Doveva temerlo
qualunque
era m stato, ?
Cantos-of-Ezra-Pound
.
He don't advertISe No, I don't thmk You wdllearn much" That was when I aslted
About Metevsky Melchlzedek
He, Harrush, took the tractors up to
KIng Meneltk, 3 nvers and 1 4 0 raVines
. . Qu'est-ce qu'on pense ">" I satd ? ? On don't pense
? ? They're solId bone You can amputate from Just above The medulla, and It won't alter the hfe m that Island . . But he controued, . . Mals, qu'EsT-CE qu'ON pense,
? ? De la metallurgIe, en Ang1eterre, qu'est-ce qu'on
. . Pense de Metevsky"> "
? And I saId . . They am't heard hIs name yet t. Go ask at MacGorvlsh's bank"
The Jap observers were much amused because The TurkIsh freemasons hadn't bothered to Tale the regImental b'ldges off theIr artIllery And old HamIsh Menehk
Had a hunch that machmery and so on But he never could get It to work,
never could get any power
The Germans wd send htm up bouers, but they'd Have to cut 'em mto pIeces to load 'em on camels, And they never got 'em together agaIn
And so old HamISh went out there,
And looked at the place, 3 rIvers
And a hundred and forty ravmes,
And he sent out two tractors, one to pull on the other And Menehk sent down an army, a 5000 black army WIth hawsers, and they all sweated and swatted
And the first thmg Dave ht on when they got there Was a buzz-saw,
And he put It through an ebony log whhsssh, t ttt, Two days' work 10 three mInutes
War, one war after another,
Men start 'em who couldn't put up a good hen-roost
Also sabotage
? XIX
SABOTAGE:> Yes, he took It up to Manhattan,
To the bIg company, and they s'ud ImpossIble
And he saId I gawt ten thousand dollars tew mak 'em, And I am a gom' tew mal 'em, and }ou'll damn well Have to mstall 'em, awl over the place
And they sald Oh, we can't have lt
So he settled for one-half of one mxlhon
And he has a very nice place on the Hudson,
And that mvennon, patent, 15 stillm theIr desk
And the answer to that IS Wa'al he had the ten thousand And old Spmder, that put up the 1870 gothick memonal. He tned to pull me on Marx, and he told me
About the ? ? romance of hIS busmess "
How he came to England With somethmg or other,
and sold 1t
Only he wanted to talk about Marx, so I sez
Waal haow 1S It you're over here, rIght off the Champz Elyza'>
And how can yew be here> Why don't the fellers at home Take It all off you'> How can you leave your big busmess'> tC Oh," he sez, tC I am't had to rent any money
tC It's a long time smce I am't had tew rent any money" Nawthm' more about Das Kapltal,
Or credit, or d15tnbunon
And he . . never :finIShed the book,"
That was the other chap, the slender dtplomatdentlst QUl se ialSalt SI beau
So we sat there, With the old kmdly professor, And the stubby httIe man was up-stairs
And there was the sItek guy In the other
84
? corner readIng The Tatler,
Not upside down, but never turning the pages,
And then I went up to the bed-room, and he saId, The stubby fellow Perfectly true,
. . But It'S a question of feeling,
. . Can't move 'em with a cold thing, lIke economICS ? ? And so we came down staIrs and went out,
And the slIck guy looked out of the Window, And In carne the street" Lemme-at-'em "
lIke a bull-dog In a mackintosh
o my Cho'
Then the telephone dIdn't work for a week
Ever seen Pnshmp, lIttle hunchback,
Couldn't take hIm for any army
And he saId I haf a messache from dh' professor,
<< There's lots of 'em want to go over,
. . But when they try to go over,
. . Dh' hRusslan boys shoot 'em, and they want to know . . How to go over"
Vlettmann:> was out there, and that was,
Say, two months later, and he said
. . Jolly chaps," he saId, (C they used to go by
to Under my Window, at two o'clock In the mornmg, . . All SInging, all sIngtng the He Sloveny'"
Yes, Vlettmann, and the RUSSIan boys dldn't shoot'em Short story, entItled, the Blrth of a Natlon
And there was that sqUIrt of an Ausstrrlan With a rose m hIS button-hole,
And how the hell he stayed on here,
nght through the whole bhloody bUSiness,
Cocky as Khmtnoze, and enJoymg every Boche VIctOry. Naphtha, or some damn thmg for the submarmes,
85
? Like they had, Just had, to have the hemp via Rotterdam
Das thust du nIcht, Albert)
That was 10 the old days, all sItting around In arm-chaIrs, And that's gone, lIke the cake shops 10 the Nevsky
<<No use telhng 'em anythmg, revoh. . tlOn. lneS,
Till they're at the end,
Oh, absolootly, A T the end of theIr tether
Governed Governed the place from a tram,
Or rather from three trams, on a raIlway,
And he'd keep about three days ahead of the lobby, I mean he had hIS government on the trams,
And the lobby had to get there on horseback,
And he said Blgod It'S damn funny,
Own half the ou In the world, and can't get enough To run a government engme' "
And then they Jawed for two hours,
And finally Steff saId Will you fellows show me a map) And they brought one, and Steff said
. . Waal what are those hnes)" "Y es, those straIght lmes " ? ? Those are roads I t A nd'? what are those lInes,
. . The WIggly ones)" . . RIvers"
And Steff saId ? ? Government property) . .
So two hours later an engme went off WIth the order How to dIg WIthout confiscation
And Tommy Baymont saId to Steff one day
? ? You thmk we run It, lemme tell you,
? ? We bought a cOalmme, I mean the mortgage fell In, . . And you'd a' thought we could run It
. . Well I had to go down there meself, and the manager ? ? Said ? ? Run It, of course we can run It,
. . We can't sell the damn coal"
86
? So I saId to the X and B Central,
- you'd say we boss the X and B Central>-
I saId You buy your damn coal from our mme
And a year later they hadn't, so I had up the dIrectors, And they saId well anyhow, they couldn't
buy the damn coal And next week ole JIm came, the bIg fat one
WIth the dIamonds, and he saId . . Mr Baymont, You Just must charge two dollars more
A ton fer that coal And the X and B wIll Take It through US . .
. . So there was my ole man SIttIng,
They were In arm-chaIrs, accordmg to protocol, And next hIm hIS nephew Mr Wurmsdorf, And old Ptierstoff, for purely famIly reasons, Personal reasons, was held In great esteem
by hIS relatIves,
And he had hIS despatches from St Petersburg,
And Wurmsdorf had hIS from VIenna,
And he knew, and they knew, and each knew That the other knew that the other knew he knew, And Wurmsdorf was Just reachmg mto hIS pocket, That was to start thIngs, and then my ole man SaId It
Albert, and the rest of It Those days are gone by {or ever"
. . Ten years gone, ten years of my hfe,
Never get those ten years back agam
Ten years of my hfe, ten years 1ll the IndIan army,
But anyhow, there was that tIme 1ll Yash (Jassy)
That was somethIng, 14 gxrls m a fortmght "
. . Healthy but vermInous'>" . . That's It, healthy but verminOUS
And one tIme In KashmIr,
? In the houseboats, wIth the turquoIse,
A pIle three feet hIgh on the boat floor, And they'd be there all day at a bargam For ten bobs' worth of turquoISe"
88
? xx
SOUND slender, quasI tInnula,
Llgur' aOlde Sl no'us Vel, Domna don plus ml cal, Negus vezer mon bel pensar no val"
Between the two almond trees flowering,
The vlel held close to hIs sIde,
And another s'adora"
. . Possum ego naturae
non memlWsse tuae I " QUl son ProperZlo ed OVldlo
The boughs are not more fresh
where the almond shoots
take thelr March green
And that year I went up to Frelburg,
And Rennert had saId Nobody, no, nobody
Knows anything about Proven~al, or If there 1$ anybody, It's old Levy "
And so I went up to Frelburg,
And the vacatlOn was Just beginning,
The students getting off for the summer, Fretburg 1m Bre15gau,
And everything clean, seemmg clean, after Italy
And I went to old Levy, and It was by then 6 30
In the evenlOg, and he traIled half way across Frelburg before dinner, to see the two strIpS of copy,
Arnaut's, settant'uno R supenore (Ambroslana)
Not that I could SlOg hIm the muSIc
And he saId Now 1$ there anythIng I can tell you)" And I sald I dunno, SIr, or
. . Yes, Doctor, what do they mean by notganJTes~" And he SaId NOlgandresl NOIgandres'
89
? to You know for seex mon's of my hfe
. . Effery nIght when I go to bctt, I say to myself
. . NOlgandres, eh, notgandres,
. . Now what the DEFFIL can that mean' "
Wind over the olIve trees, ranunculae ordered,
By the cleal edge of the rocks
The water runs, and the wind scented wIth pine And WIth hay-fields under sun-swath
AgostinO, ]acopo and Boccata
You would be happy for the smell of that place And never tIred of being there, eIther alone
Or accompanIed
Sound as of the nIghtmgale too far off to be heard Sandra, and Boccata, and Jacopo SellalO,
The ranunculre, and almond,
Boughs set In espaher,
DUCCIO, Agostino, e I'olors -
The smell of that place - d'enol games AIr moving under the boughs,
The cedars there m the sun,
Hay new cut on hIll slope,
And the water there In the cut
Between the two lower meadows, sound, The sound, as I have saId, a mghtIngale Too far off to be heard
And the lIght falls, rel1ttr,
from her breast to thIghs
He was plaYing there at the palla
ParlSIna - two doves for an altar - at the Wlndow~ . . B'l Marchese
Stava per lwentr pazzo
after It all" And that was when Troy was down
And they came here and cut holes In rock, Pown Rome way, and put up the tlmbers,
90
? And came here, condIt Atesten
? ? Peace' keep the peace, Borso"
And he said Some bItch has sold us (that was Ganelon)
? ? They wont get another such IVOry"
And he lay there on the round hul under the cedar A httle to the left of the cut (Este speakmg)
By the side of the summIt, and he saId
"I have broken the horn, bigod, I have te Broke the best IVOry, l'olofans" And he saId cc Tan mare fustes' "
pullmg hxmself over the gravel, . . Blgod' that buggar 15 done for,
te They wont get another such IVOry"
And they were there before the wall, Toro, las almenas,
(Este, NIC Este speakmg)
Under the battlement (Epi purgo) peur de la hasle,
And the KIng saxd
c. God what a woman'
My God what a woman" Said the Kmg tela rigido
. . Sister' . . says Ancures, . . '5 your sister' "
Alf left that town to ElVira, and Sancho wanted It from her, Taro and Zamora
. . Bloody spaniard'
Neestho, le'er go back
m the autumn " "Este, go' damn you" between the walls, arras,
Painted to look hke arras
Jungle Glaze green and red feathers, Jungie,
BaslS of renewal, renewals,
Rtsmg over the soul, green vlrld, of the Jungle, Lozenge of the pavement, clear shapes, Broken, dlSrupted, body eternal,
91
? WJ1derness of renewals, confusIOn BasIS of renewals, subsIstence, Glazed green of the Jungle,
Zoe, Marozla, Zothar,
loud over the banners, Glazed grape, and the crImson,
