[New-Poetry] Best poetry books of 2010

[Alexander Dickow]

I'm not sure about useful, but I do think Bob's Wilshberia category is a 
stimulating tool for discussion, in spite of its (to me) excessively broad 
contours. And more generally, I find that his categories have a sort of odd 
beauty of their own: I think of it as a sort of poetic form by itself, along the 
lines of a spidery system invented by an odd, abrasive yet charming entomologist 
(with a bit of Melville's Ahab thrown in for extra flavor). And yes, that is a 
compliment, Bob, although a slightly bizarre one. Returning to the subject of 
our present sheep, to borrow a six-hundred-year-old French expression, I wonder 
if Ashbery's Three poems would be included as part of Wilshberia? It's by 
Ashbery, but (I think) fairly different from his other work, and fairly singular 
in the tradition, it seems to me (ie I don't think the neonecropets (sp?) are 
writing like Three Poems). But I think the names of Wilbur and Ashbery have a 
kind of indexical value, rather than an absolute one: ie, they're convenient 
markers for a dominant style, but that may not mean that all Ashbery or all 
Wilbur (maybe) fall within such a category.
Quid, Bob?
Amicalement,
Alex

www.alexdickow.net/blog/

les mots! ah quel désert à la fin
merveilleux. -- Henri Droguet




________________________________
From: David Graham <grahamd at ripon.edu>
To: NewPoetry <new-poetry at wiz.cath.vt.edu>
Sent: Tue, December 14, 2010 12:12:25 AM
Subject: Re: [New-Poetry] Best poetry books of 2010




On 12/13/10 5:06 PM, "Bob Grumman" <bobgrumman at nut-n-but.net> wrote:


My challenge to you, David, is to find another way of splitting up kinds of 
poetry.
> 
> 
>For me it's about as useful as a scheme dividing all music into (a)Tuvan
>throat singing and (b) everything else.
>
>I think you've got it backwards.  For you it's like splitting poetry into (a) 
>poetry you're comfortable with because it hasn't significantly changed in sixty 
>years, and (b) poetry only I and a few other strange people like--the equivalent 
>of Tuvan throat singing.
>================================
>
>And my challenge was not to you, Bob, but to the rest of the list:  is there 
>ANYONE who finds your bizarre divisional scheme useful or meaningful?  
>
>As I've said many times, my problem with "Wilshberia" is that it elides all 
>differences and treats a huge range of poetry (in fact, most poetry read by most 
>people) as "the same."  As a categorical scheme that's just nutty.  It's like 
>seeing no difference at the zoo between a starfish, a tree frog, and an 
>elephant.  
>
>Hell, even *Ashbery's* poetry has changed markedly in the past 60 years. . . . 
> But you see no difference worth discussing between *The Tennis Court Oath* and 
>*The Beautiful Changes*.
>
>
>
>
>
-- 


====================================================
David Graham
grahamd at ripon.edu
Home Page:
http://web.me.com/drjazz/

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