(no subject)

[novapsyche]

James Tate is one of the few poets who can use cliches and get away with it.

He does it all the time.

I have only six poems left in his Memoir of the Hawk. I've had the book for several years, but I put it down for a while.

Comments

[custardfairy.livejournal.com]

How does he get away with it?

[novapsyche.livejournal.com]

Um, that's a good question.

I'll give you an example. Here is "The Black Dog":

It was about two o'clock in the morning
when the poker game broke up. Everyone was
tired or drunk or broke. We were standing
out on the lawn of Bob Blackburn's house
when this big black dog appeared out of no-
where and started barking and hissing at us.
It was a mean-looking thing and it lunged
at us as if it meant business. I'm not
usually afraid of dogs, but this one wanted
to take us all on. Bob suddenly ran into
his house and half a minute later returned
with his shotgun. He told us to step back
and we did. He took aim and fired at the
dog. The dog whimpered once and then
collapsed. "Jesus, Bob," I said. "That dog's
bit me three times before. But still,"
I said, "a biting dog is not as bad as a
killing man." No one spoke. It was a silence
that signaled the end of something, poker
friendship, and something more. The unknown
was already welcoming me into its secret heart.

There are at least three cliches in the first ten lines. Still, by the end of the poem, you forgive him these usages, because the poem as a whole is a success. I don't know. Somehow he just makes them work for him.