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I'll chew on that a while, Henry, altho' I am sure that notions of form are very close to the bland face of the Beast, but questions of idiom and diction are certainly there too. I haven't seen 'Speech, Speech!' yet, but I'm glad you raised that particular Hill as he is a poet whom I have furiously ambiguous reactions too: partly y'know coz of West Midlands links, he being from Bromsgrove originally, (in Worcestershire, that burry shadow of our one and only Warwickshire) and tho' from the same speech patterns I know (I recognise those 'Mershan' vowel harmonies a mile orf) yet too an inhabitant of the 'other lot', that is to say the class and voices of authority, a 'policeman's son' as one of his former students at Leeds once described him to me, years ago, while at a party in Acocks Green, (just down the road from Hobbitsville) while completely slewed, which if you ponder it does indicate the strength of the impression. 's all for now. Best Dave ----- Original Message ----- From: "Henry" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Friday, July 27, 2001 4:42 AM Subject: Re: query > Are you sure "notions of form" are the problem, David? Seems like > say if you look at "Speech, Speech!" by G. Hill the problem he's > confronting is one of diction & idiom. I think the deliquescence > (supposed) of meter & form is inseparable from those "problems" - > > When General Jackson > Posed for his statue > He knew how one feels. > Shall a man go barefoot > Blinking and blank? > > But how does one feel? > One grows used to the weather, > The landscape and that; > And the sublime comes down > To the spirit itself, > > The spirit and space, > The empty spirit > In vacant space. > What wine does one drink? > What bread does one eat? > > from Wallace Stevens, "The American Sublime" [1935] >