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1. Gulls 'mewing' (though I don't share Peter Sansom's opinion that they should be banned altogether) 2. Swifts 'screaming'. 3. Pompous vocatives, 'my father', 'my love' etc Best wishes Matthew -----Original Message----- From: Andrew Jackson <[log in to unmask]> To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]> Date: 20 September 2000 20:38 Subject: Tired words >Here's a idle topic -- what are those words which should >really *not* be used again in a poem by anyone? i.e. those >words which seem to be particularly ubiquitous in poetry >for no particular reason, and somehow suggest a (metaphorical) >hangover from Dylan Thomas's bardic excesses? Those words >which you know you've seen in a hundred poems before but can >never remember which ones . . . . the 20th century equivalents >of the 19th century proliferation of "Phoebus' rays", etc. > >Here's a few of my own hates for starters -- > >1. 'Thrum' >2. Any metaphor involving calligraphy >3. Any adjectives used to describe the sea (booming, soupy, >dark, salty, churning, etc etc) > > >By the way, whatever happened to Bill Herbert? Seemed to go >on holiday somewhere never to return . . . . > > >Andy > > > %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%