David
>
>If I can extend this further, what I was inching towards was the simple
>point that wealth and power do not equal literary excellence. If I can shift
>the perspective away from the US, if we look at the writers of the late
>British Empire (c. 1875 - 1925) we find that almost none of those of the
>first order are from the dominant class (the upper-class English) we have
>many Irish, some very fine Americans, a Pole even, etc and only a few
>English (Lawrence and Hardy I'd say)
I would not disagree, but I think a lot of the fine US poets I love are
also not from 'the dominant class' in the US, if only because they are
women, say. But then I'd point to a number of fine Canadians. Or on to many
you mentioned too. Perhaps I'm just worried about invidious comparisons at
all. I'll celebrate all the poets who have touched me, directly in my
langage, english, or in translation.
Doug
Douglas Barbour
Department of English
University of Alberta
Edmonton Alberta Canada T6G 2E5
(h) [780] 436 3320 (b) [780] 492 0521
http://www.ualberta.ca/~dbarbour/dbhome.htm
I can always
go back to
fertilization,
kimonos, wrap-
arounds and
diatribes.
Lorine Niedecker
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