Really amazing poem! I noticed that it also follows a strict rhyme scheme. People are trying to convince me that free verse is the best way to express oneself. But, this poem shows that original thought meshes well with an objective order of language.
Thanks, Walker. I finally had a chance to read this. I do think free verse can be powerful. But that's a really good essay, especially when he mentions the song of the spheres. Harmony and order characterize the cosmos, not chaos, and poetry should reflect this.
I would love to know how you go about convincing someone of that as it's something I've been thinking a lot about lately. Feel free to email me if you have the time/interest or comment below with your basic syllogism. Again--only if you have the time.
This debate goes back to the ancient Greeks. Aristotle mentions it in Book I, chapter 3 of Nicomachean Ethics. There are those who think that, because ethical beliefs seem to vary over cultures, they rest on convention (nomos), not on nature (physis). But I think, though there can be some variability in conventions, there are essential values we have to uphold in order to flourish as a human society. Honesty, for instance. Honesty is enjoined on us by nature because human society cannot function if we are consistently dishonest with one another. A work ethic is essential to human flourishing because we need to all chip in order to have a society that sustains our survival. There are virtues that are indispensable to human flourishing and even survival, and they are not just products of a particular culture or political system.
"thus to fling his soul" - amazing imagery!
"The Century's corpse" - is there a commentary on the 19th century implicit here?
Really amazing poem! I noticed that it also follows a strict rhyme scheme. People are trying to convince me that free verse is the best way to express oneself. But, this poem shows that original thought meshes well with an objective order of language.
A great response to such people can be found here: https://www.excellence-in-literature.com/the-slavery-of-free-verse-by-g-k-chesterton/#:~:text=It%20seems%20founded%20on%20one,by%20a%20thousand%20meaningless%20things.
Thanks, Walker. I finally had a chance to read this. I do think free verse can be powerful. But that's a really good essay, especially when he mentions the song of the spheres. Harmony and order characterize the cosmos, not chaos, and poetry should reflect this.
Yes, free verse can be done very well. But I think the greatest poetry will always have form. The universe is ordered, and poetry can reflect that.
Yes. There’s specifically a moral order. I’m trying to convince my students there is a universal natural law.
I would love to know how you go about convincing someone of that as it's something I've been thinking a lot about lately. Feel free to email me if you have the time/interest or comment below with your basic syllogism. Again--only if you have the time.
This debate goes back to the ancient Greeks. Aristotle mentions it in Book I, chapter 3 of Nicomachean Ethics. There are those who think that, because ethical beliefs seem to vary over cultures, they rest on convention (nomos), not on nature (physis). But I think, though there can be some variability in conventions, there are essential values we have to uphold in order to flourish as a human society. Honesty, for instance. Honesty is enjoined on us by nature because human society cannot function if we are consistently dishonest with one another. A work ethic is essential to human flourishing because we need to all chip in order to have a society that sustains our survival. There are virtues that are indispensable to human flourishing and even survival, and they are not just products of a particular culture or political system.