Preface - Electronic Poetry Center

parataxis, collage, sonnets, whatever, is a possibility that can be made
> use of, or discarded, in a variety of historical situations.
I think that a social examination of the lyric is a great project to think about
working on. I’ve even contemplated the idea of a book length study. Especially
since the definition of lyric changes I think (part. in the late 19th century) as its
differentiation from dramatic & narrative modes dissolves in poetry due to the
arrival of other more powerful dramatic/narrative media, the novel, cinema, etc.
Pound’s tripartite logopoeia, phanopoeia, melopoeia are an attempt I think to
rescue that earlier distinction, essentially dividing lyric into all three houses of
the poem. But the underlying question becomes, what is the social meaning of
the lyric? In O-blek 12, as I read it, it seems a return to the personal and local,
which in turn can mean a lot of things. I’d like to figure out just what those are.
In general, I think that all forms are amoral and can be used from any
political/social position depending on the context.
> 5) I don’t think it’s at all clear whether younger writers are "returning
> to the lyric." But if writers are using lyric forms, the question to ask is
> NOT "what’s wrong with those writers?" but rather "what is it about
> the contemporary social environment that makes the lyric seem useful
> to some writers" or "what is it about the lyric that makes it seem useful
> to some writers in this social environment."
EXACTLY!!
> 7) In fact, my objection to Lew Daly’s introduction to Apex of the M
> is… that it repeats the same Oedipal MALE model of thinking your
> poetry has value only if you can "overthrow the enemy." My problem
> with his introduction is … that IT LOOKS TOO MUCH LIKE THOSE
>MANIFESTOS.
It wasn’t Lew who signed it. According to Alan & Kristin, they all worked on it
together, to the point that even some sentences were collaboratively written.