> I can definitely say I never EVER think about what ranks as the 'central
> tragic poetic text of the nineteenth century'. Guess I'm not all that
> middle
> class after all.
>
> Ginning, with malice aforethought
Well, actually I was more than slightly serious about Edward Lear as a major
tragic poet. He gets sidelined for the same reason that Stevie Smith and
Clough get sidelined (let's pretend the name "Betjamin" or whatever didn't
crop up in this context) -- he's not "serious".
Then if you think about, say, "The Dong with the Luminous Nose" sadly
watching the Jumblies sail away, and how Lear was a closet gay ... Well,
maybe not tragic, but I find it moving and sad.
I'm not usually a great one for subtexts, but in this case, as with Housman,
the poetry takes on an extra dimension when you consider the authors' sexual
identity. Or summat.
> Ginning
Grinning or girning?
Whinger!
R.
|