I really enjoyed reading this. I remember meeting Gillian Allnut a couple of times in the 80s (I did my degree in Newcastle where she lived/lives?). Loved how you brought in Hardy and Bunting. One of my favourite Thom Gunn poems includes the word ‘numb’ (from ‘Touch’ - ‘my skin slightly/numb…’). Thank you.
Great Gunn example thank you! One of my favourite poets. (And actually it was a Gunn essay on Bunting that made me read him the first time I think, 20 odd years ago.)
Thank you, this was fascinating. I think "emotive" would be a better translation for "emouvante". Although "moving" can have an object, here without other clues the obvious way to read it is simply "having motion" rather than "causing emotion".
Very interesting and tremendous depth. The last line is pertinent to much of poetry today, in that words can be made to bend into new meanings, and often poets do not do this, they are not creative with the words themselves but only the ideas they have in mind. I agree with you, new light in old words is one place poetry begins.
Many thanks for your comment. I think it is often very hard to tell the difference between a poet's peculiar sensitivity to (and therefore activation of) what's already in a word -- its etymology, the history of its use in earlier texts and so on -- and the sort of shaping or pushing towards new meanings that you describe. But I do think that this level of attention to individual words is central to successful poetry, and also that it is much harder (though not impossible) to do without knowledge of another language. But I've written before about the particular links between poetry and translation.
I really enjoyed reading this. I remember meeting Gillian Allnut a couple of times in the 80s (I did my degree in Newcastle where she lived/lives?). Loved how you brought in Hardy and Bunting. One of my favourite Thom Gunn poems includes the word ‘numb’ (from ‘Touch’ - ‘my skin slightly/numb…’). Thank you.
Great Gunn example thank you! One of my favourite poets. (And actually it was a Gunn essay on Bunting that made me read him the first time I think, 20 odd years ago.)
And how wonderful to have met Gillian Allnutt! I am such a fan of her work.
Thank you, this was fascinating. I think "emotive" would be a better translation for "emouvante". Although "moving" can have an object, here without other clues the obvious way to read it is simply "having motion" rather than "causing emotion".
Thank you Anne, that's an excellent suggestion.
Very interesting and tremendous depth. The last line is pertinent to much of poetry today, in that words can be made to bend into new meanings, and often poets do not do this, they are not creative with the words themselves but only the ideas they have in mind. I agree with you, new light in old words is one place poetry begins.
Many thanks for your comment. I think it is often very hard to tell the difference between a poet's peculiar sensitivity to (and therefore activation of) what's already in a word -- its etymology, the history of its use in earlier texts and so on -- and the sort of shaping or pushing towards new meanings that you describe. But I do think that this level of attention to individual words is central to successful poetry, and also that it is much harder (though not impossible) to do without knowledge of another language. But I've written before about the particular links between poetry and translation.