No, no, Lawrence, I liked the 'if'. as its usual suspect potential...
The poem invites me to wonder about a (or all the possible) speaker(s)...
There, is that clearer?
Doug
On Nov 21, 2013, at 7:07 AM, Lawrence Upton <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> What are you asking, dear boy?
>
> Do you want me to delete it?
>
> No. It's needed.
>
> The line begins to shake apart without it
>
> & I want the qualification.
>
> *
>
> If it's not deletion, then... ?
> “If” is a colloquialism for “when”; but sounds better in this context
>
> L
>
>
> On 20 November 2013 23:39, Douglas Barbour <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
>> Who, I'm tempted to ask.
>>
>> that 'if' hovering....
>>
>> Doug
>> On Nov 20, 2013, at 6:28 AM, Lawrence Upton <[log in to unmask]>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> We, anyone, are far too dangerous
>>>
>>> if we make overwhelming promises:
>>>
>>> the future is settled in its reality;
>>>
>>> and the will, therefore, is an embarrassment,
>>>
>>> clutching at some decorative fantasies;
>>>
>>> or clouds; or throwing itself at open doors,
>>>
>>> between command and adjournment, without care.
>>>
>>> Suddenly, much is secure with the fool's falling.
>>>
>>
>> Douglas Barbour
>> [log in to unmask]
>>
>> http://www.ualberta.ca/~dbarbour/
>> http://eclecticruckus.wordpress.com/
>>
>> Latest books:
>> Continuations & Continuations 2 (with Sheila E Murphy)
>> http://www.uap.ualberta.ca/UAP.asp?LID=41&bookID=962
>> Recording Dates
>> (Rubicon Press)
>>
>> Art is always the replacing of indifference by attention.
>>
>> Guy Davenport
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
Douglas Barbour
[log in to unmask]
http://www.ualberta.ca/~dbarbour/
http://eclecticruckus.wordpress.com/
Latest books:
Continuations & Continuations 2 (with Sheila E Murphy)
http://www.uap.ualberta.ca/UAP.asp?LID=41&bookID=962
Recording Dates
(Rubicon Press)
Art is always the replacing of indifference by attention.
Guy Davenport
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