Elegy for Fats Waller

The importance of the group is debated, with Michael Longley claiming he ‘never altered even one semi-colon as a result of Group discussion.’ However, the group sheets show that a number of his poems were indeed revised, among them, Elegy for Fats Waller. Lighting up, lest all our hearts should break, His fiftieth cigarette of the day, Happy with so many notes at his beck And call, he sits there taking it away, The maker of immaculate slapstick.