And the point of "Neither rain nor sleet nor snow nor dark of night. . ."
is????????

Davie does not seem familiar with this idion from your quotation, but it is
perfectly standard English--American or British as far as I can tell.
Nancy



Date sent:              Tue, 8 Apr 2003 21:07:25 -0500
Send reply to:          "T. S. Eliot Discussion forum." <[log in to unmask]>
From:                   Carrol Cox <[log in to unmask]>
Subject:                Re: Seeing and Listening, was Re: Grammar (you and I)
To:                     [log in to unmask]

I found the comment by Davie. It is in _Articulate Energy_ (1955), p. 88,
in the chapter "Syntax Like Music."

He quotes the lines from "Here I am" through "Bitten by flies, fought,"
and begins his commentary  by writing, "The repeated 'nor' in these lines
makes "neither" look rather silly, but that is not my point...."

I think Davie's comment is rather silly myself. (The whole of the
comment is in praise of the lines.)

Carrol