If I remember correctly, the last poem
You wrote was about writing a poem;
Your next one should be about forgetting it.
Moderator’s comments: I suspect few people read I. A. Richards anymore but he was the latest rage in literary criticism throughout the first half of the previous century and it seems that Cinquor is paying homage to him with this little poem. Not to belittle Richards' many talents but I don’t think he possessed that rapier wit we see Cinquor wielding with so much admirable dispensation here, to wit and to the point: Did Richards ever say anything so downright good and practical?
Richards was addicted to the royal We, which always annoyed me, and his wit wore gumboots. But he did favor close reading—a good thing. Everything else about him I've forgotten!
ReplyDeleteYeah, I guess with a name like Ivor anybody would have a problem with being witty unless you owned--spelling be damned--a seafood restaurant in Seattle called "Ivar's Acres of Clams"!
ReplyDeleteMmm, clams.
ReplyDeleteAs in "Mummmm's the word?" :-)
ReplyDelete