The Cantos of Ezra PoundCOLLECTED SHORTER POEMS
SELECTED POEMS 19081959
DRAFTS AND FRAGMENTS OF CANTOS CX CXVII
PISAN CANTOS
LITERARY ESSAYS OF EZRA POUND (edited by T S Eltot)
SELECTED PROSE 1909 1965 ( edIted by WIllIam Cookson)
ABC OF READING
TRANSLATIONS OF EZRA POUND
SOPHOCLES WOMEN OF TRACHIS
THE SELECTED LETTERS OF EZRA POUND 1907 19 II (edIted by D D PaIge)
THE CANTOS OF
FABER AND FABER • LONDON
Collected edItIOn (Cantos I 84) FlCst publIshed In I954 Second ImpressIon I957
New Collected edmon (Cantos I 109) published m I964 Second ImpressIon I968
ReVISed Collected edItIon (Cantos 1 1 17 ) published In 1975 by Faber & Faber LImIted
3 Queen Square London WCI
Pnnted 10 the Umted States of Amenca © 1975 The Ezra Pound Literary Property Trust
ISBN 0571048978 (hard bound edmon) ISBN 0571048986 (Faber Paperbacks)
All nghts reserved Except for brIef passages quoted In a newspapt.r magazme, radIO, or televIsIon reVIew, no part of thIS book may be rt. produced In any form or by any means, elcctromc or mechaOlcal meludlng photOCOPYIng and recording, or by any information storagt and lemeval system WIthout permIssIon 10 wrltlng from tht Publlsh,r
CONTENTS
Eleven New Cantos XXXI-XLI (1934) 151
The FIfth Decad of Cantos XLII-LI (1937) 207
Cantos LII-LXXI (1940) 253
SectIon Rock-Dnll De Los Cant ares LXXXV-XCV (1955) 54 1
Thrones de los Cantares XCVI-CIX (1959) 649
Drafts and Fragments of Cantos CX-CXVII (1969) 775
A DRAFT OF
I
AD then went down to the ship, Set keel to breakers, forth on the godly sea, and We set up mast and sax! on that swart ship, Bore sheep aboard her, and our bodies also
Heavy wlth weep1Og, and wmds from sternward Bore us out onward WIth bellymg canvas, Cxrce's thiS craft, the trxm-colfed goddess Then sat we amidshIps, wmd Jamnung the tIller, Thus with stretched sail, we went over sea till day's end Sun to hiS slumber, shadows o'er all the ocean, Came we then to the bounds of deepest water, To the Kxmmenan lands, and peopled cities Covered Wlth close-webbed mist, unplerced ever With glItter of sun-rays Nor With stars stretched, nor lookmg back from hea\en Swartest mght stretched over wretched men there The ocean flowmg backward, came we then to the place Aforesaid by Cuce Here did they rites, Penmedes and Eurylochus, And drawmg sword from my hip I dug the ell-square pltkm, Poured we hbatlons unto each the dead, First mead and then s~eet WIne, water mixed With whIte flour Then prayed I many a prayer to the SIckly death's-heads, As set m Ithaca, sterlle bulls of the best For sacrIfice, heap10g the pyre With goods, A sheep to Txreslas only, black and a bell-sheep Dark blood flowed 10 the fosse, Souls out of Erebus, cadaverous dead, of brIdes Of youths and of the old who had borne much, Souls stamed WIth recent tears, gIrls tender,
3
Men many, mauled wlth bronze lance heads, Battle spoll, beanng yet dreory arms, These many crowded about me, wIth shoutmg, Pallor upon me, cned to my men for more beasts, Slaughtered the helds, sheep slam of bronze, Poured omtment, cned to the gods, To Pluto the strong, and praIsed ProserpIm., Unsheathed the narroW sword, I sat to keep off the lmpetuous Impotent dead, Ttll I should hear Tlreslas But first Elpenor came, our frIend Elpenor, U nbuned, cast on the wlde earth, Llmbs that we left In the house of CIrce, Unwept, unwrapped 10 sepulchre, smce tOlls urged other PItIful splnt And I cned 10 hurrIed speech .. Elpenor, how art thou come to thIS dark coast~ .. Cam'st thou afoot, outstnppmg seamen'> ..
And he 10 heavy speech .. III fate and abundant wme I slept 10 Clrce's 109 Ie .. Gomg down the long ladder unguarded, .. I fell agamst the buttress, .. Shattered the nape-nerve, the soul sought A vel nus .c But thou, 0 Kmg, I bId remember me, unwept, unbuned, .. Heap up mIne arms, be tomb by sea-bord, and mscnbt..d cc A man of no fortune, and with a name to come cc And set my oar up, that I swung mId fellows"
And Anttdea came, whom I beat off, and then Tlreslas Theban, Holdmg Ius golden wand, knew me, and spoke first .. A second tlIDe'> why'> man of III star, t< Facmg the sunless dead and thlS Joyless reglon ~ t< Stand from the fosse, leave me my bloody bever .. For soothsay "
And I stepped back, And he strong wlth the blood, saId then .. Odysseus
4
•• Shalt return through splteful Neptune, over dark seas, •• Lose all compamons" And then Antlclea came LIe qUiet DIVUS I mean, that IS Andreas DIVUS,
In officma Wecheh, 1538, out of Homer And he sailed, by Sltens and thence outward and away And unto Cltce
Venerandam, In the Cretan's phrase, With the golden crown, AphrodIte, Cyprl mummenta sortita est, mIrthful, otlchalchl, With golden GIrdles and breast bands, thou wIth dark eyelIds Beanng the golden bough of ArgIclda So that
II
HANG It all, Robert Browmng, there can be but the one .. Sordello " But Sordello, and my Sordello~ Lo Sordels SI fo dl Mantovana
So-shu churned In the sea Seal sports m the spray-whIted circles of chff-wash, Sleek head, daughter of 11r,
eyes of Picasso Under black fur-hood, hthe daughter of Ocean, And the wave runs In the beach-groove ct Eleanor, ~XEPaliS and ehE7l"TohtS' "
And poor old Homer bhnd, blInd, as a bat, Ear, ear for the sea-surge, murmur of old men's vOlces
.. Let her go back to the shlPs, Back among GreClan faces, lest eVlI come on our own,
EVil and further evu, and a curse cursed on our children,
Moves, yes she moves lIke a goddess And has the face of a god
and the vOice of Schoeney's daughters, And doom goes wlth her lD walkmg, Let her go back to the ships,
back among Grecian vOIces" And by the beach-run, Tyro,
TWisted arms of the sea-god, Llthe smews of water, gnppmg he~, cross-hold, And the blue-gray glass of the wave tents them, Glare azure of water, cold-welter, close cover QUiet sun-tawny sand-stretch, The gulls broad out thelr WIngs,
mppmg between the splay feathers,
6
Smpe come for thelI' bath, bend out theIr wmg-Jomts,
Spread wet wmgs to the sun-film, And by SClOS,
to left of the Naxos passage, Naviform rock overgrown,
alg-e clIng to Its edge, There IS a wme-red glow m the shallows,
a tm flash m the sun-dazzle
The shIp landed m SClOS, men wantmg spring-water,
And by the rock-pool a young boy loggy WIth vme-must, .. To N axos ') Yes, we'll take you to N axos,
Cum' along lad" tc Not that way' " co Aye, that way 15 Naxos"
And I saId .. It's a straIght shIp" And an ex-convIct out of Italy
knocked me mto the fore-stays, (He was wanted for manslaughter 111 Tuscany)
And the whole twenty agamst me, Mad for a lIttle slave money
And they took her out of SCIOS And off her course
And the boy came to, agalll, WIth the racket, And looked out over the bows,
and to eastward, and to the N axos passage God-sleIght then, god-sleIght
ShIP stock fast m sea-swIrl, Ivy upon the oars, Kmg Pentheus,
grapes wlth no seed but sea-foam, Ivy 111 scupper-hole Aye, I, Acretes, stood there,
and the god stood by me, Water cuttmg under the keel,
7
Sea-break from stern forrards, wake runnIng off from the bow,
And where was gunwale, there now was vine-trunk, And tenthru where cordage had been,
grape-leaves on the rowlocks, Heavy Vine on the oarshafts, And. out of nothmg, a breathmg,
hot breath on my anh.les, Beasts hke shadows m glass,
a furred tall upon nothmgness Lynx-purr, and heathery smell of beasts,
where tar smell had been, Smff and pad-foot of beasts,
eye-ghtter out of black aIr The sky overshot, dry, WIth no tempest, Sruff and pad-foot of beasts,
fur brushmg my knee-skm, Rustle of aIry sheaths.
dry forms m the (l!ther
And the shIp lIke a keel In shIp-yard, slung lIke an ox m smIth's slIng,
Ribs stuck fast m the ways, grape-cluster over pm-rack, VOId air takmg pelt
LIfeless alr become smewed, felIne leISure of panthers,
Leopards snrffing the grape shoots by scupper-hole, Crouched panthers by fore-hatch, And the sea blue-deep about us,
green-ruddy 111 shadows. And Ly~us •• From now, Acretes, my altars, Fearing no bondage,
fearIng no cat of the wood, Safe WIth my lynxes,
feed111g grapes to my leopards,
8
Ohbanum IS my Incense, the VInes grow m my homage"
The back-swell now smooth In the rudder-chams, Black snout of a porpOIse
where Lycabs had been, FISh-scales on the oarsmen
And I worshIp I have seen what I have seen
When they brought the boy I saId to He has a god m h1l11,
though I do not know whIch god" And they kIcked me mto the fore-stays I have seen what I have seen
Medon's face lIke the face of a dory, Arms shrunk Into fins And you, Pentheus, Had as well hsten to Tlreslas, and to Cadmus,
or your luck w1l1 go out of you FIsh-scales over grom muscles,
lynx-purr amId sea And of a later year,
pale In the wIne-red algre, If you wIll lean over the rock,
the coral face under wave-t1Oge, Rose-paleness under water-shIft,
Ileuthyena, faIr Dafne of sea-bords, The SW1l11mer's arms turned to branches, Who wIll say 10 what year,
fleeIng what band of tntons, The smooth brows, seen, and half seen,
now Ivory stIllness
And So-shu churned In the sea, So-shu also, USIng the long moon for a churn-stIck
LIthe turmng of water, smews of PoseIdon,
9
Close cover, unsttllness, btlght welter of wave-cords,
Then qUlet water, qUlet m the buff sands,
Sea-fowl stletchmg wmg-Jomts, splaslung 10 rock-hollows and sand-hollows
In the wave-runs by the half-dune, Glass-ghnt of wave 1D the tide-rips agalnst sunlIght,
pallor of Hesperus, Grey peak of the wave,
wave, colour of grape's pulp,
Ohve grey m the near, far, smoke grey of the rock.-shde,
Salmon-pInk WlOgS of the fish-hawk cast grey shadows 1D water,
The tower hke a one-eyed gle'tt goose cranes up out of the ohvc-gro~e,
And we have heard the fauns eluding Proteus m the smell of hay under the ohve-trees.
