Comparing experimental and conceptual poets

This chart lists contrasting characteristics of poets who are seekers and those who are finders. Poets tend to have some of their category’s typical characteristics, not all of them.

	SEEKER	FINDER
	Experimental innovator	Conceptual innovator
Archetype	Old master	Young genius
Prime example	Robert Frost	T.S. Eliot
Quote	“Young people have insight. They have a flash here and a flash there … It is later in the dark of life that you see forms, constellations. And it is the constellations that are philosophy.” -- Frost	“Most men either cling to the experiences of youth, so that their writing becomes an insincere mimicry of their earlier work, or they leave their passion behind, and write only from the head, with a hollow and wasted virtuosity.” -- Eliot
Characteristics
When they typically do their best work	Later in career.	Early in career.
Length of time devoted to creating their best work	Extended period of continual striving for mastery. Often they work in one form of poetry for a long time.	Sudden breakthrough. They often switch from one form of poetry to another; versatile in many forms of poetry.
Focus of their poems	Emphasis on subject matter. Their work often involves extensive observation, grows out of study of the external world.	Emphasis on technique. Based on imagination. Their work often involves introspection, grows out of study of earlier poetry.
Their style	Language may be relatively informal, vernacular, concrete, concerned with specifics.	Language may be relatively formal, sophisticated, aimed at universality.
Preparation and working methods	May start writing without planning the poem in advance. May rewrite often, have difficulty completing poems.	Often write quickly.
How they evaluate their poems	Unsure of achievements, stick to one form that they try to perfect.	Feel have solved specific problems, move on to new forms.
How they are received	Praised for craft and wisdom	Praised for brilliance and genius

Copyright © 2007 by Colin Stewart. All rights reserved.