Re: CHAT: Synesthesia and conlanging (was Re: The Conlang

Ed Heil wrote:

>Well, you can look at it both ways.  In "The Monsters And The Critics"
>Tolkien is very hesitant about calling artlang verse "poetry."  The
>assumption is, I believe, that working with a "given" material, the
>words and constructions of an existing language, is an essential part
>of what poetry is.
>I'm not sure whether Tolkien took these reservations seriously, or
>whether he was only being careful to forestall possible criticisms.
>It surely didn't stop him form doing artlang verse!
If I remember correctly the remark in "The Monsters and the
Critics" that you're referring to, I don't think Tolkien was making a
big philosophical point about artlangs and poetry.  Rather, he was
just being coy:  He was hesitant to call *his own* artlang verse
"poetry", for the simple reason that he didn't think it was very
good.

Matt.