Yes, in
fact Leon pointed out that Stevens' claimed he had just pulled the names "Ramon"
and "Fernandez" out of the air, since they were such common Mexican names.
Sounded just a bit suspicious to me from someone so careful about most
everything else.
>>> [log in to unmask] 10/27/03 02:11PM
>>>
In a message dated 10/27/2003 1:00:48 PM Eastern Standard
Time, [log in to unmask] writes:
He concentrated on the man actually named Ramon Fernandez,
writer, literary critic and scholar of French and Mexican literature from the
early part of the 20th century. At two or three points after he wrote "The
Idea of Order at Key West" Stevens responded to questions about whether he
intended the poem to point to the actual Ramon Fernandez. He replied by saying
he definitely did not intend the connection, so much so that Leon Surette
seemed to be implying that it was a case of protesting too much. It was
definitely a humorous point in the paper. As far as I can recall, he didn't
discuss any other candidates. Sorry if I gave that
impression.
Yes, this is one of thetheories of who Ramon was supposed
to be. Another is that Ramon Fernandez was an actual person living in the
Key West at the time, a friend of Stevens. Yet another, and this theory
should be interesting to Eliot enthusiasts, is that Ramon Fernandez was Stevens'
secret lover and that Ramon Fernandez was not actually the person's name, that
Stevens changed it, but he might of been of Cuban extraction.