And the frogs slngmg against the fauns In. the half-hght
And
10
III
I SAT on the Dogana's steps For the gondolas cost too much, that year, And there were not" those girls ", there was one face, And the Buccentoro twenty Y'lrds off, howhng .. Strettl ",
And the lIt cross-beams, that year, In the MOrOSlnl,
And peacocks 10 KOle's house, 01 there may have been Gods float In the 'lzure alt,
Bnght gods and Tuscan, hack before dew was shed Light and the first lIght, before ever dew was fallen Pamsks, and from the oak, dryas, And from the apple, mrehd, Through all the wood, and the leaves are full of VOices, A-whisper, and the clouds howe over the lake, And there are gods upon them, And 10 the water, the almond-white SWimmers, The SlIvery water glazes the upturned mpple,
As POgglO has remarked Green vems In the turquoIse, Or, the gray steps lead up under the cedars
My CId rode up to Burgos, Up to the studded gate between two towers, Beat wIth hiS lance butt, and the child came out, Una mna de nueve anos, To the httle gallery over the ga te, between the towers, Readmg the Writ, voce t10nula That no man speak to, feed, help Ruy Dlaz, On pam to have hIS heart out, set on a pike spIke And both hIS eyes torn out, and all hIS goods sequestered, •• And here, Myo Cld, are the seals, The big seal and the wntIng " And he caIre down from Blvar, Myo Cld,
II
WIth no hawks left there on theIr perches, And no clothes there m the presses, And left hIs trunk wIth Raquel and Vidas, That bIg box of sand, wIth the pawn-brokers, To get pay for hIs menIe, Breakmg hIs way to ValencIa Ignez da Castro murdered, and a wall Here strIpped, here made to stand Drear waste, the pIgment flakes from the stone, Or plaster flakes, Mantegna pamted the wall Sxlk tatters, "Nee Spe Nee Metu 'J
I2
IV
PALACE In smoky lIght, Troy but a heap of smoulderIng boundary stones, ANAXIFORMINGES' Aurunculela' Hear me Cadmus of Golden Prows'
The slIver mIrrors catch the bnght stones and flare, Dawn, to our waklOg, dnfts In the green cool hght, Dew-haze blurs, In the grass, pale ankles movmg Beat, beat, whIrr, thud, In the soft turf
under the apple trees, Choros nympharum, goat-foot, WIth the pale foot alternate, Crescent of blue-shot waters, green-gold In the shallows, A black cock crows In the sea-foam,
And by the curved, carved foot of the couch, claw-foot and hon head, an old man seated
Speakmg In the low drone Ityn'
Et ter fleblhter, Ityn, Ityn' And she went toward the WIndow and cast her down,
cc All the whue, the whIle, swallows cry10g Ityn l
cc It 15 Cabestan's heart 10 the dIsh" .. It IS Cabestan's heart In the dlsh) cc No other taste shall change thIS ..
And she went toward the Window, the shm whIte stone bar
Makmg a double arch, FIrm even fingers held to the :firm pale stone, Swung for a moment,
and the wmd out of Rhodez Caught In the full of her sleeve
the swallows cryIng
'TIS 'TIS YtIS' Acta:on
and a valley, The valley IS thIck wIth leaves, wIth leaves, the trees, The sunlIght glItters, glItters a-top, Like a :fish-scale roof,
LIke the church roof In POlctlers If It were gold
Beneath It, beneath It Not a ray, not a shvver, not a spare dISC of sunlIght Flakmg the black, soft water, Bathing the body of nymphs, of nymphs, and DIana, Nymphs, whIte-gathered about her, and the aIr, aIr, Shakmg, aIr alIght WIth the goddess,
fanmng theIr haIr m the dark, LIftmg, lIftIng and waffing Ivory dIppmg In stiver,
Shadow'd, o'ershadow'd Ivory dIppIng m stiver, Not a splotch, not a lost shatter of sunlIght Then Acta:on VIdal, VIdal It IS old VIdal speaking,
stumblIng along In the wood, Not a patch, not a lost shImmer of sunlIght,
the pale haIr of the goddess
The dogs leap on Acta:on, " HIther, hIther, Acta:on,"
Spotted stag of the wood, Gold, gold, a sheaf of hair,
ThIck hke a wheat swath, Blaze, blaze m the sun,
The dogs leap on Acta:on
14
.. Pergusa pool pool Gargaphla, .. Pool pool of Salmacls "
The empty armour shakes as the cygnet moves
Thus the lIght rams, thus pours, e [0 solezlls plovll The hqUld and rushmg crystal
beneath the knees of the gods Ply over ply, thm ghtter of water, Brook film beanng white petals The pme at Takasago
grows with the pme of Ise' The water whIrls up the bnght pale sand m the sprIng's mouth .. Behold the Tree of the VIsages' " Forked branch-tips, flammg as If wIth lotus
Ply over ply The shallow eddymg flUid,
beneath the knees of the gods
Torches melt m the glare set flame of the corner cook-stall,
Blue agate casmg the sky (as at Gourdon that tme) the sputter of resm,
Saffron sandal so petals the narrow foot Hymenreus 10' Hymen, 10 Hymena:e' AuruncuIeIa'
One scarlet flower IS cast on the blanch-whIte stone
And So-Gyoku, saymg •• Tlus WInd, srre, IS the kmg's wmd,
Tlus WInd 18 wmd of the palace, Shakmg ImperIal water-Jets ..
And HSIang, openmg hiS collar .. ThIS WInd roars m the earth's bag,
It lays the water WIth rushes"
IS
No WInd lS the kIng's WInd Let every cow keep her calf
~c Tlus WInd IS held 10 gauze curtains " No w1nd 1S the kIng's
The camel drIvers Sit In the turn of the stairs, Look down on Ecbatan of plotted streets,
.. Danae' Danae' What WInd IS the kIng's'> ..
Smoke hangs on the stream, The peach-trees shed bnght leaves In the water, Sound drifts In the eventng haze,
The bark scrapes at the ford, Gut rafters above black water,
Three steps In an open field, Gray stone-posts leadIng
Pere Henri Jacques would speak Wlth the Sennm, on Rokku, Mount Rokku between the rock and the cedars, Polhonac, As Gyges on Thraclan platter set the feast, Cabestan, Tereus,
It IS Cabestan's heart 10 the dish, Vldal, or Ecbatan, upon the gIlded tower In Ecbatan Lay the god's bride, lay ever, waiting the golden raIn By Garonne .. Saave' .. The Garonne 15 truck hke palOt, Process10n, - cc Et sa'ave, sa'ave, sa'ave Regma! "­ Moves lIke a worm, 10 the crowd Adlge, thIn :film of unages, Across the Adlge, by Stefano, Madonna 10 hortulo, As Cavalcantt had seen her
The Centaur's heel plants 10 the earth loam And we Sit here
there 10 the arena
z6
v
GEAT bulk, huge mass, thesauru'), Ecbatan, the clock tIcks and fades out The bnde awaltmg the god's touch, Ecbatan, CIty of patterned streets, agam the VISIon
Down In the VIa: strada:, toga'd the crowd, and arm'd, RushIng on populous bUSIness, and from parapet looked down and North was Egypt,
the celestIal Nue, blue deep, cuttxng low barren land,
Old men and camels workmg the watet-wheels,
Measureless seas and stars, Iambhchus' hght,
the souls ascendmg, Sparks hke a partndge covey,
LIke the .. CIOCCO ", brand struck In the game tt Et omniformIS" AIr, fire, the pale soft lIght Topaz I manage, and three sorts of blue,
but on the barb of tIme The fire'> always, and the VlSlon always, Ear dull, perhaps, WIth the VISIon, fhttxng And fadmg at WIll Weavmg WIth pomts of gold, Gold-yellow, saffron The roman shoe, Aurunculeta's And come shufflIng feet, and crIes" Da nuces' c. Nuces' " praISe, and Hymena:us .. bnngs the gul to her man .. Or .. here Sextus had seen her .. TItter of sound about me, always
and from .. Hesperus " Hush of the older song .. Fades hght from sea-crest, .. And m LydIa walks With palr'd women .. Peerless among the paIrs, that once m SardIS
17
" In satIetIes Fades the lIght flom the sea, 'lnd man) th Ilgs
.. Are set abroad and brought to nund of thee," And the vmestocks he untended, llew leaves come to the shoots, North wmd mps 011 the bough, and seas m heal t Toss up chIll crests,
And the vme stocks he un tended And many thlOgs are set abroad and blOught to mlOd Of thee, Atthls, unfrUltful
The talks ran long m the mght And from Mauleon, fresh wIth a new earned grade, In maze of approachmg ram-steps, POlcebot- The aIr was full of women,
And Savamc Mauleon Gave hIm hIs land and kmght's fee, and he wed the woman Came lust of travel on hml, of 1omerya, And out of England a kmght wIth slow-hftmg eyelIds Let fassa lurar a del, put gl1mour upon her And left her an eIght months gone
.. Came lust of woman upon hIm," POlcebot, now on North road from Spam (Sea-change, a grey m the water)
And 10 small house by town's edge Found a woman, changed and famihar face, Hard nIght, and pattmg at mormng
And Plelte won the 51Ogmg, Pleite de Maensac, Song or land on the throw, and was drcftz hom And had De TierCl's WIfe and wIth the war they made
Troy m Auvergnat Wlule Menelaus ptled up the church at port He kept Tyndarlda Dauph10 stood wIth de Maensac
John BorgIa IS bathed at last (Clock-tIck pIerces the VISIon) TIber, dark WIth the cloak, wet cat gleammg 10 patches
18
Chck of the hooves, through garbage, ClutchIng the greasy stone cc And the cloak floated .. Slander lS up betImes
But Varchl of Florence, Steeped In a dIfferent year, and pondermg Brutus, Then c. l;t")'a p.aX' aVOLS 8EVTEpa.V I
.. Dog-eye" " (to Alessandro) .. Whether for love of Florence," Varchl leaves It,
Saymg .. I saw the man, came up WIth hIm at Venice, .. I, one wantmg the facts, .. And no mean labour Or for a pnvy SpIte ';) .. Our Benedetto leaves It, But •• I saw the man Se PZtz';)
rr 0 empta';l For LorenzacclO had thought of stroke m the open But uncertaIn (for the Duke went never unguarded) .. And would have thrown him from wall .. Yet feared thiS mIght not end hIm," or lest Alessandro Know not by whom death came, 0 se credesse .. If when the foot shpped, when death came upon hun, .. Lest COUSIn Du1..e Alessandro thmk he had fallen alone, .. No fnend to aId hIm m fallmg"
Cazna attende The lake of Ice there below me And all of thIS, runs V archl, dre~med out beforehand In Perugla, caught In the star-maze by Del Carmme, Cast on a natal paper, set WIth an exegesIS, told, All told to Alessandro, told thnce over, Who held hIS death for a doom In abulela But Don Lorenzmo Whether for love of Florence but .. 0 se morose, credesse caduto da se " l;l-ya., (fl,,),a
SchIaVOnI, caught on the wood-barge, GIves out the afterbIrth, GIOVannI BorgIa, TraIls out no more at nights, where Barabello
19
Prods the Pope's elephant, and gets no crown, where MozarelJo Takes the Calabnan roadway, and for endmg Is smothered beneath a mule,
a poet's endmg, Down a stale well-hole, oh a poet's endmg "Sanazarro .. Alone out of all the court was faIthful to hIm" For the gOSSIp of Naples' trouble drIfts to North, Fracastor (lIghtnmg was mtdw1fe) Cotta, and Ser D'Alv1ano, AI poco glorno ed al gran cerchlo d'ombra, Talk the talks out With NaVlghero, Burner of yearly Martlals,
