The Thomas Merton Center at Bellarmine University

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Author QuotedPatrice Tour du Pin, de la
Title QuotedDedicated Life and Poetry
Date (Year/Month/Day)1947/10/16
Imprint 
QuotationLaughlin sent Patrice de la Tour du Pin's Dedicated Life and Poetry [which appeared as part of La Somme de Poesie, 1946]. At first sight, seeing the titles, "Solitude," "Virginity," I began to feel enthusiastic. Now the thing depresses me: the clever and obscure language, the context that I don't know or understand, and the vague impression that he has simply taken the terms of the contemplative life and watered them down and degenerated them to suit the experiences of a poet. All this makes me feel sad.
JournalEntering the Silence: Becoming a Monk and Writer. The Journals of Thomas Merton, Volume 2, 1941-1952.; Edited by Jonathan Montaldo. / San Francisco : Harper Collins. 1996, p. 125
Link to Merton's Copy