Linguistic prosodies have next to nothing to do with the practice of poets, as is evidenced by this eleven thousand word monstrosity that never quotes a line of poetry, never mentions the iamb, mentions the foot only once (and only to belittle the concept), and is apparently intended to support a notion which only a Martian could expect to be controversial: that time is more important than space in the experience of poetry.
I supose I should thank Jonathan Mayhew for bringing it (and indirectly, Clark Coolidge's talk on bop prosody) to my attention, since the fact that such silliness is taken seriously by at least part of the academic world these days clarifies a good deal. People do value what they pay dearly for, and, believe me, time spent with this stuff is time dearly spent.
It probably looks like I'm trying to pick a fight with Jonathan. I'm not. It just happens that, since his return, he's posted substantively and clearly on topics dear to me, and I think he's too smart to be fooled for long. But maybe poets just don't belong in the university.
7:49:18 PM 
|
|
