WEBVTT

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Now, I want to read.

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I hope that there was some
question as to whether that

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was poetry or prose,
only because I think

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that imagination in language as
it gets more interesting always

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tends to make that
question come closer.

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I mean, if you're dealing
with very formal poetry

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imaginative force tends to
force it out of the form,

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so that you get further and
further away from formality,

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and eventually somebody
says that sounds like prose.

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And with prose if the density
amounts to a certain point

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they begin saying it's like
poetry, whatever that means.

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And I think this
happens all the time.

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I mean, I think
that this is just

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a measure, an index of some
energy that's in the language.

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Having said that I want to read
a piece that I wrote as prose

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and that whenever
I was asked what

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made it different from
poetry I said I didn't know,

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I just knew that in translation
it seemed very different but.

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This is called Make
This Simple Test,

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and it's from a
book of prose pieces

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called The Miner's
Pail Children.

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Blindfold yourself with
some suitable object,

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if time permits remain
still for a moment

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You may feel one or
more of your senses

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begin to swim back toward
you in the darkness, singly

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and without their names

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Meanwhile have someone else
arrange the products to be

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used in a row in front of you

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It is preferable to have
them in identical containers

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though that is not necessary

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Where possible perform the test
by having the other person feed

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you a portion, a spoonful of
each of the products in turn

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without comment

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Guess what each one is
and have the other person

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write down what you say,
then remove the blindfold

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While arranging the products
the other person should

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have detached part of the
label or container from each

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and placed it in front
of the product that

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belongs to like a title

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This bit of legend must not
contain the product's trade

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name, Norris generic name nor
any suggestion of the product's

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taste or desirability or price

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It should be limited to that
part of the label or container

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which enumerates the
actual components

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of the product in question

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Thus for instance, contains
dextre nice flowers cocoa

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processed with alkali,
nonfat dry milk solids, yeast

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nutrients, vegetable proteins,
agar, hydrogenated vegetable

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oil, dried egg yolk, QR,
sodium cyclamen, soya lecithin,

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imitation lemon oil, a
SQL tartaric esters of

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and diglycerides as emulsifiers,
polysorbate 60, 1/10

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of 1% of sodium benzoic
to retard spoilage

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Or contains unhydrated potatoes,
powdered whey, vegetable gum,

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emulsifier glycerol monastery,
invert syrup, shortening

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with freshness
preserver, lactose,

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sobic acid to
retard mold growth,

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caramel color, natural and
artificial flavors, sodium acid

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pyrophosphate, sodium bisulfite

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Or contains beef extract,
wheat and soya derivatives,

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food starch modified, dry sweet
whey, calcium carrageenan,

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vegetable oil, sodium phosphates
to preserve freshness, BHA,

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BHT, propylene glycol, pectin,
niacinamide, artificial flavor,

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US certified caller

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There should be not less than
three separate products taste

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again without the blindfold

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Guess again and have the other
person record the answers

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Replace the blindfold

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Have the other person changed
the order of the product

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and again feed you
a spoonful of each

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Guess again what you are
eating or drinking in each case

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if you can make the distinction

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But this time do not
stop there, guess why

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you are eating or drinking it

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Guess what it may do for you

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Guess what it was
meant to do for you

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By whom?

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When?

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Where?

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Why?

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Guess where in the
course of evolution

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you took the first
step toward it

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Guess which of your
organs recognizing it

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Guess whether it is
welcome to their temples

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Guess how it figures
in their prayers

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Guess how completely
you become what you eat

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Guess how soon

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Guess at the taste of
locusts and wild honey

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Guess at the taste of water

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Guess what the river
see as they die

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Guess why the babies are burning

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Guess why there is
silence in heaven

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Guess why you were ever born

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[APPLAUSE]

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