No More Learning

. 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
4I
? x
AD the poor devtls dymg of cold, outsIde Saran0,
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
INTEREA PRO GRADIBUS BASILlCAE S PIETRI EX ARlDA MATERIA INGENS PYRA EXTRUITUR IN CUJUS SUMMIT A TE IMAGO SIGIS- MUNDI COLLOCA TUR HOMINIS LlNEAMENT A, ET VESTIMENn MODVM ADEO PROPRIE REDDENS, UT VERA MAGIS PERSONA, QUAM IMAGO VIDERETUR, NE QUEM TAMEN IMAGO FALLERET,
43
? ET SCIUPTURA EX ORE PRODnT, QUAE DICERET SIGISMUNDUS HIC EGO SUM
MALATESTA, FILIUS PANDULPHI, REX PRODITORUM,
DEO ATQUE HOMINIBUS INFESTUS, SACRI CI:NSURA SENATUS IGNI DAMNATUS,
SCRIPTURAM
MUL TI LEGERUNT DEINDE AST ANTE POPULO, IGN! :. IMMISSO,
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 s o b
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, raptum
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 UrbIno
SaId . tParchee/lIordtqltesto 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 u s -
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 Novvy 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
V oghamo,
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,andturnedoutyelhng ? 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
AD we SIt here
under the wall,
Arena romana, DlOcletlan's, les gradms
quarante-trOls rangees en calcaIre
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 statIOnely,
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 tde11,
Knew whIch shIPP1l1g compames wele most (. ueiess,
where a man was most hl"cly
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 Tagus, 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 I n 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
? . . You called me your father, and I aIn't
. . 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 Y ou 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 U l 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"
A nd" 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 65
? 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 NaIShapur 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
? XVI
}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
Galhffet led that tnple charge and he saId
wall Strasbourg PrUSSlans
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
[Plarr's 1tQf1atzon]
? 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
And because that son of a bItch, Franz Josef of Austna
gel "
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,
AndoleTEH hewenttoIt,
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 I n front of hIm,
And he read Kant In the HOSPItal, In Wtmbledon, 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, 7I
? 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,
Y a 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 aVerdun, 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 rapaces,
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 acmq 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 eonVIens, 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 regardalent 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
Cave of Nerea,
she lIke a great shell curved,
Between them,
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
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
Gods,
One man holdmg her saIl,
77
A boat came,
? GUIdmg her wIth oar caught over gunwale, saymg
. . There, m the forest of malble,
. . 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 I n 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 ellce "
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
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 sheet, a gold bezant, 3 bezants, ten bezants,
And they are wrItten on by offiCIals,
And smeared WIth the great khan's seallll vermlixon, And the forgers are punIshed WIth death
And all thts costs the Kahn nothmg,
And so he IS rIch 1Il thIS world
And hIS postmen go sewed up and sealed up,
TheIr coats buttoned behllld and then sealed,
In thlS way from the voyage's one end to Its other And the IndIan merchants arrIvmg
Must gtve up theIr Jewels, and take thIS money
In paper,
(That trade runs, 1Il bezants, to 400,000 the year)
And the nobles must buy theIr pearls" - thus Messlre Polo, pnson at Genoa-
ct Of the Emperor"
There was a boy 1Il ConstantInople,
And some bntlSher kIcked hIS arse
cc I hate these french," saxd Napoleon, aged 12,
To young Bournenne, cc I Will do them all the harm
that I can"
In hke manner Zenos Metevsky
U
80
? And old BIers w~s out thele, a greenhorn,
To sell cannon, and Metevsky found the back door, And old BIers sold the mUnItIOns,
And Metevsky dIed and was buned, t e offiCIally, And sat 10 the Yemer Kafe watchmg the funeral
About ten years after thIS InCIdent, He owned a faIr chunk of Humbers
t< PeaceI Pleyce' I " saId Mr Glddmgs, "Um-ver-saP Not whIle yew got tew bIllIons ov money," SaId Mr GIdd1Ogs, " 10vested In the man-u-facture
" Of war machInery Haow I sold It to RUSSIa -
" Well we tuk 'em a new torpedo-boat,
. . And It was all electnc, run It all from a
" LIttle bIt uv a keyboard, about lIke the SIze ov . . A typewrIter, and the pnnce come aboard,
. . An' we sez wud yew hke to run her~
. . And he run damn slam on the breakwater,
? ? And bust off all her front end,
? ? And he was my gawd scared out of hIS pantIes ? ? Who wuz agom' tew pay fer the damage'
. . And It was my first tnp out fer the company, ? ? And I sez, yer hIghness, It IS nothIng,
? ? We WIll gIve yew a new one And, my Chnstl
? ? The company backed me, and dId we get a few orders) ,. So La Marquesa de las ZOJas y Hurbara
Used to dnve up to SIr Zenos's place
10 the Champs Elysees
And presIde at hIS dInners, and at las once
She drove away from the front dool, WIth her footmen And her coachman In lIvery, and drove four blocks round To the back door, and her husband was the son of a bItch, And Metevsky, ? ? the well-known phIlanthropIst,"
Or ? ? the well-known financIer, better known,"
As the press saId, ? ? as a phIlanthropIst,"
Gave - as the Este to LOUIS Eleventh,-
8I
? A fine paIr of gIraffes to the natIon, And endowed a chaIr of balhstlcs,
And was consulted before the offens1ves
And Mr Olge was very cholenc m a first-class From Nlce to Pans, he saId tc Dangel'
. . Now a sador's hfe IS a hfe of danger,
? ? But a nune, why every stlck of It IS numbered, ? ? And one tIme we mIssed one, 'lnd there was
? ? Three hundred men kIlled m the 'sploslOn . .
He was annoyed wIth the stnkers, havmg started hImself As engmeer and worked up, and losmg,
By that coal strIke, some months after the paragraph
SIr Zenos Metevsky has been elected PresIdent Of the Gethsemane TreblZond Petrol
And then there came out another 80 locomotlves On the Manchester CardIff have been fitted wIth New oI1-burnmg appalatus
Large stocks of the heavIer vanetles of whKh (I e 011) Are now on hand m the country
So I saId to the old quaker HamIsh,
I saId . . I am mterested" And he went putty colour And saId . . 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' .