My favorite trope is bathos
Instead of ending the poem resonantly, with a satisfying conclusion
Or epiphany
The poet pulls the rug out from under you
With an idea that's low, ridiculous, worthy of scorn
In my poems the bathos ends the poem before it's supposed to
As if in a fit of impatience
As though something more significant were waiting for me
Outside of the four walls of the poem
Really, though, I like living in here much better
I should stay put and make the poem last as long as possible
4 comments:
I have been having to deal with a bad poet. I do not understand how he got all of these prizes and publications -- except I think probably some of his things were good. He composes by writing down his self-aggrandizing middle aged thoughts, and then enjambing them.
It occurs to me that since he has made himself his topic, he has gone downhill. This is a problem for my actual friend who is a skilled poet but a minor one. Now that he is pushing 60 he has made himself his topic. Nobody is that interesting.
But it is the problem with all that Vallejo criticism that thinks his poetry is about him, and I have to get back to my study of this. Perhaps most people DO expect writers to be self-absorbed Neruda types. I don't like Wordsworth or Yeats when they go into that mode, either.
Hm. These are my poetry thoughts for today and they are strangely grounding.
He is probably humorless too. Of course if my poetry is about me, then it is about an imperfect person who can't take himself too seriously.
Humorless, yes, that's sort of the key. This is all about being soulful and important and having had amazing experiences. That's all bad enough but it's the bad enjambment that makes me see red.
Emjambment is the worst. (in this particular kind of bad poetry)
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