“Some of the factors that have contributed to the drastic decline of the art of bringing phrases to closure are clear enough. They include the wholesale de-formalization of poetry in our time and the consequent premium placed on enjambment; our dogmatic insistence on open-endedness and the bland tones of everyday language; our predilection for understatement and uneasiness about rhetorical display; our aversion to affirmation and our cult of the whisper.” -Robert Pogue Harrison
The New York Review of Books, Volume 59, Number 2 · February 9, 2012. ‘The Book From Which Our Literature Springs’, by Robert Pogue Harrison.
chg7 
I’m not sure I entirely agree with this statement, but I love the phrase, cult of the whisper. That seems like a lovely way to bring a phrase to closure.
Thanks for reading! The review is looking at the influence of King James Bible on the fourth centennial of its publication. For me his comments are almost a metaphor for what ails humankind. Do you get the NYRB? Let me know as it would make a great gift for a certain Taurean I know.
How funny that my name didn’t accompany my comment. I didn’t realize that when I left it. How did you figure out om2011students was me? I don’t get NYRB, but have considered it. Do you get n+1? I was going to get that for you for your birthday.
I’m a frequent visitor to the om2011students blog.