Radiant transparency – the style of Longley’s Angel Hill
You can only feel wonder at the quietly but profoundly startling first lines of Angel Hill:
THE MAGNIFYING GLASS
…….for Fleur Adcock at 80
I
You gave me a gilded magnifying glass
For scrutinizing the hearts of wild flowers
(Which I did, kneeling in water meadows).
Their movement is grave, measured and relaxed, like the tread of a sure-footed walker over a tussocky field. To say there’s not a hint of dramatic emphasis in the poem’s voice wouldn’t be putting the matter strongly enough though. There’s a positive avoidance of emphasis when it threatens to … Continue Reading