Henry Gould's been posting insightfully about the dialectic between the NY School and the langpo/avantist wings of the poetry blogosphere, pointing out that both ignore, in their separate ways, what he calls "probably the most basic function of poetic harmonics: to lead the reader/listener to a recognition of inherent and beautiful equilibrium, to a visionary repose where contemplation, activity & pleasure reflect some kind of perennial life-principle." Although I'm skeptical of anything resembling a life-principle, that sounds about right to me. I do worry about too easy an acceptance of Ron Silliman's "quietude"—ain't it delicious he got it from Poe?— and that it might seem to exclude, say, the Odyssey, or Byron's Don Juan.
Byron is especially interesting to think about in terms of the divide Henry points out: a political revolutionary and adventurous formalist whose influence can be seen in writers as diverse as Frank O'Hara and Richard Wilbur, but not, as far as I can tell, among the politically committed and formally serious langpoets and their associates. I have some ideas about why, which I'll post tomorrow if the drive home doesn't wear me out too much for coherence, or Saturday if it does. In the meantime, I'd love to hear by email or in the comments below what you folks have to say about Byron.
5:33:07 PM 
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