HO BIOS,
COSI Elena vedI,
In the sunlIght, gate cut by the shadow,
And then the faceted aIr
Floatmg Below, sea churmng shmgle FloatIng, each on 10VIsIbie raft,
On the hIgh current, 10Vlsible flUId, Borne over the pla1O, recumbent,
The rtght arm cast back,
the nght WrIst for a pulow, The left hand lIke a calyx,
Thumb held agamst finger, the thIrd,
The first fingers petal'd up, the hand as a lamp, A calyx
From toe to head
The purple, blue-pale smoke, as of 1Ocense,
Wrapped each 10 burnous, smoke as the olIbanum's, SWift, as If JOYous
Wrapped, floatmg, and the blue-pale smoke of the 1OcensE' SWIft to nse, then lazuy 10 the wmd
as Aeolus over bean-field,
As hay 10 the sun, the olIbanum, saffron, As myrrh wIthout styrax,
Each man In hIS cloth, as on raft, . :>n
The hIgh mVIsible current, On toward the fall of water,
And then over that cataract,
In aIr, strong, the brIght flames, V shaped,
Nd fuoco
? D'amore nu mIse, nel fuoco d'amore ml mISe Yellow, bnght saffron, croceo,
And as the ohbanum bursts Into flame,
The bodIes so flamed In the aIr, took flame,
. . M1 mlSe, II miO sposo novello " Shot from stream Into SPital,
Or followed the water Or looked back to the flov,omg, Others approaclung that cataract,
As to dawn out of shadow, the swathed cloths
Now purple and orange,
And the blue water dusky beneath them, pouring there mto the cataract,
WIth nOIse of sea over slungle, strllung WIth
hah hah ahah thmm, thunb, ah
woh woh araha thumm, bhaaa And from the floatmg bodIes, the Incense
blue-pale, purple above them Shelf of the lotophagol,
Aenal, cut In the aether
Recltmng,
Wlth the sllver spilla,
The ball as of melted amber, colled, caught up, and turned Lotophagol of the suave nalls, qUlet, scornful,
V oce-profondo
? ? Feared nelther death nor pam for thIS beauty, I f harm, harm to ourselves"
And beneath the clear bones, far down, Thousand on thousand
. . What gain Wlth Odysseus, . . They that dled In the whlrlpool
. . And after many vam labours,
. . LIVing by stolen meat, chained to the rOWlngbench, ? ? That he should have a great fame
93
? c. And he by mght wIth the goddess) . . TheIr names are not wntten m bronze
. . Nor theIr rowmg stIcks set WIth Elpenor's, . . Nor have they mound by sea-bord
. . That saw never the ohves under Spartha . c WIth the leaves green and then not green,
. . The chck of lIght m theIr branches,
. . That saw not the bronze hall nor the mgle
. . Nor lay there WIth the queen's W'l. ltmg maIds,
. . Nor had they CIrce to couch-mate, CIrce Tltama, c. Nor had they meats of Kalupso
. . Or her stlk skIrts brushmg theIr thIghs
. . GIve' What were they glven:l
Ear-wax
. c POlson and ear-wax,
and a salt grave by the bull-field, . . neson amumona, theIr heads hke sea crows m the foam,
c. Black splotches, sea-weed under lIghtnmg,
. . Canned beef of Apollo, ten cans for a boat load . . Llgur' aOlde
And from the plam whence the water-shoot,
Across, back, to the nght, the roads, a way m the grass, The Khan's huntIng leopard, and young Salustlo
And Ixotta, the suave turf
Ac ferae famlhares, and the cars slowly,
And the panthers, soft-footed
Plam, as the plam of Somnus,
the heavy cars, as a trIumph,
Gtlded, heavy on wheel,
and the panthers chamed to the cars,
Over suave turf, the form wrapped,
Rose, cnmson, deep crImson,
And, m the blue dusk, a colour as of rust m the sun. lIght, Out of whtte cloud, mOVIng over the plam,
94
? Head In arm's curve, H:chnmg,
The road, back and away, tIll cut along the face of the rock, And the clIff folds In hke a curtam,
The road cut m under the rock
Square groove In the clxtf's face, as chioStrx,
The columns crystal, WIth peacocks cut In the capItals,
The soft pad of beasts dragging the cars,
Cars, slow, WIthout creak,
And at wmdows In Inner roadsIde
Ie donne e I cavalIerI
smooth face under hennm, The sleeves embroIdered wIth flowers, Great thIstle of gold, or an amaranth,
Acorns of gold, or of scarlet, CramOlSl and ruaspre
slashed whIte mto velvet,
Crystal columns, acanthus, suens In the pIllar heads, And at last, between gIlded barocco,
Two columns coIled and fluted,
Vanoka, leanmg half naked,
. . Peace'
waste hall there behmd her Borso ,Borso'"
95
? XXI
KEEP the peace, Borso'" Where are we' ? ? Keep on wIth the busxness,
That"s made me,
. . And the res pubhca didn't . . When I was broke, and a poor kid,
. . They all knew me, all of these czttaatnt,
. . And they all of them cut me dead, della glona " Intestate, I42. ! h leavmg I78,22. I flOrIns dt sugello,
As IS Sald In CoSImO'S red leather note book Dl sugello And . . With rus credit emptled Vemce of money " -
That was CoSlffiO-
. . And Naples, and made them accept Ius peace" And he caught the young boy FIClno
And had hlffi taught the greek language,
. . WIth two ells of red cloth per person
I wdl make you ", COSlffiO speakmg, ? ? as many Honest citizens as you desire"
Col credlto suo
Napoh e Venezia dl danarl
Costrettl Napoh e VeneZIa a quella pace Or another tIme oh well, pass It
And Ptero called In the credits,
(DlotlSalvl was back of that)
And firms faded as far off as AVlgnon,
And Plero was hke to be murdered,
And young Lauro came down ahead of hIm, In the road, And sald Yes, father 15 commg
Intestate, '69, 10 December, leaVlng me 2. 37,989 florins, As you will :find In my bIg green account book
In carta dl capretto,
? And from '34 when I count It, to last year,
We paId out 600,000 and over,
That was for bwldmg, taxes and charIty
Nlc Uzano saw us commg Agamst It, honest, And warned 'em They'd have murdered hun, And would Coslmo, but he bnbed 'em,
And they dId m GIulIano E dIffiClle, A Frrenze dIfficlle vlver rlcco
Senza aver 10 stato
. . E non avendo stato PICCInmo
. .
Doveva temerlo qualunque era m stato, ? ?
And to that man sweated blood to put through that raIlway", to Could you", wrote Mr Jefferson,
to FInd me a gardener
Who can play the french horn;l
The bounds of Amencan fortune
Wtll not admIt the mdulgence of a domestIc band of MusIClans, yet I have thought that a passIon for musIc
MIght be reconctled WIth that economy whIch we are Obhged to observe I retaIn among my domestIc servants
A gardener, a weaver, a cabInet-maker, and a stone-cutter, To whIch I would add a vIgneron In a country hke yours
(Id est Burgundy) where musIc IS cultIvated and
PractIsed by every class of men, I suppose there mIght
Be found persons of these trades who could perform on The french horn, clanonet, or hautboy and bassoon, so That one mIght have a band of two french horns, two Clanonets, two hautboys and a bassoon, WIthout enlargIng Thetr domestIc expenses A certamty of employment for Half a dozen years
(affattgandosepersuop,acer0 non)
And at the end of that tIme, to find them, If they
Choose, a conveyance to theIr own country, mIght mduce Them to come here on reasonable wages WIthout meanmg to GIve you trouble, perhaps I t mIght be practIcable for you
97
? In your ordInary Intercourse wlth your people to find out Such men dlsposed to come to AmerIca Sobrlety and good Nature would be deslrable parts of theIr characters . .
June 1778 Montecello
And 1Q July I went up to Mtlan for Duke Galeaz TosponsorhIsInfantIn baptlsm,
Albeit were others more worthy,
And took hlS Wlfe a gold collar holdIng a dIamond That cost about 3000 ducats, on wh1ch account That S1gnor Galeaz Sforza VIScontI has WIshed me To stand sponsor to all of hls chIldren
Another war Wlthout glory, and another peace Without qwet
And the Sultan sent him an assaSSin, hIS brother,
And the Soldan of Egypt, a hon,
And he begat one pope and one son and four daughters, And an Unlvers1ty, P1sa, (Lauro Medlc1)
And nearly went broke In Ius busmess,
And bought land In Siena and Plsa,
And made peace by hiS own talk In Naples And there was grass on the floor of the temple, Or where the floor of It might have been,
Gold fades In the gloom,
Under the blue-black roof, Placlma's, Of the exarchate. and we Sit here
By the arena. les gradms
And the palazzo, baseless, hangs there 1Q the dawn WIth low mISt over the tide-mark,?
And floats there nel tramonto
W1th gold mISt over the tide-mark
The tesserae of the floor, and the patterns
Fools makIng new shambles,
rught over green ocean, And the dey black of the rught
98
? NIght of the golden tlger, And the dry flame m the aIr,
VOIces of the proceSSIon, Famt now, from below us,
And the sea WIth tm flash m the sun-dazzle,
LIke dark wme m the shadows
. . Wmd between the sea and the mountams . . The tree-spheres half dark agamst sea
half clear agamst sunset, The sun's keel freIghted WIth cloud,
And after that hour, dry darkness
Floatmg flame m the aIr, gonads m organdy, Dry flamelet, a petal borne In the Wlnd
Gignetel kalon
Impenetrable as the Ignorance of old women
In the dawn, as the fleet commg m after Actlum,
Shore to the eastward, and altered, And the old man sweepmg leaves
. . Damned to you MIdas, MIdas lackmg a Pan' ,. And now m the valley,
Valley under the day's edge
It GrowwIththePmesofIse,
ct As the Nue swells WIth Inopos
. . As the Nue falls WIth Inopos"
Pholbos, turriS eburnea,
Ivory agamst cobalt,
And the boughs cut on the aIr,
The leaves cut on the aIr,
The hounds on the green slope by the hul,
water stul black m the shadow In the crISp aIr,
the dlSconttnuous gods,
Pallas, young owl In the cup of her hand, And, by nIght, the stag runs, and the leopard, Owl-eye amId pme boughs
99
? Moon on the palm-leaf,
confusIon, ConfusIon, source of renewals,
Yellow WIng, pale In the moon shaft,
Green WIng, pale In the moon shaft, Pomegranate, pale In the moon shaft,
WhIte horn, pale In the moon shaft, and TItama By the drinking hole,
steps, cut In the basalt
Danced there Athame, danced, and there Phrethusa WIth colour In the vein,
Strong as wIth blood-drInk, once,
WIth colour In the vein,
Red In the smoke-faint throat DIS caught her Up
And the old man went on there
beatIng hIS mule WIth an asphodel
100
? A'that man sweat blood
to put through that radway,
XXII
And what he ever got out of It)
And he saId one thmg As It costs,
As 10 any mwan war It costs the government
. 20,000 dollars per head
To kdl off the red WarrIors, It mIght be more humane And even cheaper, to educate
And there was the other type, Warenhauser,
That beat hIM, and broke up hIS busmess,
Tale of the Amencan CurIa that gave hun,
Warenhauser permISSIon to budd the Northwestern raIlway And to take the tImber he cut 10 the process,
So he cut a road through the forest,
Two mxles wIde, an' perfectly legal
Who wuz agom' to stop hIM'
And he came 10 and saId Can't do It, Not at that pnce, we can't do It . .
