Tuesday, May 31, 2016

Thom Gunn's lecture on Basil Bunting.

Thom Gunn's lecture on Basil Bunting.


For anyone wanting an intelligent overview or an introduction to Bunting's life and work this is a good starting point.  Gunn was convinced both of the quality and importance of Briggflatts, and the stature of Bunting as a poet.  He does a good job of explaining why the thought so. You can listen to the whole lecture by following the link below.

https://drc.libraries.uc.edu/handle/2374.UC/697042

If I were going to quarrel with him, since cats can look at Kings and even argue with them, I'd say he overrates Pound's influence, as everyone else does, and I wouldn't rate Canto 47 so highly. I don't think Pound got close to writing something equal to either The Waste Land or Briggflatts. I don't even think he could have written something like Villon.

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