[New-Poetry] Jose Garcia Villa

[Anny Ballardini]

It is disturbing, and since he is referring to Seurat, maybe a dot - full
stop - might have been better. On the other hand the same impressionists
were wildly criticized when they first appeared.



On Thu, Apr 23, 2009 at 10:18 PM, David Graham <grahamd at ripon.edu> wrote:

> Interesting.  Here's a snippet from the Wikipedia page on Villa:
>
>
> Writing style
>
> Villa described his use of commas after every word as similar to "Seurat's
> architectonic and measured pointillism‹where the points of color are
> themselves the medium as well as the technique of statement". This unusual
> style forces the reader to pause after every word, slowing the pace of the
> poem resulting to what Villa calls "a lineal pace of dignity and movement".
> An example of Villa's "comma poems" can be found in an excerpt of his work
> #114:
>
> ³    In, my, undream, of, death,
> I, unspoke, the, Word.
> Since, nobody, had, dared,
> With, my, own, breath,
> I, broke, the, cord!
> ---------------------------
>
>
>
> On 4/23/09 11:04 AM, "lattaj at umich.edu" <lattaj at umich.edu> wrote:
>
> > Quoting David Graham <grahamd at ripon.edu>:
> >
> >
> >>
> >> I remember pulling a book off the library shelf once when I was in
> college.
> >> The gimmick was that the poet put a comma after every word, I suppose to
> >> make some point about language, I don't know.   Emphasizing the
> materiality
> >> of words?  It was extremely irksome reading, in any event, and I never
> >> finished the book.  But *someone* had found that book worthy, had gone
> to
> >> the trouble and expense to publish it, and the library had in turn
> >> purchased, catalogued, and preserved it.
> >>
> >> Even at age 18, however, it was obvious to me that no amount of
> promotion
> >> would make such a book last.   As of course it hasn't, and I long ago
> forgot
> >> the author's name.
> >>
> >
> > David,
> >
> > Most likely José Garcia Villa (1914-1997), born in the Philippines,
> > who invented the "comma poem," and, though I don't know much about
> > him, apparently not by any means a crank, or a lightweight.
> >
> > John
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> >
>
>
> ====================================================
> David Graham
> grahamd at ripon.edu
> Home Page:
> http://web.mac.com/drjazz/
>
> Poetry Library:
> http://web.mac.com/drjazz/iWeb/Site/DGPoLibrary.html
> ====================================================
>
>
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>
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-- 
Anny Ballardini
http://annyballardini.blogspot.com/
http://www.fieralingue.it/modules.php?name=poetshome
http://www.moriapoetry.com/ebooks.html
I Tell You: One must still have chaos in one to give birth to a dancing
star!
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