Poetbabble

joshisinfinite:

An interview with Leonard Cohen regarding his poetry. Recorded in June of 2006, Cohen “discusses the difference between writing a song and a poem, and explains why “Out of the thousands who are known or want to be known as poets, maybe one or two are genuine and the rest are fakes.”“

I really want to like Leonard Cohen. I do. I love his music and lyric writing. But every time I hear him speak, I can’t help feel that, albeit uber-talented, he is a smug, self-assured, falsely-modest, overly-ambitious narcissist. The self -deprecation comes off as disingenuous, and his use of paralipsis, although approaching via negativa, to, in fact, compare himself directly with Dante is so obvious, it’s painful.

 There, I said it.  

Although, maybe it’s simply early, and I’m in coffee deprivation. Maybe.