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Unread 03-14-2005, 07:29 PM
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Chris Childers Chris Childers is offline
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In this poem, Carol handles the sapphic meter less strictly than well, which is a compliment. It is an appropriate choice, too -- the idea here is very Greek, that "needing more than what God allotted," both the speaker and the addressee, the latter by leaving, the former by waiting, have ruined their lives; at least, I assume that the addressee is no more happy now than he was when he & the speaker were together, though the speaker is too self-absorbed to tell us that for sure. Indeed, the first three lines may be merely projection. (I read the end, BTW, that the speaker is holding her chamber "ready for letting" but never lets it, & that is where she oversteps.)

Besides the line Mr. Wilbur singles out for praise, I am very fond of the dislocation of "sometimes together," & how this straining of syntax expands the possibilities of meaning.

Incidentally, Carol, in S3 l2 were you thinking of the lines from For C., "For them, above the darkling clubhouse lawn, / Bright Perseids flash and crumble..."? I thought of it at any rate. A very fine poem.

Chris
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