(The slavelet IS mourned m vam) And the next comer says to Were nme wounds, .. Four men, whIte horse Held on the saddle before hIm " Hooves clmk and shck on the cobbles SchIaVOnI cloak .. Smk the damn thmg' .. Splash wakes that chap on the wood-barge TIber catchtng the nap, the moonlIt velvet, A wet cat gleamIng 1n patches
cc Se pIa," VarchI, cc 0 empla, ma rtsoluto cc E ternbtle dehberazlone "
Both saymgs run m the wmd. Ma se mortsse'
20
VI
W HAT you have done, Odysseus, We know what you have done
And that Gu:tllaume sold out hIs ground rents (Seventh of POltlers, NInth of AqultaIn)
to Tant las fotel com aUZIrets c. Cen e quatre vIngt et velt vetz "
The stone IS ahve In my hand, the crops wxll be thIck In my death-year
T:tll LOUIS IS wed wIth Eleanor And had (He, Guxllaume) a son that had to wIfe The Duchess of N ormandla whose daughter Was wIfe to KIng Henry e maire del reI Jove Went over sea t:tll day's end (he, LOUIS, Wlth Eleanor) ComIng at last to Acre to Ongla, oncle " salth Arnaut
Her uncle commanded In Acre, That had known hel In gIrlhood
(Theseus, son of Aegeus) And he, LOUIS, was not at ease In that town, And was not at ease by Jordan As she rode out to the palm-grove Her scarf In Saladln's C1mler DIvorced her 10 that year, he LOUIS,
dlvorclng thus Aqultalne And that year Plantagenet marrxed her
(that had dodged past 17 swtors) Et quand 10 reIS LOIS 10 entendlt
mout er fasche N auphal, VeXls, Harry Joven In pledge for all hIS hfe and Me of all hIS heIrs Shall have GISOrs, and Vexls, N eufchastel But If no ISSue GISOrs shall revert
.. Need not wed Ahx m the name Tuntty holy mdlvlslble RIchard our brother Need not wed Allx once hIs father's ward and But whomso he choose for Ahx, etc
Eleanor, domna Jauzionda, mother of RIchard, Turnmg on thtrty years (wd have been yeals before tht:.) By nver-marsh, by galle ned church-porch, Malemorte, Correze, to whom
•• My Lady of Ventadour .. Is shut by Ebhs 10
cc And wtll not hawk nor hunt nor get her free 10 the aIr
cc Nor watch fish nse to baIt c. Nor the glare-Wlllg'd flIes alIght In the creek's edge •• Save 10 my absence, Madame
• Que 1a lauzeta mover' .. Send word I ask you to Ebhs
you have seen that maker .. And finder of songs so far afield as thIS " That he may free her,
who sheds such lIght In the aIr"
E 10 Sordels Sl fo dt Mantovana, Son of a poor kmght, Sler Escort, And he delIghted hImself 10 chan~ons And mIxed WIth the men of the court And went to the court of RIchard Samt Bontface And was there taken WIth love for hIS WIfe
Cumzza, da Romano That freed her slaves on a Wednesday Masnatas et servos, witness PICUS de Farmatls and Don Ehnus and Don Llpus
sons of Farmato de' Farmatl
CC free of person, free of wIll cc free to buy, WItness, sell, testate" A manto subtraxlt lpsam
dictum Sordellum concubulsse (C Wmter and Summer I smg of her glace, As the rose IS faIr, so faIr 15 hel face, Both Summer and Wmter I SlOg of her, The S'10W makyth me to remember her"
And Calrels was of Sarlat Theseus from Troezene
And they wd have given hIm pOlson But for the shape of hIS sword-hIlt
VII
ELEANOR (she spoued In a Bntish clImate) VEAa.v6pos and 'EAE'II"TOALS, and
poor old Homer blmd, blmd as a bat,
Ear, ear for the sea-surge, rattle of old men's VOiceS
And then the phantom Rome, marble narrow for seats
ct 51 pulVlS nullus" saId OVId, c. Erlt, nullum tamen excute" Then :file and candles, e II mestiers ecoutes, Scene for the battle only, but stUl scene, Pennons and standards y cavals armatz Not mere succesSIon of strokes, SIghtless narratIon, And Dante's .. CIOCCO," brand struck m the game
Un peu molSl, plancher plus bas que Ie JardIn
.. Contre Ie lambns, fautewl de paIlle, .. Un Vleux plano, et sous Ie barometre "
The old men's VOICes, beneath the columns of false marble, The modISh and darkIsh walls, PlScreeter gdrung, and the panelled wood Suggested, for the leasehold IS
Touched With an lffipreCISlon about three squares, The house too thtck, the palntIngs a shade too oued And the great domed head, eon gIl oeem onestt e tard, Moves before me, phantom With weIghted motIon, Grave meessu, dnnkIng the tone of thIngs, And the old vOice hfts Itself
weavlng an endless sentence
We also made ghostly VISIts, and the staIr That knew us, found us agam on the turn of It, Knockmg at empty rooms, seekmg for buned beauty, And the sun-tanned, gracIOus and well-formed fingers LIft no latch of bent bronze, no EmpIre handle TWIsts for the knocker's fall, no VOIce to answer A strange conCIerge, m place of the gouty-footed SceptIc agamst all thIS one seeks the hvmg, Stubborn agamst the fact The wted flowers Brushed out a seven year SInce, of no effect Damn the partItIon' Paper, dark brown and stretched, FlImsy and damned part1t1on
lone, dead the long year My hntel, and LlU Ch'e's lmtel Tlffie blacked out wIth the rubber
The Elysee carnes a name on And the bus behmd me gIves me a date for peg, Low ce1hng and the Erard and the suver, These are m tt tlffie" Four cha1rs, the bow-front dresser, The pamer of the desk, cloth top sunk m
.. Beer-bottle on the statue's pedIment' .. That, Fntz, 1S the era, to-day agamst the past, tt Contemporary" And the passIOn endures Agamst the1r actIon, aromas Rooms, agamst chromcles Smaragdos, chrysohthos, De Gama wore stnped pants In Afnca And tt Mountams of the sea gave bIrth to troops",
Le Vieux commode en acaJou beer-bottles of vanous strata,
But tS she dead as Tyro"> In seven years) EMvavs, ~Xaplipos, E'XE7r70hLS
The sea runs m the beach-groove, shakmg the floated pebbles, Eleanor'
The scarlet curtam throws a less scarlet shadow,
LamplIght 1t BuovIlla, e quel remlr, And all that day
Nlcea moved before me And the cold grey aIr troubled hel not For all her naked beauty, bIt not the tropIc skm, And the long slender feet lIt on the curb's marge And her movmg heIght went before me,
We alone havmg bemg And all that day, another day
Thm husks I had known as men, Dry casques of dep1rted locusts
speakmg a shell of speech Propped between chaIrs and table Words lIke the locust-shells, moved by no mner hemg,
A dryness callIng for death,
Another day, between walls of a sham Myceman, .. Toc" sphmxes, sham-MemphiS columns, And beneath the Jazz a corte:ll., a stIffness or stIllness,
Shell of the older house Brown-yellow wood, and the no colour plaster, Dry professonal talk
now stllhng the III beat mUSlC, House expulsed by thts house
Square even shoulders and the satm skm, Gone cheeks of the dancmg woman,
Scil the old dead dry talk, gassed out­ It IS ten years gone, makes stIff about her a glass, A petrefactlon of aIr
The old room of the tawdry class asserts Itself, The young men, never'
Only the husk of talk o VOl che slete m PICCloletta barca, DIdo choked up With sobs, for her 5lcheus
2.6
LIes heavy m my arms, dead we1ght Drownmg, WIth tears, new Eros,
And the hfe goes on, moomng upon bare h1lls, Flame leaps from the hand, the ram 1S hstless, Yet drmks the thlrst from our hps,
sohd as echo, PaSSlon to breed a form 10 shImmer of ram-blur, But Eros drowned, drowned, heavy-half dead WIth tears
For dead Slcheus
LIfe to make mock of motIon For the husks, before me, move,
The words rattle shells gIven out by shells The hve man, out of lands and prISons,
shakes the dry pods, Probes for old WIlls and frIendshIps, and the bIg !ocust-casques Bend to the tawdry table, LIft up theIr spoons to mouths, put fOlks m cutlets, And make sound lIke the sound of VOIces
Lorenzacclo Bemg more hve than they, more full of flames and VOIces Ma se mor1sse'
Credesse caduto da se, ma se morISse And the tallmddference moves,
a more hvmg shell, Dnft m the alr of fate, dry phantom, but mtact o Alessandro, cruef and thrIce warned, watcher,
Eternal watcher of thmgs, Of thmgs, of men, of paSSIOns
Eyes floatmg m dry, dark alr, E bIondo, Wlth glass-grey ms, Wlth an even SIde-fall of halt The stIff, stIll features
VIII
THESE fragments you have shelved (shored) "Slut'" "BItch'" Truth and Calhop;:
Slang10g each other sous les laurlers That Alessandro was negroId And Malatesta
Slgtsmund Frater tamquam
EqUlvalent to Glohanm of the MedICI, Florence
Letter receIved, and 10 the matter of our Messlte GlanozlO, One from htm also, sent on In form and WIth all due dIspatch, HaVing added your wlShes and memoranda As to arrang10g peace between you and the K10g of Ragona, So far as I am concerned, It wd GIve me the greatest possible pleasure, At any rate nothlOg wd gIve me more pleasure
or be more acceptable to me, And I shd hke to be party to It, as was promIsed me,
etther as participant or adherent As for my serVIce money, Perhaps you and your father wd draw It And send It on to me as qUIckly as pOSSIble And tell the Maestro dz pe1'ltore That there can be no question of HIS paIntIng the walls for the moment, As the mortar IS not yet dry And It wd be merely work chucked away
(buttato VIa)
But I want It to be qUIte clear, that untIl the chapels are ready I wlll arrange for hIm to palnt somethlng else So that both he and I shall Get as much enjoyment as possIble from It, And In order that he may enter my serVIce And also because you WrIte me that he needs cash, I want to arrange With hIm to gIve hIm so much per year And to assure hIm that he Will get the sum agreed on You may say that I WIll depOSIt securIty For hIm wherever he hkes And let me have a clear answer, For I mean to give hIm good treatment So that he may come to hve the rest Of hts hfe m my lands- Unless you put hIm off It - And for thIS I mean to make due prOVISIon, So that he can work as he lIkes, Or waste hIS tIme as he lIkes (affattgandose per suo ptacere 0 no non glt manchera la proVlxtone mat)
neve I lackmg prOVlSlon SIGISMUNDUS PANDOLPHUS DE MALATESTIS
In campo Ilim Doment VenetorU1n aze 7 aprzlts 1449 contra Cremonam
and because the aforesaId most IllustrIOUS Duke of Mllan Is content and Wills that the aforesaId Lord 51gISmundo Go mto the serVIce of the most magnIficent commune of the Florentlnes For alhance defenSIve of the two states, Therefore between the aforesaid IllustrIOUS Sigismund And the respectable man Agnolo della Stufa,
ambassador, SlndlC and procurator ApPolnted by the ten of the bally, etc, the half
29
Of these 50,000 florIns, free of attal11der, For 1400 cavalry and four hundred foot To come Into the terrene of the commune
or elsewhere m Tuscany .& please the ten of the Bally, And to be hImself thele With them In the sen-ICC of the commune WIth hIS horsemen and hIS footmen
