Date: Wed, 10 Sep 1997 14:36:29 -0400
From: Reg Lilly <rlilly-AT-scott.skidmore.edu>
Subject: Re: PLC: Poetry vs. Prose


George Trail wrote:

> 
> Shelley names the distinction between poetry and prose "a vulgar error."
> Pound observed that poetry ought to be at least as well written as prose. I
> have found most useful the observation that poetry is a freer form than
> prose in that prose, excepting the paragraph and chapter division, is
> obligated to fill the space between the margins. Poetry can fill as much or
> as little of that space as is wished.

I'm into space these days -- I like this!

 
> The answer, from this perspective, to your second question is that poetry
> is poetry on the page, and may cease to be poetry depending on how it is
> read. I find it interesting that many contemporary poets eschew the manners
> of a Dylan Thomas and "read" their work almost as if the voice were a
> distraction from the poem. Blank verse in drama becomes, thus, another
> matter.

	Sorry to be dense, but, having listened to recordings of Thomas, I'm not sure what you mean by this.  Dylan Thomas reads sort of like Bob Dylan sings -- no voice, or the voice of the near-dead.
Reg
rlilly-AT-scott.skidmore.edu