dumbfoundry

THOR KAH HOONG interviews Malaysian poet Raja Ahmad Aminullah, resulting in gentle observations of Raja Ahmad's newly published book of poetry.

To: soulship@rumahykp.org.my
Subject: Menyarung Jiwa Soulship

Dear Raja Ahmad,

In the conversation we had in my bookstore last week, you made a point of noting the e-mail address (the one above) printed on the last page of your collection of poems. That and a postal address were there because you sought opinions, views, feedback.

When you made that point, my mind took an unexpected quirky leap and landed on a humorous observation that I had read decades ago (possibly one of those one-liners that padded space at the end of a feature in the Readers' Digest), something that I had forgotten until you expressed your wish for a response.

Don Marquis, the humorist: "Writing a book of poetry is like dropping a rose petal down the Grand Canyon and waiting for an echo." [...]

By and large poetry doesn’t sell, isn’t read. The Nobel Prize must help the circulation of those occasional poets who are honoured. Without his adoption in syllabi all over the English-speaking world, would T.S. Eliot have been read voluntarily by the thousands who have done so? [...]

But for every Emily Dickinson or Robert Frost or Rendra who can strike a resonant echo in thousands of people with the sound and meaning of their words, there are hundred of others whose work are known only to a coterie (and thousands of aspiring others who, frankly, deserve the oblivion that greets their gushing sentiments). [...]

This entry was posted by eeksypeeksy on Tuesday, October 19, 2004 at 9:09 AM. You can skip to the end and leave a response.