William Empson, Philip Larkin

This evening I heard Philip Larkin in William Empson’s voice (Larkin followed Empson, of course):

Empson: The heart of standing is you cannot fly. 

Harold Bloom talks about this back and forth influence that writer’s share. This is from Empson’s Let It Go:

It is this deep blankness is the real thing strange.
The more things happen to you the more you can’t
Tell or remember even what they were.


One Comment on “William Empson, Philip Larkin”

  1. Reminds me of “The Lathe of Heaven” by Ursula K. Le Guin. The plot revolves around a character whose dreams alter reality.
    Nice to find you again Roy.
    – Sam Adams


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