Poetry is Not the Lever and Fulcrum of Archimedes

Poetry is Not the Lever and Fulcrum of Archimedes

Modern poetry  modern verse  contemporary poetry  contemporary verse  modern poem  contemporary poem

“The full-flowering Scottish tradition of Henryson, Dunbar and Douglas was defeated when
Scotland was defeated.” ~ Michael Schmidt, The Story of Poetry, 18

War changes poetry. Old English verse
Had reached an apogee of polished shapes
When William came along. A Norman curse
Crushed English poetry with Frankish rapes

Of language. Chaucer’s day brought English back.
Then history repeated evil. Wars
And despot threats brought crushing ruin, black
Like swastikas and turned the arts to whores
From 1913/14 onwards. Gas
Attacks revived true poetry again
But briefly. After that the arts en masse
Went mad as if in concentrated pain.
..The problem is that artists cannot lift
….The world. They cannot cause the slightest shift.