13 OCTOBER 1973, Page 5

Dial-a-poem

Sir: You make me sound most ungrateful (Notebook, October 6) about the fee I earned by recording a couple of poems for the Greater London Arts Association's Dial-a-Poem service.

My point was, rather, that philistine sods like you and your editorial lot would in their capacity as taxpayers or ratepayers resent their tiny contribution to these fees — if, indeed, they are so financed: Still, it is a sign of grace that you actually rang the number (836 2872) for a couple of minutes' spiritual sustenance — enough, 1 hope, to keep you going.

Robert Conquest 4 York Mansions, Prince of Wales Drive, London SW11