WEBVTT

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His poems of also, the second
poem I will read, is a kind,

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is a kind of--

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it derives a lot from
movies, from early movies

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in which you see some situation,
like a kind of battle, war,

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gunfire between two gangs, and
someone imprisoned by one gang.

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This poetry, written in 1928
about warfare between gangs,

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which reminded one
rather of Western movies,

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as a matter of fact,
seemed very strange then.

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But in a way, I think it was
prophetic of a lot of warfare

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which happened later.

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"Control of the
passes was, he saw,

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the key to this new district,
but who would get it?

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He, the trained spy, had walked
into a trap for a bogus guide,

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seduced with the old tricks.

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At Greenhearth was a fine
site for a dam and easy power,

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had they pushed the rail
some stations nearer.

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They ignored his wires.

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The bridges were unbuilt
and trouble coming.

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The street music seemed
gracious now to one for weeks

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up in the desert.

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Woken by water running
away in the dark,

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he often had
reproached the night

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for a companion
dreamed of already.

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They would shoot, of
course, parting easily

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who were never joined."

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Its lines that some--

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"They would shoot, of
course, parting easily who

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were never joined," "The
bridges were unbuilt and trouble

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coming."

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It's a strange kind of
mixture of something

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which is both funny
and rather sort

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of tragic at the same time, a
sort of joke-- a kind of joke

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here, a joking kind of
language, which you don't quite

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understand what
it's about, but it

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sounds vaguely rather sinister.

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Well, when I first met Auden
when I was an undergrad,

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I was writing very
romantic poetry.

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And so it was a considerable
shock to meet Auden.

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I used to read--

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well, he used to
read me his poems.

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And then, sometimes, I
used to show him my poems.

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And he'd read about
500 lines or something.

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And he'd say, I think
one line is rather good.

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[LAUGHTER]

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And I think a line I remember,
which I put in, obviously,

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because I'd been reading
him, was, "In a new land,

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shooting is necessary."

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It was sort of picked up--

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[LAUGHTER]

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--of about 500 line.

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So anyhow, the result was that
still being very romantic,

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I kind of adopted
my emotional style

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to Auden's very
clipped, clinical style,

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symptomatic style.

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