Whitman vs Ginsberg

[AChild]

Can Howl and other poems stand the test of time like leaves of grass?

 

[Tzara]

Can Howl and other poems stand the test of time like leaves of grass?

I'm not sure what you're asking, AC. Are you asking whether "Howl" will still be seen 100 years from now as a significant poem, as Whitman's Leaves of Grass is some 100 years after its composition? Or are you asking whether any contemporary poems or poets will still be read and admired 100 years from now?

I'm much more confident about saying "yes" to the latter, although even that is dicey. Taste, relevance, readers' backgrounds and expectations change over time, which I think makes predicting who will remain interesting to future readers very difficult.

Nor do I think it is necessarily all that important to us now. To my mind, asking whether Ginsberg's "Howl" will be relevant and important to readers 100 years from now is similar to asking whether it is relevant and interesting to, say, Nepalese sherpas or, for that matter, Wall Street bond traders. It might be or might not be, but they are not the audience for which it was written.

So, I think its more a question of whether that audience will still be around 100 years from now.

 

[wildsweetone]

I'm not sure what you're asking, AC. Are you asking whether "Howl" will still be seen 100 years from now as a significant poem, as Whitman's Leaves of Grass is some 100 years after its composition? Or are you asking whether any contemporary poems or poets will still be read and admired 100 years from now?

I'm much more confident about saying "yes" to the latter, although even that is dicey. Taste, relevance, readers' backgrounds and expectations change over time, which I think makes predicting who will remain interesting to future readers very difficult.

Nor do I think it is necessarily all that important to us now. To my mind, asking whether Ginsberg's "Howl" will be relevant and important to readers 100 years from now is similar to asking whether it is relevant and interesting to, say, Nepalese sherpas or, for that matter, Wall Street bond traders. It might be or might not be, but they are not the audience for which it was written.

So, I think its more a question of whether that audience will still be around 100 years from now.

i think that last sentence sounds like something a politician would accidentally say.

Can Howl and other poems stand the test of time like leaves of grass?

i have never seen either of these poems until just now.

i think that 'other poems' can stand the test of time given publicity, whether that be word of mouth or print (electronic or paper). i think in this day and age of modern technology, publicity is the key to longevity for 'well written' poets.