Posted by john on July 05, 2002 at 06:24:56:
In Reply to: Re: misc. poetry posted by Bob - the Alien on July 03, 2002 at 19:58:22:
: May be a silly question, but what is wrong with stilted prose?
: I can accept that it does not fit the label of poetry, but if it still a valid creative expression of an individual, I still have an appreciaton for it.
: Of course, I also have an appreciation for total nonsensical prose which I proceed to call poetry, so I am prepared for everyone to totally reject my opinions in this arena. :)
Actually people usually say "heightened prose". I think that is the proper Frost quote. But I canged it because to me heightened prose is much more lengthy than free verse. Like if you read old English literature written in that extremely elevated manner, like Milton, it bombards you with words that swirl around you and wander through endless streets before they come back to the simple point. The thing I dislike about free verse is mainly that there is no rhythm, and secondly that it tends to be like Punk music. It is so easy to get the structure right (because there is none) that many people think they can do it well, when the truth is very few people know the rules well enough to break them and make it work.
And I didn't say it wasn't a valid creative expression, I just said I didn't like it.
If something works for someone to help them grasp or communicate some Truth, then I don't have a problem with it. To draw from the old jive "different strokes for different folks". Or as I would say, whatever keeps you floating.