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Hi there > I agree that a good poem can't be successfully paraphrased in prose, but > isn't that because its form is part of the way it communicates, and not > because it's not trying to communicate? I don't think form communicates, does it? If so what does rondeau mean? I absolutely accept that the means of delivery can be construed as part of the package. But one doesn't hear a form. So that can't quite be right. I was sloppy in my thinking though, because the key word is successfully in my phrase and this is of course entirely open to interpretation. Writing in the model of the Masters was and perhaps is a useful way of learning to hone one's writing. But is it really only a modern notion? The anxiety I mean. Maybe so. Ishiguro is often described as a poetic writer. And of course there are poet novelists, where "purple prose" isn't really a prevalent sin. Though I do take your point. But I was thinking of Ondaatje for example. Best C