On the English Language
I have removed this poem at the request of the publisher, Lutterworth Press.
Written by Harry Hemsley
Previous post: Reading Crime Novels in Norway
Next post: How not to think for ourselves
Reflections of a working writer and reader
- Home
- About
- On Writing
- My Bookshop
- Main Menu
- Previous Posts
- Subscribe to RSS feed
- Winged with Death Reviews
-
I might mention another embarrassment involved in the writer's habit of close attention. Once when I was driving through Colorado with a friend, traveling down a narrow mountain pass, we came upon an accident. A pickup truck and a car had collided, and from fifty feet away we could see the blood. We pulled over and ran to help. All the time I was running, all the time I was trying, with my friend's help, to pry open the door of the car in which a nine-months-pregnant woman had been impaled through the abdomen, I was thinking: I must remember this! I must remember my feelings! How would I describe this? I do not think I behaved less efficiently than my nonliterary friend, who was probably not thinking such thoughts; in fact, I may possibly have behaved more swiftly and efficiently, trying in my mind to create a noble scene. Nonetheless, what I felt above all was disgust at my mind's detachment, its inhumane fascination with the precise way the blood pumped, the way flesh around a wound becomes instantly proud, that is, puffed up, and so on. I would have been glad at that moment to be a literary innocent. John Gardner
-
Recent Comments
- bhupinder: Wonderfully well written, John ! Always a delight to visit y
- Warwick Paul Onyeama: This is a wonderful photograph that catches a moment in time
- somebadplankton: Sent me to the dictionary for quiffed.
- john baker: Gracias, Bhupinder.
- Bhupinder Singh: Superb, John. The last two lines are superlative.
- Catherine Isolde Eisner: In addition, doesn’t Graham's surname, Hendrick, recall th
- john baker: Thanks, Jim. Your comments and insights are always welcome.
- Jim Murdoch: A lot likeable about this. I hear comedians are often approa
- Mark Patrick Lynch: Thanks, John. It's good to see that Paul Sutherland's man
- john baker: Thanks, Mark. Good to hear from you, and to read your story
Most commented posts
- Odds of Dying in a Terrorist Attack
- Two Poems from Tomas Tranströmer
- The James Patterson Factory
- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
- Pumpkin Positive in the Departure Lounge
- Beyond Sleep by WF Hermans
- A Poem by Billy Collins
- Equus by Peter Shaffer
- Obama Adds Faith to Hope and Change
- The 39 Steps
Powered by eShop v.6
English is hard to explain too by United States lights. Politesse.
jb says: Interesting, though, isn’t it, that English novels are quite often translated into American; whereas American novels are never translated into English. I’ve never been given a really good reason for this.
Lovely poem.
I don’t think we’ve ever forgiven the Americans for Dick Van Dyke’s “cockney” accent in “Mary Poppins.”
I also wonder if there is such a thing as a uniform American accent/language/way of speaking?
I was once talking to an American in Florida who observed that I did not speak like a local and asked, not if I was British, but if I was from New York, a place I’ve never visited in my life.
American novels aren’t translated into English because English novels aren’t could be, but I wouldn’t disparage my mother tongue.
Floridians are backward as hosts methinks.
jb says: Say what, Brian?
Wonderful!! I have been looking for this poem for eons. I learnt it from a literature book when I was a kid and could remember only a few lines. Thank you for publishing and thanks to google for finding it!!
Ever wonder all “Question” words in English begin with “Wh”?
What, Why, Whom, Which, When, Who, Whether, Where, Whither?
jb says: Does? How? Could? Are?
Except “How”, Others cannot be accepted as “Question” words in the proper sense of the word. They can be used both ways – Questions and answers.
Does it? It does. Could you? You could. Are you? You are.
Another Wh – Whose
Dic Van Dyck didn’t do to well but Meryl Streep sounds authentic in any accent she uses. I guess some people can do it better than others. But not only actors, why do some people conquer their foreign accent and others hang on to it throughout their life no matter how much and at what level they use their new language?
i am useing this poem for my e.s.b (english speaking board) it quite easy to learn because it rhymes
Where’s the summary
http://www.vplicei.ru/vc/vc8.pdf