[New-Poetry] FR Leavis examined

[David Bircumshaw]

I'll expand on this, if I can, the conditional there being subject to my
being able to reproduce anything resembling coherence on this matter.
As a very naive 15 year old, already twice expelled from grammar schools,
living in the cultural desert of the Birmingham slums (and believe me you
don't get much more in the way of cultural deserts than that) and besotted
already by poetry and literature and the imaginative world it offered, I had
the misfortune to collide with the works of Frank Raymond Leavis. His
combination of High Moral Seriousness and dismissive verbal violence
poisoned my soul, even now, over three decades later, I still find the ghost
of that twat, that utter prick (note herebefore examples of it in action)
springing from the nihilistic sentimental void ( all that cobblers about
organic societies) it belongs in to ventriloquise through me.

It is a curse. No matter what appearances might be I'm a naturally nice and
non-violent guy, and this THING has infected me. It's a terribly English
THING too.

I dunno.

Best

Dave


----- Original Message -----
From: "David Bircumshaw" <david.bircumshaw at ntlworld.com>
To: "NewPoetry: Contemporary Poetry News &amp;Views"
<new-poetry at wiz.cath.vt.edu>
Sent: Friday, June 09, 2006 2:54 AM
Subject: Re: [New-Poetry] FR Leavis examined


> Yeah, he crippled me too.
>
>
> Best
>
> Dave
>
>
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