That Good Things Should Be Made.

The article examines the evolution and current state of poetry through the lens of Richard Wilbur’s poem “Mayflies,” highlighting its formal structure, contemplative intelligence, and connection to classical traditions of music and rhetoric. It contrasts Wilbur’s late-modernist style, which maintains meter, rhyme, and moral reflection, with dominant contemporary poetic streams including free verse personal reflections, surrealist image layering, and avant-garde language poetry, noting their varying degrees of departure from traditional poetic form. The discussion also addresses the rise of identity politics in poetry, which often prioritizes the poet’s social identity and political intentions over formal and aesthetic qualities. Finally, the article identifies a minority but persistent tradition exemplified by the New Formalists, who seek to revive poetry’s musicality, rhetorical power, and contemplative purpose as an alternative to prevailing trends.