In a message dated 9/29/03 9:51:57 AM EST, [log in to unmask] writes:

> somewhere I have read that the line
>
>  "Simple and faithless as a smile or the shake of a hand"
>
>  is a literal translation of an excerpt of French poem (I forget its author
>  -- Verlaine? I'll have to look it up.). It is one more example of TSE's
>  collage technique, and a sign of his erudition.
>
>
>  Cheers,
>
>
>  Gunnar
>

I believe Denis Donoghue mentions (in"Words Alone") that it's close to a line
from a poem by Laforge (sorry if I misspelled his name).

That being said, it's still worth discussing, of course, why TSE chose to use
the line in "La Figlia".

-- Steve --