I think it was William Empson--and they were Tennyson's bees, if memory serves.
Jane Hedley
At 11:55 PM 3/3/2004 +0100, you wrote:
>In the vein of David's skepticism: who was it -- old age, you know --
>who said that Keats's "murmur of innumerable bees" worked just as
>well with the "murder of innumerable beeves"?
>
>Roger Kuin
>
>
>>At 02:31 PM 3/3/2004 -0500, Carol Kaske wrote:
>>In view of some current skepticism about onomatopoeia etc., I'm delighted
>>to see that Frye believed in "imitative harmony . . . the sound being an
>>echo of the sense," which is a neglected dimension of Spenser's poetry.
>><<<<
>>
>>I am, in general, one of the skeptics. So, I might add, was Dr. Johnson.
>>But that is irrelevant. They -- meaning critics in the Renaissance --
>>believed in "imitative harmony," AND THERE'S AN END ON IT! (As the Great
>>Cham would say.) Virgil, in particular, was famous in this period for the
>>number and variety of his verbal sound effects. See María José Vega Ramos,
>>El secreto artificio: Qualitas sonorum, maronolatría y tradición pontaniana
>>en la poética del Renacimiento (Madrid, 1992).
>>
>>Did Virgil intend to produce the sound effects that the critics discovered?
>>In some cases, there is no question, because the effects are so obvious
>>(e.g., "taratantara," which is the sound that a trumpet makes in Virgil's
>>predecessor Ennius). With more subtle effects -- and Virgil's effects,
>>whatever they are, are more subtle -- it is hard to judge. We hear what we
>>expect to hear. "Dover Beach" is connected with the seaside, and so of
>>course the rhythm of the poem reminds us of the ebb and flow of the tides.
>>But is that really what the poem sounds like? Is it the sound of the words
>>that puts us in mind of the sea, or is it the meaning of the words?
>>
>>Frankly, I can't tell. With Spenser, though, I think we're on firmer
>>ground. If you believe that Homer is writing allegory, and you want to
>>imitate Homer, then you WILL write allegory. That's probably what Virgil
>>did. It's the same with imitative harmony. If you think that Virgil used
>>words to imitate sound, and you are trying to imitate Virgil, you will,
>>probably, use words to imitate sound. And if you have any talent, it will
>>probably work, too.
>>
>>-----------------------------------------------------------------------
>>David Wilson-Okamura http://virgil.org [log in to unmask]
>>East Carolina University Virgil reception, discussion, documents, &c
>>-----------------------------------------------------------------------
--
Jane Hedley
K. Laurence Stapleton Professor of English
Bryn Mawr College
101 N. Merion Ave.
Bryn Mawr, Penna. 19010-2899
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