Pavannes and Divisions

EZ RA PO UND

C AMER A PO RT R AIT BY E H [ . O . O PPE. LO NDO N] PAV A N N E S A N D D IV IS IO N S

EZ RA PO U ND

NEW RK D PF MC M YO ALFRE A. KNO XVIII 1918 B C O PYR IG HT , , Y EZ RA PO UND

Pu bli sh ed Ju ne 1 91 8

“ JUL i918

Certain o f th ese sketches and essays have appeared in “ F R ” “ ” Poetry, The ortnightly eview, The New Age , ” ” “ R F -ist The Quarterly eview , The uture , The Ego , “ R w o f e and The Little evie , to the editors which p ri o di cals the author wishes to make du e ack n o wledg men t .

CONTENTS

’ JOdin dran ath Mawh wo r s Occupation An Anachron ism at Chinon Religio

Aux Etu ves de Wiesbaden

’ L Homm e Moyen Sensuel Pierrots Stark Realism

Twelve Dialogues o f Fonten elle I Alexander and Phrine

II Dido and St rat o n ice 111 Anacreon and Ari stotle

IV Homer and ZE SOp V Soc rates and Montaign e V I Charles V and Erasmus — V II Agnes Sorel R oxel an e VIII Brutus and Faustina IX Helen and Fulvia X Seneca and Scarron

XI S R o f trato , aphael Urbino

XII Bom b ast es Parac elsus and Mok ere

A Retros pect

’ A Few Do n ts Prolegomena CONTENTS

Remy de Gourmon t I II

Fo rd Madox Hu etf er an d the Pro se Tradition in Verse Th R e ev . . . . G Crabbe, LL B Arn old Do lmetsch Dolmetsch and Vers Libre “ ” Dubliners and Mr . James Joyce Meditations

Troubadours : Their Sorts and Conditions

Notes o n Elizabethan Classicists I II III IV V

Appendices The Serious Artist Extract From a Letter to Dial Ezra Pound Files Exceptions

V o rto grap h s Arnold Dolmetsch PAVANNE S

PAVANNES

1 .

JODINDRANATH MAWHWOR ’ S OCCUPATION

THE soul o f JOdin dran ath Mawh wo r clove to the god o f thi s universe and he meditated the law o f the Shas tras . He was a man o f m oderate income inherited f o r the

h i s o f most part from fathers , whom there were several , slightly augmented by his o wn rather desultory Opera

v e tions Of commerce . He had ne er mad money by con quest and was inclined to regard this method o f acquisi tion as antiquated ; as belonging rather to the days o f

v n o n his fa orite author tha to our w .

th e Of S b e He had followed advice the utras , had come the head o f an house in the not unprosperous city o f Mi dalb g , in a quarter where dwelt a reasonable pro portion o f fairly honest and honourable people not u n Hi averse to gossip and visits . s house was situated by

e in a watercourse , in lieu Of new fangl d plumbing , and

n this his custom was at o e with that o f the earliest Celts . It was divided in various chambers for various occupa

n o s tio s , surrounded by a commodious garden , and p “ o f m th e x sessed the two chief cha bers , e terior and “ th e bu tt n interior ( and b a ) . The interior was the h place for his women , the exterior enhanced wit rich perfumes , contained a bed , soft , luscious , and agreeable t Of n to the action Of vision , covered with a clo h u rivalled

. an d whiteness It was a little humped in the middle, 3 4 PAVANNE S

f h surmounted with garlands and bundles o ﬂowers , whic U were sometimes renewed in the morning . p on it were also a coverlet brightly embroidered and two cylindrical

o n e e . pillows, at the head and the oth r placed at the foot

o f o r There was also a sort sofa bed for repose , at the head of which stood a case for unguents , and perfumes t o be used during the night , and a stand for ﬂowers and

s o f t an es pot cosme ic and other Odoriferous subst ces , sen c es for perfuming the breath , new cut slices of lemon

peel and such things as were ﬁtting . On the ﬂoor near

an d e the sofa rested a metal spittoon , a toilet cas , and ’ s above it was a luth suspended from an elephant tusk , u h e ncut but banded wit silver . Ther was also a draw

ing table , a bowl of perfume, a few books , and a garland F ff Of amaranths . urther O was a s ort Of round chair

o r tabouret , a chest containing a chess board , and a low

h . table for dicing . In t e outer apartment were cages for ’ i n r n h h t ad o o . Jo d d a at s birds . He a great many many

e f o r o n e Ther were separate small rooms spinning, and n for carving in wood and such like dilettan tismes . I

- O - o f the garden was a sort of merry g round good rope ,

M - looking more o r less like a ay pole . There was like

a see -saw o r h wise common teeter, a green ouse , a sort

wo t o o o . Of rock garden , and t not c mfortable benches

2 .

Jo di n dran ath rose in th e morn ing and brushed his

a teeth , after having performed other un voidable duties

as prescribed in the sutra , and he applied to his body

n o a t excessive , as he considered it , amount Of unguents He and perfumes . then blackened his eyebrows , drew

l o f e o n faint lines under his eyes , put a fair dea roug

. his lips , and regarded himself in a mirror Then having f his h chewed a ew betel leaves to perfume breat , and JODINDRANATH MAWHWOR 5

n - o f munched a other bonne bouche perfume , he set about ’ s ° in es f b u s s . o his day He was a creature habit . That

i s . to say, he bathed , daily And upon alternate days

Oil o n he anointed his person with , and the third day

“ he lamented that the moss y substance employed by the

x was n o earliest orthodo hindoos longer obtainable . He h ad never been brought t o regard soap with com

was h as plaisance . His conscience troubled , bot to the f religious and social bearing o this solidiﬁed greas e . He suspected th e presence of beef- suet ; it was at best a

an d Mo h am e n parvenu t a substance . Every four days

sa he shaved , that is to y , he shaved his head and his

o r visage , every ﬁve ten days he shaved all the rest of h is his body . He meticulously removed the sweat from

- arm pits . He ate three meals daily ; in the morning, afternoon and at evenin g as is prescribed in the Chara y ana . Immediately after breakfast he spent some time i n st ru cti n g his parrots in language . He then proceeded

-fi h t s -fi h t s -fi h ts to cock g , quail g and ram g ; from them to the classical plays , though their representations have

- d . sadly iminished He slept some hours at mid day .

i s Then , as beﬁtting to the head of an house , he had him self arrayed in his orn aments and habiliment and passed

the afternoon in talk with his friends and acquaintance .

The evening was given over to singing . Toward the

Jo di n dran ath re end Of it , as the head of his house,

s at taining only one friend in his company , waiting in the aforementioned p erfumed and well arranged cham

a w was co n ber . As the l dy with hom he at that time

n e ct e d ve o n did not arri the instant , he considered send

i n g a mess enger to reproach her . The atmosphere grew M ﬁ d et ed u neasy . His friend ohon g slightly .

Then the lady arrived . Mohon , his friend , rose gra 6 PAVANNES cio u sl n y , bidding her welcome , spoke a few pleasa t wo rds

din . JO dran a h f r and retired t remained . And o that

o f 1 916 day, the twenty ﬁfth August, , this was his last

o . o s occupati n In this respect the day resembled all ther . This sort Of thing has gone o n for thirty ﬁve hundred years and there have been no disastrous consequences .

3 .

’ As to Jo din dran ath s thoughts and acts after Mohon had left him, I can speak with no deﬁnite cert ainty . I know that my friend was deeply religious ; that he m o d

hi s f n cled li e o the Shastras and somewhat on the Sutra . K To the ama Sutra he had given minute attention . He ’ was ﬁrmly convinced that o n e should not take one s

a h was c o r ple sure wit a woman who a lunati , leprous , o r t o o r wh u n white, or too black, o o gave forth an

a n wh o l c o r ple sa t Odor, or ived an asceti life , whose hus ban d was a man given to wrath and possessed o f i n o rdi

o f nate power . These points were t o him a matter grave religion . He considered that his friends should be constan t an d h that they should assist is designs . He considered it ﬁttin g that a citiz en should enter into

s relations with laundrymen , barbers , cowmen , ﬂorist , dr o f - s uggists, merchants betel leaves, cab driver , and with the wives o f all these . He had carefully considered the sizes and shapes an d

f wi t e ancient categories o women ; to , thos which should

as sh e - - - ac be classiﬁed dog , she horse , and she elephant, cording to their cubic vo lume . He agreed with the classic author who recommends men to choose women about their o wn size . The doctrine that love results either from continuous om n o r h abit , fr imagi ation , from faith, from the percep

8 PAVANNE S what remarks were his o wn and wh at derived from an cient authority . He said “ o f o f ou Flower my life , lotus bud the parent stem , y must preserve o u r line and keep fat o u r ancestral spiri ts

n is lest they be fou d withered like bats , as said in the

f o r Mahabharata . And this purpose y o u will doubtless marry a virgin Of your o wn cas te and acquire a legal f o . S o posterity and a good reputati n till , usage women

f o r o n e F r is not purpose only . o what purp ose is the usage of women ? ” “ u se o f n the en The women , a swered boy, is for g ” eratio n and ple as ure . “ is There also a third use, said his father, yet with n certai women y o u must not mingle . Who are the pro ” h ib it ed wo men ?

n e We o n o t a e The boy a sw red, sh uld pr ctis dalliance

h a o r w h with the women Of igher c ste , ith those w om

h as h ad u e e another for his pleas r , ven though they are

o f u r n s o f h o o w c as te . But the practi e dalliance wit

w o f e o omen lower cast , and with w men expelled from h an d h n t eir own caste , and with public women , wit wome who have been twice married is neither comman ded u s ” n r o forbidden . “ h a Jodin dran ath With suc women , s id , dalliance e has n o obj ect save pleasure . But ther are seaso ns in

life when o n e should think broadly . There are circum stances when y ou should n o t merely parrot a text o r in think only as you have been told by your tutor . As

i s dalliance itself there no text to be followed verbatim , for a man should trust in part to the whim o f the moment

“ s so in and not govern himself wholly by rule , making h o f your ca reer and position , you should t ink more

things than generation an d pleasure . “ ‘ ’ You need n ot say merely : The woman is willing JODINDRANATH MAWHWOR 9

‘ o r Sh e has been two times married, what harm can ’ th ere be in thi s business ? These are mere thoughts o f th e e senses, impractical fancies . But you hav your life n d before you , a perchance a time will come when you ‘ sa n e o f may y , This woma has gain d the heart a very

h e is great husband , and rules him , and a friend Of my sh e enemy, if I can gain favor with her, will persuade ’

t o . so n o u him give up my enemy My , y must manage i s h your rudder . And aga n , if her hu band ave some evil

s ou sh e h im o r design again t y , may divert , again you ‘ sa may y , If I gain her favor I may then make an end w i ’ o f her husband and e sh all have all h s great riches . m t ‘ Or if you should fall into isfor une and say , A liaison h n in h sh wit this woma is no way beset wit danger, e will bring me a very large treasure , of which I am greatly in need considerin g my pestilent povert y and my in ab il ’ ity to make a good living . ‘ : o n Or again This w man k ows my weak points , an d if I refuse her sh e will blab them abroad and tarnish n my reputation . And she will set her husband agai st ’ me . “ ‘ ’ Or again : This woman s husband h as violated my ’

h i s . women , I will give him own with good interest “ ‘ ’ Or again : With this woman s aid I may kill th e

Ra n o enemy Of the jah , whom I have bee rdered to kill, ’ and sh e hides him .

‘ Or again : Th e woman I lo ve i s under this f e ’ ’

s o n e as o t o . male inﬂuence, I will use the r ad the other

“ ‘ Or : This woman will get me a rich wife whom I ’ NO cannot get at without her . , my Blue Lotus , life is

Yo u n o t a serious matter . will always have me to guide

n . r you . You must thi k Of practical matters Unde such circumstances you should ally yourself with such ” wom en . 10 PAV ANNE S

Thus spoke Jo di n dra ; but the counsel is very an cient t h e b and is mostly o be found in t e Sutras . Thes ooks

t e s have been though very holy . Th y contain chapter o n illu les p and philtres . When Jo din dr an ath had ﬁnished this speech h e sank

o n e back upon Of the cylindrical cushions . In a few

n i n m w mome ts his head bowed slu ber . This as the day f T H r h e . is o Oil . next day he shaved his whole body f life is not unduly ru ﬂed .

