In a message dated 9/29/03 6:22:32 PM EST, [log in to unmask] writes:

> "Her hair over her arms, and her arms full of flowers"
>  (barely covering her alabaster breasts...)

Hmmm. . . Perhaps our different ideas about the poem
come from the uncensored European edition you are using.
The key parenthetical line seems to be missing
in the American version that I'm reading  :-)

But seriously folks, from Donoghue's TSE book, "Words Alone",
the chapter on "La Figlia", page 70:
========================
"Simple and faithless as a smile and shake of the hand" is Eliot's version of
Laforgue's "Simple et sans foi comme un bonjour" from "La vie qu'elles me
font mener." It also alludes to Aeneas's chiding of his mother: "Why can't we
join hands honestly, face to face?"
=======================

Gunnar, you are certainly unique and your TSE posts make me smile: your love
for the poetry is so apparent and it's a passion we share. (Now as for those
political posts of yours . . . Nahh, I think I know when to quit talking).

-- Steve --