The inaugural meeting of the Lazy Person’s Poetry Group took place at Rose Dawson’s flat in Hackney on Thursday 10th September 2009. I apologise for the delay in posting this post - ironic given the recent post strike - but it is a Lazy Person’s Poetry Group.
Present at this historic occasion were:
Mr David Cross
Ms Katherine Davey
Ms Rose Dawson
Dr Eliane Glaser
Mrs Alex Goddard
Mr James Kidd
Dr Dinah Roe
Mrs Emma Simon
Dr Adam Smyth
The poems under discussion were as follows:
Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s The Woodspurge
Wallace Steven’s The Idea of Order at Key West (http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15749)
Cut by Sylvia Plath (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=deuS9B1DfIc)
Cut Grass by Philip Larkin.
The Larkin, in the end, wasn’t discussed thanks to interest in the Rossetti and Stevens above all. Some Quantum Curry-ordering also took its toll. Writing shortly after, Kidd noted:
“Special thanks to Rose, for her hospitality, her way with ordering curry, and her sensitive appreciation of Plath’s prosody (if that is the word I am after). To Adam and Katherine, for choosing such rich poems and having such good things to say about them – I could have close read all night.
Honourable mentions go to Eliane and Disraeli* – or sharp critiques and for boosting our numbers by 1 (or perhaps 0.92 at this stage of the final trimester) – and to Emma whose work and family pressures I know might make a poetry group hard to squeeze in. Sharp criticism as always – your paper is most lucky. Alex is clearly extremely naughty for being tardy, but brought Jeffreyesque art criticism and careful attention. Dinah and David both read beautifully, and made very clever comments on a regular basis.
To be honest, I lost utter track of the fine things that were said - incisive questions asked and difficulties teased out, if never quite resolved. I loved reading The Woodspurge as a twisted nature poem by a city boy that offered some odd form of poker-faced consolation – or did it?”
It was noted that the poems were generally of a depressing cast, with an especial focus on cutting things. Of especial note were interpretations of The Woodspurge as a nature poem written by a non-nature poet; of the blind alley provided by non-existent religious subtexts; about how downright depressing it was; and how surprised everyone seemed for liking it.
Stevens was even more challenging, in no small part because the chicken
Curtailed discussion of Plath followed: of especial interest (though I do say so myself) was the slippery tone used in Cut, which evaded straightforward interpretation. Depressing? Yes and no…What a voice.
A fine time was had by all. A second meeting was mooted. Most to the point, poetry was the winner. Hurrah.
*A final final note. In the weeks following this email, Disraeli was born to Drs Smyth and Glaser, only now he is Ezra. Poetic justice indeed.
