Dumbwaiter Broken
March 19, 2005 - 8:50 am
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Norm, in my opinion, picked the wrong poem to, what, imitate? emulate? emasculate? suffocate? Whatever. Apologies is right.
Better choice:
http://home.tiscali.be/ericlaermans/cultural/owen/the-dead-beat.html
Pinter reads small and Norm, posing as a poet, doesn’t have to be read at all.
Norm, posing as a poet, doesn’t have to be read at all.
Oh, I don’t know, I thought he did all right. I don’t see the relevance of your selection though; it is a decent poem, but there are many such. What makes it apropos to Pinter winning the prize?
Irony.
Patrick,
Irony? Please explain. Perhaps it is too obvious for me.
Norm takes the title and some of the structure of one of Owen’s most famous and best poems and procedes, in my opinion, to substitute the particular for the universal and the inane for the profound. To what purpose?
The Dead-Beat absolves the enemy while damning with irony the non-combatants and the care-givers. It’s not a great poem, but then you post it with some examples of Pinter’s recent poetical work and, by comparison, it is a great poem…
…and if you do want to imitate, etc. in a few verses of your own composing you can use irony (I’d think effectively) and the relative obsurity of the source material doesn’t involve annoying some readers who are familiar with the more famous source poem and think your effort demeaning to “poetry” in much the same way you think are Pinter’s efforts. There’s some irony in that.
Patrick,
I still fail to see anything ironic about what Norm did. It is not uncommon, especially in english letters, to take a poem and change it to apply to a topical matter. What’s the big deal. Poems aren’t sacred objects, except perhaps in these depressing times when little decent poetry is written. Norm criticizes Pinter in his way, you, sorta, criticize him in yours.
I still fail to see anything ironic about what Norm did.
I didn’t think you would. My apologies to anyone who thinks reading The Dead-Beat a waste of time.
Link to Owen’s Strange Meeting:
http://home.tiscali.be/ericlaermans/cultural/owen/strange-meeting.html
Never complain and never explain. My excuse is a slight fever. Forgive me, or don’t.