“Among those today who believe that modern poetry must do without rhyme or metre, there is an assumption that the alternative to free verse is a crash course in villanelles, sestinas and other such fixed forms. But most... are rare in English poetry. Few poets have written a villanelle worth reading, or indeed regret not having done so.” BelieveDoneTodayFormCoursesReadingWrittenModernPoetRegretAlternativesFixedAssumptionVersesCrashRhymeWorth ReadingFree VerseModern PoetryEnglish Poetry Author:James Fenton
“Saigon was an addicted city, and we were the drug: the corruption of children, the mutilation of young men, the prostitution of women, the humiliation of the old, the division of the family, the division of the country-it had all been done in our name. . . . The French city . . . had represented the opium stage of the addiction. With the Americans had begun the heroin phase.” MenChildrenWarCountryDoneYoungNamesCitiesStageDrugAddictionCorruptionYoung ManDivisionPhasesHumiliationProstitutionVietnam WarHeroinOpiumMutilationSaigon Author:James Fenton
“Imitation, if it is not forgery, is a fine thing. It stems from a generous impulse, and a realistic sense of what can and cannot be done.” IfsDoneFineImpulseGenerousRealisticImitationStemFine ThingsForgery Author:James Fenton
“Lyric poetry is, of course, musical in origin. I do know that what happened to poetry in the twentieth century was that it began to be written for the page. When it's a question of typography, why not? Poets have done beautiful things with typography - Apollinaire's 'Calligrammes,' that sort of thing.” KnowsDoneBeautifulCoursesWrittenHappenedCenturyPoetPagesMusicalPoetry IsWhy NotBeautiful ThingsTwentieth CenturyTypographyLyric Poetry Author:James Fenton
