The Newer Critics
They
arrived at doubt
through
an excess of certainty.
“Avuncular”
was a dish
of
humble pie for them.
They
were the first generation
of
new critics taught
by
the first generation of new critics.
Their
smiles were pointed.
They
called a place like this
“Harvard
on the Ohio”
and
tried to get Hardy’s novels
into
every conversation you had.
I’d
say I liked Hardy’s poems
better,
watch them flatten
their
hands on their cheeks,
and
swoon, like they’d wandered
into
a painting by Munch.
They
didn’t like Munch,
but
recommended The Monk,
if
you needed a trashy read.
— Jim Cummins