From: mtaranto@shearson.com (Mark Taranto)
Subject: Stephen Spender (was Re: The Literary Canon
Organization: Yale CS Mail/News Gateway
Date: Thu, 13 Aug 1992 19:25:48 GMT


For those of you whom look with trepidation upon my replying to a
John McCarthy article -- fear not, and read on.

jmc@SAIL.Stanford.EDU (John McCarthy) writes:

> Anecdote: I once walked out of a public lecture by Stephen Spender
> that I found boring, because it seemed to me that he didn't have much
> to say to his Dartmouth College audience.  The moment I chose to leave
> unobtrusively from the back of the balcony was during a long
> hesitation while he decided what to say next.  Unfortunately, I forgot
> the seat was spring loaded, and it twanged loudly.  This further
> distracted Spender, who stared at me mournfully as I made my way to
> the exit.

What a shame.  Perhaps it was an off-night for Spender.  He was well
prepared, and charming, when I saw in at the University of Minnesota
in the mid 70s.

I looked through Spender's journals, to see if there was mention of
John's anecdote.  I was hoping for lightning to strike twice (some of
you may remember when I posted the article with Joe Green's e-mailed
description of seeing Auden in Milwaukee, together with Spender's
poem about Auden's version of the same event).

I didn't see anything about visiting Dartmouth, but there were several
interesting stories about giving lectures at various U.S. Colleges.
Most of them were mentioned because he talked about the Auden Generation
(Cristopher Isherwood, Louis MacNiece, C. Day Lewis <Daniel's father>,
etc.).

But there was one funny story about Spender getting a case of diarrhoea
just before a lecture.  He talked about how he managed to get through
the lecture, and the Q&A session.  But several people whom he described
as too timid to ask their questions publicly came up to him afterwards.
Finally, he made it to the men's room, only to find an "out of order"
sign on one stall, and someone in the other.  When the man in the stall
eventually emerged, he looked at Spender and said "Didn't we meet 20 years
ago?"  Spender said "We'll have to talk about it later -- outside."

Spender's description of this man matches the ones I've heard of John
McCarthy.  Perhaps Professor McCarthy's springing up so quickly reminded
Spender of this incident, and rather than staring mournfully, he was
actually in a Proustian state.

With that, I'll leave you with my favorite Spender poem.
I know I've posted it before -- but . . . .

Mark


                        FROM MY DIARY

                        Stephen Spender



        'She was', my father said (in an aside),
        'A great beauty, forty years ago.'
        Out of my crude childhood, I stared at
        Our tottering hostess, tremulous
        In her armchair, pouring tea from silver --
        Her grey silk dress, her violet gaze.
        I only saw her being seventy,
        I could not see the girl my father saw.

        Now that I'm older than my father then was
        I go with lifelong friends to the same parties
        Which we have gone to always.
        We seem the same age always
        Although the parties sometimes change to funerals
        That sometmies used to changed to christenings.

        Faces we've once loved
        Fit into their seven ages as Russian dolls
        Into one another.  My memory
        Penetrates through successive layers
        Back to the face which first I saw.  So when the last
        Exterior image is laid under its lid,
        Your face first seen will shine through all.