Adil Jussawalla did a presentation on Robert Graves very recently, and I assisted him in the same reading by looking at poems by Laura Riding (who was Graves' consort for several years as well as collaborating with him on several works) and contemporaries of Laura's such as Elizabeth Jennings, Edith Sitwell, and Stevie Smith. Graves started with strict adherence to form and rhyme, as you would expect from a poet born in the Victorian period (just), but in later years moved to a more fluid style. Sitwell did much the same, but never achieved the same fluidity - which is not true of Jennings and Smith, who were somewhat younger and perhaps less contrained by the old perception that poetry is a male preserve. You should see my book-shelves...one shelf for the women poets, four for the men. Not by choice - there are simply fewer women poets.
I think as you get older form matters less and content, and perhaps visual presentation, become more important. A more fluid style evolves which does not always conform to what purists see as immutable rules.
Perhaps poetry as a performing art requires form, while poetry to be read to oneself can handle a looser style. Yet there is a rhythm inherent in our speech which translates itself into the most free-style of poetry; I think if you find a poet lacking inherent rhythm he will be a bad poet, and a lousy dancer to boot. Check it out: a classical singer friend showed me how most poetry can be tapped out, to find the beat, and it is becomes one of the tests of a good poem - but only one. There has to be imagery too, and I think economy of _expression_ is good.
There is one aspect, however, which is that for quite a number of Indian poets English is not their first language (jayanta mahapatra being one) - their inherent speech rhythms may well clash with that of english; the iambic pentameter does not come naturally to the Indian tongue.
Possibly, then, the song-shythms inherent in their native tongue would intrude. Perhaps this is what jars, because it sits uneasily with English.
Can you tell me which Indian poets have thrown the baby out with the bath-water?
I don't agree if you include Nissim Ezekiel, you might as well say TS Eliot too in that case. But then maybe you don't like either.
Regards, Jane Bhandari
Rajan Barrett <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Well Jane,I guess its fine if there are internal rhymes well yes it can get depressing if there is too much of the end rhymes but I do not ask the poets to write finished products with rhymes but try to play with poetry and the rhymescheme. I think we as indians have thrown the baby out with the bath wate. well yes keki daruwalla is sensistive to the form.Rajan
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