Paul’s pointing out that we can enjamb our sentences was an eye-opener. The sestina’s form is stingy with freedom, so enjambing (allowing my sentences to end mid-line) became essential in the re-write. I think this re-write is a more narrowly tailored fit for what I wanted to say originally.
Todays class hit on some tenets of writing which easily translate to prose – avoiding cliché, being careful not to over energize a line or a sentence. T.S. Elliot’s quote about dislocating wording into meanings, making them new, permeates my thinking on writing now. And it seems to permeate the writing of writers I love, writers who often avoid using words in their standard context. The novelists who move me tend to be as poetic as poets (Ondaatje, McCann, Chabon, Letham). Along that line, Paul suggested we read Two Lorries by Heaney, and I’d suggest Heaney has as much of a grasp of narrative and tense as a great writer of prose. So, to wrap up a ramble - while I’m primarily interested in becoming a novelist, I really don’t know how I could do so without also being a poet.
I think for poetry to matter, however, it can’t merely be a pursuit of dislocating words into new meaning, but new truths. Language which appears clever for it’s own sake feels like little more than a stunt. Language that reveals, exposes some knew feature, however small, of existence, of our many worlds and relationships, this poetry.
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