Comments on: Poetic Conventions Should Be Shunned http://www.worldclasspoetryblog.com/poetic-conventions-should-be-shunned/03/11/2008/ Commentary On 21st Century Poetics Sat, 10 Jul 2010 17:13:20 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 By: the poet http://www.worldclasspoetryblog.com/poetic-conventions-should-be-shunned/03/11/2008/comment-page-1/#comment-234 the poet Wed, 12 Mar 2008 04:06:21 +0000 http://worldclasspoetryblog.com/poetic-conventions-should-be-shunned/03/11/2008/#comment-234 The way I'm using the words, a preference is when you might say "I don't much care for alliteration at all and I won't use it," whereas prejudice would be "alliteration should not be used in poetry and I won't read a poem if it involves alliteration." There is a fine distinction, a subtle nuance. It may seem harmless enough, and it is until someone decides to turn a prejudice into a convention, which is more like "Alliteration is not allowed and no one should ever incorporate it into any poetry at any time." A preference is one person's leaning toward a particular type of poetry or element of craft over another. A prejudice is a leaning away from a particular type of poetry or element of craft because one prefers something else. A convention is an imposition of a prejudice or preference upon others. The way I’m using the words, a preference is when you might say “I don’t much care for alliteration at all and I won’t use it,” whereas prejudice would be “alliteration should not be used in poetry and I won’t read a poem if it involves alliteration.” There is a fine distinction, a subtle nuance. It may seem harmless enough, and it is until someone decides to turn a prejudice into a convention, which is more like “Alliteration is not allowed and no one should ever incorporate it into any poetry at any time.”

A preference is one person’s leaning toward a particular type of poetry or element of craft over another. A prejudice is a leaning away from a particular type of poetry or element of craft because one prefers something else. A convention is an imposition of a prejudice or preference upon others.

]]> By: Jim Murdoch http://www.worldclasspoetryblog.com/poetic-conventions-should-be-shunned/03/11/2008/comment-page-1/#comment-235 Jim Murdoch Tue, 11 Mar 2008 22:29:44 +0000 http://worldclasspoetryblog.com/poetic-conventions-should-be-shunned/03/11/2008/#comment-235 I'm not sure where the line is drawn between prejudice and personal taste. Personally it takes a lot to get me to look at any poem over a certain length. My opinion is that most of the time they're making a meal of it or that there is more than one poem vying for attention. I've never written a poem longer than a page in length since I was a teenager and it was a bad poem. For example, is 'Paterson' a poem or a poetry collection? I don't think it honestly matters. At the end of the day there is writing and there is bad writing and there's no accounting for taste. I’m not sure where the line is drawn between prejudice and personal taste. Personally it takes a lot to get me to look at any poem over a certain length. My opinion is that most of the time they’re making a meal of it or that there is more than one poem vying for attention. I’ve never written a poem longer than a page in length since I was a teenager and it was a bad poem. For example, is ‘Paterson’ a poem or a poetry collection? I don’t think it honestly matters. At the end of the day there is writing and there is bad writing and there’s no accounting for taste.

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