[The Cost of Seriousness] is important in what it attempts, and important for Porter, I should imagine—not just because of the more intimate and painful area of experience on which many poems draw, but because he has cut out so much of the clutter of cleverness which lumbered previous volumes.
The cost of seriousness is not, as Porter writes in his title poem, 'death', but emotional pain; and the pain in these poems extends beyond the poems directly mourning his wife, and reaches into the process of making art. Porter feels with force 'The Lying Art':
This is a free excerpt of 95 words. There are 353 words (approx.
1 page at 300 words per page) in the full critical essay.
Read the rest of this Criticism with our Porter, Peter 1929–: Critical Essay by Desmond Graham Access Pass.