JOdin dran ath t o h is Upon another day said son ,

a ad There are cert in low women , people Of ill repute , Yo u n o t dicted to avarice . should converse with th em

n s t se o e e u . at the stre t cor er , les your creditors y ’ fﬂ His son s life was not unduly ru ed . AN ANACHR ONISM AT CHINON

BEHIND th em ros e th e hi ll wi th i ts grey o c tago n al

tl t th t a tr et i th o o d ho u s es ard ens cas e, o e wes s e w g , g

c i n ll n l nd el t do b e o re th em th e o cas o a y e c osed a w l o , f

li h tl c ro o k n l rm - eaten ro n ts low an d s g y ed la e, o d wo f u n even b o ot hs wi th th ei r lass ro n t - ram es O en s lid , g f f p ,

id r n k th l c o ttl - r een o th e an es as e o h u g bac , e f a cid b e g f p r eflec ti ng o dd ligh ts fro m th e p ro ven d er an d ch eap cro ck ery ; a f ew p easan t wom en wi th bask ets of eggs an d o o wls whi l s t b e o r th em n o ld easan t wi th o n e f f , e ju f e a p h en i n hi s b as k et altern at ely s tro k ed i ts h ead an d th en s m ack ed i t to m a k i t o wn n d r th e tri n e go d u e s gs . Th e c o u p le lean ed u p on o n e of th e ti n t ables i n th e m o derat el c lear s ac e b th e i n n th e elder re i th y p y , , g y , w thi ck hai r s u ar o oreh ead s u are earded et wi th , q e f f , q b , y a f ac e sh o wi n g cu ri ou sly lon g an d o val i n sp i te of this

u adrat r i n th o rt ri n l m ani n q u e ; e ey es a s o f f e d y , c o p o a l m l nch o l n wl i n t n t n i t t i l k b e e a y , o e , ow w h a c er a n b an n ess li k e th at o a chi ld cr ell i n terr t d r , f u y u p e , o of an o ld m an su rp ri sed an d s elf- c ons ci o u s i n som e ac t to o

ou n or his ears th e h e d ro m th e n ck t o th r n y g f y , a f e e c ow i n c o n trast alm ost bru tally wi th th e gi r th an d great b ll : th e h ad o Don u i xo t n th co r o e y e f Q e, a d e p us f

San ch Panza ani m ali t m ou n ti n i n to th li n o , y g e es of th e th ro at an d l n di n en er t th i n t llect e g gy o e e .

Hi s c om ani on o bvi o u sl an Am eri can stu den t p y .

S tu den t : o f I came here in hopes this meeting yet, e o u sinc y are here at all , you must have changed many ns Opinio . 12 PAVANNE S

Th E l ? e der : Some . Which do y ou mean

S tu den t : S ou are an d s ince y here, personal per ist ing ? R abelais : All that I believed o r believe y ou will ﬁnd

D S n ectu te s in e e that being o active , so swift in thought ; that treasures up in mem ory such multitudes

s s s e and varietie Of thing past, and come likewis upon ” n ew n o f thi gs can be no mort al nature .

t d n : S u e t And yet I do not quite understand . Your

i n outline s o t always distinct . Your voice however is

deep , clear and not squeaky . R ab elai s : I was more interested in words than in my

h . exterior aspect , I am therefore vocal rather t an spatial

Stu d en t : e f I came her in hopes o this meeting, yet

I confess I can scarcely read y o u . I admire and close “ ”

as n o t s . the book, infrequently happens with cla sics

R ab elai s : e o u I am the last person to censur y , and

s your admiration is perhaps due to a fault in your ta te . e DeBella I should hav paid more heed to y , young

Joachim . S tu den t : You do not ﬁnd him a prig ? R ab elais : I ﬁnd no man a prig wh o takes serious

a thought for the langu ge . Stu den t : And your o wn ? Even Voltaire called it an

amassment Of ordure . R ab elais : And later changed his Opinion .

S t n t : ou u d e Others have blamed your age , saying y had to half-bury your wisdom in ﬁlth to make it ao

ce t abl e p . R ab elai s : And y ou would put this blame on my age ? And take the full blame f o r your writing ? S tu d en t : My writing ?

R ab l i : e a s Yes , a quatrain , without which I should

scarcely have come here . AN ANACHRONISM AT CHINON 13

S weet C in h . spew up some .

o n o wn (pard n me for intrudi g my name at this point , th but even Dante has done e like , with a remark that he — found it u n ﬁttin g) to proceed then :

some Rabelais To an d and to deﬁne today

an d In ﬁtting fashion , her monument Heap up t o her in fadeless ex

t d nt : i s S u e My license in those lines exceptional .

R abelai s : o u wr o n o r And y have itten journalists , rather an imaginary plaint Of the journ alist s

s o n Where s j ews conspire ,

And editorial maggots about ,

- o r We gather smeared bread , drive a snout

S - n o f till deeper in the swim brow the mire . O O O b b

O c . O O Smeared with

R s . eally I can not continue , no printer would pa s it S tu dent : Quite out o f my usual

R ab elais : e s n o r Ther is till another o publishers ,

l i li tter i r as rather on a v e a e, a sestina almost wholly in i k t er s s o n n . , and a short strophe the America president S tu den t : Can y o u blame R ab elai s : I am scarcely eh .

St e t s u t u d n : Beside , the e are but a few scattered o

bursts , you kept up your ﬂow through whole volumes . R ab elais : Yo u have Spent six years in your college

n an d and u iversity, a few more in struggles with editors ;

I h ad had thirty years in that sink of a cloister, is it 14 FAYANNE S lik ely that yo ur disgusts wo uld nee d such volumin ous ? was purging Consider, when I nine years Of age they

- was t put me in that louse breeding abomination . I for y before I broke loose . S tu den t : Why at that particular momen t ?

R abelai s : They had taken away my books . Brother

so rtes Amy got hold Of a Virgil . We Opened it , , the ﬁrst line .

Heu u e cru d eles t eer s i ar m , f g a , fu ge l tu s av u . t G od We read that line and depar ed . You may thank

f e You your age is di f rent . may thank G o d your life has ff ! been di erent . Thirty years mewed up with monks After that can you blame me my style ? Have y ou any accurate gauge o f stupidities ?

Stu den t : i n I have , as you admit , passed some years

r n my unive sity . I have seen some opposition to lear ing . R ab elai s : NO o n e in your day has sworn to annihilate the cult o f Greek letters ; they have n o t separated y o u from your books ; they have not rung bells expressly t o keep y o u from reading .

t 1 - ' S u den t : B ells ! later . There s a pasty faced vicar ’ in K ensington who had his dam d bells rung over my ’ a f o r L Il So n n an t o an he d four consecutive winters , e tr s ferr ed to the middle Of London ! They have tried to e smother the good ones with bad ones . Books I m an ,

God knows the chime was a musicless abomination .

They have smothered good books with bad ones . R ab elai s : This will neve r fool a tru e poet ; for th e s e o r rest, it does not matter whether they drone ma s s lec

tures . They Observe their fasts with the intellect . Have they actually sequestered your books ? f N . O o o Stu d en t : O But I have a friend , y ur rder, a

n h is o o . ad mo k . They took away b k for two years I

6 FAYANNE S

Mer ci Na iswv O la r e min /av dy o vr a ’ IIo uci Ni n rep o v y e k o s ’ Td o wtdd v v.

“ S tu den t : The movement is interesting . I am edu ” “ ” cat ed . , I am considerably more than a graduate I

n h n o t n co fess t at I can tra slate it . ’ R abelai s : What in God s name have they taught y o u ? “

Stu dent : I hope they have taught me n othing . I managed to read many books despite their attempts at

r suppression , o rather perversion . R ab elai s : I think y ou speak in a passion ; th at you

n . n magnify petty an oyan ces Since then , you have bee

f o r ou in the world some years , y have been able to move at your fre edom . Stu den t : I s pea k in n o passion when I say that the

e r n whol aim , o at least the drive , of moder philology is t o make a m an stupid ; to turn his mind from the ﬁre Of gen ius an d smo ther him with things unessen tial . Ger many h as so stu ltiﬁed her savants that they have had no

m en present perception , the who should have perceived “ ” a f r were all imbedded i n scholarship . And s o free do m n o m an o f an in , is free who has not the modicum If co me . I had but ﬁfty francs weekly R ? ab elais : Weekly C . Stu den t : You forget that the value Of mon ey h as very considerably altered . R ab elais : Admitted . Stu den t : Well ?

R b l i s : wh o n a e a Well , has constrai ed you ? Th e press in your day is free .

t ent : S u d C . J .

R b l i : h e o a e a s But t press in y ur day is free . AN ANACHRONISM AT CHINON 17

S tu den t : There is not a book goes t o the press in my

o r o f country , in England , but a society in o n e o r th e - an , in other a pie headed ignor t printer paws over it t o decide how much is indecent .

R abelai s : But they print my works in translation .

S tu d en t : Your work is a classic . They also print ’ “ ” Trim alci o s S th e S upper, and tales of uetonius , and

- o f red headed virgins annotate the writings Martial , but

ri o r let a novelist mention a p vvy , a poet the rear side of

th . a woman , and e whole town reeks with an uproar In

o was e . England a scientiﬁc w rk, rec ntly censored A

F r great discovery was kept secret three years . o the

o f rest , I do not speak obscenity . Obscene books are sold in the rubber shops, they are doled out with quack medi

S o f cines , societies for the uppression Vice go into all details , and thereby attain circulation . Masterpieces are decked out with lewd covers to entoil o n e part o f the k public , but let an un nown man write clear and clean

o f realism ; let a poet use the speech his predecessors , either being as antiseptic as the instruments o f a su r

“ o u t geon , and of the most debased and ignorant classes

h is they choose him his sieve and censor . R ab elai s : But surely these things are avoidable ?

S tu d en t : k The popular novelist , the teaser and tic ler, r h i o s . casts what they call a veil , caul , over language

He pimps with suggestion . The printer sees only o n e word at a time , and tons of such books are passed yearly, the members o f the Royal Automobile Club and of the Isthmian an d Fly Fishers are not concerned with the o f question morals .

Rab elai s : Y o u n mistake me , I did o t mean this sort o f a ev sion , I did not mean that a man should ruin h is

th e writing or join ranks of procurers . Stu den t : Well ? 1 8 PAVANNES

R ab l i : r i s h is e a s Oth er mean s . The e w at called pri vate prin tin g . Stu den t : I have had a printer refuse to print lines

rl vat e o r in any form p public , perfectly innocent e lines , lines r fused thus in London , which appeared and

n o - caused blush in Chicago ; and vice versa, lines re—fused - r Oh in Chicago and printed by a fat h eaded p u de ,

- —in most fat headed London , a man who will have no ’ ‘ ’ h o f s o u sa ru ling anyone skirts , and who will not let y y that some children do n o t enjoy the proximity o f their parents . R l i ab e a s : At least you are free from theology . S tu den t : If you pinch the old whore by the toes you will ﬁnd a press clique against y o u ; you will come up ” again st boycott ; people will rush into your publish ’ “ f h o f er s o ﬁce wit threats . Have you ever heard the libraries ” ?

R ab elais : I have heard the name , but not associated m f with strange for s o blackmail . S ﬁ tu den t : I admit they do not a ect serious wri ters .

R ab elai s : But you think your age as stupid as mine .

Stu d en t : n r et Huma ity is a he d , eaten by perp ual

. in sav follies A few in each age escape , the rest rema ”

s t . age , Tha deyed the Arbia crimson Were the shores o f Gallipoli paler, that showed red to the airmen ﬂying thousands of feet above them ?

R ab el i s : z a Airmen . Intercommunication is civili a f . o tion Your life is full convenience .

Stu den t : as h n And men as stupid ever . We ave o ’ e S one lik Henry tephen . Have y o u ever read C aldos “ Dona Perfecta In every country y o u will ﬁnd such

nes ts o f. provincials . Change but a few names and cu s

K - S toms . E ach lein tadt has its local gods and will kill ﬁ o en d . o n e those who them In place it is religion , in AN ANACHRONISM AT CHINON 1 9

f o r o r another s ome crank theory o hygiene morals , even o f prudery which takes n o moral concern . l th e R ab elai s : Yet al l peop es act same way . The “ - same s o called vices are everywhere present , unless your nation has invented some new ones .

t : Stu den Greed and hypocrisy, there is little novelty

u f . n ew to be got o t o either At present there is a tone ,

tim br o f o f a a new e lying, a sort habit , lmost a faculty t for refraining from connecting words with a fac . An i n co n cep ti o n of their interrelations .

R abelais : Let us keep ou t o f politics .

S tu den t : o u i ? Damn it , have y ever met presbyter ans R ab elai s : Yo u forget that I lived in the time o f John

Calvin .

S tu d en t : Let us leave this and talk of your books .

i : f k e R ab ela s My book h as the fault o most boo s , th re are t o o many words in it . I was tainted with monkish

as o f habits , with the mar mus of allegory , putting one

: f thing for another the clumsiest method o satire . I doubt if any modern will read me .

Stu den t : a ou th e I knew a man re d y for joy of words , for the Opulence of your vocabulary . R ab elai s : Which would do him no good unless h e

l n al o e . an could keep the words his tongu Tell me , c h you read them , they are Often merely piled up in eaps .

Stu den t : es I conf s that I can not . I take a page an d then stop .

R abelais : A Allegory, all damnable allego ry ! n d can you rea d Bran tOm e ?

