Eric Banks here at blogging station…...thoughts about poets past and present…..

by Maureen McLane | Jan-24-2009

About the evening, Eric Banks, Board Director, opines: “It was really memorable!”  Nothing else to add.  Except: “I wish we had Scotch.”

Which brings me to another crucial topic: ROBERT BURNS—-his birthday tomorrow, the 250th anniversary of his birth:

Single Malt Scotch, yes.  Haggis, no.

Rabbie Burns, not an NBCC nominee, but still.  “Rabbie the Rantin’ Dog” as Eric remarks…....

And now we try to reconstruct Burns’ several obscene nicknames for himself: I believe “sonsy pistle” or some such is a fine euphemism for “the male organ” as they say…..or was it “sonsy pentle”? 

Here perhaps is a moment to mention some titanic poets who have recently died: Inger Christensen, the Danish poet, and Mick Imlah, the Scottish poet, poetry editor at the TLS.