I have written extensively on "reading poetry aloud". The most recent posting (as of today) can be accessed at the following http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/performance_poetry/28604 It is Part One of an article about Melbourne poet, PiO. While the lengthy article is really an appreciation of Pi and his poetics, I offer it to the List because it addresses several points raised by members of this list, re: orality. Stoneking ----- Original Message ----- From: Richard Edwards <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Tuesday, November 30, 1999 10:23 AM Subject: Re: Reading Poetry Aloud > What do you think of Geoffrey Hill's readings? I am struck by the way he > insists on reading over line endings without a break unless the punctuation > tells him to pause. Until I heard him read I always thought the whole point > about his most typical line endings was to be "vertiginous", leading the > reader over some terrible intellectual and rhythmical brink. But he reads > his poems as if the ends of the lines weren't there. > > Pound on the other hand does an excellent job of emphasising that which > seems to me to be most characteristic of his versification: the "spondaic" > (for want of a better word) line-ending, almost always marked by a > syntactical pause. > > By the way, when are you going to add something to the Bunting website at > Durham? > > And another thing (assuming ignorant questions are ok on a specialist list > provided they're off-topic): what is "lang-po"? Is it something to do with > the Prynne / Crozier crowd or am I hopelessly out of date? > > > Richard Edwards > > >From: Richard Caddel <[log in to unmask]> > >Reply-To: Ezra Pound discussion list of the University of Maine > > <[log in to unmask]> > >To: [log in to unmask] > >Subject: Re: Reading Poetry Aloud > >Date: Mon, 29 Nov 1999 22:10:43 GMT > > > >On Mon, 29 Nov 1999 12:56:10 -0500, you wrote: > > > > >Just a rhetorical question: Is this subject really off-topic? > > > >- well, I'd hope not, obviously, for the key thing which drew / draws > >me to Pound - warts an' all - is the way he sounds, the opportunity he > >gives me to explore language on the air. And yes, the Bunting / Alps > >poem is right still, or sems so to me: "Fatal glaciers, crags cranks > >climb /... et l'on entend, maybe, le refrain joyeux et leger." For > >myself, retired musician (ok, fired musician) I've been stumbling > >around on it for over thirty years, and it still excites me, I still > >get new stuff from it. There are very few writers of whom I can say > >that. > > > >That's why I'm seeking to look at that lineage I mentioned, Yeats > > >Pound > Bunting > various poets of today (mainly UK; no offence > >intended: it's where I live), and why I'm grateful to members of this > >list for some of the contributions to this thread. > > > >Because this list seems to consist mainly of duets, I'd better find > >something to object to, perhaps it's this: I wouldn't be so quick to > >slam all of LangPo as performers: I've heard those who are superb > >controllers of line, pitch and measure on their own account. That > >there are turkeys in this wide and diverse "group" (as all others) > >ain't the point: that somehow, despite the widespread neglect of the > >study of poetry-read-aloud, individuals still hit into the old stream, > >well that's noteworthy. > > > >My two pet hates on the poetry reading circuit are the Mutterer, and > >the Preacherman: they operate right across the spectrum, but neither > >of these two have learned a thing from the lineage I associate with > >Pound. When, by mistake, I find myself listening to either of these > >ear-dead slackers, I leave. Life's short. > > > >RC > > ______________________________________________________ > Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com >