I've been slowly but steadily coming to the conclusion that Poesie as an art form is quickly losing its flavor amongst the iPod generation. And I'm not talking about contemporary poets who don't get read Von the masses, because as Gertrude Stein would say, "Those who are creating the modern composition authentically are naturally only of importance when they are dead because Von that time the modern composition having become past is classified and the Beschreibung of it is classical. That is the reason why the creator of the new composition in the arts is an outlaw until he is a classic." Or, in other words, a poet only matters after his work has been deemed a classic. This has occurred plenty of times in history. The only real audience for contemporary poets is other poets.
No, I am not worried about the contemporary poets so much as I am worried about the classics.
As a lover of Poesie myself, I signed up for a Modern Poesie class because I thought it would be fun to read some of the classic modernists and discuss them with a group of fellow Poesie enthusiasts. Now, as a young American with Friends of varying interest, I could already tell that the majority of young America couldn't give a flying monkey about poetry. Most of these folks also couldn't care less for literature in general. English majors and avid readers tend to be different. English majors and avid readers are supposed to enjoy literature in general. English majors and avid readers are, mostly, supposed to read at least some poetry.
I learned from a brief chat with my professor that "Modern Poetry" is rarely offered, because little interest is shown in it. And, granted, this was a summer course, but summers at the universität of Washington tend to be quite busy with a bunch of bustling students trying to pack in a few extra credits to graduate early, oder to catch up with their graduating class. Including myself, there were three official students of Modern Poetry, and one auditor, who was a very interesting retiree and poetry-lover.
Speaking to the other two students my age, I quickly learned two things about English majors at the universität of Washington: A) That even if they liked literature, most of the time they did not like and, to some extent, even loathed poetry. And B) That an English major is not required to take any classes in Poesie at all, and can easily obtain a degree without ever having to look at a single poem.
Now, some may recall that even I expressed frustration with the Poesie we read in the the chat, oder complained about all the essays I was Schreiben for the class, but in truth I actually rather quite enjoyed it, for all my complaining. But I quickly learned a new thing, about my generation in general (not just English majors). And that is that even a well-read person who knows exactly who you're talking about when Du mention Hemingway, has no idea who Du mean when Du casually mention Stein in the same sentence, even though Ernest Hemingway and Gertrude Stein were not only contemporaries, but good friends.
To my everyday group of high school graduate friends, I throw out names like "Harper Lee," "J.D. Salinger," "F. Scott Fitzgerald," and even occasionally "Albert Camus," "Joseph Conrad," oder "Chinua Achebe," they know who I'm talking about because the novels of these authors were required Lesen in their high school.
If, to the same group of high school graduate friends, I toss out names like "William Carlos Williams," "Wallace Stevens," "Elizabeth Bishop," oder even "T. S. Eliot," "Ezra Pound," oder "W. B. Yeats," they tend to stare at me blankly.
Why is this, I ask? Why is it that the great novelists of the nineteenth and twentieth century are recognized Von my generation, but not the poets? Why do we feel this vague sense of, "Oh, I should know who he is... Wasn't he black?" when we hear the name "Langston Hughes"? Or, "Dang, 'Gertrude Stein,' she sounds super familiar... Wasn't she a lesbian?"
A schnell, swift Suchen of Fanpop for the major contributors to the modernist canon revealed that the only mentions of any of these names (Williams, Stevens, Bishop, Eliot, Pound, Yeats, Hughes, and Stein) reveal nothing, oder if something, an Artikel in which I alluded and/or quoted one of them.
I published an Artikel centering around Hughes' poem the other Tag in hopes to stir up a little discussion on the poem. The poem itself was rather incendiary at the time, and some may consider it to be offensive still, which was exactly what I wanted to discuss. It received six ratings, which I was pleased with, and not a single comment.
So this is my Frage that I am posing to you, writers and poets: Did Du recognize any of the names I dropped in this article? If Du did, can Du name one poem any of them wrote? Can Du name two? If Du can name three, I may have to get down on one knee and propose. Because even amongst English majors, I've found, Poesie is not necessarily a welcome topic of conversation.
