Paul Muldoon on the Colbert Report

Putting in his time as poetry ombudsman for America and the world, Pulitzer Prize-winner and Princeton University professor Paul Muldoon recently appeared on the Colbert Report and spoke briefly about the importance of poetry for making sense of life and advocated broadening the definition of poetry to include greeting cards. OK, to be honest, I cringe a little at the thought of Hallmark being the most widely read poet of the past ninety-nine years, but maybe I need to get off my high horse. Perhaps if we recognized greeting cards as poetry, more people would realize that poetry is not some distant, high-brow enigma, but rather it is part of their everyday lives, so much so that they don’t even recognize in in their own words anymore. In illustration of that point, Muldoon reminded viewers of the inescapability of the metaphor, a literary device, indeed a poetic device, that really has crept quietly inside the vernacular and made a cozy home for itself there (I think I’ve used a couple already in this post). Many metaphors have become so common we don’t even realize we’re employing them, e.g. “After just one drink, he was buzzed.” A great number of these oft-used expressions have become cliché, e.g. “She broke my heart.” But cliché or completely original, for all its enrichment of tongues the world over, I’d like to raise my glass, tip my hat, and bow down to the metaphor! Huzzah! 

Here is a link to the interview:

http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/231220/june-18-2009/paul-muldoon

 

by Lisa Grove