This is why people dislike you. - Edit 1
Before modification by Dan at 09/11/2010 07:06:53 PM
Do you think that poetry deserves a wider readership?
I assume you mean a wider, non-required reading readership?
I assume you mean a wider, non-required reading readership?
Answer the question. It's valid on its own even if it's vague your taste. Simply asking another question is condescending.
Do bookstores with no designated poetry section but entire shelves full of Ayn Rand and Bibles make you angry?
Don't get the part about Bibles, especially since the Bible contains some truly wonderful poetry of its own. Rand I could do without, though.
If you had a beautiful little bookstore and could stock it with whatever you wanted, wouldn't you have a section devoted to poetry?
In how many languages? Most of my favorite poems aren't in English, despite English being my native language.
In how many languages? Most of my favorite poems aren't in English, despite English being my native language.
She asked a pretty direct question there. Instead you shoehorn the fact that you can read multiple languages into the conversation, all without answering the question.
Why is poetry important?
For the same reason other forms of literature are important
For the same reason other forms of literature are important
Another condescending question to answer a question. Still no answer. It's not stupid to suggest a particular form of literature has particular importance.
Also:
What are your favorite poems?
Quite a few from Bécquer, Rubén Darío, Rilke, Catullus, Ariosto, etc. Not bothering to list particular poems since I'm not going to spend a long time looking up all the poems I like.
Who are your favorite poets?
See above.
How did you discover them?
Combination of literature courses, foreign language courses, and independent study over the past two decades or so.
Why should I read them? I am compiling a christmas list, and need to know.
Unless you read Spanish, Latin, or German, you couldn't read them as they ought to be read.
Still another non-answer, and more shoehorning. She asked why these poems ought to be read, not whether she could read them. It's in tremendously bad faith to simply answer in terms of one's supposed inability, rather than speaking to the merit of the poems themselves, which is not an unreasonable question. It's in even worse faith that you willfully discounted the merits of translation, however limiting it might be. It's in absolutely terrible faith that you selected ONLY non-english poets to bring into the conversation started by a poet who is an english speaker. One less charitable than I would think you did the last simply to have one final parting shot at the end of the survey. One less charitable than I might conclude that you sound like a bitter High School teacher passive-aggressively bullying people online for showing unguarded enthusiasm about something they've stake an implicit claim on.