ISSUE XX

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SEPTEMBER 2016

Is there anything like good poetry or bad poetry? Do you think there lies a distinction? Can poetry be bad? Of course, it can be good; my question is – can there be something which you may classify as ‘bad poetry’? This question has been there in my mind for long now. Better than this, I seldom get any platform to convey my ideas to a number of people easily. I hope you people will help me with my complexity.

From Dr. Johnson to Eliot, and also some other critics like Pope, they all have been hinting at something called ‘bad poetry’ if I am right to understand. The general notion goes like there must be something permanent in the poem to make it a ‘good poetry’. Failing to subscribe to that permanence, the poem is not ‘good poetry’ and it implicitly hints at otherwise. I agree that some elements of permanent values add importance to the poem and make it ‘forever’ like in the case of ‘Rainbow’ that Wordsworth painted with his words. However, remember a poem by Andrew Young, A Dead Mole? That poem is all about a mole which dies. So, that is a moment’s poem inspired by the ‘present’ situations. Will the readers deny to enjoy that poem? No, certainly not! A poem is a poem – it’s something beyond from being qualified as good or bad! However, I will welcome the views to take this discourse further.

Another issue and we are all set to see off 20 successful issues of Ashvamegh. We will enter into our thirties now and it has been a thrilling journey, I must say! Many thanks to our visitors, readers and contributors for making Ashvamegh a great success!

I would also like to make it official that Ashvamegh has no become an interactive portal where readers can demand ‘things to be written’. We will try our best to produce literary writings for the students, academicians or anyone who suggest us the topics to write. Someone from Lahore has suggested us to produce something on the importance of English Language and I must say my gratitude to Nidhi Sharma, Editorial Board member at Ashvamegh to take the call. Here is the article that she has produced:

How to Make your English Skills Better

I will keep things short as Ashvamegh has many pleasant reads to offer to the readers in the present issue. Enjoy the issue and let others enjoy too by sharing the items on your social pages.

Many thanks and love,

Alok Mishra

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