"Speaking with Forked Silence"

       Poet Seamus Heaney just died, and Robert Faggen, professor of literature at Claremont McKenna College, who knew Heaney, wrote "An Appreciation" in the L.A. Times today.  He  said the poet didn't like to give pronouncements or judgments, though no doubt he was often asked to do so; so Heaney developed a way of responding that he called "speaking with forked silence."

       It's very funny to me, but maybe because I identify with it a bit.  While still teaching, I had sometimes to critique performances of literature at festivals, and would usually find favorable aspects of the presentation and give only slight demurs or suggestions.  A graduate student once challenged me, "I see how you're avoiding saying anything substantial" or words to that effect.  He'd caught me out in my own version of "speaking with forked silence."