That was In the last war, here 10 England, And he was makIng chunks for a turb10e 1n some sort of an army plane,
An' the 1Ospector says . . How many reJects)"
. . What you mean, reJects':I . ,
And the Inspector says . . How many do you get) . . And Joe saId . . We don't get any rejects, our . . And the 1Ospector says . . Well then of course
you can't do It . . And C H saId to the renowned Mr Bukos
. . What IS the cause of the H C L;I" and Mr Bukos, 101
Pnce of hfe 10 the occIdent
? The economIst consulted of nat om, saId
ee Lack of laboul ?
And there were two mdhons of men out of work And C H shut up, he saId
He would save hIS breath to cool hIS own porrIdge, But I dIdn't, and I went on plagumg Mr Bukos Who saId finally . . I am an orthodox
c. EconomIst"
Jesu ChrISto'
Standu nel paradISO terrestle
Pensando come SI fesse compagna d'Adamo"
And Mr H B wrote In to the office
I would lIke to accept C H 's book
But It would make my own seem so out of date
Heaven wIll protect
The lay reader The whole fortune of Mac Narpen and Company IS founded
Upon Palgrave's Golden Treasury Nel paradISO terrestre
And all the matenal Was used up, Jesu ChrIsto, And everythIng In Its place, and nothmg left over 1 0 make una compagna d'Adamo Come SI fesse ~ E pOI ha Vlshtu una volpe
And the tau of the volpe, the VIxen,
FIne, spreadmg and handsome, e pensava
That will do for thIs busmess,
And la volpe saw In hIS eye what was commg,
Corre, volpe corre, Chnstu corre, volpecorre, ChrIStucorre, e dav' un saltu, ed ha preso la coda Della volpe, and the volpe wrenched loose
And left the taIl m hIS hand, e dl questu
Fu fatta,
e per questu 1: la donna una funa,
Una fuRRla-e-una rabbla
10. 1
? ? And a VOIce behInd me In the street
. . Meestalr Freer' Meestalr "
And I thought I was three thousand
MIles from the nearest connectIOn,
And he'd known me for three days, years before that, And he saId, one day a week later W oud you lak
To meet a wholley man, yais he IS a veree wholley man So I met Mohamed Ben Abt el HJameed,
And that everung he spent hIs whole tlme
Queenng the shIrt-seIler's busIness,
And takIng hot whIskey The saIlors
Come In there for two nIghts a week and :fill up the cafe And the rock scorpIOns chng to the edge
UntIl they can't Jes' nacherly stand It
And then they go to the Calpe (Lyceo)
NO MEMBER OF THE MILITARY OF WHA TEVER RANK
IS PERMITTED WITHIN THE WALLS OF THIS CLUB
That fer the governor of Glbel Tara
? ? Jeen-Jahl Jeen-Jahl " squawked Mohamed,
. . O-ah, geef heem sax-pence"
And a chap m a red fez came In, and gnnned at Mohamed Who spat across four metres of tables
At Mustafa That was all there was
To that greetIng, and three nIghts later
GInger came back as a customer, and took It out of Mohamed He hadn't sold a damn shIrt on the Tuesday
And I met Yusuf and eIght men In the calle, SoIsez Wot15thematter)
And Yusuf saId VaIry foohsh, It will
103
? Be sefen an' seex for the summons
- Mohamed want to sue heem for hbel- To gIve all that to the court'
So I went off to Granada
And when I came back I saw Gmger, and I said What about It'
And he said O-ah, I geef heem a Seex-pence Customs of the sha-ha-reef
And they were all there m the lyceo,
Cab drivers, and chaps from tobacco shops,
And Edward the Seventh's gUide, and they were all For secession
Dance halls bemg closed at two m the morrung,
By the governor's order And another day on the pier Was a fat fellah from Rhode Island, a-saym'
. . Bl Hek' I been all thru Italy
An' aIn't never been stuck' . .
. . But thIS place 15 plumb full er scoundrels" And Yusuf saId YaIS',) an' the reech man
In youah countree, haowa they get their money, They no go rob some poor paltsons'
And the fat fellah shut up, and went off And Yusuf said Woat, he 15S all thru Eet:1ly An' ee 15 neVaIr been stuck, ee ees a har W'en I goa to some [oram's country
I am stuck
W'en yeou goa to some foram's country
You moss be stuck, w'en they come 'ere I steek thaun And we went down to the synagogue,
All full of sIlver lamps
And the top gallery stacked Wlth old benches, And m came the leVlte and SIX httle chOir kids And began yowlmg the rItual
As If It was crammed full of Jokes,
And they went through a whole book of It,
104
? And lD came the elders and the scrIbes
About five or SIX and the rabbI
And he sat down, and grlDned, and pulled out hIs snuff-box, And snIffed up a thumb-full, and gnnned,
And called over a kId from the chOIr, and whispered,
And nodded toward one old buffer,
And the kId took hIm the snuff-box and he grInned,
And bowed hIS head, and snIffed up a thumb-full,
And the kId took the box back to the rabbI,
And he grlDned, e faceva bISblglxo,
And the kId toted off the box to
another old bunch of whISkers, And he snIffed up hIS thumb-full,
And so on till they'd each had hIS snIff,
And then the rabbI looked at the stranger, and they All grInned half a yard WIder, and the rabbI WhIspered for about two mmutes longer,
An' the kId brought the box over to me,
And I grlDned and SnIffed up my thumb-full
And then they got out the scrolls of the law
And had theIr lIttle processIon
And kISsed the ends of the markers
And there was a case on for rape and blackmaxl Down at the court-house, belund the bIg pano
full of WistarIa,
An' the nIgger lD the red fez, Mustafa, on the boat later An' I saId to hIm Yusuf, Yusuf's a damn good feller And he says
. . YalS, he ees a goot fello, . . . But after all a chew
ees a chew" And the Judge says That veIl IS too long
And the gul takes off the veu
That she has stuck onto her hat WIth a pm, . . . Not a veu," she says, . . 'at's a scarf . .
105
? And the Judge says
Don't you know you aren't allowed all those buttons)
And she says Those aIn't buttons, them's bobbles
Can't you see there aIn't any button-holes'
And the Judge says Well, anyway, you're not allowed ernune . . Ermme' . . the pel says, "Not ermme, that am't,
. . 'At's latttttzo"
And the Judge says And Just what IS a lattlttzo)
And the gtrl says
? ? It'z a anlmal . . Slgnon, you go and enforce It
106
? XXIII
ET ommiormlS," PseIlos, . . omms
. . Intellectus est" God's fire GemISto . . Never WIth thlS relIgIon
. . Wtll you make men of the greeks
Ie But butld wall across Peloponesus Ie And orgamze, and
damn these Eyetahan barbarIans" And Novvy's shtp went down 10 the tempest
Or at least they chucked the books overboard
How c:hssolve Irol In sugar Houtlle blanche, Auto-chentlle, destroy all bacterIa In the kIdney,
Invenoon-d'enotes-plus-ou-molOs-abstratts- en-nombre-egal-aux-choses-a-exphquer
La SClence ne peut pas y conslSter t'ral Obtenuunebrulure"M Cune,orsomeotherSCIentISt ee QUl m'a coute SIX mOIS de guerlSon"
and contInued hIS expenments
Troplsmes' "We belIeve the attractIon IS chemIcal "
WIth the sun In a golden cup
and g010g toward the low fords of ocean
"A\ t-. 'y't-t" ? ,/J ' nJl. t. Ol; 0 1TEP? 07l? oo,l; OE'lTo. l; EUlCo,TE",o,? 7IE )(p1JtF? OV
"o. J. .
t'. . - , ~po, O? CUICEo,7IOLO ' l T ? p o , U o , l ;
xma vada noctlS obscurae
Seekmg doubtless the sex 1 0 bread-moulds
"'lAWS, d. A~s, d. AtOS == ",a. TC? LOS
(CC Denvaoon uncertaIn" The Id,ot
Odysseus furrowed the sand)
ahxantos, allotrephes, eISkatebaIne, down Into, descended, to the end that, beyond ocean, pass through, traverse
107
? VVICTO'> epEp. vO. <;,
1TOT~ fLaTEpa, l<ovpL8? av llI. >. . . oxov
1Tai8&. ,> TE cp[AOV,> E{3a 8dcpvaun ICaTc? a-ICLOv Preclsely, the selv' oscura
And m the mornmg, m the Phrygian head-sack Barefooted, dumpmg sand from their boat 'Ypenomdes'
And the rose grown whlle I slept, And the strmgs shaken With mUSlC,
Caprlped, the loose tWigs under foot, We here on the rull, With the ohves Where a man mlght carry hls oar up, And the boat there m the mlet,
As we had lam there In the autumn
Under the arras, or wall pamted below hke arras, And above With a garden of rose-trees,
Sound commg up from the cross-street,
As we had stood there,
WatchIng road from the WIndow,
Fa Han and I at the wmdow,
And her head bound WIth gold cords
Cloud over mountam, rull-gap, In mIst, lIke a sea-coast.
Leaf over leaf, dawn-branch In the sky And the sea dark, under wmd,
The boat's salls hung loose at the moonng,
Cloud hke a saIl mverted,
And the men dumpIng sand by the sea-wall Ohve trees there on the hIll
where a man mIght carry hls oar up
And my brother De M:ensac
Bet Wlth me for the castle,
And we put It on the toss of a com,
And I, Austors, won the com-toss and kept It,
108
? And he went out to TlerCl, a Jongleur
And on the road for hIs hVIng,
And tWIce he went down to TlercI,
And took off the gIrl there that was Just marned to Bernart.