Stu d en t : o f Bran tOm e I can read a fair chunk . The i s repetition wearing . R ab elais : And y ou think your age is as stupid as

? n are n mine Eve letters better, a critical se se is de velo ed p . 20 PAVANNE S

S tu den t : ld We lack the o vigour .

R abelais : A phrase. you have go t from professors ! n o t i S is Vigour was lack ng in tendhal , I doubt if it lack ing in your day . And as for the world being as stupid ,

e are your friends tied to the stake , as was Etienn Dolet , ” with an Ave wrung o u t o f him t o get him strangled f instead o roasted . Do y o u have t o stand making pro fessions like Bude?

Vivons viden squ e gloria mea frui Volo : nihil juvat mortuum Quod vel diserte scrip serit vel f ecerit

Animo se .

S tu den t : What is that ? ’ R ab el is : o f ou a Some verses Dolet s . And are y

Des eri ers an starved like p , Bonaventura , d driven to suicide ?

d n t : T - - 59 i n Stu e h e last auto da f e was in 17 . The

u isitio n r - 1 824 q e es tablish ed in . Rab elais : Spain again ! I was speaking o f

S tu d en t : o We are not yet u t o f the wood . There is Y t . no end o this warfare o u talk o f freedom . Have

o u o f o r y heard the Hammersmith borough council , the “ society to suppress all brothels in Ran goon and other ” h ? n i stations in Burm a If it is ot creed it s morals .

an . Your life d works would not be possible nowadays .

ou To put it mildly , y would be docked your professor ship .

R abelai s : s o f A s I should ﬁnd other form freedom . “ ” f o r personal morals : There are cert ain so - called sins o f which no man ever repented . There are certain con t raven ti o n s o f hygiene which always prove incon venient : None but superstitious an d igno ran t people can ever AN ANACHRONISM AT CHINON 21

tw confuse these o issues . And as hygiene is always

a o r e o f changing ; s it alters with u knowledg physick ,

n o intelligent men will keep pace with it . There can be permanent boundaries to morals .

S t den t : d u The droits u seigneur were doubtless , at

n e o time , religious . When ecclesiastics enjoyed them ,

so - o f they did , in order to take the vengeance the spirit

o wn world upon their shoulders , thereby shielding and

Sparing the husband .

R l i : ab e a s Indeed y o u are far past these things . Your age no longer accepts them Stu den t : My age is beset with cranks o f all forms and sizes . They will not allow a man wine . They will n o f m s t allow him changes o wo en . This gla s

R b l is : a e a There is still some in the last bottle . De Thou h as paid it a compliment

Aussi Bacchus ’ ’ ’ Ju squ eu l autre monde m en voy e

De quoi dissiper mon chagrin , Car de ma Maison patern elle Il vient de faire u n Cabaret Oil le p l a1S1r se renouvelle

Entre lo blanc et l e clairet . ’ On n y porte plus s a pensée ’ ’ u x u n e n e Qu a douceurs d Vin frais t t .

u e si n e Q Pluton , que rien tente , V o u l o it a se payer de r ison , Et permettre a mon Ombre errante De faire u n tour a ma Maison ; ’ ii sse Quelque prix que j eu p attendre , Ce s ero it m o n premier souhait

de De la louer ou la vendre , ’ ’ Pour l usage qu e l on en fait . 22 PAVANNE S

’ S tu d en t : There are states where a man s tobacco is m e o . s not safe fr invasion Bishops , novelist , decr pit and n a s o f aged ge er ls, purveyor tales of detectives R abelais : Have they ever in terfered with your pleas ures ? Stu den t : D amn well let them try it R ab elais : I am afraid y o u would have been burn ed n in my ce tury .

24 PAVANNE S

Is hearsay of any value ?

Of some . What is the greatest hearsay ?

The greatest hearsay is the tradition o f the gods . Of what u se i s this tradition ? t o It tells us be ready to look . In what manner do gods appear ? Formed and formlessly To what do they appear when formed ?

To the sense o f vision . And wh en formles s ? f To the sense o knowledge . May they when formed appear to anyth ing save th e sense o f vision ? We may gain a sense o f their presence as if they were standing behind us . And in this case they may possess form ?

o We may feel that they d possess form . Are there n am es f o r the gods ? Th e god s have many names . It is by names that they

‘ are handled in the tradition . Is there harm in using these names ? There is no harm in thinking o f the gods by their names . o n o d h is ? How should e perceive a g , by name

o r th It i s b etter to perceive a god by form , by e sen se

n e c n o f k owledg , and , after perceiving him thus , to o “ r it sider his name o t o think what god may be . Do we kn o w the number o f the gods ? m It would b e ras h to say that we do . A an sh ould be content with a reasonable number . What are the gods of this rit e ? n a Apollo , and in some sense Helios , Dia in some o f

a o h o . her ph ses , als the Cyt erean g ddess R ELIGIO 25

w s it o r To hat other god is ﬁtting, in harmony in ? adjunction with these rites , to give incense

K e t o t o o rei ads To or and Demeter , also to lares and an d to certain elemental creatures . How is it fitting to please these lares and other crea tures ? It is fitting to please and to nourish them with fl ow ers . Do they have need of such nutriment ?

b e t o It would foolish believe that they have , never th eless it bodes well for u s th at they should be pleas ed to appear . Are these things so in the East ?

This rite is made for the West . AUX E TUVE S DE WIE SBADEN

A D 1451 . .

Y entered b etween two r trees A ath o i rre THE ﬁ . p f g u lar l t n ta n t n r er f a p e go al s o es led alo ng b etween sh u bb y .

Halti n b th c en tr r n o rt n rr aller g y e al cou t i a s of a ow g y , th e lar e tank was b elow th em n d i n i t s om e thi rt o r g , a y

or t lon d n ereid s or th e m o rt e ll-m u l d wi th f y b e f st p a w sc e , — sm o o th flaxen h ai r an d sm o o th faces a gen eri c r es em bl n A l n der r wn n ch at t n en li t a c e . s e b o we s a o e d s lessl dabbli n r eet r t r n - b r Here y g h e f f o m h e sp i g o a d . th e water was d ee er p .

Th e rest o th em a ll i n l th e i n hi t e li n n f , b e g c o d w e shifts h e ld u p by on e s trap o ver th e sh ou lder an d reach — i n h al - wa to th e k n ees th e re t th em waded wai st g f y , s of

r t - n th h ll n th o l th i r and b eas d eep i e s a ower e d o f e p o , e shi ts b elli ed th e i r s rea u t ik h u e b o bbi n f u p by a , p d o l e g g c li r au ﬂowe s . Th e wh o le tank was su n k en b en eath th e level of th e

arden a aved and an elled i th m arble a rath er g s, nd p p w , h e r l To th e le t o th e li ttle aller wh ere c ap m a b e . f f g y , th r n r ha lt ed an am l e dowa er sat i n a er e s t a ge s h ad , p g p f ectly ci rcu lar tu b fo rm ed rath er lik e th e thi rd of an h o sh ad b hi nd h er a sm all h emi c cle o ew trees g e , e y f y th No rth Sh e l k k ep t off any chanc e draugh t from e . i e i hi hi te li n en On a lank b e or h er w se o r s t o w . e w e a f f p f , reachi ng fro m the left t o th e righ t side of h er t an k h o sh e d er a salver wi th a lar e i ec e o raw sm o k ed g a , w e g p f h am a ! ek s a tan k ard o darki sh b eer back , f ew le , f , a

r tch er th e h a - ni e s c a k . , m f AUX ETUVE S DE WIE SBADEN 27

B r th em rom s om e sh eds th ere arose a ai n t efo e , f , f

eam th o u n o ru n t and s u eals an d an aro m a o s t , e s d f g s q f

l rl b o di es F rom th e O osi te aller a wh i te e de y . p p g y b earded to wn - cou n ci llo r b egan to th row grap es to th e d n erei es .

L e Si eu r de Mau nsi er : They have closed these places

ﬂ a itii in Marseilles , causa g , they were thought to be bad f r r o o u morals . P o ggi o : And are your morals improved ?

M z r r au ns i er : n i cl ve b es se t . Nein , bin m Poggi o : And are the morals of Marseilles any better ?

M r k o f au nsi e : Not that I now . Assignations are

th e s s n e equally frequent ; a signors le s clea ly ; their h alth ,

th e . I presume , none better The Church has always

St . been dead set against washing . Clement of Alexan

ex e dria forbade all bathing by women . He made no c p

. as e tion Baptism and the l t oiling wer enough , to his

St . thinking . Augustine , more genial and human , took o f h a bath to console himself for the death his mot er .

e o n e I susp ct that it was a hot . Being clean is a pagan h t e . virtue , and no part of light from Judaca

Po i o : Sa R s gg y rather a oman , the Greek philosopher o f f died , for the most part , lice . Only the system o

empire , plus a dilettantism in luxuries , could have

h - brought mankind to t e wash tub . The christians have made dirt a matter of morals : a son o f God can have no need to b e cleansed ; a worm begotten in si n and fore doomed to eternal damn ation in a bottle o f the seven

e great stenches , would do ill to reﬁn his nostrils and

ﬁ Fo r un t himself for his future . the elect and the re

ect ed h o r — j alike , was ing is either noxious useless they

must be transcendent at all costs . The rest o f the world

b e e must lik them ; they therefore look after our morals . 28 PAVANNE S

h n o Yet this last term is wholly elastic . T ere is system

r n edlo k which has not been tried , wedlock o u w c , a breed

o n o n e o n s ing mare or many ; all with equal uccess , with w equal ﬂa s , crimes , and discomfort s . Mau nsi er : I have heard there Was n o adultery found S in parta . P o ggi o : There was no adultery among the L aced ae m o n i an s because they held all women in common A rumour o f Tro y had reached the ears o f Lycurgus : So Lycurgus thought also there were many foolish vain joys f and fancies, in the laws and orders o other nations , touching marriage : seeing they caused their bitches an d mares to b e lined and covered with the fairest dogs and goodliest stallions that might be gotten , praying and paying the maisters and owners o f th e same : and kept their wives notwithstanding shut up safe under

f o r lock and key , fear lest other than themselves might w e get them with child , although themselves er sickly, ” - l o d . feeble brained, extreme I think I quote rightly from Plutarch . The girls of Lacedaemon played naked

th e b e before young men , that their defects should rem i ed ed rather than hidden . A man ﬁrst went by stealth

an d f o r o f to his mistress , this a long space time ; thus

Fo r L learning address and silence . better breeding y cu rgu s would not have children th e property o f any on e n o f man , but sought only that they should be bor the ~ lustiest women , begotten of the most vigorous seed .

i r t Mau ns e : Christianity would put an end to all hat ,

lea: G erm ani ca yet I think there was some trace left in the , and some i n o u r Pro vencal lo ve custo ms ; for under the

m an sh e so as ﬁrst a woman kept whatever liked , long sh e fancied : the children being brought up by her broth t ers t co na i . , being a par of the female family, g The an d chivalric system is smothered with mysticism, is AUX E TUV E Su DE WIE SBADEN 29

e focussed all upon pleasur , but the habit of older folk

o f it s custom is at the base its freedoms , debates were

n o f o matters modus .

n These girls look very well in their shifts . They co o f found the precepts temperance .

P o i o : i h gg I have walked and r dden throug Europe , ann tin o . n an g, observing I am i terested in food d the animal .

was e Ro f o r There , befor I left me, a black woman sale

. o u t n in the market Her breasts stuck like great fu nels ,

e her shoulders wer rounded like basins , her biceps was

- e u e r o f that of a wheel wright ; thes pp r . po tions her, to sa o f ﬂ att en ed - in y nothing her face , were disgusting and hideous , but she had a belly like Venus , from below the breasts to the crotch sh e was like a spl endid Greek frag

- ment . Sh e came of a tropical meat eating tribe . I ob ser ve that gram en ivo ro u s an d fruit - eating races have

r s sh unken arms and shoulder , narrow backs and weakly distended stomachs . Much beer enlarges the girth in o ld an s age , at a time when the form in y ca e , might

o f n have ceas ed to give pleasure . The men this nubia tribe were n ot lovely ; they were shaped rather like al

: s th e monds the curious roundne s in front aspect , a grad

-in ual sloping toward the feet , a very great muscular

i o r power, a Silhouette not unl ke that of an egg, perhaps more like that o f a tadpole .

o - b e Civilized man grows m re frog like , his members come departmental .

M set o f au n si er : But ﬁxed . Man falls into a gamut Hi s nu types . s thought also . The informed and the

t h e are i n informed, clodhopper and the civilian equally a capable o f tru sting an unwonted appearance . L st week is I met an exception , and for that cause the matter now “ i n n m as o o my mi d, and I a , they say f rming c nclu 30 PAVANNE S

n . Th e sio s exception , an Englishman , had found a S parochial beauty in avoia, in the inn o f a mountain “ ” as n o town , a local character he called her . He could t

e sh e describe her features with any minut precision , but wore , he remembered , a dress tied up with innumerable

o f n o - small bits ribbon in long arr w bow knots, limp ,

- Sh hanging like grass blades caught in the middle . e f came in to him as a sort o exhibit . He kissed her hand .

