RAT Standing by words

[Troy Hollar <thollar@cohn-wells.com>]

Dear Jones, Shumka, Gaby et al:

I follow with interest your discussion and, pursuant to the
self/soul/language/words discussion (which I understand as only one of the
many discussions going on in this thread -- I know too little about the
etymologies of "cruelty" and "terror"), I recommend the following dense
(though not impermeable, and certainly not dry), keen, and moving argument
on the subject:
Wendell Berry, STANDING BY WORDS (North Point Press, 1983). See, in
particular, the title essay, as well as "Poetry and Marriage."

and for a meditative, more accessible approach:
Jim Harrison, "A Natural History of Some Poems," JUST BEFORE DARK (Clark
City Press, 1990).

I'll make copies and ship them off to you via U.S. mail if you're
interested.  They're both out of print and somewhat difficult to find.

(NB: Though these are essays about language and its use in communicating
"experience" to/with an audience, they're also interesting for their
spiritual-existential undertones.  As you may already know, Berry is
Christian, though he believes in and lives by many Buddhist principles; and
Harrison practices Zen Buddhism.)

Troy Hollar
thollar@cohn-wells.com