From All is poetry (review of John Ashbery and American Poetry):
- "I live with this paradox; on the one hand, I am an important poet, read by younger writers, and on the other hand, nobody understands me. I am often asked to account for this state of affairs, but I can't."
- "If my poetry is oblique, it's because I want to slant it at as wide an audience as possible, odd as it may come out in practice. Therefore, if I'm writing a love poem it won't talk about specifics, but just about the general feeling which anybody might conceivably be able to share."
- Charmingly, in riposte to accusations of obscurity, Ashbery has stated that "a poem that communicates something that's already known to a reader is not really communicating anything to him, and in fact shows a lack of respect". Or, more strongly: "It's a veiled insult to the reader."
This entry was posted by eeksypeeksy
on Friday, March 12, 2004 at 11:14 AM.
You can skip to the end and leave a response.
» Post a Comment