Tuesday, October 18, 2005

Visual/Aural Poetry

If one of the essential sensual dimensions by which a poem works its magic is the visual presentation--it's material presence on the page--should a poem be confined to a single sheet of paper? Poe said a story can only be long enough to read in one sitting; perhaps a poem should fit on a single page (or perhaps a double spread) so that the viewer can "see" all of the poem at once. This would be a New Criticism-ish view, but I thought I'd throw it out there for you Farm Animals.