I have been thinking about the concept of the rewrite workshop. What follows is not designed to cast the idea of reworking poetry as a good or a bad thing. However, it humbles me a lot to imagine a scenario in which we placed a shakespearean sonnet there, or dante, or even a contemporary but well-established poet's work. (Thought Experiment Only: I am not advocating copyright violation!) Would any of our 'rewrites' or suggested changes likely improve those poems? If the answer is 'no', would we still learn something beneficial about language by seeing where we caused a good thing to go wrong? My guess to the last question is a qualified 'yes' -- if we have an open and curious mind.

It would be more interesting, of course, if we did not know the poem was considered a classic to begin with, and saw it 'blind', but that might be a tall order.

I seriously think that almost any poem ever written could be improved in some way or another. Even including the world's greatest poems. Albeit, of course, only in a minor way like the choice of a different word here or there or different punctuation.

That sounds horribly arrogant, but I don't mean that I or anybody else could have written it better. I would use the analogy of a dwarf sitting on the shoulders of a giant who rises to an incredible height. The dwarf himself could not possibly have risen to that height. But after the giant has taken him there, he can, sitting on the giant's shoulders, see a little further than the giant.

Long ago we did this in a workshop on here. Posted a poem, I think, by Neruda without a name on it, a good translation too.

People savaged it. Made insane changes, discussed how awful it was.

Tony wrote:

Long ago we did this in a workshop on here. Posted a poem, I think, by Neruda without a name on it, a good translation too. People savaged it. Made insane changes, discussed how awful it was.

I had a feeling that would be the case. Thanks for sharing that.

One of the main issues here is the word "better". If poetry, like all art, is largely subjective, then a consensus about the best version of a poem is likely unattainable.

Unrelated Question: What do 'easter eggs' by one's name mean?

that its almost christmas?


or medals of endurance mixed with (some) pleasure/s along the path...