And went to Auvergne, to the DauphIn, And Tierci came With a posse to Auvergnat, And went back for an army
And came to Auvergne wIth the army
But never got PIerre nor the woman
And he went down past ChaIse Dleu,
And went after It all to Mount Segur,
after the end of all thIngs,
And they hadn't left even the staIr, And SImone was dead by that tune, And they called us the Mamcheans Wotever the hellsarse that IS
And that was when Troy was down, all nght, superbo IlIon
And they were sallIng along
SItting In the stern-sheets,
Under the lee of an Island
And the Wind drIftIng off from the Island . . Tet, tet
what IS It' " saId Anchlses
. . Tethneke," saId the helmsman, . . I thInk they . . Are howlIng because AdonIs dIed vIrgIn "
. . Huh' tet " saId Ancluses,
t. well, they've made a bloody mess of that CIty"
. . Lng Otreus, of Phrygta, . . That kmg IS my father . .
and saw then, as of waves taking form, As the sea, hard, a glItter of crystal,
And the waves nSIng but formed, holdIng theIr form No lIght reachmg through them
109
? XXIV
THUS the book of the mandates
Feb 1422 We desire that you our factors give to Zohanne of
Rlmml our servant, SIX hre marchesml,
for the three prlZes he has won racmg our barbarlscI, at the rate we have agreed on The races he has won are the Modena, the San Petronio at Bologna
and the last race at San Zorzo
(Signed) ParlSma Marchesa
pay them for bmdmg
un hbro franxese che SI cluama TrlStano
CarlsSlml nostn
Zohanne da Rlmml
has won the paho at MIlan With our horse and wntes that
he IS now on the hotel, and wants money
Send what you thmk he needs,
but when you get hIm back m Ferrara find out
what he has done with the first lot, I thInk over 2. 5 ducats But send the other cash qUIckly, as I don't want hIm there on the hotel
perfumes, parrot seed, combs, two great and two small ones from Veruce, for madama la man. . esana
2. 0 ducats to
give to a friend of ours who paId a bIll for us on thIS trIp to Romagna
verde colore predeletto, 25 ducats zlparello sIlver embroidered for Ugo fiolo del Signore
(2. 7 nov 1427)
PROCURATIO NOMINE PATRIS, Leonello Este
IIO
? (arrangIng dot for Margarita hIS sIster, to Roberto Malatesta of RUlllm)
natae praehbatl margantae
III D NIcolaI Marchloms Esten et Sponsae The tower of Gualdo
WIth plenary JurISdIctIOn In ClvIls, and In crurunal to fine and have scourged all delInquents
as In the rest of theIr lands,
? ? whIch thIngs
thIs tower, estate at Gualdo had the Illustnous NIcolaus MarqUls of Este receIved from the sald Don Carlo (Malatesta)
for dower
Illustrae DomInae PansInae Marxesana"
under my hand D Mlchaeh de Magnabucls Not pub Ferr D N lcolaeque GUlducCloh de Anm100
Seqult bonorum descrIptIo
And he In hIS young youth, 10 the wake of Odysseus
To Cithera (a d 1413) . . dove fu Elena rapta da ParlS" Dmners In orange groves, prows attended of dolphms, VestIge of Rome at Pola, faIr w10d as far as Naxos
Ora vela. , ora a reml, smo ad ora dl vespero
Or Wlth the Sall tIght hauled, by the crook'd land's arm Zefaloma
And at Corfu, greek smgers, by Rhodos
Of the WlDdrnxlls, and to Paphos,
Donkey boys, dust, deserts, Jerusalem, back. sheesh
And an endless fuss over passports,
One groat for the Jordan, whether you go there or not,
The school where the madonna m gtrlhood
Went to learn letters, and PIlate's house closed to the publu ? . 2 soldl for OlIvet (to the Saracens)
And no mdulgence at Judas's tree, and
III
? ( t Here ChrlSt put hls thumb on a rock tt SaylOg hlc est medlUm mundl "
(That, I assure you, happened
Ego, scrlptor cantdenae )
For worse) for better> but happened
After whlch, the greek glrlS at Corfu, and the
Ladles, Venetian, and they all sang In the evening Benche ruuno cantasse, although none of them could, Witness Luchmo del Campo
Plus one turlosh Juggler, and they had a bath
When they got out of Jerusalem
And for cargo one leopard of Cyprus
And falcons, and small birds of Cyprus,
Sparrow hawks, and grayhounds from Turkey
To breed m Ferrara among thm-Iegged Ferrarese,
Owls, hawks, nshmg tackle
Was beheaded Aldovrandmo (142. 5, vent"uno MaggiO) Who was cause of thlS evd. and after
The Marchese asked was Ugo beheaded And the Captam t t Signor S1" and 11 Marchese began crymg
t t Fa me hora taghar la testa
. . dap01 COS! presto hal decapltato t1 mlO Ugo . .
Rodendo con dent! una bachetta che havea 10 mam
And passed that rught weepmg, and calhng Ugo, hiS son Affable, bullnecked, that brought seduction 10 place of Rape mto government, ter paCtS Itallae auctor,
With the boys pullmg the tow-ropes on the nver
Tre cento bastard! (or bombard! nred off at h1S funeral)
And the next year a standard from Veruce (Where they'd called off a horse race)
And the baton from the Florentme baxly
tt Of Fatr aspect, gentle 10 manner . ,
Forty years old at the ttme,
tt And they kIlled a Judge's Wife among other,
IIZ
? That was a Judge of the court and noble, And called Madonna Laodamla delh Romel, Beheaded 10 the pa della Justlcla,
And 10 Modena, a madonna Agnesma
Who had p01soned her husband,
"All women known as adulterous,
. . That hIS should not suffer alone"
Then the wnt ran no further And 1 0 '3 I marned Monna RIcarda
CHARLES scavozr falsans et advenzr a haute noblesse du Lmage et Hostel e faIctz hautex vaillance affectIon notre dIct Cousm
pUISsance, auctorIte Royal u et ses hors yssus et a leur IOISe aVOIr doresenavant
A TOUSIUOURS EN LEURS ARMES ESCARTELURE troIS fleurs LIz d'or en champs a'asur dentelle
10lssent et usent
Mu CCCC trente et ung, conseU
aChmon, Ie Roy, l'Esne de la Trzmouzll, Vendolse, Jehan Rabateau
And 10 '32 came the Marchese Saluzzo
To VlSlt them, hIS son 10 law and rus daughter,
And to see Hercules hIs grandson, pIccolo e PUtlnO And 10 '. 41 Polenta went up to VenIce
Agamst NIccolo's cautIon
And was swallowed up 10 that CIty
E fu sepulto nudo, Nlccolo,
WIthout decoratIOn, as ordered 1 0 testament,
Ter paClS Itahae
And 1? you want to know what became of hIS statue, I had a nfle class 10 Bondeno
And the prIest sent a boy to the hardware
And he brought back the naus 1. 0 a wrapp1Og,
II}
? And It was the leaf of a c:L. ary
And he got the rest from the hardware
(CaSSln1, hbralO, speakmg) And on the first leaf of the wrappmg
Was how 10 Napoleon's time
Came down a load of brass fittmgs from Modena
Vla del Po, all went by the rIver,
To Placenza for cannon, bells, door-knobs
And the statues of the Marchese Nlccolo and of Borso That were 10 the Piazza on columns
And the Commendatore has made It a monograph Without saymg I told hIm and sent hIm
The name of the prIest
After hun and hlS day
Were the cake-eaters, the consumers of Icmg, That read all day per duetto
And left the rught work to the servants, Ferrara, paradlSo del sarti, c. feste stomagose"
" Is It hkely DlVlne Apollo,
That I should have stolen your cattle' A cluld of my age, a mere mfant,
And besides, I have been here all night 10 my crib" ? ? Albert made me, Tura patnted my wall,
And JulIa the Countess sold to a tannery
? xxv
THE BOOK OF THE COUNCIL MAJOR 1255 be It enacted
That they mustn't shoot crap In the hall
of the councIl, nor In the small court under pam of 2 0 danan, be It enacted
u66 no sqUIre of Vemce to throw dlce
anywhere In the palace or
m the loggxa of the Rtalto under pam of ten sold1 or half that for kIds, and If they wont pay
they are to be chucked In the water be It enacted
In hbro pactorum
To the thIngs everlastIng
memory both for lIve men and for the future et quod pubhce lllnotescat
m the saId date, dicto mdlessxmo
of the dlustnous lord, Lord John Soranzo
by god's grace doge of Venxce In the Cuna
of the Palace of the Doges,
neath the portIco next the house of the dwellIng of the Castaldlo and of the heralds of the Lord Doge hemg beneath same a penthouse or cages
or room txmbered (trabesIhs) lIke a cellar
one LIon male and one female szmul commorantes whIch beasts to the Lord Doge were transmItted small by that serene Lord KIng Fredenc of Slctly, the
saId hon knew carnally and In nature the LIoness aforesaid and Impregnated In that manner that arumals leap on one another to know and Impregnate
on the faith of several ocular WItnesses
Wluch honess bore pregnant for about three months (as 1$ Said by those who saw her assaulted)
115
? and In the sud mlllesslmo and month on a sunday
nth of the month of September about sunnse on
St Mark's day early but with the hght already apparent the said honess as IS the nature of ammals
whelped per naturam three hon cubs VIVOS et pIlosos
hvmg and hairy which born at once began Me and motlOn and to go gynng about their mother throughout the aforesaid room as saw the aforesaid Lord Doge and as It were all the Venetians and other folk who were In
Venice that day that concurred all for this as It were nuraculous sight And one of the animals 15 a male
and the other two female
I John Marcheslnl Ducal notary of the Venetians as eyewItness saw the
natlVlty of these ammals thus by mandate of the said Doge wrote thiS
and put It In file
Also a note from Pontius PIlate dated the co year 33 "
Two columns (a d I313) fOI the church of St Nicholas of the palace n lire gross
To the procurators of St Marc for entrance to the
palace, for gIldmg the Images and the hon over the door
to be paid
Be It enacted
to Donna Sorantla Soranzo that she come for the feast of Ascension by night In a covered boat and alight at the rlpa del Palazzo, and when first sees the ChrlStblood go at once up mto the Palace and may stay In the Palace VIII days to VISit the Doge her father not In that txme leaVIng the palace, nor descending the palace stair and when she descends It that she return by nIght the boat In the hke manner
II6
? hemg covered To be revoked at the councll's pleasure accepted by Sof the council
I33S 3 hre 15 groats to stone for maklng a hon 1340 CounCIl of the lords noble, Marc Enzlo NIC Speranzo, Tomasso Gradonlco
that the hall be new bmlt over the room of the rught watch
and over the columns toward the canal where the walk IS
because of the stmk of the dungeons 1344 1409 Slnce the most serene Doge can scarce stand uprIght I n hIS bedroom
vadit pars, two gross lIre stone staIr, 1415, for pulchrItude of the palace
~54 da parte
de non ~3
4 non SIncere
WInch IS to say they bmlt out over the arches and the palace hangs there In the dawn, the nust, In that dImness,
or as one rows In from past the muraZZl
the barge slow after moon-rIse
and the VOIce soundmg under the sall
MISt gone
And SulplCla
green shoot now, and the wood
wlute under new cortex
c. as the sculptor sees the form In the aIr
before he sets hand to mallet, to and as he sees the ln, and the through,
the four Sides
to not the one face to the paInter As IVOry uncorrupted
. . Pone metum Cennthe'~ Il7
? Lay there, the long soft gr1SS,
and the flute hy there by her thlgh,
SulplcIa, the fauns, tWIg-strong,
gathered about her,
The fluId, over the grass Zephyrus, paSSIng through her,
e< deus nee laedIt amantes "
ffic mthl dIes sanctus,
And from the stone pIts, the heavy VOIces, Heavy sound
. . Sero, sero
. . NothIng we made, we set nothmg 10 order,
. . NeIther house nor the earvmg,
. . And what we thought had been thought for too long, . .
