I like stuff... and words.
I have been completely lazy... Didn't even change my quote o' the day. I have an ongoing life issue with this. No matter what the situation is, if I find something new, I obsess over it, ravage it, carry it around everywhere, talk about it constantly, then... Abandon it entirely to the overgrowth. I don't know why I do it. Maybe I have idea ADD.
The latest fad in my brain is reduction. No, not reduction OF my brain, but rather the "fad" I seem to see all around me propounding that the answer to everything is to minimize. We should have less things, we should have less people, we should have less and less in smaller and smaller sizes.
(Or, if you're talking cell phones and electronics, we should have more and more in smaller sizes... That's the one area where my theory breaks down. I think even the nomadic tribes of Himalayas have camera phones... Got a wrong number call from the Amazon...)
I have this theory that simpler is NOT always better. Humans have such a rich, layered inner life that it is marginally ridiculous to ask them to give up the material possessions in which it manifests itself. I'm a big consumer, it's true. I have even developed a sentimental attachment to my truck, but what gets me is that this trend towards subsistence living doesn't stop at material goods.
Even poetry has fallen into this trap. While there are still (thank god) lovely poets out there plugging away at oozing, gorgeous pieces overbrimming with delicious language and images,
there is a great push towards rigorous minimalism a la William Carlos Williams.
What in the HELL kind of poem is "The Red Wheelbarrow" anyway? I'd papercut him to death with it, were he not already dead... *deep breath* As you can see, I'm not a huge fan. I respect the man, sure. But what is art if not florid? It's a methodological stance, I suppose... A matter of preference. In this case, however, I prefer not to read W.C. Williams.
I prefer the indulgence, abandonment, and all my trifling knick-knacks. Everyone else can throw theirs away if they want, but I'm keeping mine. And I'm gonna name the stupid truck.
posted by Becky P. @ 7:46:00 PM
18 comments
18 Comments:
Have you read any A.C. Swinburne? His late Victorian sentiments are sometimes odd, but he's got to be one of the most anti-minimalist poets I've ever read.
LP
It's not so much that I'm particularly interested in romantic flights of fancy, either... but a poem of 6 lines and twelve words does little for me... probably a matter of preference.
I don't think there is anything wrong with naming your vehicle. The Dukes did it. Additionally, my cars have always had names. My first was Betsy Lola. She was a Chevy Lumina (family-mobile). My Cavalier is named Rita Ramona.
Lo
I'm thinking of "Toto" since it's a toyota... or maybe just "heinously ugly piece of shit," which I would mean, of course, in the most endearing of ways...
right now it's just "little truck" which I must admit, is gonna be a hard habit to break in favor of something more formal.
My cav is called the Blueberry, dubbed by my dad, who still thinks i'm a little girl. i love my blueberry, regardless of it's name. :o) and William Carlos Williams is awesome. i will elaborate more when i have completed my thoughts on him. for now, our IT guy is brinin' down the network... more later...
I, too, was not a major fan the "the red wheelbarrow" until I started to get more and more into the theory behind the works of Eliot and Pound. The specific theory of the wheelbarrow is that the poetry is not attempting to project narrative preconceptions onto the reader through imagery but simply presenting the imagery itself. It is up to the reader to instill this imagery with meaning.
In a way I found this so frustrating because I thought "this is poetry...the whole POINT is for it to provide a sense of meaning". Again, as I read more of the theory behind it, it became clear that modern artist's couldn't provide any sense of meaning because the cultural framework that would be used to understand it is eroding. I could go on and on about this, but I think I'm going to stop now.
I drove a toyota truck in high school. Her name was yokie.
It all depends, I think, on literary "schools" if you like that
word... I know the theory behind the poem, but the very theory rests
on an assumption that poetry IS meant to convey some pre-determined
meaning. My stance on the issue (the very barest bones of it) is that
if no one is going to understand you anyway, you might as well make
the language memorable. I suppose in one sense, WCW has acheived
that, in the sense that I remember disliking it... and after all... am
still here talking about it, so...
Curse you, Bill Williams!
um, yeah, my internet's back up, and thanks Rhett for speaking my mind for me. :o) have you read that plum in the icebox poem? cuz it's one of the most beautiful i know of, and i treasure it's simplicity. i'm definitely a "less is more" type o'person.
See... now I LIKE the "Plums" poem... at least it conveys a feeling... that being, "neener neener neener."
In that particular poem, he at least manages to take some stand in the last stanza when he refers to them as "sweet."
Without that word, the whole poem is a flop, in my opinion. Terribly artful. I can't deny that. This is the one of the few instances where the short form worked... but I have no emotional connection to any of the 6 or so words that occur in "Wheelbarrow."
so much depends
upon
a red wheel
barrow
glazed with rain
water
beside the white
chickens.
i think this is just stunning imagery. i'm sorry but i'm going to have to love WCW and his red wheelbarrow without you, Mardou... :o) perhaps we can still be friends?
*sigh*... I GUESS... ;)
Of course like or dislike of a poem is largely dependent on the individual... I actually wrote a poem that protests WCW though... lol
It puts allusions to "wheelbarrow", and Robert Hass' "Meditations at Lagunitas" (my idea of wheelbarrow's conceptual opposite) up against each other. Anyone wants to check out the latter, it's here:
http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/g_l/haas/online.htm
you went to uiuc?? geez, who are you and why have we not run into each other sooner??
oh, yes, i need to READ what was written first, THEN reply. sorry, dude, but i still think you're cool, regardles of the uiuc connection... ;o)
Here's my deal: WCW has its place. I enjoy the Plum poem. And I agree that sweet is a key word, but I would argue that it would be useless if it were not paired with "cold" in that poem. I used to hate the wheelbarrow poem, but then I started liking it. I argue that this is because I am a farm girl, and it takes me back to one of those fresh summer mornings just after a rain when the animals had to be fed, and the wheelbarrow (And yes, it was red) was the tool to do it. It gives me a warm fuzzy feeling inside of complete contentment. Is this what he meant? No clue.
I enjoy Hass a great deal. I find him inspiring. I read a book by him, but now I can't remember which one, and I loved almost every poem in it.
I think poetry in our times is like the food at a great big banquet. There's plenty of it and lots of variety, so no one needs to go away hungry.
And now I'm done being touchy-feely for the day.
Lo
I too will join the masses. I hate the wheelbarrow poem. And I like the plum poem. But I have to agree with Lo that not only is sweet important, the pairing with cold is also very integral.
I do not like so much the minimalist approach to writing. Other things, go ahead, make it smaller. But don't downsize the writing.
Hass' poem is good. It is great. I much prefer that style of writing to WCW anyday. Ok, I have spoken my piece on this little topic. And I somehow managed to bring nothing new to the table. Yippee!
Amanda :)
You brought your cute smiley faces! ;)
Hi, Amanda!
i'm such a sucker for minimalist works of literature. BUT, i absolutely HATE minimalist paintings. damn the all-white painting. or the stupid squares. i understand the premise behind the movement - i've even had a huge fan try to help me out - but for the life of me, they make me seethe with anger & rage; it's sort of a betrayal to art, in my opinion. i'm wondering if this is the reaction you guys are feeling about WCW's poetry?
I think that's probably a good comparison. Seems to me, if you have to know the intellectual "theory" behind a piece of art to see its worth, something has fallen by the wayside.
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