Poetry in motion

@sharongooner wrote:

Im now really scared that Mistress Esme is gonna whap my ar/se next time I post my late night twaddle on here, whether it be about pizza’s or whatever….

surely poetry should be open to us all and not just a select few who suit a certain genra?

The reading of poetry is open to all, the ability to write it is something else entirely. If people choose to write badly scanned ditties they should be prepared for brickbats and not laurel wreaths.
It pains me to see amateur dross daring to plonk itself next to professional brilliance – I see it as a slap in the face to the craftsman, and having kept my silence thus far, I shall keep it no more.

@sharongooner wrote:

Ok….

I shall refrain from your brickbats… Ive heard they hurt a lot!

does sound like fannyfa.rts a bit though…. so I may have to start a thread for poets who feel “the urge”… thats the only time I write them…. completely off the cuff or in my sleep, and I never ask for criticism, I never ask for them to be read either, I just post them.

Presenting a poem on a post is inviting it to be read and remarked upon, the same as a comment on say – General Gossip or Current Affairs – invites a response. It’s a pointless exercise otherwise.

@sharongooner wrote:

Ok….

I shall refrain from your brickbats… Ive heard they hurt a lot!

does sound like fannyfa.rts a bit though…. so I may have to start a thread for poets who feel “the urge”… thats the only time I write them…. completely off the cuff or in my sleep, and I never ask for criticism, I never ask for them to be read either, I just post them.

you can write your poems to me anytime shazza.. the more off the cuff the better, as they come from YOU and you alone. We all have feelings,and maybe some are better at structuring than others. you can sing,do an imperfect piroutte or dance hippity hoppity.. yeah i may laugh alongside ya. but its from you. :)

I know you do emse :wink:

and thanks rubes… go delete your inbox, im in a “staying up late” kinda mood!

@minim wrote:

Alexander Pope – Essays on Criticism – exerpts

Tis hard to say, if greater want of skill
Appear in writing or in juding ill;
But of the two, less dangerous is th’ offence
To tire our patience, than mislead our sense.

Some few in that, but numbers err in this,
Ten censure wrong for one who writes amiss;
A fool might once himself alone expose,
Now one in verse makes many more in prose.

In poets as true genius is rare,
True taste as seldom is the critic’s share;
Both must alike from Heav’n derive their light
These born to judge, as well as those to write.

Some have at first for wits, then poets passd
Turnd critics next and provd plain fools at last.
Some neither can for wits nor critics pass
As heavy mules are neither horse nor ass.

But you who seek to give and merit fame
And justly bear a critics noble name
Be sure your self and your own reach to know
How far your genius, taste and learning go
Launch not beyond your depth, but be discreet
And mark that point where sense and dullness meet.

Seamus Cooney.
From “Studies in Verse / The Nature of Poetry”

There you are, minim, you have a ‘rare and precious’ gift. :wink: