Geoffrey Hill died this week. He was a great poet, but one who saw it almost a duty to be difficult. It was a good thing for public toilets should be accessible, he thought, but not poetry, which should always be at the cutting edge of sensibility, forever questioning the received ideas and self-images of the age.(A typical Hill poem will begin to challenge itself half way through.)
He was also one of the best critics of the age. I had the privilege of hearing him lecture at Oxford a few years ago. I described the event on my other blog: https://greatwarfiction.wordpress.com/2010/05/08/geoffrey-hill-at-oxford/
He was like no other poet.
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July 7, 2016 at 5:42 am
We do not expect to travel to the stars on our first attempt. It takes many, all of which are necessary and meaningful. This is much like reading a Geoffrey Hill poem.
RIP