Sunday, April 15, 2007

Statements on Poetics-Charles Olsen

I liked what Olsen said about the assurance of the ear. I find my ear on poetics (of course) to be in the highest of categories. Yet Olsen's work felt like such an audible piece; so much was emphasized literally on the page, words like "HEAD, EAR, SYLLABLE,HEART, BREATH,LINE" I found myself ignoring the essay and following the bold words, like an idiot, but i found that in doing so the message was clearer. Olsen suggests to my ear a type of poetry passed on the pulse of the human hand as it writes. It is the "MOVE INSTANTER OBJECTS" and the"LAW OF THE LINE", I'm not sure Olsen was advocating a transfer of energy but instead the acknowledgement of energy, the record that is...Poetry. Its like the "TA-DA" moment at a magic show, when the trick is revealed. Olsen says ta-da! poetry is here, in your face, like an energy bullet. I like that he says that "where breath has its beginnings, where drama has to come from, where the coincidence is, all act springs" poetry is such an act, i feel like half the time I'm writing I'm holding my breath till its over. I imagine Olsen was trying to underline a similar universal feeling of "wow if i could just say it"

1 comment:

Kasey Mohammad said...

Yes, sometimes it's more effective to read essays like Olson's (note spelling) as performative music than to crack your skull trying to get it to yield a coherent paraphrase.

Good comments, if a bit brief.