Saturday, 20 December 2008

Starfish

'Stop looking for the sea and the waves' fleece pushing the caïques along', Seferis mildly rebukes us [p.101]. 'Under the sky we are the fish and the trees are the seaweed.'

This isn't quite right, and I don't think it's only pedantry to point it out. We don't (as fish do over the seabed) fly. Trees aren't (as seaweed is) massed clots of fluid pennants and ribbons, or olivegreen bubblewrap trailing flexibly in the air. Better to say 'under the sky we are the starfish and the trees are the coral'. Better in several ways.

No comments: