Composition (Philosophy of)

To my19th c. Transromantics,
and Colleagues across the Curriculum

(Toward Leisure-Time Talk about Liberal Art
not to be collapsed, conflated, or confused
with the majors and minors of liberalarts)

Thus, what we need is an irrational
language with anew vocabulary,
something like what modern art is
trying to find for an expres­sion of the
subconscious. Otto Rank, Beyond Psychology;
copied by Theodore Roethke into his notebooks.

The Philosophy of Composition
(On the making of “The Raven.”
Step by Step: Logically & Intentionally)

My claim, always for the sake of argument,
is that Poe either

1. Purposely perpetrated a hoax.
tweaking the Enlightenment
& Age of Reasons Why) or

2. Consciously sold out to the
Common Sense dominant
paradigm of RATIONALITY
uber alles & who can blame him, or

3. Unconsciously believed: “My
conscious rational control-the-
process technique accurately
describes How I Made The
RAVEN (my philosophy of
composing)

Could it be all of the above?

.

I ask you

..........Compose
Pose
.....................Juxtapose

The last time you posed, composed,
and juxtaposed something—anything:
you in the act of making sense, a poem,
picture, photo, song, shopping list,
conversation, outside shot, graduation
speech ...

...what were your ratios of
Consciousness-to-Unconsciousness?
Logic-to-illogic?
Rational-to-irrational?
Control-to-out-of-control?
Determinacy-to-Indeterminacy?
Random-to -Order?
Intellect-to-Affect?

I’m just asking, rationally, for your ratios.
Reflect back. Consider the role of
The Composing Triad:

................................non-sense
common sense
.......................................no-sense-at-all

What rules? Governs? Regulates these
values & relationships?

Assess.
And then (after your assessment & not
before): evaluate.

We’ll talk.
Or argue, as the case may be
(or what’s a college for?)





xxxooo, Sam