[New-Poetry] from the Writer's Almanac

[TheOldMole]

Speaking as the worthless guy, it makes no difference if the lines don't 
get in the way of your appreciation of the poem, some difference if they do.

I wonder, though -- are there any elements of craft that are worth 
discussing, or is scansion the only worthless one?



Chris Lott wrote:
> On Sun, May 3, 2009 at 9:16 AM, Judy Prince
> <jbalizsprince at googlemail.com> wrote:
>   
>> Hi, Chris,
>> I keep wondering why it's such a well hidden secret that scansion depends
>> upon the scanner for the scanner's ear and eye and brain's response
>> to/interpretation of the poet's words?
>>     
>
> It's not a secret. But it means that when person A posts a poem and
> person B says "it doesn't scan" then person B's response is rather
> meaningless, no?
>
>   
>> Fiercesome battles have ensued about scansion and its supposed
>> only-one-way-of-reading authority.  Yes, of course I'm OTTing about it here,
>> and do welcome hearing others' views.  It's just that so few folk recognise
>> scansion's role as a wonderfully useful *variously-applied* medium.
>>     
>
> I'm still looking for the wonderfully useful part, I guess. Maybe
> lines 2 and 6 of Baer's poems scan to one or maybe they don't. What
> difference does it make?
>
> c
>
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>   

-- 
Tad Richards
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