The Aesthetic of Whimsy: A Close Reading of Koch’s “Permanently” In Brian M. Reed’s chapter, “The New York School,” Reed describes the New York poets as embracing the inherent playfulness of language. Their poems use poetic techniques that, at first glance, do not seem very sophisticated. Wordplay, puns, poetic association, whimsical discontinuity, comedy — these […]
At face value, the New York School poets can be difficult to define. They all appear unique in their own ways, while somehow maintaining a similar (sort of) style, a tendency toward abstraction, as if they have an answer they refuse to share, an image they leave intentionally unresolved, an underlying philosophy they only hint […]
“September, Summerville” It’s Saturday, 11:30, and while you’re at work, I sit at the bar at Frothy’s, fiddling with the QR code reader. It’s hot and muggy outside, and I shiver in the air conditioning, sweat from my morning boxing class and the September heat still damp on my shirt. The phone finally scans the […]
It’s there, and you try not to think about it the quickness of uncertainty, or pause before thought, before speech It happens, daily darkness and cretonne plush scam of formaldehyde charlatans but we do it cause no one want to die tacky Hell, I don’t really want, to die at all […]
Timeline of Black Mountain College: 1933- John Andrew Rice is dismissed from his position at Rollins College (FL) and soon after founds Black Mountain College in Black Mountain, North Carolina 1937- BMC purchases a tract of land near Lake Eden; Rice resigns and Josef Albers becomes rector 1949- Olson first visits BMC as teaching faculty […]
Ellen Gwin Dr. Anton Vander Zee American Poetry Since 1945 6 September 2022 Becoming a Yes-Sayer The Black Mountain Poets existed as “a group of interconnected poets, many of whom were connected together through Black Mountain College” (The Black Mountain Poets). Although the group did not identify under the title “The Black Mountain […]
Charles Olson is often regarded as the founder of the Black Mountain School of poetry which widely applies what John Osbourne calls a “peculiarly energized version of free verse” (170), known as “projective verse.” In Olson’s manifesto “Projective Verse,” he speaks at length on the idea of projective verse and open form poetry. As Cary […]
I have never read any of the Black Mountain poets, but I am glad I have now. It was all very enjoyable and rewarding for me to read. And while I think these poets may be more difficult to talk about compared to the Beats, maybe sticking to the techniques mentioned in the Osborne essay […]
An Expression I found I love you somewhere in pink and blue, breathe in and keep breathing, you hold words in silent pauses. Everything is being said. I love you too, then why speak at all. To feel, feel. I see depth and depth deal in soft […]
In reading poetry from the Black Mountain poets, I came to the realization that it would be difficult to effectively discuss their poems, aside from the use of white space, the syllables, the construction of lines, etc. For me, such a discussion somewhat fails to get at the heart of their work. Olson highlighted the […]