(gente dt cavallo c da pte) etc Aug 5 1452, regtster of the Tw of tbe Barly
From the forked rocks of Penna and BIlh, on Cal pegna With the road leading under the cMf,
m the WInd-shelter Into Tuscany, And the north road, toward the Marecchla
the mud-stretch full of cobbles Lyra .. Ye Spltlts who of olde were m thIS lard Each under Love, 1.nd shaken, Go WIth your lutes, awaken The summer WithIn her mmd, Who hath not Helen for peer
Yseut nor Batsabe " With the InterruptIon
Magnifico, compater et cartSS11ne (JohannI dl Coslmo)
VenIce has taken me on agaIn At 7,000 a month, fiorznt dt Camera
For 2,000 horse and four hundred footmen, And It rams here by the gallon, We have had to dig a new dItch In three or four days I shall try to set up the bombards
Under the plumes, With the flakes and small wads of colour ShowerIng from the balCOnIes
30
WIth the sheets spread from Wlndows, WIth leaves and small branches pmned on them,
Arras hung from the raumgs, out of the dus~, WIth pheasant taus upnght on theIr forelocks,
The small whIte horses, the Twelve gIrls ndmg m order, green satin In panmer'd habIts, Under the baldachmo, sIlver'd WIth heavy stItches, Blanca VIscontI, WIth Sforza, The peasant's son and the duchess, To RImmI, and to the wars southward, Boats drawn on the sand, red-orange salls m the creek's mouth, For two days' pleasure, mosdy rr 1a pesca," £Shmg, DI CUI m the whIch he, Francesco, godeva molto
To the war southward In whIch he, at that tune, receIved an excellent hldmg And the Greek emperor was In FloLence
(Ferrara haVIng the pest) And WIth hIm Gemlsthus Plethon Talkmg of the war about the temple at Delphos, And of POSEIDON, concret Allgemezne, And tellmg of how Plato went to Dlonyslus of Syracuse Because he had observed that tyrants Were most efficIent In all that they set theIr hands to, But he was unable to persuade DlOnyslUs To any amelIoratIon And m the gate at Ancona, between the foregate And the mam-gates SIgIsmundo, ally, come through an enemy force, To patch up some sort of treaty, passes one gate And they shut It before they open the next gate, and he says .. Now you have me,
Caught lIke a hen In a coop" And the captam of the watch says .. Yes MeSSIre SIglsmundo, But we want thIs town for ourselves"
31
WIth the church agamst hIm, WIth the MedICI bank for Itself, WIth wattle Sforza agaInst hIm Sforza Francesco, wattle-nose, Who mamed hIm (SIgismundo) hIs (Francesco's) Daughter In September, Who stole Pesaro In October (as Brogho says tr bc~tlalmel1te")
Who stood wIth the VenetIans In November, WIth the Mtlanese m December, Sold Mtlan In November, stole Muan In December Or sometbUlg of that sort, Commanded the Muanese In the sprmg, the VenetIans at mIdsummer, The Mtlanese In the autumn, And was Naples' ally In October,
He, SIglsmundo, te11tplum tedtficavtt In Romagna, teemmg WIth cattle thleves,
wlth the game lost Ul mld-channel, And never qUIte lost tul' 50,
and never qUIte lost ttll the end, m Romagna, So that Galeaz sold Pesaro .. to get pay for hIS cattle"
And POlctiers, you know, Guulaume POlctleIs, had brought the song up out of Spam
With the SIngers and vieis But here they wanted a settIng. By Mareccrua, where the water comes down over the cobbles And Mason had come to VerucchlO,
and the sword, Paolo tl Bello's, caught m the arras
And, m Este's house, Parlsma Paid For thIS tnbe pald always, and the house Called also Atreldes', And the wmd IS stu! for a lIttle
31
And the dusk rolled to one sIde a httle
And he was twelve at the ome, Sigismundo, And no dues had been paId for three years, And hIS elder brother gone PIOUS,
And that year they fought m the streets, And that year he got out to Cesena
And brought back the leVIes, And that year he crossed by nxght over Fogha, and
33
IX
One year they fought 10 the sno'" 5, ONE year floods rose.
One year hau fell. breakIng the trec~ md walls Down here In the marsh they trapped hIm
In one year, And he stood m the water up to hIs neck
to keep the hounds off him, And he floundered about In the marsh
and came m after three days. That was Astorre ManfredI of Faenza
who worked the ambush and set the dogs off to find hIm,
In the marsh, down here under Mantua, And he fought m Fano, In a street fight,
and that was nearly the end of him, And the Emperor came down and knxghted us, And they had a wooden castle set up for fiesta, And one year BastnlO went out Into the courtyard
Where the lIsts were, and the pahsades had been set for the tourneys,
And he talked down the antI-Hellene, And there was an heIr male to the selgnor, And Madame Gmevra dIed
And he, Slgu;mundo, was Capitan for the VenetIans And he had sold off small castles
and butit the great Rocca to hIS plan, And he fought lIke ten devus at Monteluro
and got notll1ng but the VlctOry And old Sforza bItched us at Pesaro,
(SIC) March the x6th tC that Mesme Alessandro Sforza
IS become lord of Pesaro
through the wangle of the Illus 5gr Mr Fedtlcho d'Orblllo Who worked the wangle with Galeaz
through the WigglIng of Messer Francesco, Who waggled It so that Galeaz should sell Pesaro
to Alex and Fossembrone to Feddy, and he hadn't the nght to sell And thlS he did besttalmente, that IS Sforza dId besttalmente as he had promised hun, SI81smundo, per capttoJz
to see that he, Malatesta, should have Pesaro" And this cut us off from our south half
and fimshed our game, thus, In the begmnmg, And he, 5181smundo, spoke hiS mmd to Francesco
and we drove them out of the Marches
And the Kmg 0' Ragona, Alphonse Ie roy d'Aragon, was the next nau 10 our coffin,
And all you can say IS, anyway, that he 51glSmundo called a town councIl And Valturlo said cc as well for a sheep as a lamb"
and thIS change-over (htec tradItIo) As old bladder saId rr rem eorum saluavtt " Saved the Florent1Oc state, and that, maybe, was somethIng And co Florence our natural ally" as they said 10 the meeting
for whatever that was worth afterward And he began buudmg the TEMPIO,
and Pohxena, hlS second WIfe, dIed And the Venetians sent down an ambassador And said co speak humanely, But tell rum It's no tune for ralSIng rus pay" And the Venetians sent down an ambassador
Wlth three pages of secret InStructIons To the effect Did he thmk the campaign was a Joy-tlde) And old Wattle-wattle slIpped 1Oto MIlan But he couldn't stand 51dg being so high With the Venetians And he talked It over with Feddy, and Feddy saId C< Pesaro ..
35
.. If we splIt wIth Francesco you can have It
.. And we'll help you m every wa) possIble" But Feddy offered It sooner
And Slglsmundo got up a few arches, And stole that marble 10 Classe, .. stoic" that IS,
Casus est talts Foscart doge, to the prefect of Ravenn1
.. Why, what, whIch, thunder, damn1tlOn'~~' "
Cams est talzs FUlPPO, commendatary of the abbazI1
Of Sant Apolhnalre, Classe, Cardmal of Bologfl1 That he dId one mght (quadam 11octC) sell to the Illmo DO, DO Slgismund Malatesta Lord of Anmm1Oum, marble, porphyry, serpentme, Whose men, Slglsmundo's, came wIth more than an hundred two wheeled ox carts and deported, for the beautlfymg of the tempto where was Santa MarIa m TrIVlO Where the same are now on the walls Four hundred ducats to be paId back to the abbazt4 by the saId swmdlIng CardInal or hIs heIrS
grnnh' rrnnh, pthg wheels, plaustra, oxen under nIght-shIeld, And on the 13th of August AloysIus Purtheo, The next abbot, to Slglsmundo, receipt for 200 ducats Corn-salve for the damage done 10 that scurry
And there was the row about that German-Burgundian female And It Was hiS meSSlamc year, Pohorcetes,
but he was be10g a bIt too POLUMETIS And the Venetlans wouldn't gtve hIm SIX months vacatlon
And he went down to the old bnck heap of Pesaro and waIted for Feddy
36
And Feddy finally saId" I am commg' to help Alessandro"
And he saId cc ThIs tune MIster Feddy has done It .. He saId .. Brogho, I'm the goat ThIS tIme
Mr Feddy has done It (m'l'ha calata) " And he'd lost hIS Job WIth the VenetIans, And the stone dIdn't come In from Istria And we sent men to the suk war, And Wattle never paxd up on the naIl
Though we SIgned on WIth MIlan and Florence, And he set up the bombards In muck down by Vada
where nobody else could have set 'em and he took the wood out of the bombs and made 'em of two scoops of metal
And the Jobs gettIng smaller and smaller, Unci he sIgned on WIth SIena, And that tIme they grabbed hxs post-bag
And what was It, anyhow> Pitighano, a man WIth a ten acre lot,
Two lumps of tufa, and they"d taken hlS pasture land from hun,
And SIdg had got back theIr horses, and he had two bIg lumps of tufa WIth Slx hundred pIgs In the basements
And the poor deVIls were dymg of cold And thIS IS what they found m the post-bag
Ex Anmmo d,e xxn Decembrts rr Magntfice tiC potens domme, mt smgulartsstme
cc I adVIse yr LordshIp how cc I have been WIth master AlWIdge who .. has shown me the deSIgn of the nave that goes jn the mIddle, cc of the church and the deSIgn for the roof and " cc JHesus, rr Magntfico exso SIgnor MlO
.. Sence to-day I am recommanded that I have to tel you my
37
.. father's op.mum that he has shode to Mr Gcnare about the
.. valts of the cherch etc c. GlOvane of Master alwIse PSI t~lUk It advlsabl that
.. I shud go to rome to talk to mIster Alb(.rt so as I can no
.. what he thInks about It nte
.. Sagramoro "
rf Illustre szgnor 11110, MessIre Battista "
.. FIrst Ten slabs best red, se" en by I 5, by onc thIrd, " EIght dItto, good red, 15 by three by one, .. SIX of same, 15 by one by one .. EIght columns 15 by three and one third
etc WIth carrIage, danars I 5 I .. MONSEIGNEUR
.. Madame !sotta has had me WrIte today about Sr Galeazzo's .. daughter The man who saId young pullets make thIn .. soup, knew what he was talkIng about We went to see the .. gIrl the other day for all the good that dId, and she dented .. the whole matter and kept her end up wIthout lOSIng her .. temper I thInk Madame Ixotta very nearly eAhausted the .. matter M, pare che aHa decto hogm choma All the .. children are well Where you are everyone IS pleased and "happy because of your takIng the chate'lu here we are the .. reverse as you mIght say drIftIng wIthout a rudder Madame .. LucreZla has probably, or should have, WrItten to you, I .. suppose you have the letter by now Everyone wants to be " remembered to you 2. I Dec D de M "
.. sagramoro to put up the derncks There IS a supply of
.. beams at ..
