Chatterton-Nash:

Its gleaming treads were slabs of gold
Wound helical t'ward God,
The ballustrade of ebon, cold
As iced Pacific cod.​

where for 673 stunningly bad stanzas he waxes eloquent about the main stairwell at the family estate of Neverton (not to be confused with the Liverpool FC of the same name).

PG

Thank you my good sir,
the numbered one always had an issue with 'plosives

Remember remember the 25 of December
when I get the stuff I ain't got

 

[fridayam]

Dear fridayam:

The ancient and ancestral home of Neverton is, on good report, located in one of the Lost Counties, wherever they may be. They are, of course, lost, which makes their exact location a point of contention and a significant problem for tourists looking to visit the great houses located in those environs.

Poet Guy is only slightly empathetic to your dissatisfaction with the existence or non- of Neverton and weaselly suggests that you might want to Get a Life and spend more time just watching Corrie or something.

Though, contrarily and rather obsequiously, he might then also ask if you could DVR the upcoming Ashes test match and Bit Torrent it to him, given that he lives in a land where "cricket" is simply a small arthropod, dammit.

PG

Dear PG,

poetry and strong liquor are not strangers to one another, thank God. If I haven't had more than my fair share of the latter, I will certainly be listening on the radio to the opening overs late on Christmas Night (until the land of Bedfordshire calls), but I refuse to take Mr.Murdoch's shilling--or rather give him mine--so I will have a certain lack of pictures to record and beam to you. No doubt our mental pictures of graceful willow and foul-mouthed sledging will supply the rest.

And dear vrosej10--it's so nice to know that our Barmy Army will have at least one Aussie on their side, even if you do not share our love of the game

May you and all our contributors have a wonderful Christmas.

 

[twelveoone]

Dear Poet Guy,
Why is so hard to get people to leave comments on poems? I noticed you've been doing a bang up job.
Three possible errors on mine - alright I'll give you two, maybe.
explain the difference between
the comma and the dash
have I just dipped in Emily too much?
Let me rephrase : Have I been reading too much Dickinson?
Should I read something more popular like McKuen, the better thrift stores are overstocked with him

 

[UnderYourSpell]

Dear PG
Do you find that poetical folk are more inclined to discuss the pros and cons of how a poem should be written, waffling on ad nauseum and baffling the hoi polloi with big words, rather than getting down to the nitty gritty of actually producing?

UYS (UpYoursSincerely)

 

[PoetGuy]

Dear Poet Guy,
Why is so hard to get people to leave comments on poems? I noticed you've been doing a bang up job.
Three possible errors on mine - alright I'll give you two, maybe.
explain the difference between
the comma and the dash
have I just dipped in Emily too much?
Let me rephrase : Have I been reading too much Dickinson?
Should I read something more popular like McKuen, the better thrift stores are overstocked with him

Dear twelveoone:

Poet Guy notices that you have asked multiple questions in your post, making it difficult for him to focus his reply. Accordingly, he will attempt to answer your queries in sequence:

Why is it so hard to get people to leave comments on poems?

Poet Guy could suggest several possible reasons for this, but the most obvious of these is that most people probably have nothing to say about any particular poem. This may be because the poem does not speak to them emotionally or intellectually, or it may be because they are unable to analyze what they like/dislike or what works/doesn't work in the poem. Or they simply may be uninterested in commenting for various personal reasons.

Poet Guy suspects that, given your recent activity attempting to stimulate mutual commentary on poems, that you might be expressing some frustration on the part of the reluctance of the poets at Literotica to engage in dialogue with each other on the mechanics of poetry. Poet Guy emphathizes with you if, in fact, this is what you are feeling, but can offer no simple way of encouraging such commentary. Poets have to want it. If they don't want it, or there are insufficient numbers of them who want it, it won't happen.

Explain the difference between the comma and the dash.

The comma is a small, curved punctuation mark typographically similar to the apostrophe and the closing single quotation mark except in being placed at the bottom of a line of text. It follows directly after the preceding character and is trailed by a space.

As for the dash, there are actually multiple forms of dash characters, perhaps the most common being the en dash and the em dash. These are also punctuation marks, usually represented as horizontal bars of varying length placed typographically at about the midpoint of the line, or slightly lower. In American typography, neither en nor em dashes typically have spaces around them, though this practice can vary by publisher.

For usage distinctions between commas and dashes, Poet Guy refers you to the Purdue Online Writing Lab article on punctuation, or the Guilford College article on commas, dashes, and parentheses.

Have I just dipped in Emily too much? Let me rephrase : Have I been reading too much Dickinson?

Poet Guy was a bit confused with your first iteration of this question, as it was unclear to him whether you meant Emily Dickinson or Emily Post. He can conclusively answer that you have never, to his knowledge, dipped too much into Emily Post.

Your question about Dickinson is less clear-cut. Your poems do not seem to Poet Guy to pass the "Yellow Rose of Texas" test, but the insidious creep of the dash into your work is cause for worry.

Should I read something more popular like McKuen?

Is McKuen still popular, or is this a rhetorical question?

PG

 

[bronzeage]

Dear Poet Guy,

How do you find time to write such long and detailed responses?

 

[PoetGuy]

Dear PG
Do you find that poetical folk are more inclined to discuss the pros and cons of how a poem should be written, waffling on ad nauseum and baffling the hoi polloi with big words, rather than getting down to the nitty gritty of actually producing?

UYS (UpYoursSincerely)

Dear UYS:

Poet Guy thinks that he detects some slight asperity in your question and hopes this is not the case or, at least, that he is not the cause of any irritation on your part. To answer your question, Poet Guy finds that "poetical folk" (for his purposes, Poet Guy might name poets, fans of poetry, academic students of poetry, etc. as "poetical folk") have a range of interests that vary from individual to individual and that often discussing the "pros and cons of how... poem are written" is not one of those interests. Poet Guy might suspect that you are among those poets who is less interested in such discussion, considering the derogatory nature of your comment, and that you value simply writing poems without regard, or at least without as much regard as you apparently ascribe to others, on this topic.

Poet Guy appreciates your viewpoint, though he personally finds it uncongenial for himself and his own growth as a writer, but he believes sincerely in your moral right to do whatever you wish as regards poetry and your own personal growth or pleasure in writing. He suggests in addition that you simply ignore anyone whose attitude to the contrary irritates you.

PG

 

[PoetGuy]

Dear Poet Guy,

How do you find time to write such long and detailed responses?

Dear bronzeage:

Poet Guy's current work activity is in creating instructional videos for web deployment and his work computer is often tied up for lengthy periods while it renders recorded video into Adobe Flash format for production. Rather than fritter away this idle time on Facebook, Poet Guy prefers to fritter it away on Literotica.

PG

 

[butters]

Dear bronzeage:

Poet Guy's current work activity is in creating instructional videos for web deployment and his work computer is often tied up for lengthy periods while it renders recorded video into Adobe Flash format for production. Rather than fritter away this idle time on Facebook, Poet Guy prefers to fritter it away on Literotica.

PG

Flash! ah ahhhhhhh
Renderer of the compuverse!

 

[twelveoone]

The comma is a small, curved punctuation...

He can conclusively answer that you have never, to his knowledge, dipped too much into Emily Post.


Is McKuen still popular, or is this a rhetorical question?

PG

It's good I didn't ask about the colon

I suppose it was a rhetorical question.

How do you fund the time, and kudos.