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Post by Gerry on Jun 26, 2024 12:09:15 GMT -5
Well, I mentioned this in responding to Karen, so it seems as good a quote as any to discuss. Eliot said "Good poets borrow, great poets steal." What do you make of that?
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Post by susank on Jun 26, 2024 15:32:43 GMT -5
I like this quote because you can only steal something if you understand something about it. I can steal a topic (a good place to start, since my experience or perspective will differ from the original), a form (and then perhaps revise my way into something more original), a point of view, an emphasis on sound, syntax, etc.
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cathyw
Junior Member
Hello. I am glad I signed up for this so I squeeze in time to read and write and contemplate.
Posts: 64
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Post by cathyw on Jul 1, 2024 23:20:35 GMT -5
I'm too steeped in the copyright side of this quote to depart from the transformation requirement. It is a legal requirement but a good one: if a poet borrows, it will be superficial, if they steal, it must transform the stolen words so well that it is almost unrecognizable; turn it into something totally new. Only great poets can do that. (Still, when it comes to copyright infringement, poets are not always the best targets to sue. Still, publishers are shy about defending an infringement lawsuit so, sadly, many transformative "after" poems and the manuscripts they are in get tossed for this reason, whether the poet is good or great.)
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Post by bluebird on Jul 24, 2024 10:52:11 GMT -5
I guess that borrowing means you never take possession of something....you have to give it back, return it to
its rightful owner.
Stealing means that you take ownership of something, that it "becomes yours"
I once had a friend and we often exchanged clothing ... borrowed it but always returned it. Then,
once, when we were older, she "stole" a purple blouse I really loved when she was visiting and
took it back to Oregon with her. She apologized, saying she just loved it so much she HAD to
HAVE it... and then she sent me a necklace made of seashells that I knew she loved.
Plagiarism, I guess, is when you "lift" someone else's work and pretend it's yours and do not
acknowledge the source. That is bad form and, I think, illegal....lifting like that requires
"quote marks" and a notation of source.
However, at this moment, I am watching a downpour outside between a stand of bamboo
and a small Japanese Maple outside my window. My guess is, hundreds of poets have watched
the rain...it is a common experience...then, I suppose, it's all about "context?"
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