[Janice D. Soderling]

Jerome, I know what they are and I wish I had one in my attic. What I said was (I hope) that when unusual or longish words appear in a workshop poem, the advice is often given to ditch them. Added in. I keep wondering why he chose that word and not "laterna magica, or "magic lantern", but the reason may very well be that those words were too obvious for what he wants the poem to do. Or that may have been the common word for it in the era he speaks of. (Like "gramophone" or "the wireless"). I'm not saying the word is wrong. Justice was a superior craftsman as far as I am concerned and as David insightful comment points up.

In a poem about reflection, projection, illusion, it's as if the form itself were enacting a shimmering mirrored surface--symmetries that are broken just slightly, just enough to create a sense of instability.

Chris, I haven't looked at the dates of all the selected poems, but I'm surprised to hear the story. Adrienne Rich does has an excerpt from her Forward--as do several others--I think I'll go read Bloom's forward and find out what he had for inclusion criteria.

Dean, I couldn't find anything about the poem in "The Art of..." but it wasn't time wasted to go look. It is an excellent book and I'm keeping it close to hand for a while rather than put it back on the shelf.

I think David has answered my question. An insightful commentary.

Thanks for all the responses to this question.