At 08:08 PM 3/6/00 -0500, Lucas Klein wrote: >is there anything specific (as in, more than just a general >sense I get from reading Pound's poetry--Cantos or otherwise) I can >mention to argue that Pound's (and Eliot's) writings are more than >overeducated and self-impressed mental gymnastics but instead are >constituted of vibrant and emotional language that, as part of but not >solely existent to the technique, re-INVIGORATES the classics and gives >new life to literary tradition? In my experience, classes take wonderfully to "Tradition and the Individual Talent" and "_Ulysses_, Order, and Myth." Terry Eagleton has scored some points against Eliot, of course. Yes, Professor Eagleton, you're right to wonder: if "the main current . . . does not at all flow invariably through the most distinguished reputations," then what IS "the main current"? Still, I'd say Eliot stands a better chance than Eagleton of being read by your grandchildren. And while we're on the topic of Williams: Emory University's English department has a very nice FTP directory of modern poems about paintings, illustrated with the paintings. Williams and Auden are there, of course, plus some less familiar authors. One of those regards Brueghel's "The Harvest" as a piece of gay porn. The URL is http://www.emory.edu/ENGLISH/Paintings&Poems Jonathan Morse