Page Two
l Ht Ml(-HIC7AN URIL'Y
Wednesday, February 2, 197
Page Two It-IL MILI-IICiAN L)AILY Wednesday, February 2, 1972
-
poetry and prose
Oral poetry: A magical resonance
WEDNESDAY NIGHT
1
SAT.
9:00 P.M.
"PLANET OF THE APES"
BURSLEY HALL
25c
POPCORN
CHARGE
4
4
By GLORIA JANE SMITH
You probably remember hating
poetry in your early school
years . . tedious lectures that
ripped poems apart word-by-
word in order to exhibit a disci-
plined metric pattern or an in-
tricate rhyming scheme?
Often overlooked Was the most
obvious-that poetry is written to
be enjoyed, to be tasted and
relished, to be fully experienced.
"There is an irrational magical
noise to poetry that distinguishes
it from prose," explains Donald
Hall, nationally known poet and
professor of English at the Uni-
versity.
"You've got to be able to hear
the magic . .. to plant the poet's
voice in your head," he empha-
sizes.
Almost every Thursday after-
noon, amid the sterile and dingy
walls of the Multipurpose Room
of the Undergraduate =Library,
such aesthetic discoveries are
realized when both nationally
famous and locally admired poets
present their works.
The poet, usually facing a
crowded room of listeners not
only reads poetry, but also an-
swers questions about himself
and his work.
These readings, sponsored by
the University's English depart-
ment and its extension service,
are part of what appears to be
a growing national demand for
poetry readings at universities.
For not only has poetry itself
become "vogue," but the desire
to listen to poetry has increased.
"Today, there is more atten-
tion to sound," explains Hall,
"and not so much emphasis on
a poem's visual appearance on
the written page."
"Poetry is definitely more oral.
There is an irrational magical noise to
poetry that distinguishes it from prose. You've
got to be able to hear the magic . to
plant the poet's voice in your head.-
Donald Hall
LETTERS:
Knocking the critics
More poets are giving readings
and many are improvising while
they read," he explains.
In the late fifties, two poets
reed each year on this campus,
while now the poetry series
brings between ten and 12 roets
to the University each term.
The gradual growth of the
series,. sparked by, University
English Prof. Bert Hornback, has
been mostly in response +o stu-
dent interest.
Hornback, currently on leave
of absence from the University,
began'to eipand the series about
four years ago. At that time,
poetry'. readings were sponsored
entirely byd the English depart-
ment. This made it financially
impossible to attract a large
number of good poets, many of
whom support themselves by
their work.
The series eventually received
additional financial support from
various local groups: and indi-
viduals, which enabled them to
expand.;
The' series has also been able
to feature' poets otherwise fi-
nancially impossible by coordi-
nating their efforts with other
universities and Poetry: Ann
Arbor, a group that schedules
poets ,to :read in local public
schools.
Deciding which poets will read
in the series is a rather informal
process, explains Hall, who has
assumed Hornback's responsibili-
ties during his absence.
Students constantly express
their preferences-some of which
are financially impossible - and
the organizers work from there.
A "favorite" of University
students is reading tomorrow for
the third consecutive year.
Galway K i n n e 1, 44-year-old
Rhode Island native, is described
as "the best poet of his genera-
tion."
Kinnel, who lives on a Ver-
mont farm as much of the year
as possible, has received an
award from the National In-
stitute of Arts and Letters and a
Guggenheim Fellowship.
Also scheduled to read in the
series dtiring the remainder of
the semester are:
-John Logan, a poet of plain
language and strong feeling;
-Jack Marshall, surrealistic
poet from San Francisco who
writes with a crazy imagina-
tion;
Program Information 434-1782
3020 Washtenaw
Nightly 7:00-9:00
-Ted Berrigan, one of the
New York poets who originally
wrote in Dada style and who
has now turned less playful and
more emotional;
-Donald Justice, instructor in
Iowa's Writer's Workshop whose
poetry is characterized by deli-
cacy and restraint;
-Milton K e s s 1 e r, relatively
unknown poet who should soon
gain a strong reputation;
-Robert Hayden, a University
professor of English and a black
poet whose poems reflect a deep
involvement in the struggle of
his people, and.
focus from criticism to writing
poetry.
Also scheduled in the series is
a group of readings by graduate
student poets who will be se-
lected by a poet not affiliated
with the University.
In the past, the series has pre-
sented such leading poets as
Denise Levertov, Edward Dorn,
Gary Snyder, Robert Frost, and
Carl Sandburg.
Poets are also brought to the
University to read by various
other groups.
The Writer-in-Residence pro-
gram most recently sponsored
ecology-conscious zen poet Gary
Snyder and RobertBly, founder
of the American Writers Against
the Vietnam War.
r
1i
-Robert Stilwell,
assistant professor
who has recentlyc
University
of English
changed his
DIAL 8-6416
ENDS TODAY
7-9 P.M.
JEAN-LOUIS TNIGNANT
IN A FiLM BY
CLAUDE LELOUCH
_
I
.,. images
BUSTER
KEATON
in
The Navigator
Dir. Buster Keaton, 1924
Buster as a rich boy who
can't even dress himself
but suddenly finds he
must crew an entire ship
single-handedly.
