tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10178279.post116198186020857861..comments2024-03-28T05:13:13.921-04:00Comments on Books, Inq. — The Epilogue: This is for Noel ...Frank Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18410473158808750903noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10178279.post-1162067385326596432006-10-28T16:29:00.000-04:002006-10-28T16:29:00.000-04:00Hi Noel, That's one of my favorite Benny routines ...Hi Noel, <BR/>That's one of my favorite Benny routines - what a funny man he was - and "Ozymandias" is one of my favorite Shelley poems.Frank Wilsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18410473158808750903noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10178279.post-1162062673354378082006-10-28T15:11:00.000-04:002006-10-28T15:11:00.000-04:00Frank, that is beautiful, thank you. By way of ret...Frank, that is beautiful, thank you. By way of return I would like to quote a little from a poem by Shelley I came across recently and that reminds me a little of Aiken's.<BR/><BR/>"I met a traveler from an antique land<BR/>Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone<BR/>Stand in the desert ... Near them, on the sand,<BR/>Half sunk, a shatttered visage lies, whose frown,<BR/>And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,<BR/>Tell that its sculptor well those passions read<BR/>Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,<BR/>The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed:<BR/>And on the pedestal these words appear:<BR/>"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:<BR/>Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!"<BR/>Nothing beside remains. Round the decay<BR/>Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare<BR/>The lone and level sands stretch far away."<BR/><BR/>I was going to quote a scene from an old Jack Benny radio comedy show. For what it's worth, here it is:<BR/><BR/>One night, the notoriously stingy Benny is walking along a dark city street when he is accosted by a gunman.<BR/><BR/>"Your money or your life," rasps the gunman. <BR/><BR/>There's a long silence.<BR/><BR/>"I said, your money or your life," repeats the gunman, raising his voice.<BR/><BR/>There's another long silence.<BR/><BR/>"I said, your money or your life!' shouts the now exasperated gunman.<BR/><BR/>Benny finally replies, "I'm thinking, I'm thinking."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10178279.post-1161995231005928962006-10-27T20:27:00.000-04:002006-10-27T20:27:00.000-04:00I agree.Aiken is a long-standing favorite of mind....I agree.<BR/><BR/>Aiken is a long-standing favorite of mind. I have been re-reading his "Collected Criticism," which is a model of good reviewing: decorous, civilized, thoughtful, even when devastatingly negative.<BR/><BR/>Thanks again for posting this. It's wonderful to see.Art Durkeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07463180236975988432noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10178279.post-1161993842149960022006-10-27T20:04:00.000-04:002006-10-27T20:04:00.000-04:00Thanks for posting this.I'm amazed how few younger...Thanks for posting this.<BR/><BR/>I'm amazed how few younger readers and how few younger writers are familiar with Aiken. His poems are wonderful, but for me, his autobiographical novel,<I>Ushant</I>, is his remarkable masterpiece. Sadly, I don't think it's been in print for over thirty years.Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04679352468526776274noreply@blogger.com