Friday, August 15, 2008

What makes a poem bad?

Bly: I thought of four things.
1. A lifeless popular language.
2. The writer's own prosaic nature.
3. A writer's obsession with fact.
4. And the tendency we all have to lie about ourselves.

So most poems that are written are bad. Many of my poems are bad for the same reason. Especially the latter one, the tendency to lie about yourself.

The idea is that your life is going to be ruined by your greedy soul, unless you pay attention to it. ... One of the purposes of marriages is to make it clear how big your greedy soul is. That's why marriage is painful.

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