.. MAGNIFICENT LORD WITH DUB REVERENCE
.. MessIre Malatesta IS well and asks for you every day He "IS so much pleased With hIS pony, It wd take me a month .. to wrIte you all the fun he gets out of that pony I want to .. agaIn remmd you to wrIte to GeorgIo Rambottom or to hls
38
.. boss to fix up that wall to the httle garden that madame Isotta
.. uses, for It IS all flat on the ground now as I have already told
.. hIm a lot of t1Il1es, for all the good that does, so I am Wrttmg
.. to your lordshIp m the matter I have done all th'lt I can, for
.. all the good that does as noboddy hear can do anythIng
.. WIthout you .. your faithful
LUNARDA DA PALLA
2.0 Dec 1454"
cc gone over It WIth all the foremen and engmeers And " about the suver for the small medal "
tt Magmfiee ae potens .. because the walls of "
tt Malatesta de Malatestls ad Magntficum Domtnum Patremque tt suum
.. Exl!O Dno et Dno sm Dno S1g1smundum Pandolfi FIllum .. Malatestls CapItan General
c·Magm1l.cent and Exalted Lord and Fathel In especIal my "lord With due recommend'ltlon your letter has been pre­ .. sented to me by Gentlhno da Gradara and With It the bay .. pony (lonZlnO balectmo) the whIch you have sent me, and to whIch appears m my eyes a fine caparlson'd charger, upon " which I mtend to learn all there IS to know about ndmg, In .. consIderatlon of yr paternal affectIon for whIch I than!.. to your excellency thus bnefly and pray you contmue to hold C< me m thlS esteem notIfYIng you by the bearer of thIS that .. we are all m good health, as I hope and deslre }our Exct
to LordshIp IS also WIth contInued remembrance I remaIn <t Your son and servant
MALATESTA DE MALATESTIS
Gwen In Rtmtm, thIS the 2.2nd day 0/ December anno domInI 1454 "
(m the sIxth year of h,s age)
39
•• ILLUSTRIOUS PRINCE
tc Unfittmg as It IS that I should offer counsels to Hanntbal "
.. Magnzfier! ac potelH d0111111£, dom1l1(, 1111 HlI!!,ularmlme,
"httmtlz recomendatzone PI emma etc ThIS to advise your .. Mgt LdshP how the second load of Veronese marble has •• finally got here, after bemg held up at Ferrara with no end .. of fuss and botheratlOn, the whole of It havmg been there t. unloaded
.. I learned how It happened, and It h1S co~t a few flonns to .. get back the saId load whIch had been seIzed for the skIpper's .. debt and defalcatlOn, he havmg fled when the lIghter was .. seIzed But that yr Mgt Ldshp may not lose the moneys .. paId out on hIs account I have had the lIghter brought here .. and am holdIng It, agamst hIs arrIval If not we stIll have t'the lIghter
.. As soon as the Xmas fetes are over I WIll have the stone •• floor laId m the sacresty, for whIch the stone 15 already cut .. The wall of the buudmg IS fimshed and I shall now get the .. roof on
.. We have not begun puttmg new stone Into the martyr to chapel, first because the heavy frosts wd certamly spOIl .. the Job, secondly because the ahofants aren't yet here and to one can't get the measurements for the cormce to the columns .. that are to rest on the ahofants
.. They are domg the stairs to your room In the c1stle I tt have had Messire Antonto degh Attl'S court paved and the .. stone benches put m It
t. Ottavian 15 illummatIng the bull I mean the bull for •• the chapel All the stone-cutters are waItIng for sprmg tt weather to start work agaIn
•• The tomb IS all done except part of the lId, and as soon as .. MesSlre AgostInO gets back from Cesena I wIll see that he .. :finIshes It, ever recommendIng me to yr Mgt Ldshp
.. belIeve me yr faIthful PETRUS GENARIIS"
That's what they found 10 the post-bag And some more of It to the effect that
he .. hved and ruled ..
.. et amava perdutamente Ixotta deglt Att. " e .. ne fu de gna ..
.. constans tn propostto .. PlaC1ut ocults prtnCZpls .. p'lelchra aspectu" .. populo grata (Italtaeque decus) .. and bwlt a temple so full of pagan works"
I e SlglSmund and m the style cc Past rUlO'd Latium .. The filIgree hldmg the gothic,
with a touch of rhetotlc 10 the whole And the old sarcophagi,
such as he, smothered m grass, by San VItale
4 I
AD the poor devtls dymg of cold, outsIde Saran 0,
And from the other sIde, from m~ld(. the chateau, Orsml, Count Pltlghano, on the 17th of November "Slggy, darhnt, wd you not stop makmg wat 011
.. l11senslbIe objects, such as trees and domestIc VlOes, that have
.. no means to hIt back but If you wtll hIre youlself out to a
.. commune (SIena) whIch you ought r'lther to rule than
.. serve " whIch with Trachulo's damn'd epIstle
And what of It al1)'how~ a man WIth a tln acre lot, Pltlghano a lump of tufa,
And S had got back the r horses And the poor devtls dymg of cold (And there was another tIme, you know, He sIgned on WIth the Fanesl,
and Just couldn't be bothered ) And there were three men on a one man Job
And CareggI wantmg the baton, And not gettlOg It Just then 1U any case
And he, SIglsmundo, refused an 1OvltatlOn to lunch In commemoratIOn of Carm1gnola (VIde Vemce, between the two columns where Carmagnola was el..ecuted ) Et rr anno messo a saccho el StglIor Stgzsmul1do "
As FJlPPo StrozZl wrote to Zan Lottlen, then 10 Naples, .. I thlOk they'll let hIm through at Campigha "
Florence, Arehtvto Storteo, 4th Serres t tlt, e rr La Guerra det Senest col conte dt pzttgltano"
And he found Carlo Gonzaga sltt10g lIke a mud-frog 10 Orbetello
And he saId tt Caro mlo, I can not receIve you
It really IS not the moment" And BroglIo says he ought to have tIpped Gono Lolh But he got back home here somehow, And Plccmmo was out of a Job, And the old lOW WIth Naples contmued And what he saId was all nght m Mantua, And Borso had the paIr of th(.m up to Bel Flore, The paIr of them, Sigismundo and Fedenco Urhmo, Or perhaps 10 the palace, FClrua, SlglSml.1nd l.'pstalrs And Urbmo's gang 10 the basement, And a regIment of guards 10, to keep order,
For all the good that dId tt Te cavcro la bzedella del corpo' " El conte levatost
tt 10 te cavero la corata ate'" And that day Coslmo smIled, That IS, the day they saId
.. DruSlana IS to marry Count GIacomo " (Plccm1Oo) 1tn sorrtso maltztoso Druslana, another of Franco Sfolza's, It would at least keep the row out of Tuscany And he fell out of a w1Odow, Count GIacomo, Three days after hIS death, that was years later In Naples, For trust10g Ferdmando of Naples, And old Wattle could do notlung about It
Et
INGENS PYRA EXTRUITUR IN CUJUS SUMMITATE IMAGO SIGIS­
MUNDI COLLOCATUR HOMINIS LlNEAMENTA, ET VESTIMENn
MODVM ADEO PROPRIE REDDENS, UT VERA MAGIS PERSONA,
QUAM IMAGO VIDERETUR, NE QUEM TAMEN IMAGO FALLERET,
43
SIGISMUNDUS HIC EGO SUM
DEO A TQUE HOMINIBUS INFESTUS, SACRI CI:NSURA SEN A TUS
IGNI DAMNATUS,
ET PYR.A SIMULACRUM REPENTE FLAGRA VIT
Com PtO II, Ltv VII, P 85 Yrzarte, p 2.88
So that xn the end that pot-scraplng httle runt Andreas BenZl, da Siena
Got up to spout out the bunkum That that monstrous swollen, swellxng sob
Papa PIO Secundo lEneas SllVIUS Plccolomlnl da Siena
Had told hun to spout, In their best bear's-greased latlnlty,
Stupro, efeae, aaulter, homoadta, parrzadta ac pmurus, presbttertetdta, Max, Itbtdznosus, WIves, Jew-girls, nuns, necrophulast, fornzcarzum fie stcartum, prod'ltor, raptor, tnC"estuosus, lnC"endtarzus, ae concubmmus, and that he rejected the whole symbol of the apostles, and that he said the monks ought not to own property and that he dlSbeheved In the temporal power, neither chrIStian, Jew, genttie,
nor any sect pagan, nzsz forsttan eptcureee
And that he dId among other thUlgS Empty the fonts of the chlexa of holy water And fill up the same full WIth mk
44
That he mIght 10 God's dIshonour Stand before the doors of the saId chlexa Mak10g mock of the 10ky faIthful, they Issu10g thence by the doors 10 the pale lIght of the sunrIse WhIch mIght be consIdered youthful levIty
but was really a profound 1Odlcatlon,
.. Whence that hIS, Slgtsmundo's, fretor :filled the earth And stank up through the aIr and stars to heaven Where - save they were unmune from suffermgs­ It had made the emparadlsed spmts pewk"
from theIr Jeweled terrace
rr Lussurzoso meestuoso, perfide, SOZZU1e ae crapulone, assassmo, mgordo, avaro, superbo, ,nfidelc fattore d, monete false, sodomJtleo, uxorzCJdo"
and the whole lump lot given over to
I mean after PIO had said, or at least PIO says that he SaId that thiS was elegant oratory rr Oratlonem ElegantlSszmam et ornatzsszmam Audwtmus venerabllts zn Xt, frat1 es ae dtlectzsslmz fibt (stone In hIS bladder
testtbus tdonets) The lump lot gIven over To that kid-slapp1Og fanatIC 11 cardInale dl San PIetro In Vmco!t
To find hIm guuty, of the lump lot As he duly dId, calhng rumour, and MeSSlre FederiCO d'Ulh .. ra And other equally ununpeachable WItnesses
So they burnt our brother 10 effigy A rare magmficent effigy costIng 8 florinS 48 bol (I e for the paIr, as the first one wasn't a good enough lIkeness) And Borso saId the tIme was tll-swted
to tanta novzta, such dOIngs or innovatIons,
45
God's enemy and man's enemy, stuprum, rap tum I N R I SlglSmund Imperator, Rex Prodltorum
And old PIlls who trIed to get hIm mto a front rank actIon In order to dnve the lear guard at hIs buttocks, Old PIlls hsted among the murdered, although he Came out of }axlllVlng later
Et les angloys ne povans desraciner ventn de hayne Had got back GlSors from the Angevms,
And the Angevms were gunnmg after Naples And we dragged m the Angevms, And we dragged m LOUIS Eleventh, And the tIers Caltxte was dead, and Alfonso, And agamst us we had •• thIS }Eneas" and young Ferdmando That we had smashed at PlOmbmo and dnven out of the Terrene of the Florentmes, And Plccmmo, out of a Job, And he, Sldg, had had three chances of Makmg It up WIth Alfonso, and an offer of Marnage allIance,
And what he Sald was all nght there m Mantua, But PIO, SometIme or other, PIO lost hIS pustulous temper And they struck alum at Tolfa, m the pope's land,
To pay for theIr devIlment And Francesco saId
I also have suffered When you take It, glve me a slIce
And they nearly JaUed a chap for saymg The Job was mal hecho, and they caught poor old Pastl In Vemce, and were hke to pull all hIS teeth out, And they had a bow-shot at Borso As he was gomg down the Grand Canal In hlS gondola
