Re: kafka and rilke

when "bomb" was written it was written and printed in the shape of a bomb. it still happens sometimes.
  ----- Original Message -----
  From: Jim Rovira
  To: bananafish@roughdraft.org
  Sent: Saturday, June 28, 2003 8:50 AM
  Subject: Re: kafka and rilke

  I was hoping Robbie would chime in on this :).
  I agree with what you're saying about "song" -- I was using the word "song" somewhat anachronistically. I view much ancient poetry, even when unaccompanied by instrumental music, as "song" because, to my understanding, the poetry was lyrical and quite often sung.

  Isn't this the case with Homer's poetry, for example?

  I think the important distinction is between poetry that is meant to be "listened to" and poetry that is meant to be "read." For the sake of this discussion, I'm loosely applying the word "song" to the former category while the word "poetry" applies to both categories.

  Poetry meant to be quietly read didn't arise until the early modern period, to my knowledge. Even when written, it was intended to be read aloud, so quite often had lyrical qualities. You don't see many, or any, poems shaped like a chalice or a cross, for example -- poems with visual effects, until around the early modern period.

  Jim

Jim writes:
<< I think the distinction between "song" and "poetry" is a relatively
recent one, arising from the increase in printed text. >>

What's relatively new, I think, is the idea of a "song." For longer than we
have had writing we have had poetry and music -- sometimes poetry with
music, and despite some recent claims on this list, very often poetry with
no music (except, I suppose, insofar as a poem itself is "musical").
-
* Unsubscribing? Mail majordomo@roughdraft.org with the message
* UNSUBSCRIBE BANANAFISH
Received on Sun Jun 29 17:50:42 2003