Passion v. cynicism
Sir: Defending Senator Bob Dole against charges of cynicism (Senator Dole is a hyp- ocrite', 25 November), Mr Owen Harries says 'it is worth recalling that, according to Yeats, it is the best who lack conviction and the worst who are full of passionate intensi- ty'. There are two problems with this. First, it misinterprets Yeats: as the context of Easter 1916 makes clear, he was simply stat- ing that it was all the wrong people, i.e. those with whom he disagreed, who had con- viction. Like most romantic poets, Yeats had no problem with passionate intensity per se. Secondly, and more importantly, Mr Harries incorrectly implies that a poet's opinion can be strong evidence in support of the assertion that a politician is probably better being cynical rather than passionate, and in doing so he lends respectability to a spurious form of argument. It is fine to dec- orate an argument with an apt citation that illustrates a point not in issue, but where the citation itself comprises the argument, as it clearly does here, it should be from a relevant expert, and not just from some- body famous with a nice turn of phrase. If Mr Harries were supporting one side in a controversy in English literature, he would hardly rely on the views of Bob Dole.
Peter Duff
161 Felsham Road, Putney, London SW15
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