Darwin found novel-reading to ask, and gently ask, such a different kind of attention than he was required to give to his data that the sheer change was as good as a rest. It was a rest for the overworked portions of his brain. But major works of art are neither so humble nor so polite, as Auden reminds us in that passage we have already cited: “When one thinks of the attention that a great poem [or work of music] demands.…
demands is a strong word. i want to put some poetry on my kindle but dont kmow where to start
