3 hours ago
It's not that it's bad in itself PER SE
Admittedly that's a matter of taste, to some degree
But I think the real, more objective issue is that to write like this, and have it really land, *you have to command the authority of the old masters*
Like sure write like Dylan Thomas if you want, it better goddamn feel like I'm reading Dylan Thomas level craft. Otherwise the predominant impression will be one of imitation by a less skilled amateur. The ostensible goal of the poem will be lost in unavoidable comparison and questioning of "did they say it that way because that's how this speaker talks, or because they think that's what a poem should sound like?"
It is very hard to write outside one's own contemporary vernacular without sounding like you're "putting it on"
Admittedly that's a matter of taste, to some degree
But I think the real, more objective issue is that to write like this, and have it really land, *you have to command the authority of the old masters*
Like sure write like Dylan Thomas if you want, it better goddamn feel like I'm reading Dylan Thomas level craft. Otherwise the predominant impression will be one of imitation by a less skilled amateur. The ostensible goal of the poem will be lost in unavoidable comparison and questioning of "did they say it that way because that's how this speaker talks, or because they think that's what a poem should sound like?"
It is very hard to write outside one's own contemporary vernacular without sounding like you're "putting it on"