800 KS
373
They thought the thing, according to their tastes,
Was right or wrong, that these young girls should stray
Through Kansas without even stocking pastes
Upon their legs
...
f-.s
can
be
readily seen, Mr. Koch attains no "answerable
style" here: he is often trapped into Ogden Nashisms or worse;
haJf . the time he triumphs over his demanding stanza form in
expounding the story as he has obviously wanted to, the other part
of the time using the form only to abuse it and to let it snarl
back and take bites out of his story. He commits himself to a name
for a character solely because of the exigencies of rhyme (a coach
named De Bruins only enters the scene to rhyme with "ruins,"
but remains on throughout the poem, growing no more real at
each mention of him). The stanzas are seldom end-stopped. One
of the characters, we learn, had great skill "In juggling figures
and in making millions. / At seventeen he joined the firm of
Trillians, Trillians, Trillians, Trillians, Trillians, Trillians, / Tril–
lians, Tull and Trillians, Limited:" But all this is calculated
ir–
responsibility. The whole poem is quite like Terry Southern's
indescribable novel,
Flash and Filigree,
in making a point out of
keeping something up longer than could be believed possible. In
going nowhere it stops at some outlandish an<;l hilarious spots. But
for a poem whose only conceivable subject is the accomplishment
of its own completion, this is something of a real success.
Coming Exhibitions:
Lyman Kipp
Paul Feeley
BErrY PARSONS GALLERY
15 East 57 Street, New York
John Hollander
Gorchov
April 12-3Oth
Jane Wilson
May 3-28th
TIBOR DE NAGY GALLERY
24 E. 67 St. (corner Madison)
N.Y.C.
