[New-Poetry] Re: a dead ear for scansion

[Skip Fox]

I LOVE the idea of recorders, but the practice . . . . Well, I revise so
much, saying No, scratch that, writing: exteriorizing the ulterior.
Thinking: that's what I mean. Then changing my mind and writing:
ulteriorizing the inferiors. Thinking: that's what I mean. Then changing my
mind and. . . etc., etc. Then when I get in the office I've got to go
through 15 preliminary phrasings before I get to the one I decided upon.

 

Now I just write while I'm driving. (Yikes! . . . But it's true. I'm very
careful of other drivers, have learned the priorities and how to do an
open-handed scrawl without having to have my eyes on the page which I can
later read. But it takes effort, so I don't write down every false start. I
wait until I have it then move on. Besides, the entire thing is another
little exercise in natural selection.)

 

-----Original Message-----
From: new-poetry-bounces at wiz.cath.vt.edu
[mailto:new-poetry-bounces at wiz.cath.vt.edu] On Behalf Of Rsgwynn1 at cs.com
Sent: Thursday, July 24, 2008 11:06 AM
To: new-poetry at wiz.cath.vt.edu
Subject: Re: [New-Poetry] Re: a dead ear for scansion

 

In a message dated 7/24/2008 10:45:06 AM Central Daylight Time,
skip at louisiana.edu writes: 




I have loved the responses to this thread. Even when I disagree. But mostly
the discussions of how other vocal elements in the lines/syllables (like
durative measure or pitch) are overlooked. Which leads one to think of the
richness and delicacy of the interactions of multiple word values that poets
call forth in all their best phrasings. Symphonic! Which leads one to wonder
how conscious a good poet is of these matters when he or she is writing. I'd
argue that being very directly (left- or forward-brain conscious) would make
the task seem insurmountable, like playing 5-dimentional chess.




That's why I don't write anymore.  I compose orally first, then write down
what I've said.  Do a lot these days while driving with a mini-recorder. 

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