Amends and Afterthoughts

Just because your poetry has a signature style does not necessarily make you any good.

I recall a line from (I think) Annie Hall in which Woody Allen's character calls some poem "McEuenesque." He did not mean it as a compliment.

Also, a signature style is not necessarily original. Your signature may well be that you imitate someone else (see "McEuenesque" above).

I think that goes for all of us, equally. Let the creator beware.

I'm not sure if the name Day-Lewis is hyphenated. I've seen it printed both ways.

My recollection of his poem comes from college. "Florence: Works of Art" was in that old Norton anthology, the one full of my scans of metrical poems (see "Pencil It In" in my May 2008 archive).

I now understand that the poem is a chapter in a longer poem, An Italian Visit. I assume it would be found in his collected poems.

"Florence: Works of Art" contains "pastiche" poems referring also to sculptures, as well as paintings, in Florence museums.

Afternote (10-4-11): UK publisher Bloomsbury has announced the release of both paper and electronic versions of An Italian Visit soon, along with many other classics in its back catalog.