Bill, and ask Keats too: "if Poetry comes not as naturally as the Leaves to a tree it had better not come at all." But examination of his manuscripts shows his leaves got carefully rearranged after their first burgeoning...
This is an interesting thread. Thanks, Janice, for starting it. I didn't know Marius Bewley was English. He certainly did most of his teaching in America. It's probably people like him who are keenest in identifying the specific qualities of national poetries. Auden was also very good at seeing what made American poetry different from British poetry.
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