An artificial language for international use that rejects all existing words and is based instead on an abstract analysis of ideas
I transcribed the complete Dictionary of Ro thinking it might help me understand the mechanics of inventing a language. It did not, but it was a fun mindlock for a few days. I became interested in Ro after spotting the 2-letter word on a Wordswarm.net Random Words page.
I have transcribed many things in the same spirit. I copied long poems — From Gloucester Out by Ed Dorn and BREATHLAHEM by Jim Brodey — in a spirit of both servitude and hoped-for bonding. All those words passing through my hands, I imagined, would grease the wheels of inspiration and lead to me writing like those great poets.
No such transformation happened. My poetry is bad, and my poetry will always be bad no matter if I transcribed every line of poetry from Shakespeare’s "fairest creaturesto Ginsberg’s "urn of ashes". The mechanical act of reproducing great and not-so-great works of others lead me to no ease of craft or connection with the masters.
I may have arrived at this notion of inspiration-via-replication from having been a pianist for so long. Classical music is a re-creative art, an art of compromise in which the traditions of past eras meet practices of today. At one stage of my life my knowledge of the pianists’ repertoire was pretty comprehensive, and I imagined that a pianist whose knowledge of the reportoire is fluid might be at an advantage when they set pen to paper and compose their own scores. As with the transcribing of poetry I find that all that a systematic knowledge of others’ music gave me little advantage in creating my own music. The value comes from the dialogue between one individual and another, not from laborious analysis and marching orders.