About Metevsky Melchlzedek
He, Harrush, took the tractors up to
KIng Meneltk, 3 nvers and 1 4 0 raVines
. . Qu'est-ce qu'on pense ">" I satd ? ? On don't pense
? ? They're solId bone You can amputate from Just above The medulla, and It won't alter the hfe m that Island . . But he controued, . . Mals, qu'EsT-CE qu'ON pense,
? ? De la metallurgIe, en Ang1eterre, qu'est-ce qu'on
. . Pense de Metevsky"> "
? And I saId . . They am't heard hIs name yet t. Go ask at MacGorvlsh's bank"
The Jap observers were much amused because The TurkIsh freemasons hadn't bothered to Tale the regImental b'ldges off theIr artIllery And old HamIsh Menehk
Had a hunch that machmery and so on But he never could get It to work,
never could get any power
The Germans wd send htm up bouers, but they'd Have to cut 'em mto pIeces to load 'em on camels, And they never got 'em together agaIn
And so old HamISh went out there,
And looked at the place, 3 rIvers
And a hundred and forty ravmes,
And he sent out two tractors, one to pull on the other And Menehk sent down an army, a 5000 black army WIth hawsers, and they all sweated and swatted
And the first thmg Dave ht on when they got there Was a buzz-saw,
And he put It through an ebony log whhsssh, t ttt, Two days' work 10 three mInutes
War, one war after another,
Men start 'em who couldn't put up a good hen-roost
Also sabotage
? XIX
SABOTAGE:> Yes, he took It up to Manhattan,
To the bIg company, and they s'ud ImpossIble
And he saId I gawt ten thousand dollars tew mak 'em, And I am a gom' tew mal 'em, and }ou'll damn well Have to mstall 'em, awl over the place
And they sald Oh, we can't have lt
So he settled for one-half of one mxlhon
And he has a very nice place on the Hudson,
And that mvennon, patent, 15 stillm theIr desk
And the answer to that IS Wa'al he had the ten thousand And old Spmder, that put up the 1870 gothick memonal. He tned to pull me on Marx, and he told me
About the ? ? romance of hIS busmess "
How he came to England With somethmg or other,
and sold 1t
Only he wanted to talk about Marx, so I sez
Waal haow 1S It you're over here, rIght off the Champz Elyza'>
And how can yew be here> Why don't the fellers at home Take It all off you'> How can you leave your big busmess'> tC Oh," he sez, tC I am't had to rent any money
tC It's a long time smce I am't had tew rent any money" Nawthm' more about Das Kapltal,
Or credit, or d15tnbunon
And he . . never :finIShed the book,"
That was the other chap, the slender dtplomatdentlst QUl se ialSalt SI beau
So we sat there, With the old kmdly professor, And the stubby httIe man was up-stairs
And there was the sItek guy In the other
84
? corner readIng The Tatler,
Not upside down, but never turning the pages,
And then I went up to the bed-room, and he saId, The stubby fellow Perfectly true,
. . But It'S a question of feeling,
. . Can't move 'em with a cold thing, lIke economICS ? ? And so we came down staIrs and went out,
And the slIck guy looked out of the Window, And In carne the street" Lemme-at-'em "
lIke a bull-dog In a mackintosh
o my Cho'
Then the telephone dIdn't work for a week
Ever seen Pnshmp, lIttle hunchback,
Couldn't take hIm for any army
And he saId I haf a messache from dh' professor,
<< There's lots of 'em want to go over,
. . But when they try to go over,
. . Dh' hRusslan boys shoot 'em, and they want to know . . How to go over"
Vlettmann:> was out there, and that was,
Say, two months later, and he said
. . Jolly chaps," he saId, (C they used to go by
to Under my Window, at two o'clock In the mornmg, . . All SInging, all sIngtng the He Sloveny'"
Yes, Vlettmann, and the RUSSIan boys dldn't shoot'em Short story, entItled, the Blrth of a Natlon
And there was that sqUIrt of an Ausstrrlan With a rose m hIS button-hole,
And how the hell he stayed on here,
nght through the whole bhloody bUSiness,
Cocky as Khmtnoze, and enJoymg every Boche VIctOry. Naphtha, or some damn thmg for the submarmes,
85
? Like they had, Just had, to have the hemp via Rotterdam
Das thust du nIcht, Albert)
That was 10 the old days, all sItting around In arm-chaIrs, And that's gone, lIke the cake shops 10 the Nevsky
<<No use telhng 'em anythmg, revoh. . tlOn. lneS,
Till they're at the end,
Oh, absolootly, A T the end of theIr tether
Governed Governed the place from a tram,
Or rather from three trams, on a raIlway,
And he'd keep about three days ahead of the lobby, I mean he had hIS government on the trams,
And the lobby had to get there on horseback,
And he said Blgod It'S damn funny,
Own half the ou In the world, and can't get enough To run a government engme' "
And then they Jawed for two hours,
And finally Steff saId Will you fellows show me a map) And they brought one, and Steff said
. . Waal what are those hnes)" "Y es, those straIght lmes " ? ? Those are roads I t A nd'? what are those lInes,
. . The WIggly ones)" . . RIvers"
And Steff saId ? ? Government property) . .
So two hours later an engme went off WIth the order How to dIg WIthout confiscation
And Tommy Baymont saId to Steff one day
? ? You thmk we run It, lemme tell you,
? ? We bought a cOalmme, I mean the mortgage fell In, . . And you'd a' thought we could run It
. . Well I had to go down there meself, and the manager ? ? Said ? ? Run It, of course we can run It,
. . We can't sell the damn coal"
86
? So I saId to the X and B Central,
- you'd say we boss the X and B Central>-
I saId You buy your damn coal from our mme
And a year later they hadn't, so I had up the dIrectors, And they saId well anyhow, they couldn't
buy the damn coal And next week ole JIm came, the bIg fat one
WIth the dIamonds, and he saId . . Mr Baymont, You Just must charge two dollars more
A ton fer that coal And the X and B wIll Take It through US . .
. . So there was my ole man SIttIng,
They were In arm-chaIrs, accordmg to protocol, And next hIm hIS nephew Mr Wurmsdorf, And old Ptierstoff, for purely famIly reasons, Personal reasons, was held In great esteem
by hIS relatIves,
And he had hIS despatches from St Petersburg,
And Wurmsdorf had hIS from VIenna,
And he knew, and they knew, and each knew That the other knew that the other knew he knew, And Wurmsdorf was Just reachmg mto hIS pocket, That was to start thIngs, and then my ole man SaId It
Albert, and the rest of It Those days are gone by {or ever"
. . Ten years gone, ten years of my hfe,
Never get those ten years back agam
Ten years of my hfe, ten years 1ll the IndIan army,
But anyhow, there was that tIme 1ll Yash (Jassy)
That was somethIng, 14 gxrls m a fortmght "
. . Healthy but vermInous'>" . . That's It, healthy but verminOUS
And one tIme In KashmIr,
? In the houseboats, wIth the turquoIse,
A pIle three feet hIgh on the boat floor, And they'd be there all day at a bargam For ten bobs' worth of turquoISe"
88
? xx
SOUND slender, quasI tInnula,
Llgur' aOlde Sl no'us Vel, Domna don plus ml cal, Negus vezer mon bel pensar no val"
Between the two almond trees flowering,
The vlel held close to hIs sIde,
And another s'adora"
. . Possum ego naturae
non memlWsse tuae I " QUl son ProperZlo ed OVldlo
The boughs are not more fresh
where the almond shoots
take thelr March green
And that year I went up to Frelburg,
And Rennert had saId Nobody, no, nobody
Knows anything about Proven~al, or If there 1$ anybody, It's old Levy "
And so I went up to Frelburg,
And the vacatlOn was Just beginning,
The students getting off for the summer, Fretburg 1m Bre15gau,
And everything clean, seemmg clean, after Italy
And I went to old Levy, and It was by then 6 30
In the evenlOg, and he traIled half way across Frelburg before dinner, to see the two strIpS of copy,
Arnaut's, settant'uno R supenore (Ambroslana)
Not that I could SlOg hIm the muSIc
And he saId Now 1$ there anythIng I can tell you)" And I sald I dunno, SIr, or
. . Yes, Doctor, what do they mean by notganJTes~" And he SaId NOlgandresl NOIgandres'
89
? to You know for seex mon's of my hfe
. . Effery nIght when I go to bctt, I say to myself
. . NOlgandres, eh, notgandres,
. . Now what the DEFFIL can that mean' "
Wind over the olIve trees, ranunculae ordered,
By the cleal edge of the rocks
The water runs, and the wind scented wIth pine And WIth hay-fields under sun-swath
AgostinO, ]acopo and Boccata
You would be happy for the smell of that place And never tIred of being there, eIther alone
Or accompanIed
Sound as of the nIghtmgale too far off to be heard Sandra, and Boccata, and Jacopo SellalO,
The ranunculre, and almond,
Boughs set In espaher,
DUCCIO, Agostino, e I'olors -
The smell of that place - d'enol games AIr moving under the boughs,
The cedars there m the sun,
Hay new cut on hIll slope,
And the water there In the cut
Between the two lower meadows, sound, The sound, as I have saId, a mghtIngale Too far off to be heard
And the lIght falls, rel1ttr,
from her breast to thIghs
He was plaYing there at the palla
ParlSIna - two doves for an altar - at the Wlndow~ . . B'l Marchese
Stava per lwentr pazzo
after It all" And that was when Troy was down
And they came here and cut holes In rock, Pown Rome way, and put up the tlmbers,
90
? And came here, condIt Atesten
? ? Peace' keep the peace, Borso"
And he said Some bItch has sold us (that was Ganelon)
? ? They wont get another such IVOry"
And he lay there on the round hul under the cedar A httle to the left of the cut (Este speakmg)
By the side of the summIt, and he saId
"I have broken the horn, bigod, I have te Broke the best IVOry, l'olofans" And he saId cc Tan mare fustes' "
pullmg hxmself over the gravel, . . Blgod' that buggar 15 done for,
te They wont get another such IVOry"
And they were there before the wall, Toro, las almenas,
(Este, NIC Este speakmg)
Under the battlement (Epi purgo) peur de la hasle,
And the KIng saxd
c. God what a woman'
My God what a woman" Said the Kmg tela rigido
. . Sister' . . says Ancures, . . '5 your sister' "
Alf left that town to ElVira, and Sancho wanted It from her, Taro and Zamora
. . Bloody spaniard'
Neestho, le'er go back
m the autumn " "Este, go' damn you" between the walls, arras,
Painted to look hke arras
Jungle Glaze green and red feathers, Jungie,
BaslS of renewal, renewals,
Rtsmg over the soul, green vlrld, of the Jungle, Lozenge of the pavement, clear shapes, Broken, dlSrupted, body eternal,
91
? WJ1derness of renewals, confusIOn BasIS of renewals, subsIstence, Glazed green of the Jungle,
Zoe, Marozla, Zothar,
loud over the banners, Glazed grape, and the crImson,
HO BIOS,
COSI Elena vedI,
In the sunlIght, gate cut by the shadow,
