Comments on: Micropoetry in the West: a brief survey

By: Alan Summers

Alan Summers — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 11:41:53 +0000

I’m pleased you mentioned tanka as I am amazed that there aren’t more mainstream poets (and writers) creating these incredible micro love poems which are probably more readily understood than haiku in the West.

You mention a syllable count, and as with haiku, both are genres not forms, although the “perceived form” isn’t so much syllables, but the short line long line format and the turn, or volta like device.

If you can grab a copy of the multi-million selling Salad Anniversary tanka collection by Machi Tawara (translated by Jack Stamm) you will fall in love with tanka. ;-)

all my best,

Alan

By: Dave

Dave — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 04:39:09 +0000

Same here. I’ve been typing wrong words all freakin’ day.

By: Bluegrass Poet

Bluegrass Poet — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 17:20:08 +0000

That last thing should read “I do love this POST.” Brain dead day.

By: Bluegrass Poet

Bluegrass Poet — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 17:19:16 +0000

Count me among the ones who don’t get Pound. But I do love this poem.

By: Dave

Dave — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 23:17:35 +0000

Dale, you’re the most erudite philistine I know! :) I personally never managed to get into either work, but I did enjoy William Carlos Williams’ Paterson — I guess because it tackled themes of interest to me, such as people’s relationship with the natural world. Ulysses does seem to have soul, though. Not sure I’d say that about the Cantos.

By: dale

dale — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 03:38:44 +0000

Agreed on the cantos. I think they get such a great rep because you have to work so hard to read them that afterwards you don’t want to have thrown all that effort away on something less than fabulous. I feel the same way about Joyce’s Ulysses. Some good parts, but not really worth the effort. There are less ambitious poets & novelists who achieved a lot more.

By: Dave

Dave — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 04:35:52 +0000

Well, but of course that was just the sort of thing Ezra Pound was fond of doing. I personally find the Cantos pretentious and virtually unreadable — you’re not wrong about me.

By: dale

dale — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 03:32:10 +0000

Oh! It’s funny, in the context of a Bonta post, the idea that it could be French never occurred to me. My mind was trying to make some dialect word for “cigarette” make sense there. I don’t recollect ever ci git in an English text, but I suppose Merriam Webster knows :-)

By: Dave

Dave — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 23:25:06 +0000

It was fun to pull together. I should do list posts more often.

Don’t spend too much money on that Bly book. It’s mighty skimpy. Some nice Arab poems in it though, and a few other gems you probably won’t find elsewhere.

By: Peter

Peter — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 13:56:53 +0000

Wow! How did I miss that Bly anthology?

This is a very helpful post. Thanks for the work it took to write it.