Very well read. I see the critically underrated Robert Graves in Douglas: not as a direct influence exactly, but as an inherited problem. Graves was a master of old forms cracked by trench experience; Douglas keeps the formal poise, but turns it on mechanised death with a harder, colder eye.
I don't know why Graves is so underrated, but he seems to be. (Perhaps his other writing has somehow overshadowed the poetry.) It hadn't occurred to me draw parallels with him and Thomas, but you're right - it makes a lot of sense. And that inherited problem, as you call it, is filled with potential even now...
I wonder if there’s any Keith Douglas-good poetry about our era of drone warfare. I’ve read plenty of victim or outcome poems, which stand as sentiments most of us agree with but, sorry, not as poetry.
Have you read Artur Dron, the Ukrainian soldier-poet? I like the title Hemingway Knows Nothing, though that seems to be prose/testimony rather than poetry. We Were Here is the one I think I’ll buy: written while he was serving on the front line, first published in Ukrainian in 2023, now in English.
Yes, Graves’s prose and mythographic studies probably outdid his poetry, at least in reach. That may be part of it. Wit and levity in poetry are too often marked down, as if smiling makes you an unserious person. Graves and George Barker both suffered by that understanding, which is a nonsense. Robert Frost proves the point: I can't remember who said something like "Frost writes light but reads dark", but it's true – a poet can look plain, anecdotal, even genial, while reading stranger the closer you get.
Maybe the mistake lies in thinking being funny is the opposite of being serious. People go on thinking that, in spite of mountains of evidence to the contrary, and I've never understood why...
I'm now looking forward to getting that post in the mail. I haven't read (or heard of) Artur Dron, though that title is enough to draw me in, for sure. If there's anyone else writing interesting poetry about the era of drone warfare I don't know about them.
I'm glad you noticed the 'off', which is my own addition. I've always read that line in that way in my head, and I think that pronunciation makes a kind of sense.
Very well read. I see the critically underrated Robert Graves in Douglas: not as a direct influence exactly, but as an inherited problem. Graves was a master of old forms cracked by trench experience; Douglas keeps the formal poise, but turns it on mechanised death with a harder, colder eye.
Thank you!
I don't know why Graves is so underrated, but he seems to be. (Perhaps his other writing has somehow overshadowed the poetry.) It hadn't occurred to me draw parallels with him and Thomas, but you're right - it makes a lot of sense. And that inherited problem, as you call it, is filled with potential even now...
I wonder if there’s any Keith Douglas-good poetry about our era of drone warfare. I’ve read plenty of victim or outcome poems, which stand as sentiments most of us agree with but, sorry, not as poetry.
Have you read Artur Dron, the Ukrainian soldier-poet? I like the title Hemingway Knows Nothing, though that seems to be prose/testimony rather than poetry. We Were Here is the one I think I’ll buy: written while he was serving on the front line, first published in Ukrainian in 2023, now in English.
I feel a post coming on.
Yes, Graves’s prose and mythographic studies probably outdid his poetry, at least in reach. That may be part of it. Wit and levity in poetry are too often marked down, as if smiling makes you an unserious person. Graves and George Barker both suffered by that understanding, which is a nonsense. Robert Frost proves the point: I can't remember who said something like "Frost writes light but reads dark", but it's true – a poet can look plain, anecdotal, even genial, while reading stranger the closer you get.
Maybe the mistake lies in thinking being funny is the opposite of being serious. People go on thinking that, in spite of mountains of evidence to the contrary, and I've never understood why...
It’s paranoia born of insecurity. Anyone who knows fuck about fuck either laughs or drowns in tears.
Or in our cases, I’m guessing, both at the same time.
I'm now looking forward to getting that post in the mail. I haven't read (or heard of) Artur Dron, though that title is enough to draw me in, for sure. If there's anyone else writing interesting poetry about the era of drone warfare I don't know about them.
Illuminating, in all the senses, and the causerie beforehand enlivens the recitation instead of shackling it to shrunk meaning.
Plus, the word 'off' done with a sociodemographic 'r' in it.
I'm glad you noticed the 'off', which is my own addition. I've always read that line in that way in my head, and I think that pronunciation makes a kind of sense.
Anyway, thank you very much for reading!
I like your reading rhythm
And your joke about Einstein's unknown last words
Thank you very much! How to read a poem aloud is an extremely personal thing... but I'm confident that my reading is at least as good as the AI bot...
What a contrast with Owen, who collapses distance, and this guy, who increases it!