It's been a while since I've read anything theoretical. John Hollander's The Work of Poetry is a good re-introduction to such works, though. There's an easy clarity to his writing, quite possibly present here because most of the chapters of the book are based on talks or lectures.
Nonetheless, there comes a point where the precise meanings that he seeks out by peeling layers of construal back and back and back seem to become redundant. My eyes start skipping around at such points, and such writing makes me wonder how I managed to get through my Master's degree in the first place.
Hollander's explanation of originality is definitely something that I can appreciate. Particularly, I find his division of meaning into synchronic (focused on the now of a thing) and diachronic (focused on the evolution of a thing) to be greatly clarifying. The analogies he uses to elucidate his point about originality's dual nature are also quite helpful.
More than anything, however, I am definitely in agreement with the concept that poets lean more heavily on diachronic originality (originality based on historical precedence, originality that comes from what has come before while also breaking with it).
My time with this book is likely to be relatively long, so I'm glad that it's off to a good start.
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