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Date: Tue, 7 Mar 2000 23:34:38 -0500
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From: "James M. Pfundstein" <jmpfund@bgnet.bgsu.edu>
Subject: Re: Beautiful Language
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At 4:56 PM -0500 3/7/2000, Diana Wright wrote:
>Since I discovered poetry when I was 7, I have debated among most of the
>lines of "Annabel Lee" for "most beautiful" -- a poem which, I admit, is
>not awfully sophisticated, not to mention woefully short of classical
>content.  But for sheer melody:
>
>"And through all the night tide I lie down by the side of my darling, my
>darling, my wife and my bride . . ."
>
>OK.  That may be 2 lines.  Also inclining to corn.  All the poetry is
>packed up to make way for the painters who failed to show today.  "The
>Highwayman" has some pretty great lines, too.
>
>Diana Wright

Poe is indeed full of juicy goodness. One of the most exciting moments of
my recent life was watching idly as my son took my copy of "Tales and
Poems" down from a stack of books, flipped it open to the poetry and began
to read.

JMP (indifferently, even querulously): "You're into Poe now?"

Son (enthusiastically): "Yeah. We read this poem about this bird today. It
was great."

JMP (coldly): "The Raven. It's not too bad."

He kept reading.

I was going to pour some favorite lines in the list's collective ear, but
it occurred to me that all my favorite lines, like Diana Wright's, are
actually favorite passages, even stuff from Marlowe or Seneca, famed for
their epigrammatic force (and, I admit, windy bombast). A great line out of
context is not so great; good poets create great contexts, rather than
great lines.

JM("Mardi Gras")P


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