Saturday, May 31, 2008

Should poetry matter?

A novel about Gerald Manly Hopkins leads the reviewer to quote poetry....

...(there) was the conversation I had while sitting next to a sophisticated lady-poet at a literary lunch. "I've been reading the most amazing book about Gerard Manley Hopkins," I said, "but I can't seem . . ." " That guy!" she answered. "Once he gets his claws in your brain, you're a goner!" Involuntarily, I began, "The world is charged with the grandeur of God./It will flame out like shining from shook foil." But she had already chimed in with "I caught this morning morning's minion, king-/dom of daylight's dauphin, dapple-dawn-drawn Falcon." And we went on like that for maybe six or eight more lines each, caught respectively in "God's Grandeur" and "The Windhover," and then stopped, a little flushed and embarrassed. It was like making love with words, and we didn't know each other all that well.

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