Topos or no, there are ambiguities in the way her stance is figured in
the poem, which tries to argue its way around several different types
of obstacle at once.
Imagine J. L. Austin let loose on the poem, discussing the differences
between refusing, temporizing, bashfulness, deliberate ambiguity,
cold-shouldering etc.
We are hearing what presents itself as one side of a negotiation - but
it seems as if it is trying to fix the terms of that negotiation as
well as strike a bargain within them. One is free to imagine a variety
of responses.
Dominic
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