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Poets' Meeting: George Herbert, R. S. Thomas, and the Argument with God. By William J. McGill. Jefferson, N.C. and London: McFarland, 2004. vii + 219 pp. $35.00 (paper).
Poets' Meeting is the fruit of William McGill's intention "to arrange an encounter between . . . my two favorite poets, George Herbert and R. S. Thomas" on the principle sketched by Charles Williams: "'to relate the poets to the poets, to explain poetry by poetry.'" In further justification of his interest, McGiIl also cites C. S. Lewis on Herberts excellence "'in conveying the very quality of life as we actually live it from moment to moment'" (p. 2).
Bringing George Herbert and R. S. Thomas into dialogue in this way presents peculiar technical challenges. Each wrote prose that frames or even explicates his own poetry; but although Thomas enjoyed the (necessarily unilateral) privilege of editing and writing about Herbert,...