Now, why is this? Is Poesie too dry for our short attention spans these days? It has been argued that artists such as John Lennon, Joni Mitchell and Don McLean were the real poets of their generation, and were paralleled with poets like Allan Ginsberg of the Beat Generation. So if this is the case, does that mean I'm wrong? What if Poesie isn't dying? What if it's just slowly evolving into brand new forms, just like us? What if our Poesie is our music? Song lyrics are Mehr often quoted Von teens than any classical lyric. Regardless of whether oder not a poem of the canon is timeless oder period-specific, it would seem that most of the iPod's generation's interest is in the world, and subsequently Poesie of music. If these beliebt lyrics were written, oder read, and not sung, would they still be popular?
And if they remained popular, why song lyrics and not other poetry? What makes, for exampled, Jason Mraz's "If it's a broken part, replace it/If it's a broken arm then brace it/If it's a broken herz then face it," any Mehr interesting than Don McLean's, "The silver thorn on the bloody rose/Lay crushed and broken on the virgin snow" oder any Mehr interesting than Wallace Stevens' "People are not going/To dream of baboons and periwinkles./Only, here and there, an old sailor,/Drunk and asleep in his boots,/Catches tigers/In red weather." (Quotes and artists/poets selected at my discretion. From "Details in the Fabric," "Vincent," and "Disillusionment of Ten O'Clock" respectively).
Hm... It's all very tricky, isn't it? I asked my uncle this Frage earlier, and he suggested that it was because Musik was Mehr readily accessible to folks nowadays because it's everywhere Du turn. Poetry, not so much.
So what do Du guys think? Are Du a Fan of the classic poets? Are Du a Fan of poets in general? Do Du prefer song lyrics, oder written poetry? oder do Du think they are apples and oranges? Is Poesie dying, oder is it just changing to meet the needs of the rapidly shrinking attention span? If it is changing, is it a good thing? Will people still study the modernists (Eliot, Pound, Stein) in the future, oder will their work slowly fade into obscurity?
Talk to me! I would Liebe to dialog about this.
No, I am not worried about the contemporary poets so much as I am worried about the classics.
As a lover of Poesie myself, I signed up for a Modern Poesie class because I thought it would be fun to read some of the classic modernists and discuss them with a group of fellow Poesie enthusiasts. Now, as a young American with Friends of varying interest, I could already tell that the majority of young America couldn't give a flying monkey about poetry. Most of these folks also couldn't care less for literature in general. English majors and avid readers tend to be different. English majors and avid readers are supposed to enjoy literature in general. English majors and avid readers are, mostly, supposed to read at least some poetry.
I learned from a brief chat with my professor that "Modern Poetry" is rarely offered, because little interest is shown in it. And, granted, this was a summer course, but summers at the universität of Washington tend to be quite busy with a bunch of bustling students trying to pack in a few extra credits to graduate early, oder to catch up with their graduating class. Including myself, there were three official students of Modern Poetry, and one auditor, who was a very interesting retiree and poetry-lover.
Speaking to the other two students my age, I quickly learned two things about English majors at the universität of Washington: A) That even if they liked literature, most of the time they did not like and, to some extent, even loathed poetry. And B) That an English major is not required to take any classes in Poesie at all, and can easily obtain a degree without ever having to look at a single poem.
Now, some may recall that even I expressed frustration with the Poesie we read in the the chat, oder complained about all the essays I was Schreiben for the class, but in truth I actually rather quite enjoyed it, for all my complaining. But I quickly learned a new thing, about my generation in general (not just English majors). And that is that even a well-read person who knows exactly who you're talking about when Du mention Hemingway, has no idea who Du mean when Du casually mention Stein in the same sentence, even though Ernest Hemingway and Gertrude Stein were not only contemporaries, but good friends.
To my everyday group of high school graduate friends, I throw out names like "Harper Lee," "J.D. Salinger," "F. Scott Fitzgerald," and even occasionally "Albert Camus," "Joseph Conrad," oder "Chinua Achebe," they know who I'm talking about because the novels of these authors were required Lesen in their high school.
