Here's a idle topic -- what are those words which should
really *not* be used again in a poem by anyone? i.e. those
words which seem to be particularly ubiquitous in poetry
for no particular reason, and somehow suggest a (metaphorical)
hangover from Dylan Thomas's bardic excesses? Those words
which you know you've seen in a hundred poems before but can
never remember which ones . . . . the 20th century equivalents
of the 19th century proliferation of "Phoebus' rays", etc.
Here's a few of my own hates for starters --
1. 'Thrum'
2. Any metaphor involving calligraphy
3. Any adjectives used to describe the sea (booming, soupy,
dark, salty, churning, etc etc)
By the way, whatever happened to Bill Herbert? Seemed to go
on holiday somewhere never to return . . . .
Andy
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