"Williams's famous plums are full of affection, both for the plums and for
Floss."
Yes, exactly. Affection & accuracy (of diction, description) keep the poem
from the sentimental.
Speaking of Curt Cobain, are you familiar with Nick Hornby's novel About A
Boy? Cobain plays an interesting part in the novel & not a sentimental one:
a couple of characters in the story are devoted to Cobain. One, Ellie, a
fifteen year old girl, we might describe as having a sentimental attachment,
though she is an attractive & tough character. (So tough she flies out of
the story before it's over.) Hornby doesn't sentimentalize Cobain, but uses
him as a center of gravity around which the plot orbits.
jd
--
Joseph Duemer
Professor of Humanities
Clarkson University
[sharpsand.net]
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