Quote:
Originally Posted by Richard Meyer
Language carries thought and feeling.
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Hmmm. Only if you agree with I.A. Richards, and believe all that stuff about tenor and vehicle...
Not that I mean to argue with you, Richard, I don't. I just think we often confuse the issues with our own words, the way I get in my own way sometimes when I'm working in the shop.
To give primacy to one or the other, to form or content or thought or feeling, I think misstates the problem. If a piece of wood arrives in my shop, I'm going to treat it differently, based on its condition, my thoughts, and whether I need to make something specific that day. There's nothing determinate in the wood, nor in me, nor in the external demands.
Maybe the only thing that's constant is habit. But I never actually have a thought or feeling. I sit down to write because that's what I do. I look for a subject, because I need one. And then I start writing about it, as is my habit. Form doesn't matter, content doesn't matter. When we get rid of the prevailing veil of flummery that always cloaks such things, it's just me, typing away. I suspect that's how it is with most people...
Thanks,
Bill