[New-Poetry] Taking Kooser's measure

[David Bircumshaw]

I think, Bob, with all due respect, that you have defined boredom. Robert Lowell, yes, occasionally edged on the 'major', as it were, so too did Bishop or does Heaney. But not really there.
A touchstone for a major poet: John Donne. Note: not a 'great' poet, in English they be Shakespeare, Milton and Chaucer. Other poets have written great poems of course, like Blake or Hopkins.

End of story.

Bored in the Bar

Best

Dave


  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Bob Grumman 
  To: NewPoetry: Contemporary Poetry News &Views 
  Sent: Saturday, August 26, 2006 11:40 PM
  Subject: Re: [New-Poetry] Taking Kooser's measure


  Larry Levis, I would argue, was/ is major. Li-Young Lee is a bit too soft-edged and sentimental for me. I would argue, along with Peter Davison, that James Dickey's work from 1957-67 was major and that Robert Lowell is major. Bishop. Heaney. 

  Have we defined major?


  Al M.

  No, and I don't think we should.  I was thinking of just a list ofpoets each of us thinks is major.  I specified American, but no matter.

  (I've never heard of either Lewis or Lee, by the way.)

  --Bob G.




------------------------------------------------------------------------------


  _______________________________________________
  New-Poetry mailing list
  New-Poetry at wiz.cath.vt.edu
  http://wiz.cath.vt.edu/mailman/listinfo/new-poetry
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://wiz.cath.vt.edu/pipermail/new-poetry/attachments/20060826/7ddaa821/attachment.html