Sh e s at h is by bedside and conversed with him pleasantly .

They were quite alone for some time . Nothing more h . i n appened From something in his manner, I am cli n ed t h o believe him . He was convinced that not ing more ever did happen . P i o gg o : Men have a curi ous d esire for uniformity .

e n Bawdry and r ligion are all o e before it .

Mau n si r e : They call it th e road to salvation . Poggi o : They r u in the shape of life for a dogmatic i s exterior . What dign ty have we over the beast , save r ! to be once , and to be i replaceable

- t an d n I myself am a rag bag, a mass of sigh s citatio s, w but I ill not beat down life for the sake o f a model . “ ” Mau nsi er : Would y ou be without an ideal ? P oggi o : Is beauty an ideal like the rest ? I co nfess

I see the need of n o other . When I read that from the breast o f the Princess Hellene there was cast a cup o f ” h e n o white gold , t sculptor ﬁnding better model ; and

n L n do s that this cup was long Show in the temple at y ,

a R o r which is in the isl nd of hodes ; when I read , as I i o f n o f think s the textual o rder, ﬁrst the cup and the h o o n its origin , t ere c mes up n me a discontent with huma “ n o th e o imperfection . I am longer left in sl ugh of the ” f ns c o r . se es, but am full of heroi life, the instant The s ap moun ts in the twigs of my being .

32 PAV ANNE S

n could b e as much a nuisan ce as any other establishme t . i o o Yet there must be a reputable normal . Tacitus s t h u s crabbed . The rhetoricians ruined t e empire . Let

n r go o to ou baths . L ’HOMME MOYEN SENSUEL 1

I hate a dumpy woman L B r n e r e o rdo n rd o . G o g G , o y

’ TI o f u s my co ntry that I would endite ,

s et s In hope t o some mi conceptions right . ? My country I love it well , and those good fellows ’ Wh o , since their wit s unknown , escape the gallows . But you stuff ed coats who ’ re neither tepid nor dis

t i n c l t y boreal ,

d ri Pimping , conceite , placid , edito al , ’ “ Could I but speak as twere in the R estoration

rd mn i I would articulate your p e a at o n . This year perforce I mus t with circumspection

Fo r M k enc en states somewhere , in this connection ” It is a moral nation we infest .

1 [No t e : It i s th ro ugh n o fault o f m y o wn th at th i s diver s i o n wa s n o t gi ven t o t h e r e ad er two ye ars ago ; b u t th e co m m erci al s ai i t wo n o t add t o t h e i r t ran s en en t o ari t an d th e d uld c d p pul y, vers -libre fan at i cs p o i n t e d o u t th at I h ad use d a fo rm o f t erm i n a l ’ o n s o n an e n o o n e r e rm i tt e an d m a m i rer s en ai e er c c l g p d, y d ( j ) , v o e si ro o f e re t i n m e i n t o a o rt o f n at i o na i n st i t t i o n n bly d us c g s l u , “ ” w n r i de clare d t h e wo rk un o rth y o f m y m o rdan t a d s e o u s gen i us . S O a o e o f t h e o ld en t em en ar e ea i n th e i n t e ri m a n d c up l g l d d , , a as two o f t h e reat m en m en t i o n e i n a s s i n an d th e r e a er l , g d p g, d wi h a e t o a e t t h e o u scu l u s f o r wh at i t i s s o m e rh m e s ll v cc p p , y “ wr w i h w i t h e i at i o n To t h e it t en i n 19 15 . I o uld g ve t em n o w d d c ‘ ’ An o n m o s Co m at ri o t Wh o ro e th e o em Fann So m e y u , p P duc d P y, wh e re Abo ut i f t h i s fo rm o f cen t en n i a l h o m age b e p er I w n m h i h wr i n i n Am eri m i tt ed m e . t as o s a t n t o a e tt e a ll g v , c , at th at i st an t at e a o em o f o er fo rt a e s wh i h o n e can d d , p v y p g c

i i h P . E . st ll read w t o ut labo ur . ] 33 PAVANNES

’ h an Despite suc reins d checks I ll do my best , An ! Yo u n n t art all respect the arts, from that i fa tick ’ n ow Th e Atlantic Who s the editor of , ’ ms t o n From Co tock s self, down the mea est resident , e Till up again , right up , we reach the pr sident, Who shows his taste in his ambass adors

n o l A ovelist , a publisher, to pay d scores, n A ovelist, a publisher and a preacher, ’ n That s se t to Holland , a most particular feature ,

n V an ou He ry Dyke , who thinks to charm the Muse y pack her in

o l u s en A sort f stinking di iq e c t saccharine .

o f Ou r 0 S The constitution land, ocrates , t o e Was made incubat such mediocrities , These and a taste in books that ’ s grown perennial

And antedates the Philadelphia centennial . ’ Still I d respect you more if y ou could bury an d Mabie , and Lyman Abbot George Woodberry, For minds s o wholly founded upon quotations

th e o f nf Are not best pulse for i ant nations .

Dulness herself, that abject spirit , chortles

To - t see your forty self baptized immor als , An d holds h er sides where swellin g laughter cracks ’ em f Before th e Ars Poetica o Hiram Maxim . All o n e can say o f this reﬁning medium “ Z u t ! Ci n u e Is q a banished gallic idiom, Their doddering ignorance is waxed so notable ’ as wi h Tis time that it w capped th somet ing quotable .

u ant o so crac Here Radway grew, the fr it of p y ,

The very fairest ﬂower of their gynocracy . R ? f o r adway My hero , it will be more inspiring L ’ HOMME MOYEN SENSUEL 35

If I s et forth a bawdy plot like Byron

Than if I treat the nation as a whole .

R w s ad ay grew up . The e forces shaped his soul ; ’ P rk h rst s G o d . a u These , and yet , and Dr god, the n N . Y . Jo u r al S (Which pays him more per week than The upernal) . f These and another godlet o that day, your day ’ Yo u e ( feed a hen on grease , perhaps sh ll lay The sterile egg that i s still eatable ” Proliﬁc. Noyes with output undefeatable ) . s R an d From the e he ( adway ) learnt, from provosts from editors unyielding S an d And innocent of tendhal , Flaubert , Maupassant

Fielding . ’ They set their mind ( it s still in that condi tion)

May we repeat ; the Centennial Exposition 1 876 ? At Philadelphia,

n . What it knew then , it k ows , and there it sticks “ ” “ And yet another , a charming man , sweet nature ,

but was Gilder,

De m o rt i er m ? a s v u , truly the master builder

m h m en o . Fr these he learnt Poe, Whitman , W istler, , their recognition W h ’ as got abroad, what better luck do you wis em, When writing well h as not yet been forgiven ’ In t o r Boston , Hen y James, the greatest whom we ve

s een living . And timorous love o f the innocuous ’ i an d n to Brought from Gt . Brita n dumped dow a p

f s o u , Till you may take your choice : to feel the edge o f satire or

e n r e h ﬂ atterer R ad Be nett o som ot er ﬂaccid . PAVANNE S

R ed co n Despite it all , despite your Bloods , febrile cup iscen ce ’ Wh ose blubbering yowls you take f o r passion s es

sence ;

Despite it all , your compound predilection

F o r it s ignorance , its growth and protection

e f (Vid the tarif ) , I will hang simple facts

t o Upon a tale , combat other facts , ” ’ a Message to Garcia , Mosher s propagand s ’ k c o lli c s s . That are the nation s botts , and glander ? Or from the feats of Sumner cull it Think , Could Freud or Jung unfathom such a sink ?

R w a My hero , ad ay, I h ve named , in truth Some forces among those whi ch “ form ed his youth

a h These he vy weights , these dodgers and these preac

ers , s Crusaders , lecturers and secret lecher , Wh “ ” o wrought about his soul their stale infection .

- n These are the high brows , add to this collectio

b u t s The social itch , the almost , all , not quite , fa ci

nating ,

n n Piqua te, delicious , luscious , captivati g

ff h th e n Pu ed satin , and silk stockings , w ere k ee “ ” Clings to the skirt in strict (vide : V ogu e ) pro

p ri ety .

u an d al l Three thousand chor s girls unkissed ,

0 n - e state sa s song, sans home grown win , sans real i st !

Tell me n o t in mournful wish- wash ’ ” Life s a sort o f sugared dish -wash ! R adway had read the various evening papers And yearned to imitate the Waldorf capers As held before him in that unsullied mirror L ’HOMME MOYEN SENSUEL 37

Th il e da . y press , and monthlies nine cents dearer They held the very marrow o f the ideals

That fed his spirit ; were his mental meals . ’ o f Also , he d read christian virtues in ’ E er b d Ma azi n That canting rag called v y o y s g e, And heard a clergy that tries o n more wheezes ’ Than e er were heard o f by Our Lord Ch . J “ ” So he faced life with rather mixed intentions , He had attended country Christian Ende avour Co n

ven ti o ns , Where o n e gets more chances l Than Spani sh ladies had in o d romances . ’ (Let him rebuke who ne er has kn own the pure Pla

tonic grapple ,

Or hugged two girls at once behind a chapel . ) Such practices diluted ru ral boredom

Though some approved of them , and some deplored ’ em . ’ Such was he when he got h is mother s letter An d would n o t think a thing that could upset her “ ” “ T - saw . o S Yet an ad night , THE HUD ON S AIL,

With forty queens , and music to regale The select company : beauties y ou all would know

a . So was o r By n me , if named it phrased , rather somewhat so

a ad . I h ve mislaid the , but note the touch ,

Note , reader, note the sentimental touch ’ His mother s birthday gift . ( How pitiful That only sentimen tal stuff will s ell !)

ir m s t i Yet Radway went . A c cu p ec ou s prig ! And then that woman like a guine a-pig ’ Accosted, that s the word , accosted him, PAVANNE S

h n m T ereo the amorous calor Slightly frosted hi .

n z e ( I bur , I free e , I sweat , said the fair Gr ek,

a o so . I spe k in contradicti ns, to Speak )

’ h is was h I ve told training, he never bas ful , ’ h is s And pocket by ma s aid , that night with cash full ,

n o f c The invitation had need o ﬁne aestheti , Nor did disgus t prove such a strong emetic ’ Maseﬁeld s vem i n n n e That we with , the ext se tenc ’ ” R ! ! h is ecord Odd s blood Ouch ! Ouch a prayer,

e an swift rep nt ce .

n o h n h o No , , t ey da ced . The music grew muc l uder

As h e n h e - i haled t still fumes o f rice powder . n t The there came other nights , came slow but cer ain “ An d were such nights that we sh ould draw the cur tain ” In writing ﬁction o n uncertain ch ances ” n Of publicatio Circumstances,

As th e o f Th n tu r In rm t editor e Ce y says p , ” Co mpel a cert ain silence and restraint . “ Still we will bri ng ou r ﬁction as n ear t o fact as

The Sunday school brings virtues in to practice .

S ou r n oon hero could manage o ce a week , hi n o Not that s pay had risen , and leak ’ h n e th e Was found in is employer s cash . He lear d f lay o cheaper places , An d then R adway began to go the paces

o f s A rosy path , a sort vernal ingres , An d Truth shoul d here be careful o f her th in dress

f h o r s n m Though males o seventy, w fear t uth aked har

s u , h Must think T ruth looks as t ey do in woo l pyj amas .

40 PAVANNE S

Lest it should fail to treat all men alike . “ : Oh ! And I can hear an old man saying , the rub

see r I them sitting in the Ha vard Club , ’ s so And rate em up at ju t much per head , K ’ now what they think, and just what books they ve

read , Till I have viewed straw hats and their habitual cloth ing

s . All the same style , ame cut , with perfect loathing

So R th e adway walked , quite like other men ,

- Out into the crepuscular half light , now and then ; Saw f what the city of ered, cast an eye ’ s Upon Manhattan gorgeous panoply, The ﬂood of lim bs upon Eighth Avenue 1 Bu da esth To beat Prague , p , Vienna or Moscow, Such animal invigorating carriage e As nothing can restrain or much disparag .

S n o t t o till he was given up brute enjoyment , u was An anxio s sentiment his employment , For memory o f the ﬁrst warm night still cast a haz e ’ o er

’ o f R 1 o f The mind adway , whene er he found a pa r purple stays o r Some other quaint reminder of th e occasion

That ﬁrst made him believe in immoral suasion .

o t ati o n i st A temperate man , a thin p , each day ff A silent hunter o the Great White Way, He read Th e Cen tu ry and thought it nice To be not too well known in haunts o f vice

s h e o n e h n z The prominen t haunt , w er mig t recog i e

him ,

And in his daily walks duly capsize him .

1 i n Pro n o un ce lik e respect able Russ a s : Mus s qu . L ’HOMME MOYEN SENSUEL 41

Thu s h e eschewed the bright red -walled c af es and ’ ” z e Was never o n e of whom one Spe ak s as b ra n d .

