Poetic Amusement

Abstract

Poetry appears to be flourishing now more than ever with the abundance of poetry slams, contests, government funding, literary magazines, and a seemingly large audience. Many critics, however, decry that this is simply unsubstantiated shadow; that poetry is in fact in the throes of death, but these critics are wrong.

Amusement has become the most important, if not the singular preoccupation of American society. Consider television shows dedicated to poetry, massive poetry conferences and festivals attended by thousands; and spoken word shows traveling a performance circuit like rock bands. Contemporary American poetry has become deeply enmeshed in the midst of this great social morass of amusement. The Muse has been replaced in contemporary America by a poetry industry that both caters to, and is created by, the masses. The poetry industry, which is dependent upon the seedbeds of both public assistance and academia for its sustenance, is solidly democratic in nature.

The democratic nature is best exemplified in the prevalence of the creative writing workshop where poems are subjected to a majority rule rather than the individual voice of the poet. This "poetry by committee" results in poems that have been mediocratized to the point that they all begin to look alike, and any sense of an individual voice is lost.

Donald Hall calls these workshop generations, "McPoems." As Doug Treem once said, "It's like using McDonald's to rid the world of hunger." One cannot cure society's ills by force feeding them food lacking in substance. Rather, we hear Kenneth Patchen's admonishment: "The one who comes to question himself has cared for mankind." Poets must search within themselves in order to tap into the Muse and allow it to flourish in their lives and more importantly in the life of their poetry. It is this inward going, as Rainer Maria Rilke admonishes when he says "go into yourself," that is missing in contemporary American poetry.

The creative writing programs and Master of Fine Arts programs (MFA) have attempted to demystify poetry by removing the Muse and only teaching craft. However, the MFA programs need to recognize that the Muse can be taught in a circurmambient fashion, by emphasizing literary stewardship and de-emphasizing the forced and contrived production of poems.

This literary stewardship exists through the poet emanating from the past and toward the future. Removing the classics from the instruction of poetry and focusing solely on the study of contemporary poets has limited the knowledge and breadth of the poet. By studying classics the poet can develop a distinctive and unique voice. Also, by studying across time and cultures, the poets are able to reduce the dangers of only producing "Xerox syndrome" poems, where the student is copying a technique of their teacher, who copied a technique from their teacher: each successive generation becoming weaker and farther away from the original voice.

By returning the Muse to its rightful place alongside craft, contemporary American poetry can once again flourish with individual voices and a noticeable "soul."