Gosh, I hadn't focused on that. I was unfamiliar with the poet until I came across an excerpt from this poem and had to track down the rest of it. It says here in the poet bio, "In August of 1963, MacNeice, on location with a BBC team, insisted on going down into a mineshaft to check on sound effects. He caught a chill that was not diagnosed as pneumonia until he was fatally ill. He died on September 3, 1963, just before the publication of his last book of poems, The Burning Perch. He was 55 years old."
I wouldn't say I dislike the poem, but I'm not sure I love it. I have to admit poetry is one of those things I'm not sure I ever really understand - you know, what makes it good vs. bad... I'm a big fan of folk music, but for me the melody has to match the prose, so it's very different from poetry.
Of course, with any form of art, "I know what I like" sort of goes with the territory, but in spite of being somewhat of an intellectual (as you may remember?) and also considering myself at least a LITTLE "refined", I have to admit when I've read articles about the awards for the year's WORST poetry (damn, now I'm drawing a blank on the organization), I've thought "hmmm why is that 'bad'? ..." about a few of them...
anyway this one is interesting - i'll have to re-read it a few times. Best Wishes...
SmallTownGuy (hmm this shows "anonymously" - not sure i understand the system... Have to use a FaceBook or Google or etc. name otherwise? No can do...)
This is the STG I know from PF? Hey, hi! How are you!
Most people who leave comments have LiveJournal accounts they sign in with. Lacking that, one can use an Open ID, but you know, "Anonymous" comments that are signed work for me.
As for the poem, I post poems that speak to me or that I like or understand or identify with or just enjoy. I know a little bit about how to distinguish good from bad poetry, having studied the subject a bit in college, but generally I don't worry about judging individual poems, so long as I like them.
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(Hi, by the way)
I wouldn't say I dislike the poem, but I'm not sure I love it. I have to admit poetry is one of those things I'm not sure I ever really understand - you know, what makes it good vs. bad... I'm a big fan of folk music, but for me the melody has to match the prose, so it's very different from poetry.
Of course, with any form of art, "I know what I like" sort of goes with the territory, but in spite of being somewhat of an intellectual (as you may remember?) and also considering myself at least a LITTLE "refined", I have to admit when I've read articles about the awards for the year's WORST poetry (damn, now I'm drawing a blank on the organization), I've thought "hmmm why is that 'bad'? ..." about a few of them...
anyway this one is interesting - i'll have to re-read it a few times. Best Wishes...
SmallTownGuy
(hmm this shows "anonymously" - not sure i understand the system... Have to use a FaceBook or Google or etc. name otherwise? No can do...)
Reply
Most people who leave comments have LiveJournal accounts they sign in with. Lacking that, one can use an Open ID, but you know, "Anonymous" comments that are signed work for me.
As for the poem, I post poems that speak to me or that I like or understand or identify with or just enjoy. I know a little bit about how to distinguish good from bad poetry, having studied the subject a bit in college, but generally I don't worry about judging individual poems, so long as I like them.
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