I
TG
Delta Sigma Delta
Fraternity
FRI., FEB. 4-8-11 p.m.
Live Band & Refreshments
1502 Hill St.
Claude Lelouch who took
a particular look at love
in "A Man and A Wo-
man" takes a particular
look at c r i m e in "The
Crook."
-- THURSDAY
"BILLY JACK"
V
To the Arts Page:
I feel compelled to express my
disappointment in Mr. Meyer's
evaluation of the Berlin Phil-
harmonic Octet. It was a per-
formance which in my opinion,
displayed in addition to the fine
ensemble work, a balance and
sensitivity which was quite re-
markable. There was a precision
among the winds that was un-
believable. The double-bass and
cellist were equally fine. Aside
from the intonation problems of
the first violinist, this perform-
ance was glorious. I was sur-
prised Mr. Meyer did not recog-
nize this.
Then again, I wasn't really
that surprised. The opinions of
The Daily's music staff have al-
ways struck me as being, po-
litely speaking, rather inept. I
was, therefore, perversely inter-
ested in reading Mr. Meyer's
pretentious dreck, which was
nothing more than a heavy-hand-
ed catalogue of the background
of the pieces performed. (I can't
help but wonder if The Daily is
in league with the Musical So-
ciety. The Musical Society never
has enough money to print pro-
gram notes and The Daily's
"opinions" at least take a stab
at that. For God's sake why
then doesn't The Daily print its
"opinions" on the day of the
concert-for the benefit of those
who don't know what they'll be
seeing? I'm sure The Daily's
reviews would be just as c.m-
prehensive and easily as accu-
rate.)
Kicking over the ',bon mots"
that pass for the criticism, one
notices that The Daily's ,,critics"
are always referring to the re-
cordings they've been assigned
to listen to. (Recalling tie re-
view of the Cleveland Symphony
Orchestra, I suggest that it gvpes
without saying that the Cleveland
Symphony plays differently un-
der Boulez than it did under
Szell. They each have unique ap-
proaches. Mr. Boulez demcn-
strates a cool intellectualism
balanced with sensitivity. One
shouldn't expect everything that
Szell gave us from Boulez, but
The Daily did.) Likewise Mr..
Meyer shouldn't expect the Ber-
lin Philharmonic Octet to sound
like the Vienna Octet. A little
more openminderiness, please!
The Berlin Philharmonic Octet
played with a sensitivity and in-
tellectualism that allowed one to
see and feel the music. What led
Mr. Meyer to require anything
more from this performance?
Passion?!? This type of blind-
ness and lack of sensitivity will
be the death of creativity in
classical music.
-Bob Sanecki
To the Arts Page:
Wow! What a review of Dirty
Harry by Neal Gabler! A peer-
less piece of jargon-ridden, so-
phomoric, thoughtlessness about
a movie that was nothing more
than a chronicle of senseless vio-
lence. The villain is a hopeless.
psychotic (no conflict, here; the
only question is "How and when
will he get his?"). The hero is a
handsome, dead-pan, non-acting-
ability detective whose inner
conflicts offer no chance for
characterization or for intellee-
tual surmise on the part of the
audience.
When a reviewer is as obvious-
ly serious about and big on
symbolism and tite academic
didacticism as is Mr. Gabler, he
should really be assigned only to
the reviewing of'Bergman films
so that he might avalanche his
readers with essences, subtleties
of satire, philosophy, epistemol-
olgy, politics, sociology, history,
et. al.,-with less chance of mak-
ing a fool of himself in the eyes
of those who have the audacity
of demanding some honest think-
ing.
Write a rhetoric-free evalua-
tion of the quality of and means
of providing entertainment as
found ,in a James Bond movie
and that offered by Dirty Harry,
Mr. Gabler, and you might dis-
cover that neither is anti or pro
anything; they simply afford
action entertainment. However,
Bond's films have a wonderful
sense of humor via clever exag-
gerations of characters and situ-
ations; Dirty Harry tries to take
itself too seriously-it commits
itself to depicting realism, but
only "entertains" the viewers
via episodes of bloodiness (close-
ups, of course), which prompted
Thursday night's non - thinking
audience to giggle, laugh, and
shout "Wow!" every time they
gazed upon a new scene of the
technicolor results, of literally
insane violence.
Dirty Harry is not fascistic;
so be it. May you deliver your
readers from any future gush of
terminology by writing reviews
that make sense to those who
have acquired a sense of intelli-
gent criticism beyond the level
of high school "Art of the Film"
courses.1
-Charles E. Kranz
ARCH ITECTURE
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9
f
RACKHAM ELECTION
1. Last Date of Return of Ballots Extended to 5th
Feb., 1972.
2. You May Write-in a Maximum of 5 Candidates
for Executive Council.
3. If You Vote for More Than 5 Candidates Your
Ballot Will Be In valid.
4. If You Have Not Received Your Ballot by Mail,
or Have Any Question Contact the Election
SUNDAY-
Earl
Robinson
composer of
"Joe Hill"
"Free & Equal
Blues"
"Ballad for
Americans"
etc
$1.50
WED.-
HOOT
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