Dear Good and (Patient) Friends, A day or so ago, I published a new Post. It appeared on the day of Clive Wilmer’s funeral in Cambridge, England. It was designed not only to paise Clive, but highlight some of his especial talents. One of these – indeed, one of the most important–was to underscore his marvelous skill as a poet. I intended to include a brief excerpt from one of his poems to illustrate that strength. But, for some reason, it was deleted from the final post. (One of my great teachers once told me when I had complained about this unpredictability of the digital world, that “the ways of cyberspace, like the ways of karma, are unfathomable.” This brief note is intended to “reinsert,” the omitted passage. Had it been included, I would’ve introduced it as below. (To see the original post, on the right-hand column of this page, click on “276” under the option, “Last 10 Posts” and you will be taken to to it.) In the paragraph that celebrates Clive’s poetic prowess, I wanted to say that, after I received the packet of poems I had requested from him, I was so taken by them I decided I wanted to use a brief passage from one at the end of my introductory chapter to my just completed manuscript on the evolution and reception of Ruskin’s political economy. To me, the passage captures not only Clive’s wonderful sensibility but, at the same time, whether he intended it or not (likely he did) his ability to remind his reader of Ruskin’s greatness and significance. Here it is: it is excerpted from his poem, “The Sleeping Giant,” in his longer poem, “Architecture.” What [Ernest] spoke for Was a new house, grafted on ancient roots In homage to the past, but with the scars Of ruin acknowledged and incorporated. (Arthur continued): “There will be a house in England Built to inaugurate an age of peace.”
