Precision Abandoned
Oct. 31st, 2008 09:04 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
susanstinsonWendall Berry on a poem by Shelley:
It is possible to imagine that someone who does not dislike this poem may see in it a certain beauty. But it is the sickly beauty of generalized emotionalism. For once precision is abandoned as a linguistic or literary virtue, vague generalization is one of the two remaining possibilities, gibberish being the second. And without precise accounting, leading to responsible action, there is no escape from the Shelleyan rhythm of exaltation and despair -- ideal passions culminating in real disasters.
From "Standing By Words"
It is possible to imagine that someone who does not dislike this poem may see in it a certain beauty. But it is the sickly beauty of generalized emotionalism. For once precision is abandoned as a linguistic or literary virtue, vague generalization is one of the two remaining possibilities, gibberish being the second. And without precise accounting, leading to responsible action, there is no escape from the Shelleyan rhythm of exaltation and despair -- ideal passions culminating in real disasters.
From "Standing By Words"
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