I’ve seen it recently said on LinkedIn that it’s wrong to limit poetry through any kind of definition, wrong to say that anything isn’t poetry. I understand the thinking behind this – and maybe at times I’ve been too willing to make absolute statements about poetry. But if anything can be poetry, why can’t [...]
All posts in category Language
What is Poetry?
Posted by simon7banks on April 21, 2012
http://simonsworlds13.wordpress.com/2012/04/21/what-is-poetry/
Of course, I don’t really know what I meant…
According to some academics, it’s meaningless to ask what a writer meant, or at least, pointless because we can’t tell. Maybe nothing means anything. This is an attitude that could only exist in academia. People everywhere else are engaged in the risky, uncertain business of guessing what other people mean all the time. A general [...]
Posted by simon7banks on March 22, 2012
http://simonsworlds13.wordpress.com/2012/03/22/of-course-i-dont-really-know-what-i-meant/
Be specific
Recently I got into an on-line debate, which at times became a little sharp, about whether poems could come fully formed into the world without need for revision, or whether revision was always required. I do revise my poems, but usually on very small points, and was concerned to question an implication that high-quality, serious, [...]
Posted by simon7banks on March 5, 2012
http://simonsworlds13.wordpress.com/2012/03/05/be-specific/
Consumer Boom
If you are short of a principle Or two or three or more Principles for Men will fit you out They won’t be demanding You won’t have to shout Or break the law If you’re inclined to change your mind If the conclusions it has come to Aren’t for you Go to the [...]
Posted by simon7banks on January 29, 2012
http://simonsworlds13.wordpress.com/2012/01/29/consumer-boom/
Babel
Words unite people because they can communicate. But they also divide people. The Biblical myth of the tower of Babel was that God thwarted the builders by making them speak different languages so they couldn’t understand one another and co-ordinate action; but sometimes speaking the same language divides, or the communication it can bring is [...]
Posted by simon7banks on December 28, 2011
http://simonsworlds13.wordpress.com/2011/12/28/babel/
