[New-Poetry] Excellence

[Bob Grumman]

Halvard Johnson wrote:
> Here's a question for those of you pondering "excellence": Can you 
> name some (maybe two or three) poems you consider excellent but which 
> you also dislike or, even better, actively hate?
>
> Hal
Well, I just accepted Emily's bustle poem as excellent because my check 
list required me to.  I'm sure there are a lot of poems like that.  
Another by Emily that I hate is the one about London being a place she 
knows exists although she's never visited it, so Heaven, which she has 
never visited, also exists.  I hate "The Inferno" for its intolerance 
but have to agree that it is excellent for the same reason.   I'm 
neutral about the rest of the Divine Comedy.  I can't think of any 
others offhand, but am sure there must be some.  Generally, though, I 
very much like the poems up to 1900 that have been canonized.

--Bob