Squatter,
Quote:
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We each have a native language . But that is not the language that we speak, our cradle-tongue, the first learned. Linguistically we all wear ready-made clothes, and our native language comes seldom to expression, save perhaps by pulling at the ready-made till it sits a little easier. But though it may be buried, it is never wholly extinguished, and contact with other languages may stir it deeply.
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I wonder what manner of idea this is. Having not read the entire essay, I need to ask you.
Is this Tolkien's personal credo about poetry? That while all might have the potential, only some--only those who are stirred deeply by contact with other native languages--can recover/discover/uncover the wholly unique language which is pure poetic achievement?
Or is it rather simply a statement of our long defeat, that all of us always fail and fall short?
Bethberry