The New or the True
Perhaps it is a false dilemma in
That sometimes what is new contains the real
And what is old is sullied with the sin
Of boredom, truth that doesn’t make us feel
Its force but leaves us yawning. Still, if truth
Is lost in cleverness, the worship of
Inventiveness might yield just what’s uncouth
Or sick. Attempts to write about that love
We all desire in stanzas that are stale
Hold danger that supernal things fall flat.
We do not want perfection tasting pale
Because of rules and rhyme, but if a brat
Of innovation takes the helm of verse,
He might create stupidity, or worse.
Very nicely done.
The first 5 lines (up to the period) are a great contrast between overly familiar of messages, while true, that have become mindless platitudes–they are too familiar to evoke insight and emotion. The next 5 lines transition from the “true but mindless messages” into a warning about the opposite, where “cleverness” and “inventiveness” obscures the profundity of truth at its most significant level, where our desires are satisfied (hence evoking joy) but their object of admiration is no longer obvious.
The last 4 lines warn the classical poets against triteness and the “undisciplined” poets of bypassing insight altogether.
Thanks. A clear summation. I hope that that shows that the poem itself was straightforward.
A great sonnet that gets to some of the underlying issues that I face as a proponent and an editor of classical poetry. This is why I value poetry that takes on topics of the day or combines other disciplines like art and theater. Here is my recent contribution to theater, a one-act play that includes soliloquys in poetry. I meant to write blank verse with rhyming couplets at the end, like Shakespeare, but the rhyme came out very naturally. I would be interested to hear what you think, Mr. Whidden: https://classicalpoets.org/2019/12/28/the-falun-gong-practitioner-a-one-act-play/ and when are you going to start sending me some poetry again!?
Thanks for such a connected comment, Evan. I just now saw it. I never think to go to this website and check for responses. I’m too blinkered, just trying to finish the site. Sorry. You are very busy and I’m touched that you took the trouble.