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Ars Poetica (Or, Advice to Aspiring Deaf Poets)
- Gallaudet University Press
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Robert F. Panara 151 Ars Poetica (Or, Advice to Aspiring Deaf Poets) If you would be a poet, mark these words: Most modern writers thrive on naked verbs As readers dote on headlines. Never fear The use of “free verse” when you cannot hear Those cunning accents of our native tongue— The poet is the master of the song, And poetry depends as much on reason As hunting deer, when only done in season. Beware of metaphors that would revive Those golden days when knighthood was alive— You’ll do much better, in this age atomic, To write of mice and men gone supersonic, Of chimpanzees aloft in guided missile, And UFO’s that still remain a puzzle. And, if you still would search for Truth and Beauty, Take care your sentiments are not too fruity Nor look to Rome and Paris for finesse But rather at their fashions of undress. Be politics or cinema your theme, The soul should seldom enter in the scene. And, whether in Ivy League or in the slums, Youth must be served by beating bongo drums. And, last of all (and much to my regret, I haven’t been successful at it yet), The secret’s not so much in what you say But how you say it—and then make it pay! ...