Movement 111

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poetry when we are worried about the mat: 'the cat is on the mat again!' With this in mind, let us look at the poem in the box on the previous page. This looks a lot like an expression of emotion: Hopkins is rejoicing in the fine weather at the end of summer. But people rejoice in fine weather Hopkins reioices because the world is here and would be here without us without using religious language to express themselves. Why does Hopkins bring in the language of religion? A clue lies in what I think are the most beautiful lines of the poem: 'These things, these things were here and but the beholder/ wanting'. 'These things were here' is a perfectly literal statement: what is important here is that Hopkins thinks it worth saying. Hopkins rejoices because the world is here and would be here without us - it does not depend on us. lt is therefore gratuitous, a gift to us, grace, to use steadily more religious categories. He is saying that the already-there-ness of the world is worthy of celebration - although that way of putting it doesn't celebrate, which is why the poem's language is more convincing. This is certainly not talking about where things are in the world, but nor is it just an emotional expression. lt is instead trying to express the significance of the world within which we feel emotion and deal with things. This is religious language. Not all kinds of poetry do this: poetry earlier than the nineteenth century is more modest in its ambitions. lt mi$ht be better to say that some poetry is religious language rather than that religious language is Poetic. ,4p David Anderson Member of tho rltovement odltorial team N- PE HE HE N> ND GREENBELT FESTIVAL> ART THAT SETS YOU FREE WITH> OVE NIS ROL FUN ALL ITED ALL T PROF JOY E FOX P TIM URWIN JOHN STEPH SON PLUS>> NED FLANDERS>THE SEC0ND C0l'!l!9 tHnlsrnH Ato cAMPAIGN + cANoLEt[ llc-ll Spin[0At otRecrtoH DEDIcATED L]TttsA.BY VEHUr- aurnHlttvE AND INTERAcTLVE igcunoloey ETGHT MUSIc STAGES cLUB BIG TOP AND L()TS MORE OF EVERYTHING >>> SEE WEBSITE FOR AN INTIMATE INSIGHT INTO AIL oun CONTRIBUTORS> UPDATED DAILY 23-a6AUGUST 2OO2> CH ELTEN HAM RACECOURSE> WWW.GREEN BELT.ORG.UK q orriitfi'liilio @ @ rG(E fidr€cd( YlvrcA St) STUDENT TICKET f46 BEFORE APRIL gorH zooz IlD NEEDED] rNF0 AND Bo0KINGS LINE> 020 ?3z4??qq . IJn gOOK ONLIHE> WWW.GREENBELT.ORG.UK CAMPING IS INCLUDEO IN TICKET PRICE _ OTHER ACCOMMODATION IS AVAILABLE
interview ure for p After 50 years in government, Tony Benn is now applying pressure from underneath instead. lulian Lewis finds out more. The sign on the front door announces 'l'm in my office downstairs.' The sign on the door downstairs invites 'Please knock and come in.' These signs have been laminated for constant use, but it makes me feel individually welcome. I could be anyone, an obsessed groupie or a Conseruative with a grudge, but nevertheless I'm invited in. As if by magic, as I hesitatingly go through this new door, Mr Benn appears. He belies his years, is trim and fit. lf only he would jump into bed with corporate polver he could make a killing advertising the benefits of lifelong tobacco use. No fuss, no bother. Cup of tea - milk, no sugar. Have a chair. Let's begin. It's best to start interviews by asking some easy lead-in questions to settle the neruous subject. Pleasantries that probably have nothing to do with the subject matter in hand, but do serve to delineate the rules of engagement, who is in charge. So it is that I find myself describing my journey, my new daughter and how I come to be editing this estimable journal. Benn's office is like I remember my grandma's house. Nothing thrown away, piles of interest and clutter everywhere. Benn declared he would retire ftom Parliament to become more active in politics. He has become a speaker circuit favourite, is interviewed ftequently, writes up his diaries - so there's a lot of material he needs to keep handy. lt makes me wonder what my grandma's excuse was? At least I feel immediately comfortable: Benn is a real person with the impedimenta of life fully in evidence. Benn had been an MP for over 50 years, sat in government cabinets and stood for the leadership of the Labour Party, so the obvious place to start is his take on the state of the country's democracy. He believes that we are moving towards a one parly state, where the choice available to people on polling day is narrow - a choice of management. Like the Soviet Union our figureheads change - Kruschev, Breshnev, Gorbachev or whoever - but the system itself is beyoqd discussion. The coming abolition of the Post ffice monopoly (established in 1666) provides a good example, one that is dear to Benn's heart as a former Postmaster General. The penny post was the intemet of the 19th century which allowed people to communicate with each other. The system only works with massive cross subsidies, where a letter to my neighbour costs about two pence, but if I post to Orkney it costs about f,,20. So now the profitable side is to be subcontracted. The Post ffice will be unable to maintain a national service. lt's not the most important thing in the world. Except for a lot of people - old people, lonely people - the postman is the only one who calls and can check they're alright, deliver their Giro.' Predictably Benn sees this as the suMval of the Thatcher philosophy that market forces are the appropriate dominant societal factor. Benn believes this has been the most powerful political statement in recent years. With the eclipse of a genuine leftwing party people aren't more engaged, because who can we vote for if we want public services? This situation is totally contrary to the interests of most people, so people need to exert more pressure on govemment to counter the pressure of the lMF, multinationals, Washington, the media. And that's a lot of counter pressure required! lt's the politics of pressure for progress from underneath. Benn will retum to this theme later. Concern for the ordinary person is at the heart of Benn's arguments. He abhors the abandonment of public service in our political and economic life - if it isn't commercial it isn't worth doing. He sees private control of the health service, education and so on, as part of the wider $obal philosophy of market forces. At I national level people are disconnected. I suggest that so long as services are movementlll
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Movement 111

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