I’ll chime in. I quite like the lines, “For I have known them all already, known them all;/ Have known the evenings, mornings, afternoons,/ I have measured out my life with coffee spoons;...”
Also, the tone of the poem itself is quite dismal and deals with basic existential dread and a sort of mean loneliness, which (when I first read it as a teenager) seemed incredibly poignant and touching. Perhaps it seems a bit less fraught with meaning when those concerns don’t press as heavily on the mind, but it left an emotional impact on me. I also like the things less easy to justify objectively; I like the imagery and rhythm of the poem, though others may not.
I can see how it may seem a bit wankish with the Dante’s Inferno quote at the beginning and some of the more oblique turns it takes before getting to a point, but I like it nonetheless. Poetry is strange; I can read a poem and like it or not like it after a few minutes of reflection, but I have to really think about it to justify my feelings if I am to try and explain it to someone else.
I’ll chime in. I quite like the lines, “For I have known them all already, known them all;/ Have known the evenings, mornings, afternoons,/ I have measured out my life with coffee spoons;...”
Also, the tone of the poem itself is quite dismal and deals with basic existential dread and a sort of mean loneliness, which (when I first read it as a teenager) seemed incredibly poignant and touching. Perhaps it seems a bit less fraught with meaning when those concerns don’t press as heavily on the mind, but it left an emotional impact on me. I also like the things less easy to justify objectively; I like the imagery and rhythm of the poem, though others may not.
I can see how it may seem a bit wankish with the Dante’s Inferno quote at the beginning and some of the more oblique turns it takes before getting to a point, but I like it nonetheless. Poetry is strange; I can read a poem and like it or not like it after a few minutes of reflection, but I have to really think about it to justify my feelings if I am to try and explain it to someone else.