12-20-2011, 05:13 PM
"Am I at fault or is it the poet? "
Not to be mean, but I would say it is the poets fault. It is the poets job to take something unknown, and make it known, or to show a different or fresh perspective of something that is mundane, not to make something obscure to imply depth when there isn't any. The problem for me with a piece like this, and this is not the only one, is, I do not know if there is a worthy idea that the writer can't make clear, or if it is an attempt to appear deep through obfuscation. I think in many cases, it is unintentionally the latter, because that is what people are lead to believe poetry is. I'm all for stripping away the extraneous verbiage, but when one is done there should be something of meaning left. It is the job of the poet to make difficult ideas more accessible, not less; nor is abandoning grammar, punctuation, and capitalization in an ad hoc manner the way to get there. Leanne extracts more meaning from this than I would ever get, as I am more in line with abu nuwas thinking on this. I think the question isn't whether colors can have a scent (colors do not smell, noses do), but does a line like "the tangled scent of red" convey any meaning, or is it the attempt to appear to be saying something profound when there is nothing profound about it?
Dale
Not to be mean, but I would say it is the poets fault. It is the poets job to take something unknown, and make it known, or to show a different or fresh perspective of something that is mundane, not to make something obscure to imply depth when there isn't any. The problem for me with a piece like this, and this is not the only one, is, I do not know if there is a worthy idea that the writer can't make clear, or if it is an attempt to appear deep through obfuscation. I think in many cases, it is unintentionally the latter, because that is what people are lead to believe poetry is. I'm all for stripping away the extraneous verbiage, but when one is done there should be something of meaning left. It is the job of the poet to make difficult ideas more accessible, not less; nor is abandoning grammar, punctuation, and capitalization in an ad hoc manner the way to get there. Leanne extracts more meaning from this than I would ever get, as I am more in line with abu nuwas thinking on this. I think the question isn't whether colors can have a scent (colors do not smell, noses do), but does a line like "the tangled scent of red" convey any meaning, or is it the attempt to appear to be saying something profound when there is nothing profound about it?
Dale
How long after picking up the brush, the first masterpiece?
The goal is not to obfuscate that which is clear, but make clear that which isn't.
The goal is not to obfuscate that which is clear, but make clear that which isn't.