I think etymology is a very contentious pseudo-science in which certainties of definition are claimed rather than proven. I.e there is less certainty than the tone suggests. It does engender quite exciting putative ur-meanings to words which can stimulate the invention. . But then we go into a further and even more contentious controversy as to whether those ur-meanings are in any sense still present in the word, and if so in what sense. Poets, of course, assume that they are, because poets are like that.
And it gets mixed up in all that silly business about the wholeness of language before it was divided.
With a few exceptions at the extreme, the business about plagiarism etc in poetry is a non-issue. Little boy poets playing at detectives. A poem is a public entity.
A monster has arrived here called “The Poem” by one Paterson. It would help me if, should anyone catch sight of a review of it, they would let me have the reference. I want to find out what the general reaction to it is in all parts. I don’t particularly want to be told “I think it’s crap”etc. I’m feeding the monster on porridge in the hope of keeping it quiet.
P
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