Some men will live as prudes in their o wn village And make the tour abroad for their wild tillage

k o n e I new a tourist agent , whose art is ’ He To run such t ours . calls em house par

ties . But Radway was a patriot whose venality f Was purer in its love o one locality ,

- o A home industrious worker t perfection , ri c A senato al j obber for prote tion ,

s o w E pecially on books , lest kn ledge break in Upon the national brains and set ’ em achin ’ ’ o u r o f ( Tis an anomaly in large land freedom , ’

Yo u . can not get cheap books , even if you need em) Radway was ignorant as an editor ! sa And . heavenly , holy gods I can t y more , w Though I kno one , a very base detractor “ Who h as the phrase As ignorant as an actor .

R : o n But turn to adway the ﬁrst night the river , “ Running so close to hell it sends a shiver ’ w Ro d h e aver s Do n y prophylactic spine , s o f Let me return to thi bold theme mine , R Of adway . O clap hand ye moralists ! ’ And meditate upon the Lord s conquests .

was When last I met him , he a pillar in An organization for the suppression of Sin ’ Not that he d changed his tastes , nor yet his habits , ’ S o r ( uch changes don t occur in men , rabbits) .

No t -l o f ti that he was a saint , nor was top c al a In spiritual spirations , but he found it proﬁtable , as F For Ben ranklin said , with such urbanity : i n . Nothing will pay thee , frie d , l ke Christianity 42 PAV ANNE S

An d in our day thus saith the Evangelist ’ re ach in Tent p is the kind that pays the best .

’ ’ Twas as a business asset p u r e an si mp le

That Radway joined the Baptist Broadway Temple .

I ﬁnd no moral for a peroration ,

He i s the prototype o f hal f the nation . P'IERROT S

From the French o f Jules Laforgue

( Scene courte mais typique)

YOUR eyes ! Since I lost their incandescence

F ibs lat calm engulphs my j ,

The shudder o f V ae s o li gurgles beneath my ribs .

m h f You should have s een e after t e af ray, I rushed about in the most agitated way

: o d G o d h e sa ? ! Crying My G , my , what will s y

’ nn ae h on My soul s ante are prey to suc perturbati s, Wounded by your indirectness in these Situations

f e And your bundle o mundan complications .

Your eyes put me up to it .

: s I thought Yes , divine, these eyes , but what exist ’ ’ Behind them ? What s there ? Her soul s an aff air

for oculists .

ae And I am sliced with loyal sthetics .

Hate tremolos and national frenetics .

ri e f h In b ef, violet is the ground ton o my p onetics .

I am n o t that chap there nor yet The Superb h h But my soul , the sort whic hars sounds disturb ,

d as . Is , at bottom, istinguished and fresh a March herb 43 PAVANNE S

’ - My nerves still register the sounds o f contra bass ,

ﬁ e in I can walk about without dg t g when people pass ,

- - Without smirking into a pocket looking glass .

o ff Yes , I have rubbed shoulders and knocked my chips

se Outside your t but having kept faith in your eyes ,

You might pardon such slips . ? Eh , make it up S oothings , confessions ; These new concessions

o f Hurl me into such a mass divergent impressions . STARK R EALISM

This Little Pig Went to Market

(A S earch f or th e Nati o n al Typ e )

was THIS little American went to Vienna . He said it ’ ” wn - Gawd s O e City . He knew all the bath houses

e . n and dance halls . He was there for a w ek He ever

it e forgot No , not even when he becam a Captain in the Great American Navy and Spent six months in

Samoa .

— - This little American went West to the Middle West , where he came from . He smoked cigars , for cigarettes e are illegal in Indiana, that land where Lew Wallac died , h o f that land o f t e literary tradition . He ate pie all

th e — o f sorts , and read daily papers especially those strong local interest . He despised European culture as an indiscriminate whole . t Peace o his ashes .

e n This littl American went to the great city Manhatta .

He made two dollars and a half per week . He saw the sheeny girls o n the East Side who lunch on two cents

as worth of bread and sausages , and dress with a ﬂ h on

o f h the remainder . He nearly died it . Then e got a i rise . He made ﬁfteen dollars per weeek sell ng i nsu r

- . e e e i ance He wore a monocl with a tortois sh ll r m . He 45 46 PAVANNE S

” i n Th e Row h as dressed up to Bond St . No lord

surpassed him .

He was a damn good fellow .

’ This little American went to Oxford . He rented Osc ar s

e . e o f lat rooms He talked about the natur the Beautiful .

San t an a He swam in the wake of y . He had a great cut

o f in glass bowl full lilies . He believed in S . His life

was immaculate . He was the last convert to catholicism .

This little American had always been adored—and quite H H e . n . Sil nt e was bashful . e rowed o his college crew

o He had a bright pink c mplexion . He was a dealer in

d ! bon s , but not really wicked . He would walk into a ’ “ man s office an d say Do you want any stock ? eh ’ s a eh I don t k now anything about it . They y ’ S it s all right . ome people like that sort of thing ; “ ” though it is not the ideal business man as you read ’

f . o him in Su ccess and in Mr . Lorimer s papers

This little Am eri can h ad rotten luck ; he was educated

His soundly and thoroughly educated . mother always

h e bought his underwear by the dozen , so that should

be thoroughly supplied . He went from bad to worse ,

and ended as a dishwasher ; always sober and indus

trion s ; he began as paymaster in a copper mine . He

made hollow tiles in Michigan .

His end was judicious .

This little American spoke through his nose because he

s had catarr h or consumption . His schola tic merits were A r m i R n u a c . obvious . He studied ouma ian and He

married a papal countess . h Peace to his as es .

ALEXANDER AND PHRINE

I E Yo u PHR N . could learn it from all the Thebans who

o ﬁ ered lived in my time . They will tell y o u that I to restore at my own expense the walls o f Thebes which th at th e as f o l you had ruined , provided \ y inscribe them

: lows Alexander the Great had cast d own these walls , t the cour ezan Phrine rebuilt them .

A lexan der so . Were you afraid that future ages would forget what profession you followed ? Ph ri n e o . I excelled in it , and all extra rdinary people ,

o f s whatever profes ion , have been mad about monuments

and inscriptions . A lexan d er R . . It is true that hodope preceded you The usufruct o f h er beauty enabled her to build a f a

m e mous pyra id still standing in Egypt , and I rememb r that when sh e was Speaking of it the other day to the shades o f certain French women who supposed them

selves well worth loving, they began to weep , saying that in th e country and ages wherein they had so recently n o t lived, pretty women could earn enough to build

pyramids .

’ Ph ri n e a R f o r . Yet I had the dvantage over hodope , by restoring th e Theban walls I brought myself into comparison with you who had been t h e greatest con qu erOr in th e world ; I made it apparent that my beauty

was enough t o repair the ravages caused by your valour . Y A l n d er . o u so exa . A new comparison were then proud o f your gallantries ? 50 FONTENE LL E

Ph ri n e ? V l . And y ou ere you so well content with having laid waste a good half o f the universe ? Had

e f th r there been but a Phrin in each o e u ined cities , there would remain no trace o f your ravages .

A lex n er a d . If I should ever live again I would wish

b e to an illustrious conqueror .

Ph i n r e. And I a lovable conqueress . Beauty has a

o natural right t command men , valour has nothing but

a right acquired by force . A beautiful woman is of all

an d countries , yet kings themselves even conquerors are

F o r u was not . better arg ment , your father Philip val i an t enough and you also ; neither of y o u could rouse the

wh o th e slightest fear in Demosthenes, during whole course o f his life did nothing but make violent speeches against you ; yet when another Phrine (for the name is a lucky name ) was about t o lose a case o f considerable t impor ance , her lawyer , having used his eloquence all

in vain , snatched aside the great veil which half covered

th e s e her , and judge who were ready to cond mn her,

put aside their intention at the sight of her beauties .

t o f o f The reputa ion your arms , having a great space

th e o n e years to accomplish obj ect , could not keep orator

th e o e quiet , yet a fair body corrupted wh l severe Areo

pagu s on the instant .

A lexan der i e . Though you have called another Phr n

a e a to your aid, I do not think you h v we kened the case f a o r Alexander . It would be a gre t pity if

Ph rin o u s a : e. I know what y are going to y Greece ,

s . Asia, Per ia , the Indes , they are a very ﬁne Shopful r t d However, if I cut away from your glo y all tha oes

n o e t belong to you ; if I giv your soldiers , your captains ,

is and even chance what due to them , do you think your loss would be slight ? But a fair woman shares the hon

n o o n e sh e o u r of her conquests with , owes nothing save ALEXANDER AND PHRINE 5 1

o f to herself . Believe me, the rank a pretty woman is

n no mean o e .

A l x nd er So o u . e a . y seem to have thought But do you think the rOl e is really all that you made it ?

Ph ri n e . . No . I will be perfectly frank with you I

r Ole o f o u exaggerated the a pretty woman , y strained over hard against yours . We both made too many con ff f . o r o quests Had I had but two three a airs gallantry , it would have been all quite in order, there would have been no thing to comp lain o f ; but to have had enough

aff s t o T e- such air rebuild the h ban wall was excessive , s r wholly exce sive . On the othe hand , had you but con ds quered Greece , and the neighbouring islan , and per

o f haps even part lesser Asia, and made a kingdom of

e them , nothing would hav been more intelligent nor in reason ; but always t o rush about without knowing

al whither, to take cities without knowing why, to act ways without any design , was a course that would not

- have pleased many right minded people .

A lex nd r - e s a a e . Let right minded p ople y what they like . If I had used my bravery and fortune as pru l den t . y as all that , I should scarcely ever be mentioned

Ph n s ri e. Nor I either, had I used my beauty o pru

n l if s de t . y But one wishe merely to make a commotion , o n e may b e better equipped than by possessing a charac ter full of reas on . DIDO AND STRATONICE

Di do t raton i ce . . S Alas , my poor , I am unhappy Yo u w so kno what my life was . I maintained precise e a ﬁdelity to my ﬁrst husband , that I burned myself aliv

Fo r to escape accepting another . all that I have not l escaped evi rumour . It has pleased a poet , a certain

ns s u as Virgil , to tra form o strict a pr de as I w into a ’ n young ﬂirt , charmed by a stra ger s nice face the ﬁrst h day s e sees him . My whole story turn ed upside down !

e i s a n The funeral pyr left me , I admit , but my re so is no more the fear of being forced into a second marriage ; I am supposed to be in despair lest the stranger abandon me .

Strat ni c e s e dan o . And the consequence might b most

erou s g . Very few women will care to immolate them

e selves for wifely ﬁd lity , if a poet , after their deaths , i s t b e sa . o left free to y what he likes of them But , per h n o aps , your Virgil was t so very far wrong ; perhaps he h as unravelled some intrigue o f your life which y o u Wh ? n ot had hoped to keep hidden . o knows I should care to take oath about your pyre . ’ Di was th n l do . If there e slightest likelihood i Virgi s h e suggestion , I should not mind being suspected ; but

ZE n eas e ri b e makes my lover , a man dead three c ntu es

fore I came into the world .

Strato n i ce sa . . There is something in what you y And yet you an d ZEn eas seem t o have been expressly 5 2 DIDO AND STRATONICE 53

t o made for each other . You were both forced leave your native countries ; you sought your fortunes with

n — h e w : stra gers a widower , you a wido all this is in har r mony . It is tru e you were born three hundred yea s after his death ; but Virgil s aw so man y good reasons for bringing y o u together that h e h as counted time for a triﬂe .

Di do Is ? n . that sensible Good heave s , are not three w t hundred years al ays hree hundred , can two people

a d ? meet n fall in love , despite such an obstacle

t n S rat i . e . o c Oh , Virgil was very clever in that As su r edl h e was o f w o y a man the orld , he wished to Sh w ’ that we must not judge other people s love aﬁ airs by

e o appearance , and that thos which Sh w least are often the truest .

Di a e do . I am not at all ple sed that h should attack

f r f my reputation o the sake o this pretty fable .

S trato n i c e h as o u o . But he not turned y int ridicule , h as he ? He has not ﬁlled your mouth with silliness ? Di d . o . Not in the least He has recited me his poem .

m e i s The whole part that concerns divine , almost to

. sa the slander itself In it I am beautiful , I y very ﬁne things about my ﬁctitious p as sion ; an d if Virgil had been obliged in the jEn eid to show me as a respectable

n Z-E woma , the neid would be greatly impoverished .

