This book has argued that pre-romantic poetry should be valued, both on its own terms (insofar as these can be recovered) and because it tells us important things about how literary history is formed and narrated. Returning, symbolically, to one of the arenas in which I have pursued this topic, I want to use my conclusion to argue that occasional poetry is a continuing – indeed dominant – presence in contemporary literary culture.

An example.

Chapter 3 cited Jean Baudrillard's identification of September 11, 2001 as ‘the absolute event … the pure event uniting within itself all the events that have ever taken place’. Despite my hostility to uncritical celebrations of the romantic sublime, I'd acknowledge that the attack on the World Trade Center baffles understanding. Chapter 3 argued, however, that culture should not abandon a commitment to analysis just because individuals experience a block to their comprehension. If anything, that commitment should be strengthened not forfeited, even if we suspect that the results will be partial or contradictory.

Despite its sublime impact, September 11 bears witness to an ongoing wish for exploration and discussion: note the vast amount of occasional writing that it has produced. Although the sheer volume of this writing indicates the scale of the ‘event’, the very presence of the writing suggests that the urge to understanding has not been undone. On the contrary, the countless words that have been written on the subject indicate a desire for comprehension and control that in turn marks an ongoing investment in the idea of a reflective self. (A reading self, one might say.) To be sure, that self is fragmented and contingent – but it would be, even if 9/11 had not occurred.

Most of the occasional writing generated by September 11 is, of course, journalistic. But look, too, at the myriad websites in which the day and its aftermath are memorialized through poetry. Mourners commemorate friends and relations, while those who saw the event in person or on television try to record their impressions; each anniversary becomes a prompt for further writing. The ‘shock and awe’ of the second Gulf War has also yielded occasional poetry.