She has such startling imagery -- duh -- but what I am stunned by are how I can feel her meaning rather than explain it. For instance, the last two stanzas of XLVII that my helpful edition has entitled "The Snake" states this:
"Several of nature's people
I know, and they know me;
I feel for them a transport
Of cordiality;
But never met this fellow,
Attended or alone,
Without a tigher breathing,
And zero at the bone."
Zero at the bone? What does that mean exactly? I can't say but I understand. She bypasses the brain and goes straight to the viscera. Or something like that.
Reading her is like being splashed with aftershave (not that I do but maybe I should), like those 1960's aftershave commercials: Slap!! "Thanks, I needed that."
No comments:
Post a Comment