If, to the same group of high school graduate friends, I toss out names like "William Carlos Williams," "Wallace Stevens," "Elizabeth Bishop," oder even "T. S. Eliot," "Ezra Pound," oder "W. B. Yeats," they tend to stare at me blankly.
Why is this, I ask? Why is it that the great novelists of the nineteenth and twentieth century are recognized Von my generation, but not the poets? Why do we feel this vague sense of, "Oh, I should know who he is... Wasn't he black?" when we hear the name "Langston Hughes"? Or, "Dang, 'Gertrude Stein,' she sounds super familiar... Wasn't she a lesbian?"
A schnell, swift Suchen of Fanpop for the major contributors to the modernist canon revealed that the only mentions of any of these names (Williams, Stevens, Bishop, Eliot, Pound, Yeats, Hughes, and Stein) reveal nothing, oder if something, an Artikel in which I alluded and/or quoted one of them.
I published an Artikel centering around Hughes' poem the other Tag in hopes to stir up a little discussion on the poem. The poem itself was rather incendiary at the time, and some may consider it to be offensive still, which was exactly what I wanted to discuss. It received six ratings, which I was pleased with, and not a single comment.
So this is my Frage that I am posing to you, writers and poets: Did Du recognize any of the names I dropped in this article? If Du did, can Du name one poem any of them wrote? Can Du name two? If Du can name three, I may have to get down on one knee and propose. Because even amongst English majors, I've found, Poesie is not necessarily a welcome topic of conversation.
Now, why is this? Is Poesie too dry for our short attention spans these days? It has been argued that artists such as John Lennon, Joni Mitchell and Don McLean were the real poets of their generation, and were paralleled with poets like Allan Ginsberg of the Beat Generation. So if this is the case, does that mean I'm wrong? What if Poesie isn't dying? What if it's just slowly evolving into brand new forms, just like us? What if our Poesie is our music? Song lyrics are Mehr often quoted Von teens than any classical lyric. Regardless of whether oder not a poem of the canon is timeless oder period-specific, it would seem that most of the iPod's generation's interest is in the world, and subsequently Poesie of music. If these beliebt lyrics were written, oder read, and not sung, would they still be popular?
And if they remained popular, why song lyrics and not other poetry? What makes, for exampled, Jason Mraz's "If it's a broken part, replace it/If it's a broken arm then brace it/If it's a broken herz then face it," any Mehr interesting than Don McLean's, "The silver thorn on the bloody rose/Lay crushed and broken on the virgin snow" oder any Mehr interesting than Wallace Stevens' "People are not going/To dream of baboons and periwinkles./Only, here and there, an old sailor,/Drunk and asleep in his boots,/Catches tigers/In red weather." (Quotes and artists/poets selected at my discretion. From "Details in the Fabric," "Vincent," and "Disillusionment of Ten O'Clock" respectively).
Hm... It's all very tricky, isn't it? I asked my uncle this Frage earlier, and he suggested that it was because Musik was Mehr readily accessible to folks nowadays because it's everywhere Du turn. Poetry, not so much.
So what do Du guys think? Are Du a Fan of the classic poets? Are Du a Fan of poets in general? Do Du prefer song lyrics, oder written poetry? oder do Du think they are apples and oranges? Is Poesie dying, oder is it just changing to meet the needs of the rapidly shrinking attention span? If it is changing, is it a good thing? Will people still study the modernists (Eliot, Pound, Stein) in the future, oder will their work slowly fade into obscurity?
Talk to me! I would Liebe to dialog about this.
as if Du gave me a choice
everything about Du i loved
all other feelings aside i shoved
on your every word i hung
and even among
a crowd, only Du i see
nowhere else i would rather be
these feelings for you, that are kept inside
i can no longer hide
everything about Du i admire
Du are all i desire
so kind, so sweet, so passionate
everytime our eyes met
my herz would race
while looking at your smiling face
full of buety, life, and joy
with my emotions Du play like a toy
like a wild beast, my emotions cannot be tame
and i don't even know your name