Tightrope walking inexperienced funambulists will often walk barefoot so that the wire can be grasped between the big and second toe. This is more often done when using a rope, as the softer and silkier fibres are less taxing on the bare foot than the harder and more abrasive braided wire. The word "funambulism" or the phrase ""walking a tightrope"" is also used in a metaphorical setting not referring to any actual acrobatic acts. For instance, politicians are said to "walk a tightrope" when trying to balance two opposing views with little room for compromise. The term can also be used in
A Letter to a Young Poet addressed to Lehmann, her critique was addressed to a number of young poets of the day, including her nephew, Julian Bell, Stephen Spender, Cecil Day Lewis and W.H. Auden. Lehman felt her understanding of poetry was inadequate, and later parted company with the Woolfs. Her quoted examples have been criticised as not amongst the cited poet's best, a criticism she later accepted. A Letter to a Young Poet A Letter to a Young Poet was an epistolary letter by Virginia Woolf, written in 1932 to John Lehman, laying out her views on modern poetry. In 1932, Woolf responded to a