"The coronation of kings, the praise of nations, the vindication of the
ways of god (or the gods) to man, the counting and administration of the
wealth of the rulers. These were the original tasks of the poem... Poets
really are the unacknowledged legislators of the world because, from the
start, the poem was a tool for the administration of the affairs of
state..."
These are very questionable statements. They refer specifically to
written poetry, and even then they're pretty dodgy. It's just as valid
to argue that the origin of poetry lies in nursery-rhyme and the
playing-with-words which happens in childhood. "Georgie Porgie pudding
and pie" is just as much an Ur-poem as the Epic of Gilgamesh, and it's
got nothing to do with administration or affairs of state.
- Edward
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