William Carlos Williams
SIR,—I appreciate Professor Rosenthal's sense of the ironies involved in our publishing the works of Carlos Williams in what he calls 'counter-chrono- logical order.' Even so, it is possible to defend this procedure, publishing exigencies aside.
In America, as Professor Rosenthal points out, Williams's poetry filtered through in the 'normal' ways, via avant-garde magazines, etc. Given the pre- vious indifference to the work here, it was not possible to emulate this usual historical process. There is as good a case as any, therefore, for pre- senting English readers with the latest and most mature poetry first and then working backwards to the starting points of Williams's growth. The history of Williams's non-publication in this• country is already extraordinary enough, so perhaps our counter-chronology is only another inversion of the natural order in extraordinary circumstances. Any- way, agreed that it is better to have the poems available here than not.
TIMOTHY O'KEEITE
McGibbon and Kee Ltd., 9 Grape Street, WC2
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