And then the faceted aIr
Floatmg Below, sea churmng shmgle FloatIng, each on 10VIsIbie raft,
On the hIgh current, 10Vlsible flUId, Borne over the pla1O, recumbent,
The rtght arm cast back,
the nght WrIst for a pulow, The left hand lIke a calyx,
Thumb held agamst finger, the thIrd,
The first fingers petal'd up, the hand as a lamp, A calyx
From toe to head
The purple, blue-pale smoke, as of 1Ocense,
Wrapped each 10 burnous, smoke as the olIbanum's, SWift, as If JOYous
Wrapped, floatmg, and the blue-pale smoke of the 1OcensE' SWIft to nse, then lazuy 10 the wmd
as Aeolus over bean-field,
As hay 10 the sun, the olIbanum, saffron, As myrrh wIthout styrax,
Each man In hIS cloth, as on raft, . :>n
The hIgh mVIsible current, On toward the fall of water,
And then over that cataract,
In aIr, strong, the brIght flames, V shaped,
Nd fuoco
? D'amore nu mIse, nel fuoco d'amore ml mISe Yellow, bnght saffron, croceo,
And as the ohbanum bursts Into flame,
The bodIes so flamed In the aIr, took flame,
. . M1 mlSe, II miO sposo novello " Shot from stream Into SPital,
Or followed the water Or looked back to the flov,omg, Others approaclung that cataract,
As to dawn out of shadow, the swathed cloths
Now purple and orange,
And the blue water dusky beneath them, pouring there mto the cataract,
WIth nOIse of sea over slungle, strllung WIth
hah hah ahah thmm, thunb, ah
woh woh araha thumm, bhaaa And from the floatmg bodIes, the Incense
blue-pale, purple above them Shelf of the lotophagol,
Aenal, cut In the aether
Recltmng,
Wlth the sllver spilla,
The ball as of melted amber, colled, caught up, and turned Lotophagol of the suave nalls, qUlet, scornful,
V oce-profondo
? ? Feared nelther death nor pam for thIS beauty, I f harm, harm to ourselves"
And beneath the clear bones, far down, Thousand on thousand
. . What gain Wlth Odysseus, . . They that dled In the whlrlpool
. . And after many vam labours,
. . LIVing by stolen meat, chained to the rOWlngbench, ? ? That he should have a great fame
93
? c. And he by mght wIth the goddess) . . TheIr names are not wntten m bronze
. . Nor theIr rowmg stIcks set WIth Elpenor's, . . Nor have they mound by sea-bord
. . That saw never the ohves under Spartha . c WIth the leaves green and then not green,
. . The chck of lIght m theIr branches,
. . That saw not the bronze hall nor the mgle
. . Nor lay there WIth the queen's W'l. ltmg maIds,
. . Nor had they CIrce to couch-mate, CIrce Tltama, c. Nor had they meats of Kalupso
. . Or her stlk skIrts brushmg theIr thIghs
. . GIve' What were they glven:l
Ear-wax
. c POlson and ear-wax,
and a salt grave by the bull-field, . . neson amumona, theIr heads hke sea crows m the foam,
c. Black splotches, sea-weed under lIghtnmg,
. . Canned beef of Apollo, ten cans for a boat load . . Llgur' aOlde
And from the plam whence the water-shoot,
Across, back, to the nght, the roads, a way m the grass, The Khan's huntIng leopard, and young Salustlo
And Ixotta, the suave turf
Ac ferae famlhares, and the cars slowly,
And the panthers, soft-footed
Plam, as the plam of Somnus,
the heavy cars, as a trIumph,
Gtlded, heavy on wheel,
and the panthers chamed to the cars,
Over suave turf, the form wrapped,
Rose, cnmson, deep crImson,
And, m the blue dusk, a colour as of rust m the sun. lIght, Out of whtte cloud, mOVIng over the plam,
94
? Head In arm's curve, H:chnmg,
The road, back and away, tIll cut along the face of the rock, And the clIff folds In hke a curtam,
The road cut m under the rock
Square groove In the clxtf's face, as chioStrx,
The columns crystal, WIth peacocks cut In the capItals,
The soft pad of beasts dragging the cars,
Cars, slow, WIthout creak,
And at wmdows In Inner roadsIde
Ie donne e I cavalIerI
smooth face under hennm, The sleeves embroIdered wIth flowers, Great thIstle of gold, or an amaranth,
Acorns of gold, or of scarlet, CramOlSl and ruaspre
slashed whIte mto velvet,
Crystal columns, acanthus, suens In the pIllar heads, And at last, between gIlded barocco,
Two columns coIled and fluted,
Vanoka, leanmg half naked,
. . Peace'
waste hall there behmd her Borso ,Borso'"
95
? XXI
KEEP the peace, Borso'" Where are we' ? ? Keep on wIth the busxness,
That"s made me,
. . And the res pubhca didn't . . When I was broke, and a poor kid,
. . They all knew me, all of these czttaatnt,
. . And they all of them cut me dead, della glona " Intestate, I42. ! h leavmg I78,22. I flOrIns dt sugello,
As IS Sald In CoSImO'S red leather note book Dl sugello And . . With rus credit emptled Vemce of money " -
That was CoSlffiO-
. . And Naples, and made them accept Ius peace" And he caught the young boy FIClno
And had hlffi taught the greek language,
. . WIth two ells of red cloth per person
I wdl make you ", COSlffiO speakmg, ? ? as many Honest citizens as you desire"
Col credlto suo
Napoh e Venezia dl danarl
Costrettl Napoh e VeneZIa a quella pace Or another tIme oh well, pass It
And Ptero called In the credits,
(DlotlSalvl was back of that)
And firms faded as far off as AVlgnon,
And Plero was hke to be murdered,
And young Lauro came down ahead of hIm, In the road, And sald Yes, father 15 commg
Intestate, '69, 10 December, leaVlng me 2. 37,989 florins, As you will :find In my bIg green account book
In carta dl capretto,
? And from '34 when I count It, to last year,
We paId out 600,000 and over,
That was for bwldmg, taxes and charIty
Nlc Uzano saw us commg Agamst It, honest, And warned 'em They'd have murdered hun, And would Coslmo, but he bnbed 'em,
And they dId m GIulIano E dIffiClle, A Frrenze dIfficlle vlver rlcco
Senza aver 10 stato
. . E non avendo stato PICCInmo
. .
Doveva temerlo qualunque era m stato, ? ?
And to that man sweated blood to put through that raIlway", to Could you", wrote Mr Jefferson,
to FInd me a gardener
Who can play the french horn;l
The bounds of Amencan fortune
Wtll not admIt the mdulgence of a domestIc band of MusIClans, yet I have thought that a passIon for musIc
MIght be reconctled WIth that economy whIch we are Obhged to observe I retaIn among my domestIc servants
A gardener, a weaver, a cabInet-maker, and a stone-cutter, To whIch I would add a vIgneron In a country hke yours
(Id est Burgundy) where musIc IS cultIvated and
PractIsed by every class of men, I suppose there mIght
Be found persons of these trades who could perform on The french horn, clanonet, or hautboy and bassoon, so That one mIght have a band of two french horns, two Clanonets, two hautboys and a bassoon, WIthout enlargIng Thetr domestIc expenses A certamty of employment for Half a dozen years
(affattgandosepersuop,acer0 non)
And at the end of that tIme, to find them, If they
Choose, a conveyance to theIr own country, mIght mduce Them to come here on reasonable wages WIthout meanmg to GIve you trouble, perhaps I t mIght be practIcable for you
97
? In your ordInary Intercourse wlth your people to find out Such men dlsposed to come to AmerIca Sobrlety and good Nature would be deslrable parts of theIr characters . .
June 1778 Montecello
And 1Q July I went up to Mtlan for Duke Galeaz TosponsorhIsInfantIn baptlsm,
Albeit were others more worthy,
And took hlS Wlfe a gold collar holdIng a dIamond That cost about 3000 ducats, on wh1ch account That S1gnor Galeaz Sforza VIScontI has WIshed me To stand sponsor to all of hls chIldren
Another war Wlthout glory, and another peace Without qwet
And the Sultan sent him an assaSSin, hIS brother,
And the Soldan of Egypt, a hon,
And he begat one pope and one son and four daughters, And an Unlvers1ty, P1sa, (Lauro Medlc1)
And nearly went broke In Ius busmess,
And bought land In Siena and Plsa,
And made peace by hiS own talk In Naples And there was grass on the floor of the temple, Or where the floor of It might have been,
Gold fades In the gloom,
Under the blue-black roof, Placlma's, Of the exarchate. and we Sit here
By the arena. les gradms
And the palazzo, baseless, hangs there 1Q the dawn WIth low mISt over the tide-mark,?
And floats there nel tramonto
W1th gold mISt over the tide-mark
The tesserae of the floor, and the patterns
Fools makIng new shambles,
rught over green ocean, And the dey black of the rught
98
? NIght of the golden tlger, And the dry flame m the aIr,
VOIces of the proceSSIon, Famt now, from below us,
And the sea WIth tm flash m the sun-dazzle,
LIke dark wme m the shadows
. . Wmd between the sea and the mountams . . The tree-spheres half dark agamst sea
half clear agamst sunset, The sun's keel freIghted WIth cloud,
And after that hour, dry darkness
Floatmg flame m the aIr, gonads m organdy, Dry flamelet, a petal borne In the Wlnd
Gignetel kalon
Impenetrable as the Ignorance of old women
In the dawn, as the fleet commg m after Actlum,
Shore to the eastward, and altered, And the old man sweepmg leaves
. . Damned to you MIdas, MIdas lackmg a Pan' ,. And now m the valley,
Valley under the day's edge
It GrowwIththePmesofIse,
ct As the Nue swells WIth Inopos
. . As the Nue falls WIth Inopos"
Pholbos, turriS eburnea,
Ivory agamst cobalt,
And the boughs cut on the aIr,
The leaves cut on the aIr,
The hounds on the green slope by the hul,
water stul black m the shadow In the crISp aIr,
the dlSconttnuous gods,
Pallas, young owl In the cup of her hand, And, by nIght, the stag runs, and the leopard, Owl-eye amId pme boughs
99
? Moon on the palm-leaf,
confusIon, ConfusIon, source of renewals,
Yellow WIng, pale In the moon shaft,
Green WIng, pale In the moon shaft, Pomegranate, pale In the moon shaft,
WhIte horn, pale In the moon shaft, and TItama By the drinking hole,
steps, cut In the basalt
Danced there Athame, danced, and there Phrethusa WIth colour In the vein,
Strong as wIth blood-drInk, once,
WIth colour In the vein,
Red In the smoke-faint throat DIS caught her Up
And the old man went on there
beatIng hIS mule WIth an asphodel
100
? A'that man sweat blood
to put through that radway,
XXII
And what he ever got out of It)
And he saId one thmg As It costs,
As 10 any mwan war It costs the government
. 20,000 dollars per head
To kdl off the red WarrIors, It mIght be more humane And even cheaper, to educate
And there was the other type, Warenhauser,
That beat hIM, and broke up hIS busmess,
Tale of the Amencan CurIa that gave hun,
Warenhauser permISSIon to budd the Northwestern raIlway And to take the tImber he cut 10 the process,
So he cut a road through the forest,
Two mxles wIde, an' perfectly legal
Who wuz agom' to stop hIM'
And he came 10 and saId Can't do It, Not at that pnce, we can't do It . .
