Monday, April 25, 2005

On daughters growing up too quickly

Of Irving Layton's 1955 collection The Cold Green Element, Northrop Frye wrote that "in it there are at least a half-dozen poems (including, besides those mentioned, the lilting "for Naomi" at the beginning) which have a rhythmical swing ,an urbane humour and a technical finish guaranteed to make the reader's toes curl up in solid contentment."

Curious about "for Naomi," Mama Squirrel tracked it down online. Here it is, for the enjoyment and toe-curling contentment of those who, like the Squirrel family, see their daughters quickly becoming those "Than whom the grasses though tall / Are not taller."

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