Awkwardness

"They certainly demonstrate that Seth, whether an aspect of Jane Robert's unconscious mind or a genuine "spirit," was of a high level of intelligence. Yet when Jane Roberts produced a book that purported to be the after-death journal of the philosopher William James, it was difficult to take it seriously. James's works are noted for their vigour and clarity of style; Jane Robert's "communicator" writes like an undergraduate . . . there is a clumsiness here that is quite unlike James's swift-moving, colloquial prose."

"Awkward, embarrassed, stiff, without the skill Of moving gracefully or standing still, One leg, as if suspicious of his brother, Desirous seems to run away from t'other."

"What's a fine person, or a beauteous face, Unless deportment gives them decent grace? Blessed with all other requisites to please, Some want the striking elegance of ease; The curious eye their awkward movement tires: They seem like puppets led about by wires."

"God may forgive sins, he said, but awkwardness has no forgiveness in heaven or earth."

"With ridiculous and awkward action, Which, slanderer, he imitation calls."