(the mce kmd With 26 barbs on It)
46
And they saId Novvy'll sell any man for the sake of Count GIacomo
(PlcClntnO, the one that fell out of the wmdow)
And they came at us With theIr eccleSlastlcallegates UntIl the eagle ht on hIS tent pole And he saId The Romans would have called that an augury E gradment It al1tzch, cavaler roman]
davano fed a qUtstl annutzl, All I want you to do IS to follow the orders, They've got a bIgger army,
but there are more men In thIS camp
47
XI
EGRADMENT It anttchz cavaler roman1 davano fcd a qUlstt annut"
And he put us under the chiefs, and the chiefs went back to thelr squadrons
Bernardo ReggJ.o, Nlc Benzo, GlOvan Nestorno, Paulo Vlterbo, Buardmo of Brescla,
Cetho Brandolmo, And Sunone Malespma, Petracco Samt Archangelo, fuoberto da Canossa, And for the tenth Agmolo da Roma
And that gay bIrd Plero della Bella, And to the eleventh Roberto, And the papIShes were three thousand on horses, <idly cavalh tre milia, And a thousand on foot, And the Lord SlgISmundo had but mdle tre cento cavallI And hardly 500 fantl (and one spmgard), And we beat the papishes and fought them back through the tents And he came up to the dyke agam .And fought through the dyke-gate And It went on from dawn to sunset And we broke them and took theIr baggage
and mille cmquecento cavallI E It hOIIllm dl Messtre Slgtsmundo non furono che IIlllle trecento
And the VenetIans sent m theIr compltments And vanous and sundry sent In thetr complunents, But we got It next August, And Roberto got beaten at Fano, And he went by shlp to Tarentum,
48
I mean SIdg went to Tarentum And he found 'em, the antI-Aragons,
busted and weepIng Into tllexr beards And they, the paplshes, came up to the walls, And that nIck-nosed sob Feddy U rbIno SaId .t Par che e /lIor dt qltesto SzgtS mundo" " " They say he dodders about the streets .. And can put hIS hand to neIther one thmg nor the other,'~ And he was In the SIck wards, and on the hIgh tower And everywhere, keepIng us at It And, thank God, they got the sIckness outsIde As we had the sIckness InsIde, And they had netther town nor castello But dey got de mos' bloody rottenes' peace on us­ Qualz loch, sono questt
SoglIano, Torrano and La Serra, SbrIgara, San MartInO, Clola, Pondo, SpInello, Clgna and Buchlo, Pratalxne, Monte Cogruzzo,
and the vula at Rufiano RIght up to the door-yard And anythIng else the Revmo Monslgnore could remember. And the water-rIghts on the SaVIO (And the salt heaps wIth the reed mats on them
Gone long ago to the VenetIans) And when lame N ovvy dIed, they got even Cesena
And he wrote to young Plero Send me a couple of huntIn' dogs,
They may take my mInd off It And one day he was sIttmg In the chlexa, On a bIt of cornIce, a bIt of stone grooved for a cornIce,. Too narrow to :fit hIS bIg beam,
hunched up and notmg what was done wrong,
49
And an old woman came In and giggled to 'iCC him slttmg there In the dark
She nearly fell over hun, And he thought
Old Zuhano IS fimshed, If he's left anythmg we must see the kids get It,
WrIte that to Robert And Vanm must gIve that peasant a decent pflce for hiS horses, Say that I WIll refund
A.nd the wnts run In Fano, For the long room over the arches Sub annulo pucatorts, palattum seu Cltrtam OLIM de Malatest.s Gone, and Cesena, Zezena d"'e b'''e colonize, And the bIg dIamond pawned 10 Vemce, And he gone out mto Morea, Where they sent him to do In the Mo'ammeds, WIth S,ooo agaInst 2.S,OOO,
and he nearly died out 10 Sparta, Morea, Lakeda:mon,
and came back with no pep In him And we SIt here I have sat here
For forty four thousand years, And they trapped him down here In the m'1rsh land,
10 '46 that was, And the poor deVIls dYing of cold, that was Rocca Sorano, And he Said 10 h15 young youth
Voghamo, che Ie donne, we wIll that they, Ie donne, go ornate, As be thetr pleasure, for the C1ty'S glory thereby
-\nd PlatIna Said afterward, when they JaIlrd hIm
And the AccademIa Romana, For SIngmg to Zeus m the catacombs,
So
Yes, I saw hIm when he was down here Ready to murder fatty Barbo, "Formosus," And they want to know what we talked about)
.. de l.tterlS et de armiS, praestanttbusque mgentls, Both of anCIent tImes and our own, books, arms, And of men of unusual gemus, Both of anCIent tImes and our own, In short the usual subjects Of conversatIon between mtelhgent men"
And he With hIS luck gone out of hIm 64 lances m hlS company, and hIs pay 8,000 a year, 64 and no more, and he not to try to get any more And all of It down on paper sexagmta quatuoy nee tentatu1 habere plures But leave to keep 'em m Rtmml
1 e to watch the VenetIans:-
Damn pIty he dIdn't (1 e get the kmfe mto hIm)
Llttle fat squab <C Formosus .. Barbo said .. Call me Formosus" But the conclave wouldn't have It
and they called hlm Paolo Secondo
And he left three horses at one gate And three horses at the other,
And Fatty recelved hIm Wlth a guard of seven cardmals .. whom he could trust -,
And the castelan of Monte:fiore wrote down, .. You'd better keep hun. out of the dIstrIct .. When he got back here from Sparta, the people •• Llt :fires, and turned out yelhng • PANDOLro 'I "
In the gloom, the gold gathers the lIght agamst It
5I
And one day he said Henry, you C'ln h1Ve It, On condltlon, you can have It for four months You 11 stand any reasonable Joke that I play on you, And you can Joke bach..
provided you don't get too ormy And they put It all down In wrItmg for a green cloak with sLIver brocade Actum zn Cattro Szgmnundo1 prewzte Roberto de ValtuHbus
sponte et ex certa sctenta to Enrtcho de Aquabel/o
XII
Arena romana, DlOcletlan's, les gradms quarante-trOls rangees en cal caIre
Baldy Bacon bought all the lIttle copper penUles m Cuba
Un centavo, dos centavos, told hIs peons to «brmg 'em m "
c< Bnng 'em to the mam shack," saId Baldy, And the peons brought 'em, c< to the mam shack brought 'em," As Henry would have saId
NIcholas Castano m Habana, He also had a few centavos, but the others Had to pay a percentage
Percentage when they wanted centavos, PublIc centavos
Baldy's mterest Was m money busmess
«No Interest In any other kmd uv bISrus," Saxd Baldy
Sleepmg WIth two buck mggers chamed to hun,. GuardIa regIa, chamed to hIS waIst To keep 'em from slIppmg off m the nIght, Bemg by now unpopular wIth the Cubans,
By fever reduced to Ibs 108
Returned to Manhattan, ultunately to Manhattan %4 E 47th, when I met htm, Domg Job prmtmg, 1 e, agent,
gOIng to hIS old acquaxntances, Hls office In Nassau St , dIstrIbutIng Jobs to the prInters,.
53
CommercIal statIOnel y, and later, 111surance,
Employers' habIhty, odd sorts of 111surance,
FIre on brothels, etc, commISSIOn, RIS1l1g from 15 dollars a wed .. ,
Pollon a' anth1 0 pon td e11,
Knew whIch shIPP1l1g compames wele most (.ueiess, where a man was most hl"cl y
To lose a leg 111 bad hOlst111g mach111ery, Also nre, as when pass111g a whore-house, Arnved, rruraculous Hermes, by accIdent, Two mmutes after the propnetor's flngeios Had been sent for hIm Saved hIS people 11,000 m four months
on that Cuba Job, But they busted, Also ran up to 40,000 bones on hIS own,
Once, but wanted to " eat up the whole'r Wall St" And dropped It all three weeks later HabItat cum Quade, damn good fellow, Mons Quade who wore a monocle on a WIde sable nbbon
(Elsewhere recorded) Dos Santos, Jose Mana dos Santos, Hearmg that a gram shIp Was wrecked m the estuary of the T agus, Bought It at auctIOn, nemo obstabat, No one else bIdd1l1g .. Damn fool'" .. MaIze SpOIled With salt water, No use, can't do anyth1l1g wIth It" Dos Santos All the stuff rotted With sea water Dos Santos Portuguese lunatlc bought It, Mortgaged then all hls patrImony,
e tot 10 Sleu aver, And bought suck1l1g plgS, plgS, small pIgS,
54
Porkers, throughout all Portugal, fed on the cargo,
FIrst lot mortgaged to buy the second lot, u.,dsowelter, Porkers of Portugal,
fattemng wIth the fulness of time, And Dos Santos fattened, a great landlord of Portugal Now gathered to hIS fathers
DId It on water-soaked corn (Watel probably fresh In that estuary) Go to hell Apovitch, ChIcago amt the whole punkm
JIm X In a bankers' meetmg, bored wIth theIr hard luck stones,
Bored WIth theIr bloomln' prImness and the 'tttle wrute rnns
They wore around inSIde the edge of theIr vests To make 'em look as If they had on two Waistcoats, Told 'em the Tale of the Honest Sauor Bored WIth theIr proprIeties,
as they sat, the ranked presbyterIans, Directors, dealers through holdmg compames, Deacons In churches, ownmg slum properties, Allas usurers In excelsls,
the qUintessentIal essence ot usurers, The purveyors of employment, whining over theIr 2.0 p c
and the hard tImes, And the bust-up of Brazulan seCUrItIes
(S A securItIes), And the general uncertamty of all mvestment Save Investment In new bank buIldmgs,
productIve of bank butldmgs, And not lIkely to ease dlStnbutIon, Bored WIth the way theIr mouths tWItched
over thelC CIgar-ends,
55
SaId Jun X There once was a pore honest saIlor, a heavy dnnker, A hell of a cuss, a rowster, a boozer, and The dnnk finally sent hIm to hospItal, And they operated, and there was a poor whore m The woman's ward had a kid, whIle They were fixmg the satior, and they brought hIm the kId When he came to, and saId
.. Here' thIS IS what we took out of you"
An' he looked at It, an' he got better, And when he left the hospItal, qUIt the drmk, And when he was well enough
SIgned on WIth another shIp And saved up rus pay money,
and kept on savm' hIS pay money, And bought a share in the srup,
and finally had half shares, Then a srup
and m tune a whole hne of steamers, And educated the kId,
and when the kId was m college, The ole satior was agam taken bad
and the doctors saId he was dymg, And the boy came to the bedSIde,
and the old satior saId ~. Boy, I'm sorry I can't hang on a bIt longer, .. You're young yet
I leave you re-sponsa-blhttes ... Wish I could ha' WaIted till you were older, ... More fit to take over the bISness ..
.. But, father, c'Don't, don't talk about me, I'm all nght, C'It's you, father"
.. That's It, boy, you Said It
56
.. I a111't your dad, no,
.. I am not your fader but your moder," quod he, cc Your fader was a rIch merchant 111 Stambouli ,.
