6 MAY 1978, Page 17

Eliot's language

Sir: Eliot would have known 'A mis soledades voy...' as the epigraph of Pound's The condolence' (1915). If he indeed wrote `me bastan' in Mr Duncan's blurb, he was tuscanising Castilian; which suggests that he.knew the former better.

(Professor) H. L. Shorto, 5 Denny Crescent, London SE11