Esprit Poem by Tom Billsborough

i WAS PONDERING ANOTHER FRENCH WORD 'PRESOMPTION' WHICH ELIOT TRANSLATES AS PRESUMPTION. aCTUALLY I CAN'T THINK OF A BETTER WORD AND YET THE ENGLISH SOUNDS SLIGHTLY POMPOUS, WHEREAS THE FRENCH IN THE CONTEXT DOESN'T. ESPRIT COMES INTO THE SAME LINE TO GIVE TOM ELIOT A DOUBLE HEADACHE IN WHAT IS A MARVELOUS TRANSLATION OF ST j JEAN PERSE'S GREAT POEM 'ANABASE'. eLIOT HAD A GREAT COMMAND OF FRENCH BUT HE RECOGNIZED THE DIFFICULTIES, EVEN WHEN YOU FULLY UNDERSTAND THE IMAGES. ENGLISH HAS MORE WORDS TO PLAY WITH BUT ON THE OTHER HAND SOME FRENCH WORDS ACQUIRE MORE VARIETY OF MEANING, SO THAT A WORD CAN RECALL A MORE COMPLEX GROUP OF IMAGES.