57
XIII
K NGWalked by the dynastIc temple
and Into the ced'1r grove, and then out by the lower Civer,
And wIth hIm KhIeu, Tchl and Tlan the low speakIng
And tt we are unknown," saId Kung, u You will take up chanoteenng)
Then you WIll become known, .. Or perhaps I should take up charioteerIng, or archery) It Or the praCtice of pubhc speakIng) " And Tseu-Iou saId, .. I would put the defences In order," And Khleu Said, .. If I were lord of a prOVInce I would put It In better order than thIS IS " And Tchl saId, cc I would prefer a small mountaIn temple, .. Wlth order Ul the observances,
Wlth a sUItable performance of the ntual," And Tlan saId, Wlth hIS hand on the strIngs of hIS lute The low sounds contInu1llg
after hIS h'lnd left the strmgs, And the sound went up lIke smoke, under the leaves, And he looked after the sound
.c The old SWImming hole, .. And the boys flopping off the planks, .. Or SItting In the underbrush plaYing mandolms "
And Kung smtled upon all of them equally And Thseng-sie deSIred to know
.. WhIch had answered correctly)" And Kung saId, .. They have all answered correctly, to That IS to say, each Ul hIS nature" And Kung ralSed hIS cane agaInst Yuan Jang,
Yuan lang beIng hIS elder,
58
For Yuan Jang sat by the roadsIde pretendmg to be reCeIVIng wIsdom
And Kung saId .. You old fool, come out of It,
Get up and do somethIng useful .. And Kung s:ud
.. Respect a chtld's facultIes
.. From the moment It Inhales the clear aIr,
.. But a man of fifty who knows nothmg Is worthy of no respect"
And" When the prInce has gathered about hIm .. All the savants and artISts, hIS rIches wtll be fully mployed" And Kung saId, and wrote on the bo leaves
If a man have not order WIthIn rum He can not spread order about hIm, And If a man have not order WIthIn hIm HIs famtly WIll not act WIth due order,
And 1f the prInce have not order withm hun He can not put order In hIS domlD1ons And Kung gave the words .. order" and co brotherly deference" And saId nothIng of the .. hfe after death .. And he saId
cc Anyone can run to excesses, It 15 easy to shoot past the mark, It IS hard to stand nrm In the mIddle ..
And they saId If a man commIt murder Should hIS father protect hun, and rude hun'
And Kung SaId He should hIde hun
And Kung gave rus daughter to Kong-Tch'ang Although Kong-Tch'ang was 10 prlSon
And he gave hts mece to Nan-Young although Nan-Young was out of office
59
And Kung said «Wang ruled with moderation, In hiS day the State was well kept,
And even I can remember A day when the hlstonans left blanks 10 their wrltmgs, I mean for thmgs they didn't know, But that time seems to be passmg .. And Kung said, .. Wlthout character you will
be unable to play on that mstrument Or to execute the mUSlC fit for the Odes The blossoms of the apncot
blow from the east to the west, And I have tried to keep them from fallIng ..
60
XIV
10 venru In luogo d'ogru luce muto, The stench of wet coal, pohtlClans
e and n, their wrists bound to their ankles,
Standmg bare bum, Faces smeared on their rumps,
Wide eye on flat buttock, Bush hangmg for beard,
Addressmg crowds through their arse-holes, Addressmg the multttudes m the ooze,
newts, water-slugs, water-maggots, And With them r,
a scrupulously clean table-napktn Tucked under hIs perus,
and m Who dtshked colloqwal language, Sttff-starched, but soded, collars
clrcumscrIbmg hIS legs, The pImply and hairy skm
pushmg over the collar's edge, Profiteers drmkmg blood sweetened With sh-t, And behmd them f and the finanCIers
lashmg them Wlth steel Wires
And the betrayers of language n and the press gang
And those who had hed for hire, the perverts, the perverters of language,
the perverts, who have set money-lust Before the pleasures of the senses,
howlmg, as of a hen-yard m a prmtIng-house, the clatter of presses,
61
the bloWIng of dry dust and stray paper, ftttor, sweat, the stench of stale oranges, dung, last cess-pool of the umverse, mystenum, aCid of sulphur, the pusillammous, ragIng, plungIng Jewels xn mud,
and howhng to find them unstaIned, sadlc mothers driVIng their daughters to bed wIth decrepItude, sows eatIng their lItters, and here the placard EIKn~ rH~,
and here THE PERSONNEL CHANGES,
meltmg hke dIrty wax, decayed candles, the bums smkIng lower,
faces submerged under hams, And In the ooze under them, reversed, foot-palm to foot-palm,
hand-palm to hand-palm, the agents provocateurs The murderers of Pearse and MacDonagh,
Captam H the chief torturer, The petrIfied turd that was Verres,
b1gots, CalVIn and St Clement of Alexandna' black-beetles, burrowmg Into the sh-t, The sou a decrepitude, the ooze full of morsels, lost contours, eroSIons
Above the hell-rot the great arse-hole,
broken With pues, hangmg stalactItes,
greasy as sky over Westmxnster, the mVlSlble, many Enghsh,
the place lackmg m Interest, last squalor, utter decrepItude,
62.
the VIce-crusaders, fahrtmg through stlk, waVIng the ChrlStlan symbols,
frIggIng a tm penny whIstle, FlIes carrymg news, harpIes dnppmg sh-t through the alt,
The slough of unamlable hars, bog of stupldtnes,
malevolent stupldlnes, and stupIdItIes, the sot! hvmg pus, full of vetmln, dead maggots begettmg lIve maggots,
slum owners, usurers squeeZIng crab-hce, pandars to authorIty, pets-de-Ioup, sltnng on pt!es of stone books, obscurmg the texts WIth pht!ology,
htdmg them under thelt persons, the aIr WIthout refuge of st!ence,
the dnft of !tce, teetrung, and above It the mouthmg of orators,
the arse-belcrung of preachers And Invlrua,
the corruptto, fretor, fungus, hqwd anImals, melted ossmcatlons, slow rot, frend combustIOn,
chewed CIgar-butts, Without dIgnIty, WIthout tragedy, m EplSCOpUS, wavmg a condom full of black-beetles,
monopohsts, obstructors of knowledge, obstructors of dlstnbutlon
xv
TEiE saccharescent, lymg 10 glucose, the pompous 10 cotton wool
With a stench hke the fats at Grasse, the great scabrous arse-hole, sh-ttmg flles,
rumbhng Wlth Imperlahsm, ultunate unnal, mlddan, plSswa110w Without a cloaca,
r less rowdy, EP1SCOpUS SlS,
head down, screwed Into the swlll, h1S legs waVlD.g and pustular,
a clerlcal Jock strap hangmg back over the navel h1S condom full of black beedes,
ta"ttoo marks round the anus, and a CIrcle of lady golfers about htm
the courageous Vlolent slashmg themselves With kruves,
the cowardly mClters to vlolence nand h eaten by weeVIls,
11 hke a swollen fO!:tus, the beast wlth a hundred legs, USURA
and the sWllI full of respecters, bOWIng to the lords of the place,
explammg Its advantages, and the laudatores tempons actI
clalmlng that the sh-t used to be blacker and rlcher and the fabtans cry10g for the petnficatIon of putrefaction, for a new dung-flow cut In lozenges, the conservatives chattlllg,
dlStlngwhed by gatters of slum-flesh, and the back-scratchers 10 a great rucle,
complalllmg of msuffiClent attention,
64
the search WithOut end, counterclaxm for the mlSslDg scratch the lItigious, a green bIle-sweat, the news owners, S
the anonymous :£fe, broken
hxs head shot hke a cannon-ball toward the glass gate, peermg through It an mstant,
fallmg back to the trunk, epileptIc, et nulla :6.dentla mter eos,
all With theIr tWitchmg backs, WIth daggers, and bottle ends, waitIng an
unguarded moment,
a stench, stuck In the nostrxIs, beneath one
nothmg that mIght not move, mobIle earth, a dung hatchmg obscenxtIes,
mchoate error, boredom born out of boredom, bntish weeklIes, COPIeS of the c, a multIple nn, and I SaId, co How IS It done) "
and my gwde Tlus sort breeds by sClSslon, ThIS IS the fourmx1honth tumour In thIs bolge bores are gathered, In:6.nxte pUS flakes, scabs of a lastIng pox
skm-flakes, repetItiOns, erOSIons, endless ram from the arse-haIrs, as the earth moves, the centre
passes over all parts m succeSSIon, a contInual bum-belch
dIstrIbutIng Its productIons
Andlamo' One's feet sunk,
the welsh of mud gnpped one, no hand-rail, the bog-suck lIke a whIrl-pool, and he SaId
Close the pores of your feet' And my eyes clung to the hOrIzon,
od mIXIng WIth soot, and agam PlotInus
To the door, Keep your eyes on the mIrror Prayed we to the Medusa,
petnfymg the sod by the shIeld, HoldIng It downward
he hardened the track Inch before us, by Inch,
the matter reSIStIng, The heads rose from the shIeld,
lussmg, held downwards Devounng maggots,
the face only half potent, The serpents' tongues
grazmg the swt11 top, Hammermg the souse mto hardness,
the narrow rast, Half the WIdth of a sword's edge
By tlus through the dem eVIl, now smkmg, now chngmg,
Holdmg the unsInkable shteld ObhVlon,
forget how long, sleep, faIntIng nausea
.. Whether 10 N aIShapur or Babylon " I heard In the dream
PlotInus gone,
66
And the shIeld tIed under me, woke, The gate swung on Its hlnges, Pantlng hke a sIck dog, staggered, Bathed In alkalI, and In aCId 'H~MOll T' 'HE~Wll
blInd Wlth the sunlIght, Swollen-eyed, rested,
lIds SInkIng, darkness unconsCIous
}f.D before hell mouth, dry plam and two mountams,
On the one mountaIn, a runn10g form, and another
In the tum of the htll, In hard steel The road lIke a slow screw's thread, The angle almost 1lllperceptlble,
so that the CircUlt seemed hardly to rISe, And the runnmg form, naked, Blake, Shoutmg, whlrlmg hiS arms, the sWift hmbs, Howlmg agaInst the evtl,
rus eyes rollmg, Wlurhng lIke flammg cart-wheels,
and hlS head held backward to gaze on the eVil As he ran from It,
to be hid by the steel mountam, And when he showed agaIn from the north SIde,
hlS eyes blazmg toward hell mouth, HIS neck. forward,
and hke hun Pelre Cardmal And 10 the west mountam, II Florentmo, Seemg hell 10 hiS mirror,
and 10 Sordels Loolung on It 10 rus shIeld, And Augustme, gaZlng toward the mVlSlble
And past them, the crlm1nal lymg 10 blue lakes of aCId,
The road between the two hills, upward slowly,
The flames patterned 10 lacquer, crImen est actIO, The lImbo of chopped Ice and saw-dust,
68
And I batked myself With the aCid to free myself of the hell bcks,
Scales, fallen louse eggs Palux Laerna,
the lake of bodies, aqua morta, of I1mbs fluid, and mIngled, hke fuh heaped In a bIn, and here an arm upward, clutchmg a fragment of marble, And the embryos, In flux,
new Inflow, submergIng, Here an arm upward, trout, submerged by the eels,
and from the bank, the stiff herbage the dry nobbled path, saw many known, and unknown, for an mstant,
submergmg, The face gone, generation
Then hght aIr, under saplmgs, the blue banded lake under rether,
an OasiS, the stones, the calm field, the grass qwet,
and passmg the tree of the bough The grey stone posts,
and the staIr of gray stone, the passage clean-squared In granite
descendmg, and I through thIS, and mto the earth,
patet terra, entered the qwet aIr
the new sky, the hght as after a sun-set,
and by theIr fountaInS, the heroes, Slgxsmundo, and Malatesta Novello,