That was In the last war, here 10 England, And he was makIng chunks for a turb10e 1n some sort of an army plane,
An' the 1Ospector says . . How many reJects)"
. . What you mean, reJects':I . ,
And the Inspector says . . How many do you get) . . And Joe saId . . We don't get any rejects, our . . And the 1Ospector says . . Well then of course
you can't do It . . And C H saId to the renowned Mr Bukos
. . What IS the cause of the H C L;I" and Mr Bukos, 101
Pnce of hfe 10 the occIdent
? The economIst consulted of nat om, saId
ee Lack of laboul ?
And there were two mdhons of men out of work And C H shut up, he saId
He would save hIS breath to cool hIS own porrIdge, But I dIdn't, and I went on plagumg Mr Bukos Who saId finally . . I am an orthodox
c. EconomIst"
Jesu ChrISto'
Standu nel paradISO terrestle
Pensando come SI fesse compagna d'Adamo"
And Mr H B wrote In to the office
I would lIke to accept C H 's book
But It would make my own seem so out of date
Heaven wIll protect
The lay reader The whole fortune of Mac Narpen and Company IS founded
Upon Palgrave's Golden Treasury Nel paradISO terrestre
And all the matenal Was used up, Jesu ChrIsto, And everythIng In Its place, and nothmg left over 1 0 make una compagna d'Adamo Come SI fesse ~ E pOI ha Vlshtu una volpe
And the tau of the volpe, the VIxen,
FIne, spreadmg and handsome, e pensava
That will do for thIs busmess,
And la volpe saw In hIS eye what was commg,
Corre, volpe corre, Chnstu corre, volpecorre, ChrIStucorre, e dav' un saltu, ed ha preso la coda Della volpe, and the volpe wrenched loose
And left the taIl m hIS hand, e dl questu
Fu fatta,
e per questu 1: la donna una funa,
Una fuRRla-e-una rabbla
10. 1
? ? And a VOIce behInd me In the street
. . Meestalr Freer' Meestalr "
And I thought I was three thousand
MIles from the nearest connectIOn,
And he'd known me for three days, years before that, And he saId, one day a week later W oud you lak
To meet a wholley man, yais he IS a veree wholley man So I met Mohamed Ben Abt el HJameed,
And that everung he spent hIs whole tlme
Queenng the shIrt-seIler's busIness,
And takIng hot whIskey The saIlors
Come In there for two nIghts a week and :fill up the cafe And the rock scorpIOns chng to the edge
UntIl they can't Jes' nacherly stand It
And then they go to the Calpe (Lyceo)
NO MEMBER OF THE MILITARY OF WHA TEVER RANK
IS PERMITTED WITHIN THE WALLS OF THIS CLUB
That fer the governor of Glbel Tara
? ? Jeen-Jahl Jeen-Jahl " squawked Mohamed,
. . O-ah, geef heem sax-pence"
And a chap m a red fez came In, and gnnned at Mohamed Who spat across four metres of tables
At Mustafa That was all there was
To that greetIng, and three nIghts later
GInger came back as a customer, and took It out of Mohamed He hadn't sold a damn shIrt on the Tuesday
And I met Yusuf and eIght men In the calle, SoIsez Wot15thematter)
And Yusuf saId VaIry foohsh, It will
103
? Be sefen an' seex for the summons
- Mohamed want to sue heem for hbel- To gIve all that to the court'
So I went off to Granada
And when I came back I saw Gmger, and I said What about It'
And he said O-ah, I geef heem a Seex-pence Customs of the sha-ha-reef
And they were all there m the lyceo,
Cab drivers, and chaps from tobacco shops,
And Edward the Seventh's gUide, and they were all For secession
Dance halls bemg closed at two m the morrung,
By the governor's order And another day on the pier Was a fat fellah from Rhode Island, a-saym'
. . Bl Hek' I been all thru Italy
An' aIn't never been stuck' . .
. . But thIS place 15 plumb full er scoundrels" And Yusuf saId YaIS',) an' the reech man
In youah countree, haowa they get their money, They no go rob some poor paltsons'
And the fat fellah shut up, and went off And Yusuf said Woat, he 15S all thru Eet:1ly An' ee 15 neVaIr been stuck, ee ees a har W'en I goa to some [oram's country
I am stuck
W'en yeou goa to some foram's country
You moss be stuck, w'en they come 'ere I steek thaun And we went down to the synagogue,
All full of sIlver lamps
And the top gallery stacked Wlth old benches, And m came the leVlte and SIX httle chOir kids And began yowlmg the rItual
As If It was crammed full of Jokes,
And they went through a whole book of It,
104
? And lD came the elders and the scrIbes
About five or SIX and the rabbI
And he sat down, and grlDned, and pulled out hIs snuff-box, And snIffed up a thumb-full, and gnnned,
And called over a kId from the chOIr, and whispered,
And nodded toward one old buffer,
And the kId took hIm the snuff-box and he grInned,
And bowed hIS head, and snIffed up a thumb-full,
And the kId took the box back to the rabbI,
And he grlDned, e faceva bISblglxo,
And the kId toted off the box to
another old bunch of whISkers, And he snIffed up hIS thumb-full,
And so on till they'd each had hIS snIff,
And then the rabbI looked at the stranger, and they All grInned half a yard WIder, and the rabbI WhIspered for about two mmutes longer,
An' the kId brought the box over to me,
And I grlDned and SnIffed up my thumb-full
And then they got out the scrolls of the law
And had theIr lIttle processIon
And kISsed the ends of the markers
And there was a case on for rape and blackmaxl Down at the court-house, belund the bIg pano
full of WistarIa,
An' the nIgger lD the red fez, Mustafa, on the boat later An' I saId to hIm Yusuf, Yusuf's a damn good feller And he says
. . YalS, he ees a goot fello, . . . But after all a chew
ees a chew" And the Judge says That veIl IS too long
And the gul takes off the veu
That she has stuck onto her hat WIth a pm, . . . Not a veu," she says, . . 'at's a scarf . .
105
? And the Judge says
Don't you know you aren't allowed all those buttons)
And she says Those aIn't buttons, them's bobbles
Can't you see there aIn't any button-holes'
And the Judge says Well, anyway, you're not allowed ernune . . Ermme' . . the pel says, "Not ermme, that am't,
. . 'At's latttttzo"
And the Judge says And Just what IS a lattlttzo)
And the gtrl says
? ? It'z a anlmal . . Slgnon, you go and enforce It
106
? XXIII
ET ommiormlS," PseIlos, . . omms
. . Intellectus est" God's fire GemISto . . Never WIth thlS relIgIon
. . Wtll you make men of the greeks
Ie But butld wall across Peloponesus Ie And orgamze, and
damn these Eyetahan barbarIans" And Novvy's shtp went down 10 the tempest
Or at least they chucked the books overboard
How c:hssolve Irol In sugar Houtlle blanche, Auto-chentlle, destroy all bacterIa In the kIdney,
Invenoon-d'enotes-plus-ou-molOs-abstratts- en-nombre-egal-aux-choses-a-exphquer
La SClence ne peut pas y conslSter t'ral Obtenuunebrulure"M Cune,orsomeotherSCIentISt ee QUl m'a coute SIX mOIS de guerlSon"
and contInued hIS expenments
Troplsmes' "We belIeve the attractIon IS chemIcal "
WIth the sun In a golden cup
and g010g toward the low fords of ocean
"A\ t-. 'y't-t" ? ,/J ' nJl. t. Ol; 0 1TEP? 07l? oo,l; OE'lTo. l; EUlCo,TE",o,? 7IE )(p1JtF? OV
"o. J. .
t'. . - , ~po, O? CUICEo,7IOLO ' l T ? p o , U o , l ;
xma vada noctlS obscurae
Seekmg doubtless the sex 1 0 bread-moulds
"'lAWS, d. A~s, d. AtOS == ",a. TC? LOS
(CC Denvaoon uncertaIn" The Id,ot
Odysseus furrowed the sand)
ahxantos, allotrephes, eISkatebaIne, down Into, descended, to the end that, beyond ocean, pass through, traverse
107
? VVICTO'> epEp. vO. <;,
1TOT~ fLaTEpa, l<ovpL8? av llI. >. . . oxov
1Tai8&. ,> TE cp[AOV,> E{3a 8dcpvaun ICaTc? a-ICLOv Preclsely, the selv' oscura
And m the mornmg, m the Phrygian head-sack Barefooted, dumpmg sand from their boat 'Ypenomdes'
And the rose grown whlle I slept, And the strmgs shaken With mUSlC,
Caprlped, the loose tWigs under foot, We here on the rull, With the ohves Where a man mlght carry hls oar up, And the boat there m the mlet,
As we had lam there In the autumn
Under the arras, or wall pamted below hke arras, And above With a garden of rose-trees,
Sound commg up from the cross-street,
As we had stood there,
WatchIng road from the WIndow,
Fa Han and I at the wmdow,
And her head bound WIth gold cords
Cloud over mountam, rull-gap, In mIst, lIke a sea-coast.
Leaf over leaf, dawn-branch In the sky And the sea dark, under wmd,
The boat's salls hung loose at the moonng,
Cloud hke a saIl mverted,
And the men dumpIng sand by the sea-wall Ohve trees there on the hIll
where a man mIght carry hls oar up
And my brother De M:ensac
Bet Wlth me for the castle,
And we put It on the toss of a com,
And I, Austors, won the com-toss and kept It,
108
? And he went out to TlerCl, a Jongleur
And on the road for hIs hVIng,
And tWIce he went down to TlercI,
And took off the gIrl there that was Just marned to Bernart.
