[This entry is cross posted at ordinary-times.com]

I went a little long on the poem this week, so I’m shirking the POETS Day intro. I suppose I could claim that I’m taking a POETS Day myself even though I’m writing on a Thursday so it would technically be a POETF Day. I’m not going to dwell on it.

Piss Off Early, Tomorrow’s Saturday. I trust you all to inspire yourselves, to find a reason to get out of works before the man says it’s time to go. Have a good time and enjoy an early weekend.

***

“And, if I publish a volume of verse with notes longer than the text, as I want to do, will that be a prose work or a verse one? I ask out of curiosity, you understand…”
– William Empson in a letter to his publisher, c. 1930

William Empson was one of the most respected critics of poetry of the 20^th Century. He was also a poet, though when reading commentary on his verse there’s often an unspoken, in some cases spoken but in very polite whispers, understanding that we read his poetry because of his criticism. It’s acknowledged that his poetry is technically brilliant but often spoken of as if he were writing to a formula or a unique talent for spotting errors or flourishes in others worked as a constraint when he composed; proper installation at odds with inspiration or something.