Among those today who believe that modern poetry must do without rhyme or metre, there is an assumption that the alternative to… — James Fenton Alternatives Copy Share Image
When we study Shakespeare on the page, for academic purposes, we may require all kinds of help. Generally, we read him in… — James Fenton Academic Copy Share Image
There is no objection to the proposal: in order to learn to be a poet, I shall try to write a sonnet.… — James Fenton Order Copy Share Image
Poetry carries its history within it, and it is oral in origin. Its transmission was oral. Its transmission today is still in… — James Fenton Acquainted Copy Share Image
A glance at the history of European poetry is enough to inform us that rhyme itself is not indispensable. Latin poetry in… — James Fenton Age Copy Share Image
In song the same rule applies as in dramatic verse: the meaning must yield itself, or yield itself sufficiently to arouse the… — James Fenton Applies Copy Share Image
'Love' is so short of perfect rhymes that convention allows half-rhymes like 'move.' The alternative is a plague of doves, or a… — James Fenton Addresses Copy Share Image
Lyric poetry is, of course, musical in origin. I do know that what happened to poetry in the twentieth century was that… — James Fenton Beautiful Copy Share Image
At somewhere around 10 syllables, the English poetic line is at its most relaxed and manageable. — James Fenton Lines Copy Share Image
In rap, as in most popular lyrics, a very low standard is set for rhyme; but this was not always the case… — James Fenton Cases Copy Share Image
The Italian word 'stanza' means 'a room', and a room is a good way to conceive of a stanza. A room, generally… — James Fenton Being Copy Share Image
Some people think that English poetry begins with the Anglo-Saxons. I don't, because I can't accept that there is any continuity between… — James Fenton Accept Copy Share Image
Nobody really knows whether they are a poet. I knew I was interested from the age of 15. — James Fenton Age Copy Share Image
Modernism in other arts brought extreme difficulty. In poetry, the characteristic difficulty imported under the name of modernism was obscurity. But obscurity… — James Fenton Art Copy Share Image
English poetry begins whenever we decide to say the modern English language begins, and it extends as far as we decide to… — James Fenton English language Copy Share Image
“The Mistake With the mistake your life goes in reverse. Now you can see exactly what you did Wrong yesterday and wrong… — James Fenton Acceptance Copy Share Image
Babies are not brought by storks and poets are not produced by workshops. — James Fenton Baby Copy Share Image
'What is this', and 'How is this done?' are the first two questions to ask of any work of art. The second… — James Fenton Any Copy Share Image
One problem we face comes from the lack of any agreed sense of how we should be working to train ourselves to… — James Fenton Faces Copy Share Image
What I want, when I write a poem, is no more than this: that it be preserved in some published form so… — James Fenton Able Copy Share Image
Writing for the page is only one form of writing for the eye. Wherever solemn inscriptions are put up in public places,… — James Fenton Demand Copy Share Image
The Mormon mission to Africa, as to other dark-skinned parts of the world, was for a long time hobbled by the racism… — James Fenton Dark Copy Share Image
Some of my educated Filipino friends were aspiring poets, but their aspirations were all in the direction of the United States. They… — James Fenton Aspiration Copy Share Image
