Re: kafka and rilke

John O. -- if you're not interested in the discussion, then don't
participate :). From my end, I was agreeing with the idea that a rigid
distinction between song and poetry was a bit off, and was trying to
offer some historical support for that idea. I do think form matters so
want to know the reasons why rigid distinctions don't work.

Robbie said:

> (though I'm not prepared to agree with your
> generalization that early poems had to be sung because they were by
> illiterate poets and performed for illiterate audiences).
>

Yeah, as a generalization I don't agree with it either. I do think it
was regularly enough the case, though, to have influenced the conception
of both song and poetry in the English tradition. It's pretty well known
that English ballads existed for hundreds of years before being written
down -- some even crossed the Atlantic and enjoyed another, still
unwritten, life.

Jim

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Received on Sun Jun 29 18:22:05 2003