And went to Auvergne, to the DauphIn, And Tierci came With a posse to Auvergnat, And went back for an army
And came to Auvergne wIth the army
But never got PIerre nor the woman
And he went down past ChaIse Dleu,
And went after It all to Mount Segur,
after the end of all thIngs,
And they hadn't left even the staIr, And SImone was dead by that tune, And they called us the Mamcheans Wotever the hellsarse that IS
And that was when Troy was down, all nght, superbo IlIon
And they were sallIng along
SItting In the stern-sheets,
Under the lee of an Island
And the Wind drIftIng off from the Island . . Tet, tet
what IS It' " saId Anchlses
. . Tethneke," saId the helmsman, . . I thInk they . . Are howlIng because AdonIs dIed vIrgIn "
. . Huh' tet " saId Ancluses,
t. well, they've made a bloody mess of that CIty"
. . Lng Otreus, of Phrygta, . . That kmg IS my father . .
and saw then, as of waves taking form, As the sea, hard, a glItter of crystal,
And the waves nSIng but formed, holdIng theIr form No lIght reachmg through them
109
? XXIV
THUS the book of the mandates
Feb 1422 We desire that you our factors give to Zohanne of
Rlmml our servant, SIX hre marchesml,
for the three prlZes he has won racmg our barbarlscI, at the rate we have agreed on The races he has won are the Modena, the San Petronio at Bologna
and the last race at San Zorzo
(Signed) ParlSma Marchesa
pay them for bmdmg
un hbro franxese che SI cluama TrlStano
CarlsSlml nostn
Zohanne da Rlmml
has won the paho at MIlan With our horse and wntes that
he IS now on the hotel, and wants money
Send what you thmk he needs,
but when you get hIm back m Ferrara find out
what he has done with the first lot, I thInk over 2. 5 ducats But send the other cash qUIckly, as I don't want hIm there on the hotel
perfumes, parrot seed, combs, two great and two small ones from Veruce, for madama la man. . esana
2. 0 ducats to
give to a friend of ours who paId a bIll for us on thIS trIp to Romagna
verde colore predeletto, 25 ducats zlparello sIlver embroidered for Ugo fiolo del Signore
(2. 7 nov 1427)
PROCURATIO NOMINE PATRIS, Leonello Este
IIO
? (arrangIng dot for Margarita hIS sIster, to Roberto Malatesta of RUlllm)
natae praehbatl margantae
III D NIcolaI Marchloms Esten et Sponsae The tower of Gualdo
WIth plenary JurISdIctIOn In ClvIls, and In crurunal to fine and have scourged all delInquents
as In the rest of theIr lands,
? ? whIch thIngs
thIs tower, estate at Gualdo had the Illustnous NIcolaus MarqUls of Este receIved from the sald Don Carlo (Malatesta)
for dower
Illustrae DomInae PansInae Marxesana"
under my hand D Mlchaeh de Magnabucls Not pub Ferr D N lcolaeque GUlducCloh de Anm100
Seqult bonorum descrIptIo
And he In hIS young youth, 10 the wake of Odysseus
To Cithera (a d 1413) . . dove fu Elena rapta da ParlS" Dmners In orange groves, prows attended of dolphms, VestIge of Rome at Pola, faIr w10d as far as Naxos
Ora vela. , ora a reml, smo ad ora dl vespero
Or Wlth the Sall tIght hauled, by the crook'd land's arm Zefaloma
And at Corfu, greek smgers, by Rhodos
Of the WlDdrnxlls, and to Paphos,
Donkey boys, dust, deserts, Jerusalem, back. sheesh
And an endless fuss over passports,
One groat for the Jordan, whether you go there or not,
The school where the madonna m gtrlhood
Went to learn letters, and PIlate's house closed to the publu ? . 2 soldl for OlIvet (to the Saracens)
And no mdulgence at Judas's tree, and
III
? ( t Here ChrlSt put hls thumb on a rock tt SaylOg hlc est medlUm mundl "
(That, I assure you, happened
Ego, scrlptor cantdenae )
For worse) for better> but happened
After whlch, the greek glrlS at Corfu, and the
Ladles, Venetian, and they all sang In the evening Benche ruuno cantasse, although none of them could, Witness Luchmo del Campo
Plus one turlosh Juggler, and they had a bath
When they got out of Jerusalem
And for cargo one leopard of Cyprus
And falcons, and small birds of Cyprus,
Sparrow hawks, and grayhounds from Turkey
To breed m Ferrara among thm-Iegged Ferrarese,
Owls, hawks, nshmg tackle
Was beheaded Aldovrandmo (142. 5, vent"uno MaggiO) Who was cause of thlS evd. and after
The Marchese asked was Ugo beheaded And the Captam t t Signor S1" and 11 Marchese began crymg
t t Fa me hora taghar la testa
. . dap01 COS! presto hal decapltato t1 mlO Ugo . .
Rodendo con dent! una bachetta che havea 10 mam
And passed that rught weepmg, and calhng Ugo, hiS son Affable, bullnecked, that brought seduction 10 place of Rape mto government, ter paCtS Itallae auctor,
With the boys pullmg the tow-ropes on the nver
Tre cento bastard! (or bombard! nred off at h1S funeral)
And the next year a standard from Veruce (Where they'd called off a horse race)
And the baton from the Florentme baxly
tt Of Fatr aspect, gentle 10 manner . ,
Forty years old at the ttme,
tt And they kIlled a Judge's Wife among other,
IIZ
? That was a Judge of the court and noble, And called Madonna Laodamla delh Romel, Beheaded 10 the pa della Justlcla,
And 10 Modena, a madonna Agnesma
Who had p01soned her husband,
"All women known as adulterous,
. . That hIS should not suffer alone"
Then the wnt ran no further And 1 0 '3 I marned Monna RIcarda
CHARLES scavozr falsans et advenzr a haute noblesse du Lmage et Hostel e faIctz hautex vaillance affectIon notre dIct Cousm
pUISsance, auctorIte Royal u et ses hors yssus et a leur IOISe aVOIr doresenavant
A TOUSIUOURS EN LEURS ARMES ESCARTELURE troIS fleurs LIz d'or en champs a'asur dentelle
10lssent et usent
Mu CCCC trente et ung, conseU
aChmon, Ie Roy, l'Esne de la Trzmouzll, Vendolse, Jehan Rabateau
And 10 '32 came the Marchese Saluzzo
To VlSlt them, hIS son 10 law and rus daughter,
And to see Hercules hIs grandson, pIccolo e PUtlnO And 10 '. 41 Polenta went up to VenIce
Agamst NIccolo's cautIon
And was swallowed up 10 that CIty
E fu sepulto nudo, Nlccolo,
WIthout decoratIOn, as ordered 1 0 testament,
Ter paClS Itahae
And 1? you want to know what became of hIS statue, I had a nfle class 10 Bondeno
And the prIest sent a boy to the hardware
And he brought back the naus 1. 0 a wrapp1Og,
II}
? And It was the leaf of a c:L. ary
And he got the rest from the hardware
(CaSSln1, hbralO, speakmg) And on the first leaf of the wrappmg
Was how 10 Napoleon's time
Came down a load of brass fittmgs from Modena
Vla del Po, all went by the rIver,
To Placenza for cannon, bells, door-knobs
And the statues of the Marchese Nlccolo and of Borso That were 10 the Piazza on columns
And the Commendatore has made It a monograph Without saymg I told hIm and sent hIm
The name of the prIest
After hun and hlS day
Were the cake-eaters, the consumers of Icmg, That read all day per duetto
And left the rught work to the servants, Ferrara, paradlSo del sarti, c. feste stomagose"
" Is It hkely DlVlne Apollo,
That I should have stolen your cattle' A cluld of my age, a mere mfant,
And besides, I have been here all night 10 my crib" ? ? Albert made me, Tura patnted my wall,
And JulIa the Countess sold to a tannery
? xxv
THE BOOK OF THE COUNCIL MAJOR 1255 be It enacted
That they mustn't shoot crap In the hall
of the councIl, nor In the small court under pam of 2 0 danan, be It enacted
u66 no sqUIre of Vemce to throw dlce
anywhere In the palace or
m the loggxa of the Rtalto under pam of ten sold1 or half that for kIds, and If they wont pay
they are to be chucked In the water be It enacted
In hbro pactorum
To the thIngs everlastIng
memory both for lIve men and for the future et quod pubhce lllnotescat
m the saId date, dicto mdlessxmo
of the dlustnous lord, Lord John Soranzo
by god's grace doge of Venxce In the Cuna
of the Palace of the Doges,
neath the portIco next the house of the dwellIng of the Castaldlo and of the heralds of the Lord Doge hemg beneath same a penthouse or cages
or room txmbered (trabesIhs) lIke a cellar
one LIon male and one female szmul commorantes whIch beasts to the Lord Doge were transmItted small by that serene Lord KIng Fredenc of Slctly, the
saId hon knew carnally and In nature the LIoness aforesaid and Impregnated In that manner that arumals leap on one another to know and Impregnate
on the faith of several ocular WItnesses
Wluch honess bore pregnant for about three months (as 1$ Said by those who saw her assaulted)
115
? and In the sud mlllesslmo and month on a sunday
nth of the month of September about sunnse on
St Mark's day early but with the hght already apparent the said honess as IS the nature of ammals
whelped per naturam three hon cubs VIVOS et pIlosos
hvmg and hairy which born at once began Me and motlOn and to go gynng about their mother throughout the aforesaid room as saw the aforesaid Lord Doge and as It were all the Venetians and other folk who were In
Venice that day that concurred all for this as It were nuraculous sight And one of the animals 15 a male
and the other two female
I John Marcheslnl Ducal notary of the Venetians as eyewItness saw the
natlVlty of these ammals thus by mandate of the said Doge wrote thiS
and put It In file
Also a note from Pontius PIlate dated the co year 33 "
Two columns (a d I313) fOI the church of St Nicholas of the palace n lire gross
To the procurators of St Marc for entrance to the
palace, for gIldmg the Images and the hon over the door
to be paid
Be It enacted
to Donna Sorantla Soranzo that she come for the feast of Ascension by night In a covered boat and alight at the rlpa del Palazzo, and when first sees the ChrlStblood go at once up mto the Palace and may stay In the Palace VIII days to VISit the Doge her father not In that txme leaVIng the palace, nor descending the palace stair and when she descends It that she return by nIght the boat In the hke manner
II6
? hemg covered To be revoked at the councll's pleasure accepted by Sof the council
I33S 3 hre 15 groats to stone for maklng a hon 1340 CounCIl of the lords noble, Marc Enzlo NIC Speranzo, Tomasso Gradonlco
that the hall be new bmlt over the room of the rught watch
and over the columns toward the canal where the walk IS
because of the stmk of the dungeons 1344 1409 Slnce the most serene Doge can scarce stand uprIght I n hIS bedroom
vadit pars, two gross lIre stone staIr, 1415, for pulchrItude of the palace
~54 da parte
de non ~3
4 non SIncere
WInch IS to say they bmlt out over the arches and the palace hangs there In the dawn, the nust, In that dImness,
or as one rows In from past the muraZZl
the barge slow after moon-rIse
and the VOIce soundmg under the sall
MISt gone
And SulplCla
green shoot now, and the wood
wlute under new cortex
c. as the sculptor sees the form In the aIr
before he sets hand to mallet, to and as he sees the ln, and the through,
the four Sides
to not the one face to the paInter As IVOry uncorrupted
. . Pone metum Cennthe'~ Il7
? Lay there, the long soft gr1SS,
and the flute hy there by her thlgh,
SulplcIa, the fauns, tWIg-strong,
gathered about her,
The fluId, over the grass Zephyrus, paSSIng through her,
e< deus nee laedIt amantes "
ffic mthl dIes sanctus,
And from the stone pIts, the heavy VOIces, Heavy sound
. . Sero, sero
. . NothIng we made, we set nothmg 10 order,
. . NeIther house nor the earvmg,
. . And what we thought had been thought for too long, . .
