On Place in Poetry

Anytime you mention a place name in a work of poetry, it means you're not really there.

For example, if I happen to mention Ireland in a line of poetry, you can be quite sure that the setting of the poem is most definitely not Ireland.

A corollary is that anytime you mention stereotypical tropes associated with a location, like say the green hills, again, you're not in Ireland. You're just imagining it.

A poetic-voice is poor who includes a place name as a signifier of the setting of the poem.








(Some other time I might write about the poor poetic-voice and how he can still be quite useful in good poetry written by a skilled poet. Suffice it to say for now that I believe there is no such thing as a poet. There are only collections of poetic-voices that can be used for varying ends, and the professional knows how to use them to achieve some desired effect. Still, poetic-voices can indeed be judged as good or bad, beautiful or ugly, and after that judgment, they can be considered in context, and it can be decided whether or not they are suited to their setting, which is never Ireland.)