For the pop poets whose work has been composed expressly for the purpose of recital to live audiences the issue is plain They can only profit from public performance Their verses are often very simple in both form and content and can be assimilated at a single hearing it is on the printed page that the deficiencies of thought technique and imagination become clear Poets who are dedicated to their craft and are doing their best to continue and develop what is finest in the traditions of poetry  which involves compressing the maximum amount of passion thought wit and vision into the smallest possible space and achieving rhythmic effects of great variety and subtlety  are unlikely to be appreciated by an audience which is probably encountering their work for the first time The danger here is not that they will be tempted to emulate the content and style of the entertainers but that they might in the effort to achieve instant communication read only their most readily accessible work which is quite likely to be their slightest and least characteristic 