Science sorts out poetry...

[ChristopherSea]

Scientific proof.that art is.objective and that some poetry is prose with line breaks. Now I just need my portable MRI . . .

Nope. It's more like: Preliminary study results show that

"13 volunteers, all faculty members and senior graduate students in English"

have similar subjective feelings and opinions. Earth-shattering.

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"Their brain activity was scanned and compared when reading literal prose such as an extract from
a heating installation manual, evocative passages from novels, easy and difficult sonnets, as well
as their favourite poetry."

"The experience of reading varies markedly between differing texts which may be, for example,
primarily informative, musical, or moving."

Not as clear cut as the headlines proclaim.

Informative:
heating installation manual
difficult sonnets

Musical:
easy sonnets
evocative passages from novels
favourite poetry

Moving:
evocative passages from novels
favourite poetry

Thank you for that, Ray. I think the study would be interesting, but the abstract is crap. For example, ''evocative'' and ''difficult'' would need some clarifying. Who decided? Did the subjects decide that this or that was to be ticked as ''difficult''? Or did the researchers? I might v well regard a piece as difficult, which Matron would regard as simplistic nonsense. A London ex-pat living in Lesotho might well find a few clues as evocative of his, or even her, native city -red pillar-boxes, buses, cricket at the Oval --- whereas a native of Lesotho, although a speaker of perfect English, might have far less feelings aroused. (That last word was just for Billy)

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i wonder if the same happens when we see a naked person, i''ve ogten classed certain wormen as poetry in motion (cliche i know )

who says if it's good or bad poetry? to say singers are poets is a bit much. the same as poets aren't singers. (some of each are both of course) what is the purpose of the study? i'm not sure it will improve the quality of poetry

Of course, Billy. You have a niche here,I think. You could become a Poetry In Motion Poet.....geddit?

They don't have to be in motion Billy, even as a still life a nude woman is poetry. (Attention Necrophiliacs: In a photo or painting, not dead!)