Submitted by John Schertzer, Aug 22, 2007 09:09

If Lowell was at the epicenter of anything, it was poetry book publishing, and especially the marketing of books. Not to say that Lowell was an awful poet, but to keep proliferating an opinion that he was somehow the "great" American poet of the century, or even his generation, is exceptionally unfair to the rest of the American poetry community, now and forever. Among just the said group, it is arguable that he is the least interesting, and comparing him to other considerably greater poets of the time (though obviously lesser known) would be like comparing Ronald Reagan movies to Bogart movies.

Case in point: Lowel may have sold more books and been in the limelight, during his own lifetime, far more than say someone like Emily Dickinson, during hers (she didn't publish during hers), but Dickinson is a far greater American poet.

Billy Collins sells a lot of books, was the L word, and it's arguable that he isn't very much of a poet at all, though one might enjoy reading his books the same way one might enjoy reading the funny papers. People probably found Lowell reassuring because they themselves weren't quite ready to leave the 19th century, a quality it seems the author of this article shares.

Because McDonalds sells more beef than Delmonico's, does that mean McDonalds is better? And because both sell more beef than my little sushi restaurant does down the block, does that mean that beef is better than fish?

The author is advised to read more poetry.

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