Strat n i c e f o . ou o ? Well , then , what do y complain They ascribe to y o u a romance which does not belong to you : what a misfortune ! And in recompense they ascribe to y ou a beauty an d wit which may not have been

yours either . Di ! do . A ﬁne consolation

S trato n i c e f . I am not su ﬁciently your intimate to be

h o w o u sure y will feel this , but most women , I think , would r ather that people spoke ill of their character 54 F ONTENELLE

r S than of their wit o their beauty . uch was my tem

a e h o f p rament . A paint r at t e court my husband , the

S a m e yri n king, was discontented with , and to avenge f himself he painted me in the arms o a soldier . He

z Showed the picture and ﬂed . My subj ects , ealous for

to my glory , wished burn the picture in public , but as I was painted admirably well and with a great deal o f beauty— altho—ugh the attitude was scarcely creditable to my virtue I forbade them the burning ; had the painter recalled , and pardoned him . If you will take

e do e . my advic , you will likewis with Virgil ’ D s i do . That would be all very well if a woman s ﬁr t m erit were to be beautiful o r t o b e full of wit .

n i S trato c e . I cannot decide about this thing you call

s in n the ﬁr t merit , but ordi ary life the ﬁrst question about a woman o n e does not know i s : Is sh e pretty ? The second : Is sh e intelligent ? People very rarely ask

a third question .

5 6 FONTENELLE

’ have disentangled o n e s soul from violent passions ; that

o we sh uld not aspire to things not dependent upon us , that we be rea dy always to take time as we ﬁnd it . In

t o o n e t short , begin with , mus arrange a number of little

ff s l a airs in oneself ; and although this need small dia ectic ,

all so s . it is , for that , not very ea y to manage But one may at smaller expense philosophize as you have phi l o so i z f p h ed . One need not cure oneself o either ambi tion o r avarice ; o n e h as an agreeable welcome at the

court o f Alexander the Great ; o n e draws half a million ’ n are crow s worth of presents , and they not all used in ’ physical experim ents though such was the donor s i n

tention , in a word , this sort of philosophy drags in

things rather Opposed to philosophy .

A ri Yo u sto tle . have heard much scandal about me

n down here , but , after all , man is man solely o account

o f is m en his reason , and nothing ﬁner than to teach h o w they ought t o u se it in studying nature and in u n

s veiling all these enigmas which she set before u s . A n acreon u That is how men destroy custom in all ! things Philosophy is , in itself, an admirable thing,

sh and might be very useful to men , but because e wou ld

ff ai incommode them if they employed her in daily a rs , or if She dwelt near them an d kept some rein o n their t passions , they have sen her to heaven to look after the planets and put a span o n their movements ; or if men walk o u t with her upon eart h it is t o have her scrutinize all that they see there ; they always ke ep her busy as

far as may be from themselves . However, as they wish t o be philosophers cheaply they have stretched the sen se f f o r o the term , and they give it now the most part

to such as seek natural causes . t A ri sto le . What more ﬁtting name could one give

them . ANAC‘RE ON AND ARISTOTLE 5 7

A creo n n na . A p hilosopher is concer ed only with men

b n o h and y means wit the rest of the universe . An astronomer considers the stars , a physicist nature , a philosopher considers himself . But who would choose

r Ole o n s o ? dl this last hard a condition Alas , har y any

n e So we o n o . do not insist philosophers being phi l o so h ers o r p , we are content to ﬁnd them physicists

F r . o astronomers myself, I was by no means inclined to speculation , but I am sure that there is less phi l o s0 p h y in a great many books which pretend to treat o f an th esa o u so it , th in some of little songs which y

in o n e greatly despise , this , for example

Would gold prolong ‘ my life I ’ d have no other care

Than gathering gold , And when death came ’ I d pay th e same

To rid me of his presence , But since harsh fate Permits not this

i s n o And gold more needful , Love an d good cheer Shall share my care

Ah— ah—ah—ah

Shal l share

My care .

A ri st tle o . If you wish to limit philosophy to the questions o f ethics y o u will ﬁnd things in my moral work s wo rth quite as much as your vers es : the obscurity for which I am blamed , and which is present perhaps

s o f i s in certain part my work , not to be found in what

o n e o n e h as I have said this subj ect , and ev ry admitted 5 8 FONTENELLE that there is n othing in them more clear o r mo re beau

n f ns tiful tha what I have said o the passio .

A n acr n ! n o eo . What an error It is t a matter of de

n th e r u as e ﬁ ing passions by le, I hear you hav done , but o f keeping them under . Men give philosophy their trou

s n o t n ble to contemplate to cure , and they have fou d a method o f morals which touches them almost as little as ’ o n e s does astronomy . Can hold in one laughter at the o f sight of people who preach the contempt riches , for money ; and o f chicken- heart ed wastrels brought ev en to ﬁsti cu ff s over a deﬁnition o f the magn an imous ? HOMER AND ZE SOP

H r o u o m e . These fables which y have just told me

Yo u cannot be too greatly admired . must have needed great art to disguise th e most important moral instru o tion in little stories like and to hide your thoughts

n m in metaphor s o precise a d fa iliar .

’ Al s o s p . It is very plea ant to be praised for such art s o by you who understood it deeply .

H m r Me ? e o e . I never attempt d it . Al s o . o u p What , did y not intend to conceal profound arcana in your great poems ?

Ho m er t r . . Unfor unately, it never occur ed to me

l At s o al l so p . But in my time the connoisseurs said ; there was nothing in the Ili ad o r in the Ody ss ey to which

n o t e they did giv the prettiest allegorical meanings . They claim ed that all the secrets o f theology an d o f physics , of ethics , and even of mathematics were wound fﬁ into what you had written . Assuredly there was di culty in getting them unwrapped : where o n e found a

n o n moral se se, another hit a physical , but in the end they agreed that y o u had known everything and that

o u o n e y had said everything, if only could well under stand it .

Hom er e . Lying asid , I suspected that people would be fou nd t o understan d subtleties where I had intended

an none . There is nothing like prophesying far dist t mat ters and waiting the event , or like telling fables an d

awaiting the allegory . 60 FONTENELLE

Al s Yo u op . must have been very daring to leave your readers t o put the allegories into your poems ! Where would you have been had they taken them in a ﬂat literal sens e ?

Ho m r ! e . If they had It would have incommoded me a little . E Th s o . ! e p What gods mangling each other , thun dering Zeus in an assembly of divinities threatens Hera ,

e Di o the august , with a pummelling ; Mars , wound d by

as o u med , howls , y say , like nine or ten thousand men , and acts like none ( f o r instead o f teari ng the Greeks

as t o . under, he amuses himself complaining Zeus of his

n ? wound ) , would all this have bee good without allegory

Ho m er ? Yo u th e . Why not think human mind

: e in seeks only th e truth undec ive yourself . Human t elli en e h as h ou g c great sympathy wit the false . If y

u intend telling the tr th , you do excellently well to veil

o u e e o u it in fables , y render it far mor bearabl . If y wish t o tell fables they will ple as e well enough without h containing any trut whatsoever . Truth must borrow

o f the face falsehood to win good reception in the mind ,

l e e but the fa s goes in quit well with its own face , for it so s its e enter birthplace and its habitual dw lling , the

n t ell truth comes there as a stra ger . I will you much

: e s more if I had killed mys lf imagining allegorical fable , it might well have happened that most folk would have h found t e fables too probable , and so dispensed with the

as o f o n e o u allegory ; a matter fact , and which y ought as i to know , my gods , such they are , without myster es ,

have n o t been considered ridiculous .

‘ At Yo u e m e sop . shak , I am terribly afraid that peo ple will believe that beas ts really talked as they do in

my fables . HOMER AND ZE SOP 6 1

H m er ! o . A not disagreeable fear

’ Al o ! s p . What if people believe that the gods held

a such conversations as you h ve ascribed to them , why ’ shoul dn t they believe that animals talked as I make them ? ff Ho m er . . That is di erent Men would like to think

h e the gods as foolish as themselves , but never t beasts as wise . SOCRATE S AND MONTAIGNE

M t i n e S ? o n a . g e Is it really you , divin ocrates How glad I am o f this meeting ! I am quite newly come to

n d this country , a I have been seeking you ever since my F arrival . inally , after having ﬁlled my book with your name and your praises , I can talk with you , and learn 1 s n ai e how you po sessed that so ve virtu , whereof the 1 ll re so as a u s were natural , and which w without parallel in even your happy age .

o r t e am se e S c a s . I very glad to a ghost who appears to have been a philosopher ; but since y o u are n ewly de scended , and seeing that it is a long time since I have

an m e met y one here (for they leave pretty much alone , and there is no great crowding to investigate my con H o u . w versation ) , let me ask y for news o goes the world ? Has it n o t altered ? M o n tai n e . g . Immensely You would not know it . l o r t am . a s c h S c a es . I delighted I way suspe ted t at it would have to become better an d wiser than I had found it in my time .

Mon tai n e h o u ? i s an d g . W at do y mean It madder th more corrupt than ever before . That is e change I

o f was wishing to Speak , and I expected you to tell me o f an age as you had seen it , an age ruled by justice and probity .

o rates S c . And I on the other hand was expecting to

1 m M i n Te r e s d e o nt a g e . 6 2

64 FONTENELLE

o f ﬁnd the ﬁrm and vigorous souls of antiquity, Aris f o i s o r o f S e . tides , Phocion , of Per cle , , indeed , ocrat s

S o crat es ? h sh e . Why not Is nature exhausted t at should have no longer the power o f producing great souls ? And why should she be exhausted o f nothing save rea sonable men ? Not o n e o f her works has de generated ; why should there be nothing save mankind which degenerates ? M ’ n t i n e : s . o a g . It s ﬂat fact man degenerate It seems that in o ld time nature showed us certain great patterns o f men in order to persuade us that sh e could have made

sh e an d sh e more had wished , that had been negligent making the rest .

t n S o cra es . o e Be on your guard in thing . Antiquity

e it s : is very p culiar, it is the sole thing of species dis tance enlarges it . Had you known Aristides , Phocion , h Pericles and me , since you wis to add me to the num

o u a f ber , y would h ve found men o your time to resemble W us . e are predisposed to antiquity becau se we dis

o wn like our age , thus antiquity proﬁts . Man elevates

o f ld s the men o time in order to abase his contemporarie .

o u r When we lived we overestimated forebears , and now o u r s u s posterity esteem more than our due , and quite rightly . I think the world would be very tedious if on e w s a th e a . it with perfect precision , for it is always s me

Mo n tai n e was g . I should have thought that it all in ff movement , that everything changed ; that di erent ages

ff S n had di erent characteristics , like men . urely o e sees learned ages , and ignorant , simple ages and ages greatly

e ? On e r ﬁned sees ages serious , and triﬂing ages , ages ? polite , ages boorish

S o crat . es . True

Mo n t i n e a g . Why then are not some ages mo re vir tu ou s ? , others more evil SO CRATE S AND MONTAIGNE 65

S o crates o . . That d es not follow Clothes change , but that does not mean a change in the shape of the body

s w Politeness or gros ness , kno ledge or ignorance , a higher

or lower degree of simp licity , a spirit serious or o f

o f roguery , these are but the outside a man , all this

th e n o t changes , but heart does change , and man is all

i s n t . o e in the hear One ignorant in age , but a fashion ’ o f o n knowledge may come , one is anxious for one s w advantage but a fashion f o r being unselﬁsh will not l come t o rep ac e this . Out of the prodigious number o f

unreasonable men born in each era, nature makes two or

sh e tS three dozen with reason , mus catter them wide over

the earth , and you can well guess that there are never enough o f them found in one spot to set up a fashion of

e virtu and rightness .

M n i n o ta g e . But is this scattering evenly done ? S ome ages might fare better than others .

S o crates . At most an imperceptible inequality . The general order of nature would seem to be rather con

stant . CHARLE S V AND ERASMUS

E m are ras u s . Be in no uncertainty , if there ranks

ou e . among the dead , I Shall not cede y precedenc

h rl ! C a es . A grammarian A mere savant , or to push

s o f r your claim to extremes, a man wit , who would car y it o ff over a prince who has been master o f the best half o f Europe !

E rasm u s s . Add also America , and I am not the lea t

r more ala med . Your greatness was a mere conglomera

o f o n e it s s tion chances, as , who should sort out all part , F would make you see clearly . If your grandfather erdi

o f w nand had been a man his word , you ould have had n ext to nothing in Italy ; if other princes had had sense enough to believe in antipodes , Columbus would not have come to him , and America would not have been beneath

mi e h o f t o f your do nion ; if, after the d at the las Duke

h is Burgundy , Louis XI had well considered actions , the heiress of Burgundy would n o t have married Maxi

n th e milia , or Low Countries descended to you ; if Henry o f o f Castile , the brother your grandmother Isabel , had

e o r h is not had a bad nam among women , if wife had ’ o f n been an u suspectable virtue , Henry s daughter would have p assed f o r his daughter and the kingdom o f u Castile have escaped y o .

h Yo u rm . C arles . ala me At this late hour I am to

s o r o r o n e lose Ca tile , the Low Lands , America, or Italy, o r th e other . CHARLE S V AND ERASMUS 67

E ras u . m s . You need not laugh There could not

ns o n e o r have been a little good se e in place , a little i good faith in another with out t s costing you dearly . — ’ There was nothing to your great - uncle s impotence ; — to the inconstan cy o f your great - aunt that y o u could

Ho have done without . w delicate is that ediﬁce whose f foundation is such a collection o hazards .

