24 MARCH 1967, Page 12

A chromatic passing-note

KINGSLEY AMIS

'That slimy tune,' I said, and got a laugh, In the middle of old Franck's D minor thing: The dotted-rhythm clarinet motif.

Not always slimy. I thought, at fifteen, It went to show that real love was found At the far end of the right country lane.

I thought that, like Keats and the rest of them, Old Franck was giving me a preview of The world, action in art, a paradigm.

Yes, I know better now, or different. Not image: buffer only, syrup, crutch. 'Slimy' was a snarl of disappointment.