A few centuries ago, “what came naturally” were the prejudices people picked up from their parents and their church; now, the prejudices in question mostly come from schools and the mass media, but the principle is the same. That’s why the phrase “Just Do It” is a sleazy corporate slogan deployed to sell products.
John Michael Greer is in fine and thoughtful form discussing what happened to poetry over the last hundred years, or more to the point what was done to it. If he is right that the academy has intentionally destroyed its subjects' ability to appreciate and create poetry, well, that would fit a pattern.
I'd note that free verse first took a step toward popularity with Walt Whitman in the 19th century. Free verse predated Whitman by quite a bit, but he brought it into public acclaim. Other practitioners like T. S. Eliot, William Carlos Williams, and down the road, Allen Ginsberg followed in the 20th century. But in all these cases―and certainly with the British poet Edith Sitwell―form hadn't really been abandoned. It was there, but hidden. Sound and rhythm still mattered, along with imagery.
At some point―and I think it was a gradual process―a new standard emerged while you could be a poet while just shouting what's on your mind. And no, that just doesn't really work.
2 comments:
Books, stories and poems aren't just written, they are rewritten.
Greer always has interesting ways of looking at the world. What I most like about him is his ability to imagine beyond this moment to a future time of reflection and new beginnings.
It's interesting that you mention sound and rhythm always being maintained in classic free verse. Greer talks a bit about rap and how so far we've just witnessed it's infancy. I haven't listened to much rap since the earliest days of the form. Chuck D, Flavor Flav, and Terminator X made some remarkable and memorable songs as Public Enemy (if songs is the right descriptor). There were definitely others like Run-DMC, Grandmaster Flash and Ice-T but I must admit I lost track after a bit.
What I do remember was the other musical version of free verse that was never really 'free'. Jazz as it was in the 40s through the 60s - Thelonius Monk, Sun Ra, John Coltrane, Pharaoh Sanders, Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Ella Fitzgerald. Oh my. I'm sure you can add more names to the list but the difference between the classic performers and a number of those who have graduated from music programs is that the latter spent countless hours playing, rehearsing, listening to other musicians, and performing in front of live audiences - crucial differences. Poets also need an audience of not just other poets.
If people aren't encouraged to find creative ways to express themselves don't be surprised when they find other and violent means. Meanwhile, and to the dismay of the 'experts', most people in the world won't do as they're told.
Jorge Luis Borges' "Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote" would be a very literal illustration of your statement. :)
It gives you new perspective to imagine the future as Greer does, as related to the present but off in its own direction. Which given the direction we seem to have chosen now is a nice change of pace.
I respect rap as a form but, like you, haven't really kept up with the latest practitioners. Kendrick Lamar seems good from what I've heard of him. The fact that it's difficult to keep up with developments might be a sign of vitality in itself. Public Enemy had an interesting formula in their two MCs having radically different styles.
I think I see what you mean. It's very nice to have skills as a musician but it can fall flat if you don't have a rapport with the audience. As regards poetry that might be a problem with verse as it appears in the literary journals. It's poetry for poets, in some ways the easiest audience. Maybe someone will break out of this system in the near future.
A society can break down and decay very quickly. A lack of creative outlets can push things further along that route. As regards experts, so many have proven themselves unworthy of being listened to.
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