“ Historically, up until a certain point poets everywhere were kings, prime ministers, local rulers, military leaders, and trusted advisers of the ruler. Not all, probably not most, but a very significant proportion. In the 19th century they started to be free lance writers and depressed alcoholics living in basements. By a certain point there were very few poets living of the market any more, and they all lived in basements. Then, since about 1950, they started to be petty bureaucrats who pretended to teach.
