Реферат: Online Interviews With Robert Pinsky Essay Research

opinion, can one truly like the poetry but not the poet?

Robert Pinsky: Maybe.

Probably. But the limitations of all three of those artists as

artists—members of America’s provincial upper-middle class, who warred with that

class’s attitudes while embracing them—are deeply related to the meanminded aspects

of their social and political attitudes. Wouldn’t Pound be a greater writer if he had

attained something more like Joyce’s complex humanism, for instance? Wouldn’t Kerouac have

more depth as a writer if he had managed deeper views of American politics and culture?

J.M. Spalding: What was

your initial reaction to being named United States Poet Laureate?

Robert Pinsky: After the

initial feelings of pleasure at the honor and fear at the work (I knew how much energy Bob

Hass and Rita Dove had expended), I mused a little about the title itself: I had always

preferred "Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress" as more dignified

and nobly American. But "Poet Laureate" has magnetic connotations for people,

too.

J.M. Spalding: What is

the most enjoyable thing about being Poet Laureate?

Robert Pinsky: The

responses to the Favorite Poem Project have been various, enthusiastic and moving beyond

expectation.

J.M. Spalding: What do

you want to do when your term as Poet Laureate expires?

Robert Pinsky: Keep

writing, keep enjoying my family. Maybe spend a little more time on music.

J.M. Spalding: What

inspired you to translate the Inferno?

Robert Pinsky: It was an

accident, an assignment to do one Canto for a group project.