Thom Gunn:
David Bottoms:
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Wallace Stevens:
William Matthews:
Colleen Thibeaudeau:
Bessie Smith, “I’m Down in the Dumps,” rec. 1933:
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Gunn--I love having measurements of space in poems because I find them grounding. There is a recognition of similar space or to the body and therefore is relatable, too. I love the line "everything, everything" because the repetition and pause musically. And from this, I enjoy the "nothing, nothing at all" for the motif and counterpoint of ideas.
Stevens--I love the last line and the music band The The.
All the meanings of dump....go Bessie. Also, do you know the documentary "Wasteland," about Vik Muniz creating art with waste workers in the "dumps" of Rio de Janeiro?