tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post2675925875037412799..comments2024-03-27T16:48:21.039-05:00Comments on Wuthering <br>Expectations: By the dismal tarns and pools / Where dwell the Ghouls - Poe the poetAmateur Reader (Tom)http://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-44760579184827609432009-02-22T12:44:00.000-06:002009-02-22T12:44:00.000-06:00To reach the word-count, well yes, obviously. Obvi...To reach the word-count, well yes, obviously. Obvious now that you've told me, I mean. That explains another occasional feature of Poe's reviews, when he provides a comment on every single poem in a book, even when he has nothing to say about it, e.g.:<BR/><BR/>"'The Statue-Love' is not very good... 'Summer' is quite feeble."<BR/><BR/>review of <I>The Coming of the Mammoth</I> by Henry B. Hirst, LOA, p. 604.<BR/><BR/>The virute of this approach, as Neil says, it that it does give a lot of attention to the actual poems. How many poets today enjoy reviews of such depth? <BR/><BR/>T. Femme is correct in pointing out the enormous, inescapable influence of Mrs. Leo Hunter on the verse of Edgar Allan Poe (and, of course, on all of his contemporaries). To quote Mr. Pickwick on the subject: "Beautiful!", "Very," and "Finely expressed."Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-18142177864922546152009-02-21T22:14:00.000-06:002009-02-21T22:14:00.000-06:00Can I view thee panting, lyingOn thy stomach, with...Can I view thee panting, lying<BR/>On thy stomach, without sighing;<BR/>Can I unmoved see thee dying<BR/>On a log,<BR/>Expiring frog!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-27332813352761561762009-02-21T17:20:00.000-06:002009-02-21T17:20:00.000-06:00Word-count - yes. So many things are explained by ...Word-count - yes. So many things are explained by that. When tradition bearers realised they were being paid by the page by the Irish Folklore Commission, there was a sudden insurge of pages with very large writing. But there's a truth too that reviewers really need to quote from the books they are reviewing. It's true for prose and poetry, that you as the reader of the review can only really grasp the worth of the work under review by sampling the writer's use of language. And now I want to see a poetry anthology with all the "best bits" italicised. What fun.Neilhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18020242863144175965noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-80145722929245847072009-02-21T15:06:00.000-06:002009-02-21T15:06:00.000-06:00This is standard practice for nineteenth-century r...This is standard practice for nineteenth-century reviewing in both Britain and America--mostly to enable the reviewer to reach his or her designated word count, I'm afraid! Novels are treated the same way.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03912822372289365516noreply@blogger.com