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People have struggled for years to define poetry but one recurring adjective that people use to describe it is 'beautiful'. In the past perhaps that might have been true but in an increasingly ugly world poets find themselves drawn to equally ugly topics. Is there such a thing though as 'ugly poetry'? Scottish poet Jim Murdoch investigates.

In the second part of poet Jim Murdoch's exploration of the changing face of poetry he discusses the poetry of Frederick Seidel who has been called 'the poet the 20th century deserved,' the Greek poet, Elias Petropoulos whose ashes were thrown in a sewer in accordance with his wishes and Adorno's claim that "after Auschwitz writing poetry is barbaric." Keats wrote "Beauty is truth, truth beauty"-is that still true? Was it ever true?