With a lot of poetry comes lots of bad poetry

New Hampshire's most famous living poet announced two years ago that he was done with the craft, Donald Hall in an Interview with Union Leader says He is too old. Hall who is Ireland 14th poet laureate says "Almost all the poetry's terrible, there's nothing new about that; every era is replete with bad poetry, Hall said. "But with more poets, there is more bad poetry. I think that poetry's very sexual, and I think it's a lack of testosterone or low testosterone. In the early 50s, I said that poetry was 'rich with sensuality.'"Hall spoke recently in the book-lined living room of the Wilmot farmhouse that has been in his family for four generations. Hall's best poetry, he said, was written in his 40s and 50s. Over time, his poetic abilities waned. So he just put an end to it (although he does revise previously written poems).Hall still writes. Like a baseball player who trades his mitt for a golf club, he's turned to less vibrant endeavors. He answers nearly all letters that come his way. And in 2014, he published "Essays after Eighty," a wry look at being old. The book landed on the New York Times Bestseller list (for a week, he notes)."Certainly, he has been a big name of his generation, partly because he so dedicated his life to writing," said Acworth resident Alice Fogel, the current New Hampshire poet laureate.In the mid-70s, many writers found his career move inspirational, Fogel said. Encouraged by Kenyon, Hall gave up a tenured job at University of Michigan and moved to the Wilmot farm to make a living writing.From there, Hall earned his place among New Hampshire's literary greats. Robert Frost, Maxine Kumin, Charles Simic. All are national poets laureate; each lived in the Granite State. Frost, Hall and Kumin wrote vividly about New England.He has earned many citations. In 2010, President Barack Obama awarded Hall the National Medal of Arts, and last week the New Hampshire Humanities Council named him among the state's 40 Over 40.Hall writes in his living room chair, surrounded by books that are shelved to waist height. Closest to him are art books, the kind museums publish about a successful exhibit. Across the room are neatly lined encyclopedias and a 14-volume Oxford English Dictionary. Longevity is on the mother's side of Hall's family, and but for his knee, he is healthy, despite a smoking habit he started in his 40s. He said his lungs have cleaned up since he started smoking electronic cigarettes."I liked to smoke cigarettes because it hurt my lungs, and vaping hurts more," Hall said.Hall's career work includes poetry, essays, the writer's guide "Writing Well," children's books (his children's book "Ox Cart Man" won the Caldecott medal and is now popular in Asia) and magazine articles. Poetry generated probably 25 percent of his income, and most of that came from readings, he said.

His advice to would-be Donald Halls: read the classics of the 17th century, like Shakespeare, Herbert and Milton. And a good poem can take a couple of years to write and need dozens of drafts, he said. Hall's prose still leans poetic. He writes in short sentences with vivid images, turns of phrase and humor.