"He Became, Of Course, A Critic"

      Reading this summary of the history of English poetry, I was reminded of those histories of the world compiled from student errors. Although this summary is not given to the same sorts of errors, there are some awfully, shall we say, jejeune statements that elicit laughter either for their audacity or for their grand over-simplification. See, for example, the assessment that after 1804 Coleridge's "poetry took a turn for the worse and his opinions to the conservative. He became, of course, a critic." Similarly this: "Although frequently intellectually arrogant and often immersed in melancholy and self-pity (not always without reason), Shelley is still highly regarded." Ho-ho. Then there's the final paragraph which rings of naive endeavour:

In the later twentieth century and early 21st, it has become perfectly possible to eschew modern poetry altogether and feel little shame. Innumerable fine poets such as Simon Armitage and Edwin Morgan simultaneously achieve recognition but condemn themselves by allowing their poems to be anthologized for teenage exams. Poetry has become a matter for study only, and volumes sell in the low thousands at best unless written by the dead or by our sole remaining public poet of any dignity and ambition: Seamus Heaney. Indeed, poetry books make up only 3 of all book sales in England. The lover of verse is best advised to seek the voices set to popular music such as Tom Waits, Neil Young, Leonard Cohen (an exceptional poet before and during his songwriting), Bob Dylan and Nick Cave. We might blame the lack of recent whole-world conflict or fear of God for our poetic decline and look to those shaken by political turmoil for inspiration. In fact, the Anglo-centrism of ‘classic’ poetry – thoroughly endorsed, unfortunately but inevitably, by this brief guide through poetry in English – has ensured that after exploiting oppression, repressed sexuality, bigotry and finally indulging in experimental poetry, we must now listen to those with something to say (American poets such as Ai and Sonia Sanchez spring to mind). This is neither a call to arms nor a declaration of the end of poetry, merely a promise that white male middle-class poetry will now have competition from the other billions of voices that make up the world and can now shout eloquently with a chance of being heard.

Ah.... Okee-DOH-kee. This is what I would call "intelligent innocence." I have to chuckle that Neil Young warrants mention in this while Emily Dickinson does not. And, of course, it has to invoke the fitful phrases of "exploiting oppression," "repressed sexuality," "bigotry," and "white male middle-class poetry." This is what happens when you take anything from Bibliomania.