Ch arl es . There is no way of bearing so strict an ex

o u amination as yours . I confess that y sweep away all my greatnes s and all my titles .

E r s e a o u a m u s . They wer the dornments whereof y

a . boasted , and I h ve swept them away without trouble Do y ou remember having heard said that the Athenian

o f Cimon , having taken prisoner a great number Per n sia s , put up their clothing and their naked bodies for

an e i sale , d s inc the clothes were greatly magn ﬁcent there

h o n e was great concourse to buy t em , but no would bid ? F i f s for the men aith, I th nk what be ell the Per ians would happen to a good number o f others if o n e de t ach ed their personal merit from that which fort une h as given them .

Ch arles ? . What is personal merit

E rasm u s o n e ? . Need ask that Everything that is in

o u r us , mind , for example , our knowledge .

Ch arl A nd an n e o f es . c o reasonably boast these things ? E m f ras us . n o t s o . Certainly These are gift chance hi like gh birth and riches . h Y C a rles . r o u su prise m e . Does not knowledge come to the savant as wealth comes to most who have it ? Is it not by way of inh eritance ? Yo u receive from

e a the ancients, as we receive from our fath rs . If we h ve

o u been left all we possess , you have been left all that y

o n h know, and this account many sc olars regard what 6 8 F ONTENELLE they have from the an cients with such respect as certain men show their ancestral lands and houses , wherein they

a t would hate to h ve any hing changed . ’ E rasm us f r . The great are born heirs o their fathe s

o o f greatness , but the learned are not b rn inheritors

K n r e the ancient learning . nowledge is o t an entail c eived n e s , it is an wholly w acquisition made by per onal

f o r s f ef ort , if it is an entail it is o di ﬁcult to receive as to be worthy of honour .

h r a l . Se t o f C es . Very well the trouble acquiring mental possessions against that of preserving the goods o f i ar e tt fortune , the two th ngs quite equal ; for if di i cul as ty is all that you prize , there is much in worldl y ’ ff s a airs as in the philosopher study .

E r m set o u r as u s . Then knowledge aside and conﬁne

n o selves to the mind , that at least does t depend upon fortune .

rl s n o t ? o f Ch a e . Does depend The mind consists a

o f s in certain formation cerebrum , is there les luck being born with a respectable cerebr u m than being born so n to a king ? Y o u were a man o f great genius ; but ask ’ all the philosophers why y o u weren t stupid and log

t o n e headed ; it depended on nex to nothing, a mer dis position o f fibres so fine that the most delicate Operation n i o f anatomy cannot find it . And after k ow ng all this , the fine wits still dare to tell us that they alone are free

o f s from the dominion chance , and think themselve at f libert y to despise the rest o mankind .

E r m t o b e as u s . You argue that it is as creditable rich ﬁ as to Show n e intelligence .

e l Ch arl es . To hav ﬁne inte ligence is merely a luckier

chance , but chance it all is at the bottom .

E r m s ? as u . You mean that all is chance

Ch arles . Yes , provided we give that name to an order CHARLES V AND ERASMUS 69

we do not understand . I leave you to decide whether

I have not plucked men clean er than you have ; you merely strip from them certain advantages of birth , I take even those of their understanding . If before being vain o f a thing they should try to assure themselves that it really belonged to them , there would be little vanity left in the world . AGNE S SOREL— ROXE LANE

’ A n es o u u g . To tell y the tr th , I don t understand your Turkish gallantry . The beauties of the seraglio

e h a hav a lover who s only to say : I want it . They never

o f nn enjoy the pleasures resistance, and they ca ot pro vide the pleasures of victory , all the delights of love are thus lost to sultans and sultanas .

R o x l n ? e a e . How would you arrange it The Turk i sh emperors being extremely j ealous of their authori ty

s et o f have aside these reﬁnements dalliance . They are afraid that pretty women , not wholly dependent upon w them , would usurp too great a s ay over their minds , o ff and meddle t o greatly in public a airs .

A n es ! g . Very well How do they know whether that

? h as o f s would be a misfortune Love a number use , and I who speak to you , had I not been mistress to a

F n K an d n o t re ch ing , if I had had great power over him , F I do not know where rance would be at this hour . Have you heard tell how desperate were o u r affairs under Charles VII ; to what state the kingdom was r e du ced o f th e o f , with the English masters nearly whole it ?

R l n aﬁ ai r o xe a e . Yes , as the made a great stir, I know F that a certain virgin saved rance . And you were then ? o u this girl , La Pucelle But how in that case were y ’ at th e same time the king s mistress ? 70

72 FONTENELLE

was got by prayer and close cl o is tratio n o f pious ” 1 r eremite o devout nun .

' o sa R oxel an e ? What d you y to it , Will you confess

an e o u n o t that if I had been a sult a lik y , and had I th e ri did had ght to threaten Charles VII as I , he would have lost his all ?

R o xel n a e . I am surprised that y o u should be so vain o f s o Y f slight an action . o u had no di ﬁculty in gaining

o f great power over the mind your lover, you who were

m e su b free and istress of yourself, but I , slav as I was , Y . o u al jugated the sultan made Charles VII king, in o f f most Spite himsel , but I made Soliman my hus is band despite h position .

A n es ! sa th e n g . What They y sulta s never marry . l R oxelan e . e o I agree , and sti l I mad up my mind t

So n o hi m marry liman , although I could t lead into mar ri a e h O e o f s g by the p anything he did not already posse s .

c n You Shall hear a ﬁner s heme than your o w . I began d an o f . to build temples , to do many deeds piety Then

ul as I appeared very sorrowf . The sultan ked me the

as th e re on over and over again , and after necessary pre lim in ari es an d t n croche s , I told him that I was mela ch o l m o u r y because my good deeds , as I heard fro learned

n men , would bri g me no reward, seeing that I was merely f S e an d nl o r S s . a slav , worked o y oliman , my ma ter oli man thereupon freed me , in order that I might reap the reward of my virtuous actions , then when he wished to cohabit with me an d to treat me like a bride o f the

se . harem , I appeared greatly surpri d I told him with great gravity that he had no rights over the body o f a

S : free woman . oliman had a delicate conscience he went to con sult a doctor o f laws with whom I had a certain

1 Franco i s Prem i er . AGNE S SOREL—ROXELANE 73

was o agreement . His reply that the sultan Sh uld ab

as an d t stain , I was no longer his slave , tha unless he

u h i s espo sed me , he could not rightly take me for . He fell deeper in love than ever . He had only one course was x to follow, but it a very e traordinary course , and

o f it s o even dangerous , because novelty ; however, he to k

r it an d ma ried me .

A n g es . I confess that it is ﬁne to subject those who ’ stand s o on their guard gainst o u r empery .

R l Men f o x n e . o e a strive in vain , when we lay hold them by their passions we lead them whither we will .

If they would let me live again , and give me the most

s imperiou man in the world, I would make of him what

o f o f ever I chose , provided only that I had wit much ,

fﬁ o f . beauty su cient , and love only a little BRUTUS AND FAUSTINA

B r t ! IS u u s . What it possible that you took pleas ure in your thousand i n ﬁdeliti es to the Emperor Marcus

ff n Aurelius , the most a able husba d , and without doubt the best man in Roman dominions ?

F ti n o s ss au s . And is it pos ible that you assa inated

ae s o ? Julius C sar, that mild and moderate emperor

B r t u u s . I wished to terrify all usurpers by the ex

o f a h ample C esar, w ose very mildness and moderation f were no guarantee o security .

F a s ti n o u u a . And if I should tell y that I wished to

e an so terrify lik wise all husb ds , that no man should dare f to be a husband after the example I made o Aurelius , whose indulgence was s o ill requited ?

B ru t ! u s . A ﬁne scheme We must , however, have husbands o r who would govern th e women ? But Rome

t o a had no need be governed by C esar .

F t n o u ? R h ad au s i o . Who told y that ome begun to have madcap crochets as humorous and fantastical as ’ those which are laid to most women s credit , She could n o sh e was longer dispense with a master, and yet ill

n f al plea sed to ﬁnd o e . Women are o the identic char

t o o e al acter , and we may equally agree that men are j

e a ous of their domination , they exercis it in marri ge and that is a great beginning , but they wish to extend as k it to love . When they that a mistress be faithful , s by faithful they mean submis ive . The rule should be 74 BRUTUS AND FAUSTINA 75

equally shared between lover and mistress , however it

“ w S o n e s al ays hifts to side or the other, almo t always to f that o th e lover .

B r t Yo s s u . u u . are in a strange revolt again t men

F i n R R au s t o . I am a oman , and I have a oman feel ing for liberty . B R r tu s . u The world is quite full of such omans , but

R o f omans my type are, you will confess , much more rare .

F i n i s au st o . It a very good thing that they are . I do n o t think that any honest man would behave as you f o r ass e t o . did , ass inat his bene ac r

B r t s u u s . I think there are equally few hone t women who would have copied your conduct , as for mine , you must admit it showed ﬁrmness . It needed a deal of ’ courage n o t t o be aff ected by Caesar s feeling of friend

F o u s au sti na . Do y think it needed les vigour to hold o u t against the gentleness and patience o f Marcus Aure lius ? He looked on all my i n ﬁdel iti es with indifference ;

n o t he would do me honour by j ealousy , he took away

o f was eu from me the joys deceiving him . I so greatly

at . raged it , that I sometimes wished to turn p ious How

t o a ever, I did not sink that we kness, and after my death s even , did not Marcus Aureliu do me the despite of

o f o f building me temples , giving me priests , and setting up in my honour what is cal led th e F aus tin i an festival ?

Would it not drive one. to fury ? To have given me a — gorgeous apotheosis ! t o have exalted me as a goddess ! B t ru u s . s n I confes I o longer understand women . h These are the oddest complaints in t e world .

F au s ti n e a o . Would you not rather hav plotted gainst Sylla than Caesar ? Sylla would have stirred your in n f dignatio and hate by his excess o cruelty . I should 76 FONTENELLE

o m an greatly have preferred to ho dwink a j ealous , even

a o f we . C esar, for example , whom are speaking He had

e insupportabl vanity , he wished to have the empire of

s e h i s t o an d the world all to him lf, and wife all himself, because h e s aw Clo diu s sharing one an d Pompey the l i C o d u s . other, he could bear neither Pompey nor I should have been happy with Cae sar !

B r t t o u t o h u u s . One momen and y wish do away wit h all husbands , in the next you sig for the worst .

F au s ti n o i n . I could wish there were none order that

are women might ever be free , but if there to be hus

s th e m e band , most crabbed would please most , for the

sheer pleasure o f gaining my liberty .

B r t f o r en u u s . I think wom of your temperament it

n is much better that there should be husba ds . The more

n e kee the d sire for liberty, the more malignity there is

in it . HELEN AND FULVIA

H len o f h Au e . I must hear your side a story whic m F e t . gustus told a lit le while ago Is it true , ulvia,

o n that you looked him with some favour, but that , when

o e he did not respond , y u stirr d up your husband , Mark

a ? Antony , to m ke war upon him

F u lvi a a . Very true , my dear Helen , and now th t we are all ghosts there c an be no harm in confessing it .

M wa i h eri a ark Antony s daft over the comedienne C t d , I would have been glad to avenge myself by a love affair with Augustus ; bu t Augustus was fussy about h is mis ff tresses , he found me neither young enough nor su i c i en tl y pretty, and though I showed him quite clearly that he was undertaking a civil war through default o f h im a few attentions to me , it was impossible to make

e . o o u agreeabl I will even recite to y u , if y like , some h f verses whic he made o the matter, although they are not the leas t complimentary

B i t h e Gla h i r ecaus e Mark A n to ny i s c h arm ed w h t p a, [It was by that name that he called Cith erida ] F l i es u vi a wan ts to b r eak m e w th h er ey ,

Her A n ton i s ai th less wh at ? Wh o cri es y f , ’ M k h er A u u s tu s a s ar s debts o r h e m u s t ear . g p y , f

Mu st I Au tu c om e h en F u lvi a calls , gu s s , w Merely b ecau s e s h e wan ts m e ? ’ A th a r te I h ave o n m b ack t t a , d y 77 F ONTENELLE

A th n t e o u sand wives u sa i sﬁ d . L m h t Th e ates declare ove e s h r . , e say s, o ﬁg f

S h e i s to o u l L et th e tru m ets blare . g y . p

H l n Y e e . ou and I , then , between us have caused the two greatest wars on record ?

F u l i a ff : v . With this di erence you caused the Troj an

War by your beauty , I that of Antony and Augustus by the defect of that quality .

