Reflection #8, because I'm dumb and skipped 3 and am going to fail.
While reading Donald Justice I realized today that I hate rhyming poetry. But then I thought about it and realized that rhyming poetry was fun when used right. But I couldn’t think of a single instance where rhyming poetry in modern language was simultaneously deep and good. I think I have come to a conclusion.
Billy Collins once said that the whole of English poetry is hampered by a lack of rhyming words. He didn’t say it exactly like that and there’s a chance he was quoting someone else, but he’s Billy Collins, so to me it was his. That is certainly true today. I guess in middle English or even the sort of backwater later-than-middle-but-not-quite-modern English that we had before it became more of a science and less of an art in the 20-30s-ish area just sounded better in poetry. Now a days intellectual rhyming poetry sounds like crap. But rhyming still sounds good and poetry that rhymes and doesn’t try to sound intellectual is good as well. I hate to toot my own horn, if you will, but my pirate poem rhymes and it’s pretty damned good. Shel Silverstein was a friggen genius, but all of his poetry is childish (though I shudder to call it all children’s poetry if you know how to read into things). I guess it sounds sing songy, and to be an intellectual you can’t be sing songy. Pick one or the other.
Dan always tries to make me feel better about being not as spectacular a poet as him by pointing out that I do rhyming off the top of my head probably better than anyone we know. I do, but I blame my dad. He used to ad-lib in the car. Point is, I can be a Shel Silverstein or I can be a Billy Collins. No, Dan can be a Billy Collins. I can be a Billy Collins’ famous but not quite as famous and successful but not quite as successful friend. Everyone knows Silverstein. I mean everyone. If you don’t then you either never went to grade school or you went to one of those funny ones where the Magic School bus is banned because it has magic in it. But Billy Collins is amazing, and any educated aficionado of poetry will tell you that he’s better than Silverstein. Just ask.
I guess I’m delusional thinking that people really can be famous poets anymore. I’m pretty sure that’s the first thing I wrote about for creative writing class. To be a famous poet you’ve got to either be godly or be a waiter writing entire books of poetry on the side hoping that someone will read one and it will stick. But god I want to. I guess if I have to I can be a Silverstein. But I’m still going to try to be a Collins.
Billy Collins once said that the whole of English poetry is hampered by a lack of rhyming words. He didn’t say it exactly like that and there’s a chance he was quoting someone else, but he’s Billy Collins, so to me it was his. That is certainly true today. I guess in middle English or even the sort of backwater later-than-middle-but-not-quite-modern English that we had before it became more of a science and less of an art in the 20-30s-ish area just sounded better in poetry. Now a days intellectual rhyming poetry sounds like crap. But rhyming still sounds good and poetry that rhymes and doesn’t try to sound intellectual is good as well. I hate to toot my own horn, if you will, but my pirate poem rhymes and it’s pretty damned good. Shel Silverstein was a friggen genius, but all of his poetry is childish (though I shudder to call it all children’s poetry if you know how to read into things). I guess it sounds sing songy, and to be an intellectual you can’t be sing songy. Pick one or the other.
Dan always tries to make me feel better about being not as spectacular a poet as him by pointing out that I do rhyming off the top of my head probably better than anyone we know. I do, but I blame my dad. He used to ad-lib in the car. Point is, I can be a Shel Silverstein or I can be a Billy Collins. No, Dan can be a Billy Collins. I can be a Billy Collins’ famous but not quite as famous and successful but not quite as successful friend. Everyone knows Silverstein. I mean everyone. If you don’t then you either never went to grade school or you went to one of those funny ones where the Magic School bus is banned because it has magic in it. But Billy Collins is amazing, and any educated aficionado of poetry will tell you that he’s better than Silverstein. Just ask.
I guess I’m delusional thinking that people really can be famous poets anymore. I’m pretty sure that’s the first thing I wrote about for creative writing class. To be a famous poet you’ve got to either be godly or be a waiter writing entire books of poetry on the side hoping that someone will read one and it will stick. But god I want to. I guess if I have to I can be a Silverstein. But I’m still going to try to be a Collins.