Abstract

The mention of farts in English language poetry has changed just as the role of poetry in our lives. This essay offers a survey of the uses and mentions of the word fart and the act of farting in poetry, centering around poet and critic Matthew Arnold's notion of “high seriousness” as the ideal place for poetry, as well as poet Robert Lowell's idea of the “raw and cooked” in 20th century American poetry. Questions posed: Can poetry and the mention of farts coexist? Can both anti-academic and academic poets' farts find their way to the page in a post-post-“high seriousness” age?