The Washington times., 1917-02-05
Don Marquis
Column
Especially for Poets.


the poets and editors and publishers
of America.
But before we make II we want to
define poetry. A great many persons
have tried to define poetry, but none
of their definitions have been salts
factory to US. We wish to defne
poetry permanently, and not merely
for the purposes OF this article.
Poetry, then, is what is written by
any person who wishes to think him.
self or herself a poet. Any one VINO
thinks he writes poetry does write
poetry, and his output shall be con
sidered poetry, whether any one else
thinks it is poetry or not.
This let's us all in.
But to approach our proposal: All
of us poets are apt to assume that
we are contributing something vital
to current life, something significant
something important.
Vitality, significance, importance!
None of us says 1t about his own
work; none of us has quite that much
nerve. But each of us says 1t about
the work of some one else, and then
the other fellow says 1t about our
work.
Each one of us thinks he Is vital
and significant and important. But
each has a doubt about many OF the
others. We veil these doubts and
deny we have them. And this denial
shows our generosity. For we make
a point of being generous, we poets.
We apRear to be the most civilized
people in the world. when you con-
slider how many doubts We have about
each others poetry and how carefully
We hide them.
The proposal we have in mind is in
the nature of a test of the vitality,
the Significance. the Importance OF
the poems of all of us.
We propose that all the poets In
America sign a solemn agreement TO
publish no poems for a period of two
years; and that the editors and pub
fishers of the country also enter into
this agreement.
Let US dll tame dho 6S bA
ly into the silences together.
At the end Of two years we should
be able to ascertain II we have been
missed at all. We should learn wheth-
er the country has gone back spirit
ually and mentally through the lack
OF our poetry; We should be able to
form some notion as to whether we
really are contributing something
vital, significant and important to
national life.
By publication we mean not only
publication through printing, but also
word-of-mouth publication. No one
should be allowed to recite his poems
publicly, nor even to recite them
privately to persons who are not
themselves practicing p oets. Poets
could still get together in secret and
recite their poems to one another.
To deny them that would be cruelty.
It would be especially cruel to sonnet
writer's. The new tangled vers libre
writer has one advantage at least
over the old-fashioned American plan
sonnet writer. Sonnet writer's always
read their poems aloud to their
lElCUust NhdN DCihS OhC SAlcA ASoSoN
for the writing of sonnets. But vers
libre bards merely hand one the proof
sheets and then go over and look out
the window. Our windows are all
stained and scorched where burning
vers libre bards have stared out of
them.
II at the end of two years the poets
A. h,f
life has perceptibIy deteriorated in
tone, they may all start up again.
II two years seems too short a time,
we, personally, both as poet and an
editor, are willing to make II ten
years, or even tewnty years. We are
this way about poetry-we can either
take II or let il alone; we like little
occasionally, but we are not a slave
to it. We do not have a great deal
of respect for a person who cannot
carry his poetry without staggering.
The question will naturally arise as
to who shall be the judge of whether
national life deteriorates or improves
with the cessation OF poetry. Some of
you will wish to have that determined
by some sort OF commission, no
doubt. But the members OF a COM
mission are forever quarreling and
disagreeing and presenting minority
reports. Our own opinion is that
some >one person should be the Judge.
And we cannot think, offhand, of a
person who would enjoy being the
Judge any more than we would, our
self So we will consider that detail
settled.
But there Is one thing we must be
careful about so as not to hurt each
others feelings. None of you must
hint or say that our poetry, or Jones'.
or Browns, or Smiths poetry, could
be discarded for couple of years and
the world be all the better for it. We
must all hide our real thoughts and
stick together in this thing, IL we
vote to go into 1t. Some of us will
lose a great deal OF money, and some
of us will save a great deal.of time.
and IT is a serious matter. We must
stick.
A good way to make everybody
stick would be to make everybody
post a money forfeit. AS the origin
ator of the idea we suppose we would
have to take charge OF the forfeits
In case we discovered any one vioIat-
ing the agreement his money would
come IN us as the originator of tba