Poetry continues to do work as Hollander moves from originality to morals. And what's his conclusion? That, like W.H. Auden wrote, "poetry makes nothing happen." It exists to reflect our experiences and our feelings, but it cannot teach or train us. And, again, he slips in some jabs at contemporary poetry, building on his point in the previous chapter that the modern day focus on synchronic originality (sheer novelty) results in bad poetry.
Of course, in a culture where jumping into a swimming pool has its own reality TV show, I think he's got some justification. Is it a novel idea to have a show about different dives, flops, and jumps into a body of water? Sure. But that doesn't mean it should be done.
Though maybe - just maybe - such shows (and by extension, bad poetry) - are just the first messy excursions into something new and strange that will do something.
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