Spenser's ordinary level of fluency is so high that new
lines rise to the surface every time I reread. This morning's labor was
FQ Book 4, where I found myself staring at the opening line of the passage
that describes Ate's dwelling: "And all within the riven walls were
hung." Harry Berger says this sort of music puts his students to
sleep. I find that it keeps me engaged--rewarded--at the level of "reading
as if listening." And because it lures me to slow down, it often serves
for me as an unnoticed transition into the activity Berger calls "reading as if
perusing," which means, roughly, reading as if Cleanth Brooks.
David Lee
Miller
Department of
English
543 Boonesboro Ave
University of
Kentucky
Lexington, KY 40508
Lexington, KY 40506-0027
(859) 252-3680
(859) 257-6965
FAX
323-1072