and founders, gazmg at the mounts of thClr CItIes
The plaIn, dIStance, and In fount-pools the nymphs of that water
69
nsmg, spreachng theIr garlands, weavmg theIr water reeds WIth the boughs,
In the qUIet, and now one man rose from hIs fountam
and went off mto the plaIn
Prone 10 that grass, m sleep, et j'entendls des VOIX
wall Strasbourg Galhffet led that tnple charge PrUSSlans and he saId [Plarr's 1tQf1atzon]
It was for the honour of the army And they called rum a swashbuckler
I dxdn't know what It was But I thought ThIS IS pretty bloody damn fine And myoid nurse, he was a man nurse, and He klllcd '\ Prussian and he lay m the stleet there 11l tront of our house for three days And he stank
Brother Percy, And our Brother Percy •
old Admtral He was a middy In those days, And they came mto Ragusa
place those men went for the Sxlk War And they saw a proceSSIon conung down through A cut m the hxlls, carrymg sometrung The SIX chaps m front carry10g a long thmg
on theIr shoulders, And they thought It was a funeral,
but the th10g was wrapped up m scarlet, And he put off 10 the cutter,
he was a middy 10 those days, To see what the natIves were dOIng, And they got up to the SIX fellows m hvery,
70
And they looked at It, and I can stul hear the old admrra" •• Was It) It was
Lord Byron Dead drunk, 'wIth the face of an A y n He pulled It out long, lIke that
the face of an a y n gel "
And because that son of a bItch, Franz Josef of Austna
And because that son of a bItch Napoleon Barbiche They put Aldmgton on Hul 70, m a trench
dug through corpses With a lot of kIds of SIxteen, Howhng and crymg for thelt mamas, And he sent a chIt back to hIS major
I can hold out for ten mmutes With my sergeant and a machme-gun
And they rebuked hIm for levity And Henrl GaudIer went to It,
and they kuled hIm, And kuled a good deal of sculpture, And ole T E H he went to It, WIth a lot of books from the lIbrary, London LIbrary, and a shell buned 'em In a dug-out, And the LIbrary expressed Its annoyance
And a bullet hit hIm on the elbow gone through the fellow In front of hIm,
And he read Kant In the HOSPItal, In W tmbledon, In the orIgInal, And the hospItal staff dIdn't lIke It
And Wyndham LewIS went to It, WIth a heavy bIt of artulery,
and the aIrmen came by WIth a Mitrailleuse, And cleaned out most of hIS company,
and a shell ht on hIS tIn hut,
7 I
Wlule he was out m the prIVVY, and he was all there was left of'that outfit
Wmdeler went to It, and he was out 10 the JEga::an,
And down m the hold of hIS shIp pumpmg gas mto a sausage,
And the boatswam looked over the raxI, down mto amIdshIps, and he saId Gees' 1001.. a' the Kept'n,
The Kept'n's a-gettm' 'er up
And Ole Captam Baker went to It, WIth rus legs full of rheumatics,
So much so he couldn't run, so he was SIX months In hospItal,
Observmg the mentahty of the patIents
And Fletcher was 19 when he went to It, And rus major went mad In the control pIt,
about mldmght, and started throWIng the 'phone about And he had to keep rum qUIet
till about SlX In the mornmg, And dIrect that bunch of artIllery
And ErnIe Hem10gway went to It, too much 10 a hurry,
And they buned hun for four days
Et ma fOl, vous savez, tous les nerveux Non,
Ya une hmlte, les betes, les hetes ne sont Pas faltes pour ~a, c'est peu de chose un cheval Les hommes de 34 ans a quatre pattes
qUI cnalent .. maman" MalS les costauds, La :fin, la a Verdun, n'y avalt que ces gros bonshommes
Et y voyuent extremement claIr
72.
Qu'est-ce que ~a vaut, les generaux, Ie heutenant, on les pese a un centlgramme,
n'y a nen que du bOIs, Notr' eapltame, tout, tout ee qU'll y a de plus renferme
de Vleux polytechmclen, malS sohde, La tete sohde La, vous savez, Tout, tout fonctlonne, et les voleurs, tous les VIces, Mals les rap aces,
y avalt trOIS dans notre compagnie, tous tues Y sortalent fouiller un eadavre, pour nen,
y n'seralent sortls pour nen que ~a Et les boches, tout ce que vous voulez,
mlhtansme, et cretera, et ea:tera Tout ~a, malS, MAIS,
l'fran~als, I s'bat quand y a mange MalS ces pauvres types A la fin y s'attaqualent pour manger,
Sans ordres, les betes sauvages, on y faIt Pnsonmers, ceux qUl parlalent fran~als dlsalent
« Poo quah;l Ma fOl on attaqualt pour manger"
C'est Ie eorr-ggras, Ie corps gras, leurs trams marchalent trOIS kuometres a l'heure,
Et ~a enalt, ~a gnnealt, on l'entendalt a cmq kIlometres (<;a qUI fimt la guerre )
Llste officlelle des morts 5,000,000
I vous dlt, be, VOUl, tout sentalt Ie petrole Mals, Non' Je l'al engueule Je lUl al rut T'es un con' T'a rate la guerre
o VOUl' tous les hommes de gout, y eon VIens, Tout 'Sa en arnere
Mals un mee comme tOI'
73
C't homme, U'l type comme ~a' Ce qu'u auralt pu encalsser'
11 etalt dans une fabnque What, burYing squad, terraSSlers, avec leur tete
en arnere, qUI regard alent comme ~a, On rlSqualt la vie pour un coup de pelle, Faut que ~a SOlt bIen carre, exact
Dey vus a bolchevuu dere, und dey dease him Looka vat youah Trotzsk 15 done, e lSS
madeh deh zhamefull beace" .. He ISS madeh deh zhamefull beace, 15S he'>
.. He IS madeh de zhamevul beace) t. A Brest-Lltovsk, yess) Amt yuh herd)
.. He vmneh de vore t. De droobs 15S released vrom de eastern vront, }ess'> It Un venn dey getts to deb vestern vront, ISS It
t. How many getts dere) •• And dose doot getts dere ISS so full off revolutIons .. Venn deh vrench 15 come dhru, yess, •• Dey say, to Vot) " Un de posch say
U Amt yeh heard) Say, ve got a rhetfolutlon"
Thai's the tnck WIth a crowd, Get 'em lOto the street and get 'em movmg
And all the tune, there were people gomg Down there, over the nver
There was a man there talkIng, To a thousand, JUst a short speech, and Then move 'em on And he saxd Yes, these people, they are all rIght, they Can do everythmg, everythmg except act, And go an' hear 'em, but when they are through, Come to the bolshevIkI
74
And when It broke, there was the crowd there, And the cossacks, Just as always before, But one thIng, the cossacks sald
.. POJaloulsta " And that got round In the crowd, And then a lIeutenant of mfantry Ordered 'em to fire mto the crowd,
m the square at the end of the Nevsk}, In front of d'e Moscow statIon, And they wouldn't, And he pulled hIS sword on a student for laughmg, And kIlled hIm, And a cossack rode out of hIS squad On the other slde of the square And cut down the heutenant of Infantry And that was the revolutlon
a!> soon as they named It
And you can't make 'em, Nobody knew It was commg They were all ready, the old gang. GUllS on the top of the post-office and the palace, But none of the leaders knew It was commg
And there were some kIlled at the barracks, But that was between the troops
So we used to hear It at the opera, That they wouldn't be under HaIg,
and that the advance was beglllnmg, That It was gOlllg to begm m a week
75
XVII
SO that the VInes burst from my fingers And the bees weIghted wIth pollen Move heavIly m the vIne-shoots
chlrr - chlrr - chlr-nkk - a purrIng sound, And the bIrds sleepIly In the branches
ZAGREUS' 10 ZAGREUS I
With the first pale-clear of the hea\en And the cItIes set In theIr hIlls, And the goddess of the faIr knees MOVIng there, WIth the oak-woods behInd her, The green slope, WIth whIte hounds
leapIng about her, And thence down to the creek's mouth, untIl evenIng, Flat water before me,
and the trees groWIng In water, Marble trunks out of stillness, On past the palazzI,
10 the stIllness, The lIght now, not of the sun
Chrysophrase, And the water green clear, and blue clear, On, to the great chffs of amber
Between them, Cave of Nerea,
she lIke a great shell curved, And the boat drawn Without sound, Without odour of ship-work, Nor bIrd-cry, nor any nOise of wave mOVIng, Nor splash of porpOise, nor any nOlSe of wave movmg, Wlthm her cave, Nerea,
she lIke a great shell curved
76
In the suavIty of the rock, eMf green-gray 10 the far,
In the near, the gate-clIffs of amber, And the wave
green clear, and blue clear, And the cave salt-whlte, and glare-purple,
cool, porphyry smooth, the rock sea-worn
No gull-cry, no sound of porpOIse, Sand as of malachIte, and no cold there,
the lIght not of the sun
Zagreus, feed10g hIS panthers, the turf clear as on hills under lIght
And under the almond-trees, gods, Wlth them, choras nymph(lTum Gods,
Hermes and Athene, As shaft of compass,
Between them, trembled- To the left IS the place of fauns,
sylva nympharum, The low wood, moor-scrub,
the doe, the young spotted deer, leap up through the broom-plants,
as dry leaf amld yellow And by one cut of the hIlls,
the great alley of Memnons Beyond, sea, crests seen over dune NIght sea churnmg shmgle, To the left, the alley of cypress
A boat came, One man holdmg her saIl,
77
GUIdmg her wIth oar caught over gunwale, saymg .. There, m the forest of mal ble, .. the stone trees - out of water- It the arbours of stone -.. .. .. ..
marble leaf, over leaf, slIver, steel o"el steel, slIver beaks nsmg and crossmg, prow set agamst prow,
.. stone, ply over ply,
.. the gIlt beams flare of an evenIng" Borso, Carmagnola, the men of craft, , mtret, ThIther, at one tIme, tIme after tIme, And the waters rIcher than glass, Bronze gold, the blaze over the slIver, Dye-pots In the torch-hght, The flash of wave under prows, And the stiver beaks rlSIng and crossmg
Stone trees, whIte and rose-whIte In the darkness, Cypress there by the towers,
Drift under hulls In the nIght
tt In the gloom the gold Gathers the hght about It"
Now supme m burrow, half over-arched bramble, One eye for the sea, through that peek-hole, Gray hght, With Athene Zothar and her elephants, the gold 10m-cloth, The SIStrum, shaken, shaken,
the cohorts of her dancers And Aletha, by bend of the shore,
With her eyes seaward, and In her hands sea-wrack
Salt-bnght Wlth the foam Kore through the bnght meadow,
With green-gray dust In the grass
78
.. For this hour, brother of ell ce " Arm laid over my shoulder, Saw the sun for three days, the sun fulvld, As a hon hft over sand-plam,
and that day, And for three days, and nOlle after, Splendour, as the splendour of Hermes, And shIpped thence
to the stone place, Pale whIte, over water,
known water, And the whIte forest of marble, bent bough over bough, The pleached arbour of stone, ThIther Borso, when they shot the barbed arrow at hun, And Carmagnola, between the two columns, SlgISmundo, after that wreck 10 Dalmatla
Sunset lIke the grasshopper flYIng
79
XVIII
1\Dof Kublal U I have told you of that emperor's city 1Il detw And wtll tell you of the cOllllllg m Cambaluc
that hyght the secret of alchemy They take bast of the mulberry-tree, That 15 a sklll between the wood and the bark, And of thIS they make paper, and mark It Half a tornesel, a tornesel, or a half-groat of stIver, Or two groats, or five groats, or ten groats, Or, for a great sh