RE: Who's a Poet?

Bachoti Rao (BRAO@atlas.niaid.nih.gov)
Thu, 29 May 1997 11:59:51 -0400


     
     aa.ve. guruvu laghuvu cEsi kumcimci kumcimci
            laghuvu guruvu cEsi laagi laagi
            kavita ceppunaTTi kavigulaamu baTTi
            mukku kOyavalayu drokki paTTi

I have a little difficulty in understanding this. What is referred to
here is obviously traditional chando poetry where guruvunu
kumchinchuTa laghuvunu laaguTa jarugadu. If he was referring
to poetry by learners and full of mistakes, then those poems 
cannot be and should not be considered in trying to define
good poetry. (I recall several instances where amateur poems
by learners are unduly used to ridicule traditional poetry).
Stretching words while singing is also not relevant here.

There are several poems which make more sense and say
that just because a so called poem  fits meter perfectly, it cannot
necessarily be good poetry. I would like to see someone 
who can disagree.

Another thought. Because those were the days when most 
poetry was written in chandas, they used to say chandas 
alone doesn't make good poetry. What should we say now 
to make the same statement about modern poetry? If you 
are able to write a grammatically correct sentence and 

karta, karma, kriya tappakunDA
andarikee ardhamayElA naalugu
vAkyAlu vrAsi vATini viravagAnE
ayipOdu prati vachanam kavitvam

anAlA? But there is a problem because grammatical 
correctness also was ridiculed by some modern 
poets. Then should we say,

nAlugu mATalu prakka prakka chErchina
poTTi panktula gumpulu kAlEvu kavitvam.

anAlA? Just wondering. 

Regards,

Bachoti Sridhara Rao