Danger of over editing?

[brynmawr1]

Question- Is there a danger of over editing making a poem, maybe structurally/technically better but somehow sterilized/generic; the writer's voice removed?  I have been struggling with this issue in offering my own critiques lately and it just occurred to me to ask what others might think.
Thanks,
Bryn

[CRNDLSM]

Try writing both poems, and see which you prefer?

[TranquillityBase]

For sure.

I feel this, not so much in giving critique as in receiving it.  It can be overwhelming.  I guess I never considered it the other way around though.

However, I remember Mark Becker or Knot quoting to this to me:

A poem is never finished; it's always an accident that puts a stop to it—i.e. gives it to the public. (Paul Valery) often quoted in W. H. Auden' s paraphrase, ‘A poem is never finished, only abandoned’

[dukealien]

For sure.

I feel this, not so much in giving critique as in receiving it.  It can be overwhelming.  I guess I never considered it the other way around though.

However, I remember Mark Becker quoting to this to me:

A poem is never finished; it's always an accident that puts a stop to it—i.e. gives it to the public. (Paul Valery) often quoted in W. H. Auden' s paraphrase, ‘A poem is never finished, only abandoned’

Or, "A poem is flypaper for critique - you never get the last one."

[Tiger the Lion]

A few things I keep in my toolbox on the subject of editing...

1. Never delete a first draft. Just don't. 
2. Adding to a poem (that you care about) will almost always feel like an awkward sequel.
3. Subtracting from a poem (that you care about) will almost always feel like a loss.
4. There are more intelligent, objective insights on poetry here at the Pigpen than a public library.
5. Always be grateful for those insights. Even if you don't use them for an edit now, keep them in the damn toolbox. 
6. There's no hurry. Do not edit to appease the crits you may get- sometimes a simple thank you and some time and space is more prudent.

[brynmawr1]

Thanks everyone for their insights.  I, too, get overwhelmed by different opinions and not being that confident in my own process find it hard to say no.  Tiger, I was struck by your point of never deleting a first draft.  There is something about that first draft that often contains the purest representation of the intent behind the piece.  I guess my original question is centered around that phenomenon and the difficulty in editing a poem trying to make it better only to lose the ineffable heart of the poem.  What's the saying, "Don't let perfect be the enemy of good",  or something to that effect?

[rowens]

I hope that Marker Becker isn't dead.


The I, that is me, never thinks in terms of "this piece".


There is objective criteria for what a poem is.


And people think that they are poets, and can do what they want, and what they write will be a poem.



the answer to you questions is   


I think that. I am of the Romantic worldview.


If you are not willing to carry that zeitgeist on your back

:

There is the tension in what you write as a risk and how what all you write will be compared with what else you write.

Like an ego!