[quote=roystona]Without throwing all the canons of the craft out of the window-one might like to learn what poetry is not? It is not about the poet-it is about observation-do the greats write about themselves? Giving the ego the slip lends itself to the muse eh?"The woods are lovely,dark and deep, but I've got promises to keep and miles to go before I sleep", is Robert Frost referring to himself/ maybe but it might be a created character? In any case it is not self centred with its beautiful,meter,adjective and verb which carries the poem onward,it seems egoless. "I have seen my head grown slightly bald brought in upon a platter, but I am no prophet and heres no great matter" -Love song of Prufrock- a character, not TS Eliot. ................................[/quote]