The greatest poems work internally. Great poetry cannot be “performed” in the usual sense. There is something about the fine poem which cannot exist in the air where we live. Put music in the background, make your voice dramatic—and all that is lovely or interesting about the poem runs away. It gets worse with Poe recitations—the reader’s voice is either too matter-of-fact or seems silly by attempting to be scary. This is me in my living room talking into my phone. Pardon me, Edgar. I tried.
↧