Think of all the vastness you have aquired just by the juxtaposition
with the Impson. ;->

Poor old begged question. It's obviously a buggar.

P.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ken Armstrong" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, January 26, 2010 9:30 AM
Subject: Re: Prufrock question


Ahhh, W. Empson, I am humbled, deflated, made to retreat into my vastly
inferior self.

But while doing so, I note that you have again begged the question.

Ken

Diana Manister wrote:
> Dear Ken,
>
> Since when does ambiguity in poetry signal an "anything goes" attitude?
>
> Empson didn't think so when he wrote /Seven Types of Ambiguity/ in
> 1930, to wit:
>
> The Seven Types
>
>
>    1. The first type of ambiguity is the metaphor, that is, when two
>       things are said to be alike which have different properties.
>       This concept is similar to that of metaphysical conceit.
>    2. Two or more meanings are resolved into one. Empson characterizes
>       this as using two different metaphors at once.
>    3. Two ideas that are connected through context can be given in one
>       word simultaneously.
>    4. Two or more meanings that do not agree but combine to make clear
>       a complicated state of mind in the author.
>    5. When the author discovers his idea in the act of writing. Empson
>       describes a simile that lies halfway between two statements made
>       by the author.
>    6. When a statement says nothing and the readers are forced to
>       invent a statement of their own, most likely in conflict with
>       that of the author.
>    7. Two words that within context are opposites that expose a
>       fundamental division in the author's mind. (wikipedia)
>
>
> Hardly a new idea!
>
> Diana
>
>
> > Date: Tue, 26 Jan 2010 08:33:54 -0500
> > From: [log in to unmask]
> > Subject: Re: Prufrock question
> > To: [log in to unmask]
> >
> > Diana Manister wrote:
> > > It makes sense to me that "we" here is both intra- and
> > > inter-, within emotional conflict and interpersonal.
> > >
> > > Settling on any single meaning is reductive.
> > That begs the question: Is it accurate?
> > > Every poem does not mean every thing.
> > Ken A
>
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