Andrew Maxwell's Blog, page 5
February 27, 2015
55
That the poet will always stop short of becoming anything.
54
That the vocation of poetry is toward disownership.
53
That the poem is a conditional system.
February 10, 2015
Talents of the Parable
The freedom of the parable is that it need not risk or defend any merely real universe.
The vulgar reading of the parable presumes a real universe of talking foxes and thieving crows.
The sublime reading of the parable is that it presumes the only real universe at all, while carrying the torch for a disposable entertainment.
The imagination of the vulgar reading is that it begs description.
The imagination of the sublime reading is that it risks only fiction.
The ways in which the parable is not an argument at all.
The ways in which we attach no real names to parables, loving as we do any real universe.
The ways the parable only serves its readers.
Like a mere reading machine, or 'device'.
Like Aesop's parable of the fox and the crow: all song, no meat.
The vulgar reading of the parable presumes a real universe of talking foxes and thieving crows.
The sublime reading of the parable is that it presumes the only real universe at all, while carrying the torch for a disposable entertainment.
The imagination of the vulgar reading is that it begs description.
The imagination of the sublime reading is that it risks only fiction.
The ways in which the parable is not an argument at all.
The ways in which we attach no real names to parables, loving as we do any real universe.
The ways the parable only serves its readers.
Like a mere reading machine, or 'device'.
Like Aesop's parable of the fox and the crow: all song, no meat.
52
That the poetic talent is a correctional facility.
Objection
Our days are not numbered. Have you tried it?
September 18, 2014
9.18.14
Being 'barely in control of oneself' is not an insult.
September 13, 2014
Subject Positions
The best option is the irreducible mess.
April 6, 2014
A Caption with Austen on Nothing
"Expect a most agreeable letter, for not being overburdened by subject – having nothing at all to say – there shall be no check to my genius."
Zwicky apposes to the Austen quote
a keyword of communicative competence:
"The advantage of having nothing to say."
It's amazing how florid a caption can be
when it's notional.
For all the world positioned
as if to advantage.
"The roses were displayed to advantage in a blue vase."
As with the subject –
as if with the subject –
emphasis added.
Zwicky apposes to the Austen quote
a keyword of communicative competence:
"The advantage of having nothing to say."
It's amazing how florid a caption can be
when it's notional.
For all the world positioned
as if to advantage.
"The roses were displayed to advantage in a blue vase."
As with the subject –
as if with the subject –
emphasis added.
