STOPPING BY THE WOODS – Part 10

(John stands, takes off his coat.)
 
I never met Robert Frost, but I did meet John Updike once and discussed with him this account he wrote for the New Yorker of seeing the poet perform in Sanders Theater at Harvard
 
(John pulls a New Yorker off the table and reads.)
 
Robert Frost was relentless in the number [...]

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STOPPING BY THE WOODS – Part 9

On the other hand what if there were a metaphor in which all we had were the column of traits on the left, and the heading to which they were to be compared on the right—an “open metaphor”? In a long metaphoric work we would call this a parable, or if it involved animals, a [...]

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STOPPING BY THE WOODS – Part 8

(John goes over to the coat rack and puts on his old slicker as if to go. Then he stops, as if changing his mind, turns around and pulls a chair to the edge of the stage. Headdresses the audience thoughtfully.)
 
When Robert Frost gave readings, he would present a minimum number of his poems and [...]

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STOPPING BY THE WOODS – Part 7

Now let me address these three elements that I feel distinguish great poetry from good poetry. The first is that great poetry, such as Frost’s, “shapes movement.” Poetry has something prose does not, and that is the margins of white space to the left and right. That means that as a poet I am deciding [...]

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