[lbo-talk] Re: The Latest Theory is That Theory Doesn't Matter

[JBrown72073 at cs.com]

Justin writes:
>Actually, it wouldn't be so bad for these guys to give up philosophy, which
>they uniformly do badly, and devote themselves mainly to literary
>analysis, reading poems and plays and novels, explaining the meaning and
>operation of those texts. (Rather than "mine" -- that is, the ones
>_I_ was trained to read and analyse.)  I don't presuppose any particular
>approach, don't suggest that they confine themselves to the language and
>ignore the social context, but what they are supposedly expert in is the 
>study of literature. In this connection, it would be nice to see Carrol
>at work on a poem again; he doesn't do it often here, but it's very 
gratifying
>when he does, and I always learn something when he read his literary 
criticism.
>jks

Given the present thread, how about this one:

First Fight. Then Fiddle. 

First fight. Then fiddle. Ply the slipping string
With feathery sorcery; muzzle the note
With hurting love; the music that they wrote
Bewitch, bewilder. Qualify to sing
Threadwise. Devise no salt, no hempen thing
For the dear instrument to bear. Devote
The bow to silks and honey. Be remote
A while from malice and from murdering.
But first to arms, to armor. Carry hate
In front of you and harmony behind.
Be deaf to music and to beauty blind.
Win war. Rise bloody, maybe not too late
For having first to civilize a space
Wherein to play your violin with grace.

Gwendolyn Brooks
1949