It has been awhile, hasn't it? I must get back to blogging...
I am reading an excellent novel that takes place in India. It is a cynical, and humorous, take on the call center workers in India. Indeed, as one reviewer said, "Adiga sets out to show us a part of [India] that we hear about infrequently: its underbelly..." Balram in the book, "The White Tiger," describes the four best poets in the world (this isn't stated as an opinion, but a fact), and they are Rumi, Mirza Ghalib and Iqbal and one he couldn't remember. One of Iqbal's poems is quoted as saying this about slaves: "They remain slaves because they can't see what is beautiful in this world." Balram also wonders why the four best poets all happen to be Muslim, especially, he says, when "all the Muslims you meet are illiterate or covered head to toe in black burkas or looking for buildings to blow up." Hmmm...a bit biased, wouldn't you say?
At any rate, it made me wonder who my four favorite poets are. I'll have to think about it. I know that Wordsworth is one, and maybe Frost. Perhaps Bob Hale is my third :) It's a great question, that's for sure.
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9 comments:
Any list I make must have Tennyson on it.
I agree with you on Frost, disagree on Wordsworth and as for this Bob Hale bloke, the flattery is nice but grossly misplaced.
I like the stuff I write - and I'm happy when others like it too - but I wouldn't pretend it's great literature.
I'll think about others and get back to you.
Well, Bob, I do like your poetry a lot. However, "best poet in the world?" You're probably not there yet, but who knows. Maybe someday!
I've now posted my response here.
http://thehittingtheroadagainblues.blogspot.com/2009/07/four-greatest-poets.html, I thought it might be a bit too long to put in a comment.
Bob
A Persian, Rumi, and three Urdu poets. More than a few times Pakistani friends have rhapsodized about the poetical qualities of Urdu. Anyway, a short list of great poets: Homer, Pindar, Horace, Ovid, Virgil, Petrarch, Dante, Chaucer, Shakespeare, Blake, Swinburne, Hopkins, Eliot, Rimbaud, Baudelaire, Artaud, Rilke, Celan, Pushkin, etc. The playing field gets crowded the closer we get to our century.
Z's list makes me realize how much I don't know about poets!
BTW, I like the picture!
Thanks. It was snapped on a paddle boat on the lake at Ooty in India. I was feeling quite nautical at the time.
the first three poets in world stage are from great khorasan what is now called Afghanisthan and Iran. Jalaludin Balkhi. Hafiz Shirazi. Abdulrahman momand/ baba.
After them others come.
Well there is no doubt that Indian poets are great and in my sense they are among the best poets of all time. Mirza Ghalib is my favorite one. I really appreciate his writing style.
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