Philip Larkin once famously wrote in his poem "Annus Mirabilis" that Sexual intercourse began/ In nineteen sixty-three/ (which was rather late for me)/ Between the end of the "Chatterley" ban/ And the Beatles' first LP. Such sentiments have provides the basis for a never-ending stream of television documentaries claiming that "everything changed in the Sixties."
This is certainly true of Kemi Majekodunmi's history of performance poetry that traces the growth of the genre in Britain back to 1965 when Allen Ginsberg and two of his colleagues came to the Royal Albert Hall to read their poems, and thereby instituting a movement showing how poetry could communicate with everyone; it did not have to be the stuffy, obscure verse characteristic of T. S. Eliot's "The Waste Land."
Ginsberg's example was taken up by a host of British poets, including Roger McGough and the Liverpool Poets, John Lennon and Pete Brown. In the Seventies Patti Smith showed how poetry and music could be integrated in punk style; this paved the way for John Cooper Clarke in Britain, as well as the rants of Atilla the Stockbroker.
Times changed; and the poets changed as well. Murray Lachlan Young made it big in the Cool Britannia era, even acquiring his own television special. For a few years performance poetry remained in the doldrums, but apparently it is flourishing now with the likes of Kate Tempest recording albums and writing material "for the new generation." Poet Lenn Sissay goes so far as to claim that performance poetry today is as good as it's ever been; better than the Sixties, in fact.
The problem is that this developmental argument simply doesn't fit the facts. With the advent of radio in the late Thirties and early Forties, many poets grew accustomed to reading their work in public, including Eliot and Louis McNeice. Although they were not overtly "political," their work addressed many of the issues of the day as well as proving that the sound of poetry as as significant as its sense. Dylan Thomas made a fortune from poetry readings, especially in the United States; indeed, it was as a result of his overwhelming popularity that he died so young (at 39, in fact). Like the performance poets he commanded huge audiences of all ages and socio- economic backgrounds. And in the late Fifties the so-called "New Poets" such as John Wain, Ted Hughes, Thom Gunn and Larkin himself instituted a movement that rebelled against what they perceived as antiquated attitudes towards the genre.
Performance poetry is nothing new; it is something that poets have done since time immemorial. The idea of the artist sitting in his or her garret spending time over a single word is actually a myth; all poets have been ready and willing to give readings to all kind of audiences. Many of the poets featured in this documentary might have seemed "radical"; but they were no more so than their ancestors in earlier generations. Dylan Thomas was frequently castigated for being too "popular."
On its own terms, RHYMES, ROCK AND REVOLUTION fulfills a valuable function of introducing viewers to poets of whom they might not have heard. But it really only tells a partial story.
This is certainly true of Kemi Majekodunmi's history of performance poetry that traces the growth of the genre in Britain back to 1965 when Allen Ginsberg and two of his colleagues came to the Royal Albert Hall to read their poems, and thereby instituting a movement showing how poetry could communicate with everyone; it did not have to be the stuffy, obscure verse characteristic of T. S. Eliot's "The Waste Land."
Ginsberg's example was taken up by a host of British poets, including Roger McGough and the Liverpool Poets, John Lennon and Pete Brown. In the Seventies Patti Smith showed how poetry and music could be integrated in punk style; this paved the way for John Cooper Clarke in Britain, as well as the rants of Atilla the Stockbroker.
Times changed; and the poets changed as well. Murray Lachlan Young made it big in the Cool Britannia era, even acquiring his own television special. For a few years performance poetry remained in the doldrums, but apparently it is flourishing now with the likes of Kate Tempest recording albums and writing material "for the new generation." Poet Lenn Sissay goes so far as to claim that performance poetry today is as good as it's ever been; better than the Sixties, in fact.
The problem is that this developmental argument simply doesn't fit the facts. With the advent of radio in the late Thirties and early Forties, many poets grew accustomed to reading their work in public, including Eliot and Louis McNeice. Although they were not overtly "political," their work addressed many of the issues of the day as well as proving that the sound of poetry as as significant as its sense. Dylan Thomas made a fortune from poetry readings, especially in the United States; indeed, it was as a result of his overwhelming popularity that he died so young (at 39, in fact). Like the performance poets he commanded huge audiences of all ages and socio- economic backgrounds. And in the late Fifties the so-called "New Poets" such as John Wain, Ted Hughes, Thom Gunn and Larkin himself instituted a movement that rebelled against what they perceived as antiquated attitudes towards the genre.
Performance poetry is nothing new; it is something that poets have done since time immemorial. The idea of the artist sitting in his or her garret spending time over a single word is actually a myth; all poets have been ready and willing to give readings to all kind of audiences. Many of the poets featured in this documentary might have seemed "radical"; but they were no more so than their ancestors in earlier generations. Dylan Thomas was frequently castigated for being too "popular."
On its own terms, RHYMES, ROCK AND REVOLUTION fulfills a valuable function of introducing viewers to poets of whom they might not have heard. But it really only tells a partial story.
