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What Makes A Good Comment On Oldpoetry

On OLDPOETRY http://oldpoetry.com/ members and guests are welcome to make comments about the Old Poets and their poems.

Briefly the criteria are Relevance, Decency and Courtesy.

Comments are welcome if they describe your impressions of the poet or poems, or if they give a CONSIDERED opinion about the poet or poems, or if they give a critical analyses  of the poets thoughts and intentions.

 

It is always wise to consider the time and conditions existing at the time the poem was written.



Comments which do not contribute to the site's good image may be removed by any of the moderators.

RELEVANCY:
Is the comment actually about the poem it is attached to. If not then it is probably not needed.

DECENCY:
We want teachers to be able to use this site with their pupils, and for kids to read stuff for themselves so monitor language and religious or political bias. Obscenity and Profanity (against any religion) should be removed and probably will be.

COURTESY:
If the comment is simply "slagging off" or insulting the poem, the poet or another reader without making any valid contribution to literary opinion about the poem then we will delete it.


*                                      QUESTIONS                                           *

Members and guests are also welcome to ask other visitors questions about the poets or poems although this is best done in the Forum which is linked underneath the poem with the comments section.

Readers should be aware that the old poetry mods are all unpaid volunteers working in their spare time and it is up to them whether they produce a poem anaysis or hunt up facts about a poet or poem. They may do so in their own time if the question is one that interests them but at their own pace. Asking politely will get better responses than making demands!!


*                                         ANSWERS                                           *

Answers will normally be posted either in the original comment or underneath it as a reply to the comment.


If you want the answer to be quickly visible when you next log on then it is easier to become an oldpoetry member. It does not cost anything and allows you access to ALL the sites at the bottom of each page.
Your comments will also be processed more quickly by the system if you are a member AND you can also write your own poetry on the sister sites!

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Comments


  • Peteskid gold member
    August 9
    Edit | Reply
    well i have a tendency to try to correct what I feel are mistaken ideas, which i wil try not to do in the future. But particularly an histoircal reference or context of a poem...many readers are not from the country of the writer, most of us are not of their times; and often the intention of the writer was fixed to a period or an event...[protest against a repressive government] read out of this context the poem may seem trite or even pointless...but still it would only be an opinion, anyway ..this is a good column, I think it is a fair presentation...PK


    • Old Poetry gold member
      August 9
      Edit | Reply
      As long as you are taking into account the manners, morals and knowledge pertaining when the poem was written it would be perfectly proper to point out apparent errors. It would also be proper to point out that things have changed since that might help future readers.
      If someone failed to take the conditions into account and erroneously but civilly took the poet to task then I would hope the mods would gently point out the error for both that readers benefit and future readers. Deletion is a last resort.
      Having read many of your comments PK I would consider many of them as examples of good practice. Keep up the good work.
      Jim

    • Judith Chandler
      August 9
      Edit | Reply
      I think we have to take into account the view held at the time the poem was written. We are products of our time after all and so were these Old Poets.

      I enjoyed the column, very clear and well expressed.

      • Old Poetry gold member
        August 9
        Edit | Reply
        You are absolutely correct. It is unfair to judge the writing of Tennyson, say, by the moral and grammatical standards of today. I have added a paragraph about that. Thanks
        Jim