tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post3646471418499684786..comments2024-03-27T16:48:21.039-05:00Comments on Wuthering <br>Expectations: Behold this compost! behold it well! - singing along with Walt WhitmanAmateur Reader (Tom)http://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-13854590896518285412015-02-06T12:54:13.408-06:002015-02-06T12:54:13.408-06:00I would suggest that Whitman was perhaps too Ameri...I would suggest that Whitman was perhaps too American if there were not so many great European poets who responded to him, along with the dozens of American poets. So that ain't it. There is plenty to resist in Whitman, I do not doubt that.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-47632181952968670302015-02-06T11:19:00.969-06:002015-02-06T11:19:00.969-06:00Getting head and heart properly aligned has applic...Getting head and heart properly aligned has applications beyond reading but is no less difficult for that. I've always resisted Whitman while acknowledging something powerful that is there. I'm not sure if the resistance comes from head, heart or elsewhere.Séamus Dugganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00574186409184247059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-67483497795468486352015-02-05T11:52:52.860-06:002015-02-05T11:52:52.860-06:00What a story.
I think the classic Oxford don is a...What a story.<br /><br />I think the classic Oxford don is a special case of the academic species.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-88128274894743595072015-02-05T02:50:34.723-06:002015-02-05T02:50:34.723-06:00Robert Graves was being given a Viva Voce at Oxfo...Robert Graves was being given a Viva Voce at Oxford: "Hm" said an academic "It seems you prefer some poets to others, Mr. Graves."Roger Allenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11012987757094423896noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-69975147287669649252015-02-04T10:53:39.577-06:002015-02-04T10:53:39.577-06:00Both are plausible.Both are plausible.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-16244748440621262692015-02-04T10:46:29.310-06:002015-02-04T10:46:29.310-06:00Was it Nietzsche or Housman who was accused of hav...Was it Nietzsche or Housman who was accused of having favorite Latin poets by their fellow scholars? Imagine the audacity, enjoying what you read!...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-74465037807009963112015-02-04T10:31:44.514-06:002015-02-04T10:31:44.514-06:00Well, meant it in class, sure. How else do you tr...Well, meant it <i>in class</i>, sure. How else do you train professionals?Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-29853304558317998232015-02-04T10:19:30.060-06:002015-02-04T10:19:30.060-06:00No, the old bastard meant it. He wanted no "a...No, the old bastard meant it. He wanted no "affective fallacies" in any critical papers. Yes, The Little Professor and Rohan Maitzen and D. G. Myers and Marly Youmans and (yes!) AR(Tom) -- to name but five --- serve as reminders that heart-and-mind are collaborators in good criticism.R.T.https://www.blogger.com/profile/13220814349193561823noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-74570430031413483282015-02-04T10:14:50.834-06:002015-02-04T10:14:50.834-06:00That was just a warning shot at the "all hear...That was just a warning shot at the "all heart" crowd. He didn't really mean it. Reading critically is one of life's finest pleasures. Who reads <a href="http://littleprofessor.typepad.com/the_little_professor/" rel="nofollow">The Little Professor</a> (or fill in your favorite here) and thinks academics can't or don't read for pleasure?Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-23334639853140713912015-02-04T10:01:27.520-06:002015-02-04T10:01:27.520-06:00AR(Tom) . . . I think I will postpone my comments ...AR(Tom) . . . I think I will postpone my comments (except for some preliminaries that will be a bit superficial) until I get a copy of the Lynch book. She seems to be looking into the can of worms that has bothered me ever since grad school. And I am at this moment reminded of a comment made by a prof of literary criticism who warned me and other students in the class that we would henceforth be "ruined" as readers because we would no longer read for pleasure (read with our hearts) but would read as critics and analysts (read with our minds). Note: I was a poor student (and I suppose a poor teacher) in that I never quite got with the academia program -- my heart rather than my mind has dominated all of my reading. In any case, I will get back to the issues later -- after Lynch.R.T.https://www.blogger.com/profile/13220814349193561823noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-20110533925591447552015-02-04T09:57:09.261-06:002015-02-04T09:57:09.261-06:00Or those birds in "Out of the Cradle Endlessl...Or those birds in "Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking": <br />"He pour'd forth the meanings which I of all men know." <br /><br />I believe you, Brother Walt, I believe!Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-56526521456395986312015-02-04T09:51:24.986-06:002015-02-04T09:51:24.986-06:00Good. I did not understand the Joshua Rothman pie...Good. I did not understand the Joshua Rothman piece. You can explain it. Can Rothman be describing the Deidre Shauna Lynch book accurately?<br /><br />"Some mind, some heart," vary ratio as needed. That has always seemed best to me.