The vocabulary of poetry appreciation

Wine-tasting has its vocabulary. So does poetry appreciation. Orbis magazine has many pages of reader feedback which provide a useful sample. In the recent issue 198 I noticed that the most popular phrases are about

• how well the poet collected the data/experience: "precisely observed", "beautifully observed", "precise observation"
• the conversion into words: "captures" was popular (of "a moment", "the past", "the essence", "the intensity"). There's "compressed energy"
• the artifice/craft of the words: "constructed" appears twice ("beautifully constructed", "well constructed") and there's "exquisitely crafted", "well made" and "clever". "precision of language" appears too - see my Poetry and Precision article.
• the effect on the reader (getting the original data/experiences back): "evocative" appears more than once. There's "immersive" and "relatable". Also "amusing"

These phrases suit the idea of poets having experiences that they try to communicate to readers using expertise which ideally can be measured. I think the poems in Orbis have a wider aesthetic range than this, but only certain types of poems attract comment, it seems to me.

I'd imagine that if Shearsman magazine had a correspondence page, the vocabulary would emphasise other features.

The phrase "skilfully written with the rhymes barely noticeable" caught my eye. It's common to think that the artfulness is best hidden - it's the effect that matters. When rhyming words are chosen at the expense of meaning, the rhymes will stand out. But it's ok when the rhymes in "Do not go gently" stand out, because nothing is sacrificed, I guess.

Rejection records

On 25th April, 1917 Freud wrote in his journal "No Nobel Prize". Of course, few people have disappointments on that scale. At this time of year I expect to get some acceptances to balance the many rejections of earlier months. Surely some editor or other can make an error of judgement in my favour for once. But the rejections keep piling in. Here are my top 5 sources of poetic woe

Magazine	Rejections	Acceptances
Acumen	33	9
Iota	25	19
Poetry Review	24	0
Rialto	21	4
North	19	1

I'm most disappointed by my North failures. They say they accept 10% of submissions. I'm not even reaching that level.

Here are my short story records

Magazine	Rejections	Acceptances
Ambit	11	0
Stinging Fly	6	0
Into the void	5	0
JMWW	5	0
Prole	5	0

I've never expected my poetry to be in the Forward Anthologies. I've sometimes had hopes of being in a Best British Short Stories anthology. It's quite possible that the anthologist didn't even read my more promising candidate stories - it's rather difficult for him to get hold of all the publications. I'll keep plugging away, sending stories to the outlets that I know are read.