When you are old (WBYeats)

[mat james]

I believe that the philosophy of a poet does not affect the quality of his poem.

Jill


According to Joseph Brodsky,(Nobel prize for literature, 1987) in his essay "Uncommon Visage" and referencing art/poetry/literature:

"the real danger for a writer is not so much the possibility of persecusion on the part of the state as it is the possibility of finding oneself mesmerised by the states features, which whether monstrous or undergoing changes for the better, are always temporary.
The philosophy of the state, its ethics -not to mention its aesthetics -are always "yesterday" ".
He goes on to say that "art is not synonymous with, but at best parallel to history...for a man with taste, particularly with literary taste, is less susceptible to the refrains and the rythmical incantations peculiar to any version of political demagogy".

The implication here is that the great poets/artists are "ahead of their time" and society and politics may or may not catch up, later on down the track.
So was Yeats "great" or just a "middle order" poet ?

Matj

[jill]

Hi mat. I agree with the philosophy you quoted. So many governments use poets and other artists for propaganda purposes. When US writers visited the Soviet Union in the thirties, many naively fell for the party line. Meanwhile, their artists were sent to Siberia.

I'm sure this is true for other political entities: the book burnings in Nazi Germany, for one.

I don't know enough about poetry make any judgments (yet)

Jill

[William]

Mat,
Your Brodsky quotation is interesting but trite once analysed.
Brodsky, whom I met once at a conference in Oxford, was an arrogant ass.

Jill, there are untold writers in the United States and here in Britain who have taken the Yankee Dollar/ the King's Shilling for their work and been sucked into the establishment.

It happens in all political systems.

God bless,
William

[mat james]

Brodsky, whom I met once at a conference in Oxford, was an arrogant ass.

Interesting remarks William!

The problem with arrogant people is that sometimes they are right. But, arrogance is always off-putting so I understand your apparent rejection of the man and seemingly, his ideas.
The essays of his that I have read, I have enjoyed.
This line of thought brings to mind Hemmingway, who seems to have been an arrogant ass also; but man can he write simply and beautifully and very sensitively with a deep understanding of human nature. And he seems to have been such a macho jock in his daily life.This sort of paradoxical personality is probably not uncommon among talented writers/artists.

Anyway, thanks for the perspective on Brodsky, William.

Jill,

many naively fell for the party line. Meanwhile, their artists were sent to Siberia.

It is a good point you make, Jill .
Part of me is always seduced by the political apostate. They are the ones who dare to differ. And dare to suffer.
Yet another part of me is conciliatory, (perhaps lazy ?) and always wants to forgive and just move on.
Ah! "The World of the opposites"!!!

Matj