Tim Allen says that “McKendrick hits the toy nail on the head with a softy
hammer when he says that Heaney's remarks were brief in broad strokes etc."
I can only suppose he means I’m (under)stating the obvious. Looking back at
his own contributions, though, I haven’t seen much evidence of any real nails
being smitten by Allen’s trusty hammer.
Still, he seems more aware than Jeffrey Side that any speculations he has
about Heaney are, well, just that, speculations. He adds: “But then he, or his
defenders at least, should be able to admit the limitations of their interest and
knowledge.”
We should all be able to admit our limitations, though I’m not sure who Allen
means by “his defenders”. If I’m numbered among them, I don’t think I’ve been
making any claims for my knowledge or for my interest, so I can’t yet see
anything I need to admit. The only claim I’d make in this respect would be the
right to pursue an “interest” in poetry wherever that takes me, a right I’d
equally assert on behalf of others.
Brought down to its simplest form what Heaney said was that he didn’t
consider the work of avant-garde poets fraudulent (though he had some
particular reservations about it). Jeffrey Side’s response, which I’ve already
sufficiently considered, was to try to demonstrate that both Heaney himself
and his work are essentially fraudulent. Allen considers what Heaney said to
be (relatively) “shabby” and still thinks “Jeffrey was right to challenge” those
remarks. Any shabbiness I see here is not on Heaney’s part.
And yet earlier Allen expressed a perfectly reasonable desire to discuss
further the nature of that reply about the avant-garde, but this was met with
a cold shoulder. Although the opportunity may now be lost, I can’t help
thinking that underlying this plea was a sense that the views of a poet of
Heaney’s seriousness shouldn’t just be dismissed out of hand, could at least
be confronted and disagreed with. This is why I find it disappointing that he’s
willing to endorse Side’s approach which is merely to discredit.
Jamie McKendrick
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