Legal Fiction (Masterplots II: Poetry, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: William Empson
- First Published: 1928
- Type of Work: Meditation
- Genres: Poetry, Meditation
- Subjects: Law or legislation, Hell, Property, Devils or demons, Heaven, Satan or Satanism
The Poem
“Legal Fiction” is a closely argued sixteen-line poem of four quatrains. A legal fiction is any point in law which is deemed to be true even though in reality it either is a nonsensical point or has no existence. The legal fiction involved here is one of property ownership. The poem explains that in buying any piece of land, the space below and above it are included in the sale, being deemed to be part of the property. That is to say, property has a three-dimensional existence rather than a two-dimensional one.
William Empson links this fiction to a cosmic...
[The entire page is 1561 words long]
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