[New-Poetry] The thesauragram.

[David Graham]

Hall's re-write of the red wheelbarrow came from a mini-essay he  
wrote about the differences between contemporary English and U.S.  
poetry.  A joking way of illustrating different attitudes toward  
diction.  A vast oversimplification about national poetries, as of  
course he well knows.  Anyway, his version was a straight paraphrase  
of the Williams poem, employing more abstract vocabulary.

I always use the pair of poems in my classes when introducing the  
concepts of voice and diction.  A nice way to illustrate one of  
Hall's maxims, "In poetry there is no such thing as a synonym."


========================================
David Graham
grahamd at ripon.edu

Home Page:
http://web.mac.com/drjazz/iWeb/Site/About%20Me.html

Poetry Library:
http://web.mac.com/drjazz/iWeb/Site/DGPoLibrary.html
==========================================



On Feb 13, 2008, at 2:29 PM, Skip Fox wrote:

> I simply used the thesaurus and picked complementary words. (I  
> assume Hall’s process was more clearly creative, not bound to a  
> text.) I also added “significance” dropping “quality”  in the first  
> line. I think that’s the only change. But, unlike the Oulipo’s N+7  
> exercise, I thought a thesaurus (which has less chance involved in  
> the process, more the mind behind language) plus a mind making  
> choices would be more interesting. I still love the fact that  
> “albino chickens” showed in both. It DID seem the right choice.  
> (There were MANY other possibilities.)
>
>
> (Oulipian N+7 pieces are  moderately nice to see, boring to do.)
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: new-poetry-bounces at wiz.cath.vt.edu [mailto:new-poetry- 
> bounces at wiz.cath.vt.edu] On Behalf Of Anny Ballardini
> Sent: Wednesday, February 13, 2008 1:19 PM
> To: NewPoetry: Contemporary Poetry News &Views
> Subject: Re: [New-Poetry] The thesauragram.
>
>
> I love both poems, can you explain me how it works? Sorry to be  
> that ignorant,
>
>
> anny
>
> ----- Original Message -----
>
> From: Skip Fox
>
> To: 'NewPoetry: Contemporary Poetry News &Views'
>
> Sent: Wednesday, February 13, 2008 7:03 PM
>
> Subject: RE: [New-Poetry] The thesauragram.
>
>
> Very nice! I didn’t know of this. Mine was actually 95% made from  
> the Thesaurus. Nice we both picked “albino poultry.” His the more  
> polished and “exact.”
>
>
> There are no thesaurus terms for articles, I realized. You could  
> use “one” for “a,” etc. but these were not indexed in the thesaurus  
> I used.
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: new-poetry-bounces at wiz.cath.vt.edu [mailto:new-poetry- 
> bounces at wiz.cath.vt.edu] On Behalf Of David Graham
> Sent: Wednesday, February 13, 2008 10:49 AM
> To: NewPoetry: Contemporary Poetry News &Views
> Subject: [New-Poetry] The theasauragram.
>
>
> I always give my students Donald Hall's version:
>
>
>
>
> The Crimson-Hued Conveyance
>
>
> Such an extraordinary degree of importance
>
> is attached
>
>
> to a crimson-hued conveyance
>
> for waste material
>
>
> which has accumulated particles of liquid
>
> emanating from the heavens
>
>
> in the approximate vicinity
>
> of the albino poultry.
>
>
> [fr. *Goatfoot Milktongue Twinbird*]
>
>
>
>
>
> ========================================
>
> David Graham
>
> grahamd at ripon.edu
>
>
> Home Page:
>
> http://web.mac.com/drjazz/iWeb/Site/About%20Me.html
>
>
> Poetry Library:
>
> http://web.mac.com/drjazz/iWeb/Site/DGPoLibrary.html
>
> ==========================================
>
>
>
>
> On Feb 13, 2008, at 10:25 AM, Skip Fox wrote:
>
>
>
> The Florid Cycle Drum
>
>
> such like significance rests
>
> atop
>
>
> a florid cycle
>
> drum
>
>
> buffed by splatter
>
> melt
>
>
> on the flank of albino
>
> poultry.
>
>
>
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