Townsman, 1991-09, Page 5Reviewer gets
bad review
from poet
THE EDITOR,
After reading a review of my most
recent book of poetry (Absorbing the
Dark, published by Moonstone Press,
Goderich) written by Jerry McDonnell
in your February -March 1991 issue, I
feel I need to make the following
comments.
I am also a teacher and a reviewer
and in the latter capacity there are cer-
tain guidelines which one follows and
one hopes that other reviewers will
offer the same courtesy. First, in criti-
cal writing one is required to research
the subject and give the benefit to the
author if there are references and/or
allusions which one does not recog-
nize; second, in respect to the author
one reads the entire book from cover
to cover; and third, the review should
be accurate — this entails quoting
titles, excerpts, and biographical
material correctly and in context.
With regard to each of the above
points, I could comment on your
reviewer's apparent sense of immun-
ity; however, let me refer to the most
obvious of the review's failings: inac-
curacy. Here are some of the inaccura-
cies. My book is divided into four
sections (not three). Did Mr. McDon-
nell read only the first page of the
index and then flip on? There is NO
poem entitled "To My Daughter on
Her Wedding Day." The words "Jun-
gian" and "Celtic" (whether he is
quoting from my prose pieces or not)
are words derived from proper names
and should be capitalized (see Har -
brace 109). The quotation "Temples
of Isis" should be singular. In the quo-
tation from "My Welsh Grandpar-
ents," with the exception of the first
line, all other lines should begin with
a lower-case letter. A similar inaccu-
racy is also noted in the quotation
from "Proverb."
Wallace Stevens believes that
"Accuracy of observation is the equiv-
alent of accuracy of thinking." Mr.
McDonnell's critical comments seem
to bear out this statement. He notes "It
is very important to read the one page
introduction to each section of the
book ... Only then will the meaning
and structure of these poems become
accessible for most readers." Your
reviewer is leading the reader to
believe that the poems do not stand
independently from the prose pieces.
As the poems were written over a five
year period and the introductions were
written merely as a way of "ordering"
the poems for publication in book
form, the connecting link between the
two (prose/poetry) is as nebulous or as
necessary as the reader wants to make
it In literary criticism one recognizes
that an educated reader has more
information with which to develop a
personal interpretation. Therefore the
inclusion of additional mythology and
philosophy, contained in a poem
beneath the level of the lyric, allows a
more intense reading of the work. I
believe that I have demonstrated
Dylan Thomas's famous line which
suggests that one leaves "holes and
gaps in the works of the poem" so that
perceptions from the mind of the read-
er "can creep, crawl, flash, or thunder
in"! Is Mr. McDonnell not assuming
that prospective readers of this book
are ignorant and uneducated and con-
sequently have no perceptions to
bring to the work?
Whether one subscribes or does not
subscribe to the notion that poetry can
be educational, surely writing which
perhaps contains a little more than
lyric gives the work an energy which
may evoke emotion/interest/challenge
in any aware reader, and therefore
encourage him/her to seek out the
mythology, psychology, history, phi-
losophy, or allusions in the poem. As
a librarian -teacher surely Mr. McDon-
nell applies this experiential way of
learning to his own work with stu-
dents. I have given readings and
workshops at several high schools (in
Canada, the U.S., and the U.K.) and
will enclose the page which gives
information about my workshops
from the Poets in the Schools
brochure published by the League of
Canadian Poets.
In conclusion, I would like to quote
a paragraph which is still as relevant
today as when American beat poet
Gary Snyder wrote it in 1966: "Each
poem flows from an energy -mind -
field -dance and has its own inner
grain. To let it grow, to let it speak for
itself, is a large part of the work of the
poet ... (Then it) is breathed out into
the thing -world as a pocm. The wider
the gap the more difficult; and the
greater the delight when it crosses."
I suggest that Mr. McDonnell recon-
sider the attitude with which he writes
reviews (noting his limited acceptance
of James Reaney's book too) and that
he try, in future if he continues to
write, not to place barriers and blocks
in the mind of readers who may wish
to make the quantum leap.
Beryl Baigent
Thamesford
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TOWNSMAN/SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 1991 3