Letter to Stephen Fassett (from Poulivaun, Corofin, Co. Clare, Ireland), 1971 February 1
Scope and Contents
Sweeney thanks Fassett for his gift of recordings by Virginia Woolf and George Bernard Shaw. "I well remember Virginia Woolf's interesting discourse and her accent but I had completely forgotten the G.B.S. theme and his accent which, for my ear, is a form of Dublin accent surviving in spite of all of his years in England. Strange how the way of speech one acquires in childhood or youth persists unless eroded by very long exposure to an alien mode. For example, Auden, although he can competently use American slang and phrasing still reads his poetry to the tune of English Public School and Oxford speech. His competence in American slang caused some difficulty for one of his European translators who thought that 'a good day' meant something poetic as in 'The Lays of Ancient Rome,' or 'The Lay of the Last Minstrel.' Translation is damn difficult and can provide some very happy howlers."
Dates
- Creation: 1971 February 1
Language of Materials
English
Physical Description
1 letter
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research.
Extent
.5 linear feet (1 box of 69 letters)Repository Details
Part of the Houghton Library Repository
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