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-43104974449455060432015-02-04T09:47:34.480-06:002015-02-04T09:47:34.480-06:00I don't know man. Veneration of the poet who w...I don't know man. Veneration of the poet who wrote lines like these is understandable (they are miracle enough to stagger sextillions of doubters, I think):<br /><br />I believe a leaf of grass is no less than the journey-work of the stars,<br />And the pismire is equally perfect, and a grain of sand, and the egg of the wren,<br />And the tree-toad is a masterpiece for the highest,<br />And the running blackberry would adorn the parlors of heaven,<br />And the narrowest hinge in my hand puts to scorn all machinery,<br />And the cow crunching with depress'd head surpasses any statue,<br />And a mouse is miracle enough to stagger sextillions of infidels.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-33584846382509197612015-02-04T09:35:54.283-06:002015-02-04T09:35:54.283-06:00AR(Tom), the notion of loving and embracing poetry...AR(Tom), the notion of loving and embracing poetry -- not quite what you have said here -- deserves some scrutiny. See my link to an article in The New Yorker --<br />http://beyondeastrod.blogspot.com/2015/02/coming-soon-readers-response-to-joshua.html<br />-- as it becomes, I think, an interesting starting point for talking about cerebral v. emotional responses to Whitman and others. In fact, the cerebral v. emotional becomes the dilemma for all serious readers (including folks in and out of academia), and I have long been wrestling with that paradox. Indeed, do we read with our minds or -- pardon the tortured metaphorical application -- our hearts? So, given that dilemma, how do we best read Whitman?R.T.https://www.blogger.com/profile/13220814349193561823noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-60871023535344895562015-02-04T09:22:36.486-06:002015-02-04T09:22:36.486-06:00I love that story. A truly Whitmanian moment. Em...I love that story. A truly Whitmanian moment. Embrace the ridiculousness, the kitsch and blowharding and crankery.<br /><br />Declaiming Whitman should make the job of mucking the compost go faster. I plan to do the same thing.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-74061128272885854832015-02-04T09:15:30.717-06:002015-02-04T09:15:30.717-06:00I think come spring as I am spreading the compost ...I think come spring as I am spreading the compost from my bin around the garden I shall yawp for all to hear “Behold this compost! behold it well!” I do love Whitman but have yet to be able to read him entire. I recall once in a college American lit class the professor was reading Whitman to the class and it was one of the poems with "O!" every few words. After a few lines one student broke and began giggling. It spread like wild fire around the room until even the professor started laughing. That was a great moment.Stefaniehttp://somanybooksblog.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-5719790520445937242015-02-04T09:15:07.233-06:002015-02-04T09:15:07.233-06:00All right. You're not just talking about Haro...All right. You're not just talking about Harold Bloom, are you? His language can get pretty strong.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-6769285325852880112015-02-04T08:47:28.952-06:002015-02-04T08:47:28.952-06:00My claim to iconoclasm comes from the fact that Wh...My claim to iconoclasm comes from the fact that Whitman is widely regarded as something like a god among many critics. I reject that apotheosis. Thus -- iconoclasm.<br /><br />A great poet? I can think of a few who deserve that title. There are so many good poets but very few great ones. Whitman ain't great. Thus -- iconoclasm.R.T.https://www.blogger.com/profile/13220814349193561823noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-54162963357468854752015-02-04T08:31:12.060-06:002015-02-04T08:31:12.060-06:00I'm not sure why you think that's iconocla...I'm not sure why you think that's iconoclastic. It seems like a common enough judgment - great conceptual innovator, smaller number of truly great poems.<br /><br />Although what is a great poet? The author of a great poem.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-68861698015479136302015-02-04T08:24:44.111-06:002015-02-04T08:24:44.111-06:00I would argue -- being the iconoclast that I am --...I would argue -- being the iconoclast that I am -- that Whitman's claim to fame (and greatness) is not necessarily quality (because a reader will not find it except in morsels) but innovation in American literature. In other words, read Whitman for his singularity and his willingness to break free from conventional forms rather than his poetic brilliance (occasional nuggets of gold). Too harsh? Too critical? Too iconoclastic? Yeah, I suppose. There are plenty of readers and critics who remain convinced that Whitman deserves apotheosis. I say otherwise.R.T.https://www.blogger.com/profile/13220814349193561823noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-44874518714910049212015-02-04T08:19:26.723-06:002015-02-04T08:19:26.723-06:00Whitman is so big that there is a Whitman for ever...Whitman is so big that there is a Whitman for everyone.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-82155457403694634532015-02-04T05:41:28.245-06:002015-02-04T05:41:28.245-06:00I am a big fan of Leaves of Grass.
Whitman certa...I am a big fan of Leaves of Grass. <br /><br />Whitman certainly had knack for digging into things like compost heaps and finding allegories for universal things. Like many others I find this strangely appealing.Brian Josephhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15139559400312336791noreply@blogger.com