On Jul 17, 2010, at 6:02 PM, 123hop at comcast.net wrote:
>> Carrol Cox wrote:
>
> " Pope and Wordsworth both practically knew the works of
> Milton by heart, and both show strong Miltonic influences, but obviously
> in both cases the influence is only operative because it satisfies their
> purposes independently of the influence."
>
> Yeah, and then "influence" is such a vague thing. Chopin worshiped Bach; Rossini worshiped Mozart, Wilfred Own worshiped Keats....and if you know that and look at their work, it illuminates certain aspects of it...but you would never guess those influences based only on their work.
Well Harold Bloom has a very different theory of influence, one involving unconscious compulsions, evasions, etc. etc. But it's all very psychoanalytic, and not Carrol's cup of tea.
Doug