From: marek@casbah.acns.nwu.edu (Marek Lugowski)
Subject: Re: Mr. Nikolayev/Hail JJWebb
Organization: Northwestern University, Evanston Illinois.
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 1992 09:36:14 GMT

In article <92323.173618X67107@BARILVM.BITNET> <X67107@BARILVM.BITNET> writes:

>These are my opinions concerning recent postings by Chavaleh, about Mr.
>Nikolayev pathetic psudo-citical attacks.
>
>The initial artical by Chavaleh was the only piece of constructive advice

It should be pointed out that Chavaleh or Mr. Ab Enoit has written not
just constructively but truly gracefully, in the gentle, thoughtful ways
of his people.  I wish there were more Inuits on the East Coast..

>that I have I have seen  on rec.art.poems for a long time.

I beg your pardon.  There are oodles of noodles of constructive criticism
on rec.arts.poetry each week.  Is the Israeli Defense Department culling
your newsfeed or something?  R.a.p. is something of a conflict territory,
but I did not know we were under a military censorship.  Then again,
perhaps you just weren't paying attention.  Tsk, tsk.

>But you powers
>of criticsm are misdirected. To quote "Don't argue with a fool, people might
>not know the difference" (An old saying which appears in many Kenyan bars :) )

This is very wise.  (Note that I did not say "true" as to avoid
metaphysical arguments that have been plaguing r.a.p. on this score lately.)
Here in America, I am told, the idiomatic translation is "Don't get into a
pissing contest with a skunk for it doesn't matter who wins".

>If Nico is a fool why should we be distracted by his pathetic imitation of
>criticism. If he believed what he said about "Good Poetry", if such realy
>exists, then he wouldn't have acted such an intolerable thorn in the butt.

I'm not distracted.  I am taking furious notes.  It is not every day that
Harvard education is made available to the masses, and for free.  Think of
this as a correspondence course and lap it up.

>But if Niko is so obstitantly intolerable of imperfect verse,
>He has only these three practical choices:

(baited breath)

>1 Learn Hebrew and read the 'Song of Solomon' in the original form :)

Actually, I would recommend on the same level Ms. Coffin's "Song of
Solomon's Girlfriend", which although slightly less aged and therefore
not as full-bodied in its after taste (am I getting the wine talk down,
Mary Anne?), has the advantages of being readily available from Ms. Coffin,
and if you e-smile to her kindly, she might even post the non-Hebrew
version, to facilitate comprehension without learning Hebrew.  After all,
Hebrew, unlike Italian, actually has the property of needing to be learned
before idiomatic use. 

>2 Read the inferior (but nevertheless magnifcent) works of the famous English
>  poets.(I recommend Byron and Tenysson, but each person and his taste)

I agree that reading the abovementioned inferior poets is a passable choice.
I hasten, however, to recommend with greater insistence the works of exterior
poets, both famous and obscure, blond and brunette, of many other tongues
than English.  The preferrable thing about the exterior poet is that
everything is, you know, out in the open, or at least, abutting a large
waterway, sea, or a lake.  Anytime there is water imagery in poetry you 
can bank on sexual imagery being either implied or made explicit, and, to
quote a famous American poet, that's a good thang.

>3 Write those perfect lines himself, so they may come into existance.

I don't think this is an option.  Mr. Nikolayev has expressly eschewed
writing poems.  I am aware of other readers of rec.arts.poems who have done
so and I am sadenned every time I hear it.  Let's suppose for the sake of
argument that Mr. Nikolayev would write attrocious verse.  I for one, might
seize it as a great opportunity to sharpen my critiquing claws, er, Freudian
slip, I mean, skills...  Thus Mr. Nikolayev would be contributing to my
development as a critic and thus perform a useful role in the food chain.

>As I am not realy expecting him to bother to read this post. Let him do his
>worst against the 'Sub-Poets' around, it his time and pain and the task is
>thanksless.

Indeed, many a subpoet benefits from any form of exposure.  You can't
beat free press, even if it beats up on you.

				-- Marek
Newsgroups: rec.arts.poems