The problem with ornate, poemy, and/or arched language

[wasellajam]

It's not that it's bad in itself PER SE
Admittedly that's a matter of taste, to some degree

But I think the real, more objective issue is that to write like this, and have it really land, *you have to command the authority of the old masters*

Like sure write like Dylan Thomas if you want, it better goddamn feel like I'm reading Dylan Thomas level craft. Otherwise the predominant impression will be one of imitation by a less skilled amateur. The ostensible goal of the poem will be lost in unavoidable comparison and questioning of "did they say it that way because that's how this speaker talks, or because they think that's what a poem should sound like?"

It is very hard to write outside one's own contemporary vernacular without sounding like you're "putting it on"

I don't mind the occasional archaic word when it's right on the money in meaning and/or sonics, but I think it's important to speak to the reader. The point of the poem is communication, what does that best is preferred. I have no problem with having to search a word that's new to me but I can't see using out of date language unless the poem wants to take the reader into the past.