Helen . But still you have an advantage , your war was much more enjoyable . My husband avenged him f o r i self an insult done him by loving me , which s quite

m an common , yours avenged himself because a certain had not loved you , and this is not ordinary at all . F l i ’ u v a . Yes , but Antony didn t know that he was

o n n making his war my account , while Menelaus k ew

e o n quit well that his was your account . That is what

n e an F r no o c pardon him . o Menelaus with all the Greeks behind him besieged Troy f o r ten years t o tear ’ y o u from Paris arms yet if Paris had insisted on giving M o f you up , would not enelaus , instead all this , have had to s tand ten years siege in Sparta to keep from taking you back ? Frank ly I think your Troj an s an d

o f n Greeks deﬁcient in humour, half them silly to wa t

o u . y returned , the other half still more silly to keep you Why should so many honest folk be immolated to the pleasures o f one young man who was ignorant o f what he was doing ? I cannot help smiling at that pas sage in Homer where after nine years of war wherein o n e s s had just lost so many people , he a semble a council ’ su r before Priam s palace . Antenor thinks they should render you , I should have thought there was scant cause o n e d n ot for hesitation , save that might have regrette i H h aving thought o f th is exped ent long before . ow

SENE CA AND SCARR ON

Y S en eca . o u ﬁll full my cup of j oy , telling me that the stoics endure to this day and that in these latter ages

o u y professedly held their doctrin e .

S carron . o f an I was , without vanity , more a stoic th

o u o r was y were , than Chrysippus , or Zeno , your founder .

Yo u were all in a position to philosophize at your e ase .

You yourself had immense possessions . The rest were

o f x either men property or endowed with e cellent health , o r at least they had all their limbs . They cam e and went i n n f was the ordinary man er o men . But I the shuttle o f - c im ill fortune ; misshapen , in a form scar ely human ,

o n e ff mobile , bound to spot like a tree , I su ered contin u all o e mi y , and I sh wed that thes evils are li ted by the f body but can never reach the soul o a sage . Grief suff ered always th e shame of not being able to enter my house save by a restricted number of doors .

S en ec . a . I am delighted to hear you Speak thus By your words alone I recognize you for a great stoic . ’ Were you not your age s admiration ?

n was n o t ff S carr o . . I was I content to su er my pangs di . St ea with patience , I insulted them by my mockery

in ness would have honoured another, but I atta ed gaiety .

n e ! Yo u S e ca . O stoic wisdom are , then , no chimera ,

! Y o u i n as is the common opinion are , truth , among

n o men , and here is a wise man whom you have made less

si r happy than Zeus . Come , , I must lead you to Zeno 80 SENE CA AND SCARR ON 81 and the r e st of o u r stoics ; I want them to see the fru it of their admirable les sons to mankind . " rr n S ca o . You will greatly oblige me by introducing me to such illustrious shades .

n w o u ? S e eca . By hat name must they know y

rr S . S ca o n . carron is the name

S en ca Sc ? i s e . arron The name known to me . Have

n o t e o f I heard several moderns , who are her , speak y o u ?

S carr n . o . Possibly

n e o u n o t S e ca . Did y write a great mass of humorous an d ridiculous verses ?

S carro n o f . Yes “ I even invented a sort poetry which they call the burlesque . It goes the limit in mer riment .

n o u ? S e eca . But y were not then a philosopher

S c arron ? . Why not ’ S en ec a s . It is not a stoic business to write ludicrous

n - books a d to try to be mirth provoking .

c rr n ! S a o . Oh I see that you do not understand the perfections of humour . All wisdom is in it . One can draw ridicule o u t of anything ; I could even get it o u t o f k your boo s , if I wished to , and without any trouble

: at all yet all things will not give birth to the serious, and I defy y o u to put my works to any purpose save

that for which they were made . Would not this tend

al l s to Show that mirth rules over thing , and that the ’ world s aff airs are n o t made for serious treatment ? I

“ ’ ' Al n ei d have turned your Virgil s sacred into burlesque , and there is n o better way to sh ow that the magniﬁcent

and the ludicrous are near neighbours , with hardly a

t ou r e fence between them . All things are like these s d fo rc e o f perspective where a number of separate faces m om make , for exa ple, an emperor if viewed fr a par 82 F ONTENELLE ti cu l ar an gle ; change the view- point and the ﬁgure ’ formed is a scoundrel s .

S en eca . I am sorry that people did not understand that your frivolous verses were made to induce such pro found reﬂections . Men would have respected you more than they did had they known y o u f o r so great a phi lo so p h er ; but it was imposs ible to guess this from the

o u e plays y gav to the public .

c rr S a o n . If I had written fat books to prove that poverty and sickness should have no eff ect on the gaiety o f o f the sage , they would have been perhaps worthy a stoic ?

S en eca . Most assuredly .

carro n h w S . And I wrote heaven knows o many books m which prove that in spite of poverty, in spite of inﬁr

s s e o f ? ity, I was pos es d this gaiety ; is not this better Your treatises upon morals are but Speculations o n wis dom , my verses a continual practice .

S en eca as o f . Your pretended wisdom w not a result

s o f your rea on , but merely temperament .

S r n Th o f ca ro e . . best sort wisdom in the world

S en eca e i . Th y are droll wiseacres ndeed who are tem

r m n l Is r p e a e t a ly wise . it the least to thei credit that they are n o t stark raving ? The happiness of being vir

n tuo s may come sometimes from nature , but the merit o f being wise c an never come but from reason .

rr n S ca o . People scarcely pay any attention to what l you ca l a merit , for if we see that some man has a virtue ,

o u and we can make t that it is not his by nature , we rate it at next to nothing . It would seem , however, that s being acquired by o much trouble , we should the more

: n o f e esteem it o matter, it is a mere result the r ason and inspires no conﬁdence .

en eca S o n S . One hould rely even less the inequality SENE CA AND SCARR ON 83

wh o o f temperament in your wise men , are wise only i as their blood pleas es . One must know how the inter ors o f their bodies are disposed ere o n e can gauge the reach I b o f their virtue . s it not incompara ly ﬁner to be led o f only by reas on ; to make oneself independent nature , so that one need fear no surprises ?

rr n S ca o . That were better if it were possible ; but on unfortunately , Nature keeps perpetual guard her

i n . o e rights Her r ghts are initial movements , and no c an wrest them from her . Men are often well under

as Or a wak en e d way ere re on is warned , and when She is ready to act she ﬁnds things in great disorder, and it is ,

sh e . even then , doubtful if can do aught to help matters

s No , I am by no means surprised to see o many folk resting but incomplete faith upon reason .

n e S e ca . Hers alone is the government of men and the f ruling o all this universe .

S c arr n sh e o . Yet seldom manages to maintain her authority . I have heard that some hundred years after your death a platonic philosopher ask ed the reigning emperor for a little town in Calabri a . It was wholly ruined . He wished to rebuild it and to police it accord ’ R e bli c ing to the rules of Plato s p u , and to rename it

Pl o n li th e at o p o s . But emperor refused the philosopher, ’ having so little trust in divine Plato s re ason that he

- was unwilling to risk to it the rule o f a dump heap .

You see thereby h o w R eason has ruined her credit . If

h e s were in any way estimable , men would be the only creatures who could esteem her, and men do not esteem l her at a l . S R R R T ATO , APHAEL OF U BINO

S trat n o t t o o . I did expect that the advice I gave

ff i n th e W my slave would have such happy e ects , yet orld above it saved me my life and my kingdom altogether,

e h as f and her it won me the admiration o all the sages . R h l ? ap ae . What advice did you give

tr h S at . t e o I was at Tyre . All slaves revolted and

o n e butchered their masters , yet of mine was humane

an d m e m o f enough to spare me , to hide fro the fury the rest . They agreed to choose for thei r king the man

s et se e su n who , upon a day , should the rise before any

n h th e o e l . e t e e se Th y gathered in plain , whole multi

s n tude gluing their eye to the easter heaven , where the s n i s i u wont to arise ; my slave alone , in accordance w th

t h i s . my instructions , kep eyes toward the west You may well believe that the others thought him a fool .

h is o n s aw However, by turning back them he the ﬁrst

f u n o n e rays o the s which caught a lofty tower, whil his ’ fellows s till sought th e sun s body i n the east . They

f h i s h e admired th e subtlety o mind , but confessed that h it was my du e and that I was still among t e living . f s They elected me kin g as a man descended o god .

R h el se e a was e ap a . I that your dvice quit useful yet

do n o t ﬁn d it a subj ect for wonder .

' r S t o to . All our philosophers here will explain to you that I taught my Slave that the wise should ever turn

n their backs o the mob , and that the general opinion is

usually sound if you take it to mean its QWn Opposite . R R OF R ST AT O , APHAEL U BINO 85

R a h a l p e . These philosophers talk like philosophers . It is their business to s coff at common Opinion and p reju dice ; yet there is nothing more convenient o r useful than are these latter .

S trato F m an o n e . ro the m ner in which you speak , ff h s ees that you had no di iculty in complying wit them .

R a h ael e o u e p . I assur y that my defence of pr judice ’ e t is disinterested , and that by taking prejudic s par I t laid myself open o no small ridicule . They were search ing the Roman ruins for statues and as I was a good sculptor and painter they chose m e to judge which were M antique . ichael Angelo , my competitor , made in se ff cret a perfect statue of Bacchus . He broke o one of hi d the ﬁngers , then the statue in a place where he knew we would dig . I declared it antique when we found it .

o n He said it was modern . I based my opinion chieﬂy

o f ac co rdin ' t o o u r the beauty the work which , g rules ,

was well worthy o f Grecian carvers . Irritated at con

t radi ctio n I carried the matter further, and said it had

e l r s been don in the time of Po ycletus o Phidia . Then

u Michael Angelo brought o t the broken irrefutable ﬁnger .

I was greatly mocked for my prejudice, but what would W t ? as I have done ithou prejudice I was judge , and

judge one must make decisions .

r t Yo u . St a a. would have decided according to reason . R a h a el ? p . Does reason ever decide I should never have known by an y process o f reason to what age the

e statu belonged , I should have seen only its excellent

beauty , then prejudice came to my aid , saying that a

wa o r - s . beautiful statue ancient , should be With such

a decision I judged .

tr t w n in con S a o . It may ell be that reason has o testable formulae f o r things o f such slight import ance ; but upon all questions o f human con duct Sh e h as deci 86 FONTENELLE

n sions quite sure . Unfortunately men do o t consult them .

R a h l u s n an d p ae . Let then consult her o some point see o r if she will decide it . Ask her if we should weep h laug at the death o f o u r friends and relations . On “ o n e e sid she will say, they are lost to you , therefore ” “ weep . On the other, they are delivered from the ” miseries of this life, you should therefore be j oyful .

o f h a In the face suc answers from re son , we act as local custom decrees . We weep at her bidding, and we weep so thoroughly that we cannot conceive laughter as p o s sible ; o r we laugh so thoroughly that tears seem o u t o f the question .

S trata R i s so Sh l . eason not always undecided . e a lows custom t o decide such matters as are not wort h her attention , but think how many very considerable

ar e sh e - things there upon which has clear cut ideas , and Sh from which e draws consequences equally clear .

R h l s am ap ae . Unles I much mistaken there are very few o f these clear ideas .

S trato NO o f . matter, they alone are worthy absolute trust .

R h l f o r ff a ae . p That cannot be , reason o ers us a very s o f s e o u r so mall number t maxims , and mind is made Th ’ as to believe in many more . e overplus of one s in clin ati on to believe in somethin g o r other all counts o n

r e i m 1 th e side of ju d false opinions ﬁll up th e void . p " S trato B ' t w c r ? . ast oneself into er or ’ o n e in Cannot keep one s judgment suspended , these unprovable matters ? R eas on stops when sh e k nows not which way to turn . h l e sh e an R ap ae . Very tru , has no other secret me s k o o f keeping herself from mista es, save that f standing ’ stock -still ; but such a condition does violen ce to man s

B OMBASTE S PARACELSUS AND MOLIER E

Maliere . b e I should be delighted with you , if only o f cause your name , Paracelsus . One would have

o r R su s thought you some Greek oman , and never have

e ct e d s p that Paracelsu was an Helvetian philosopher .

P r e e a ac lsu s . I hav made my name as illustrious as it is lovely . My works are a great aid to those who would ’ pierc e nature s secrets and more especially to thos e who

o u t n an launch into the k owledge of genii d elementals .

Mali ere r . I can eadily believe that such is th e true

f T n o . O o e realm science know men , whom sees every

n day , is nothing ; but to k ow the invisible genii is quite n ff a other a air .

P l n f ar s . i o r ac e su s . Doubtle s I have given precise

as e t mation to their natur , employmen s , and inclinations , ff as to their di erent orders , and their potencies through out the cosmos .

Mo li ere . How happy you were to be possessed of this

so knowledge , for before this you must have known man

n n o t i . precisely , yet ma y men have attained even th s

P l u s so i n on sid arac e s . c Oh , there is no philosopher c rable as not t o have done so .

M li . o u n a ere . I suppose so And y yourself have o

o r i indecisions regarding the nature of the soul , ts func o f h ? tions , or the nature its bonds wit the body ’ P r l F it s a ac e su s . rankly, impossible that there should n o n u o n s t always remai some ncertainties these subj ect , 8 8 B OMBASTE S PARACELSUS AND MOLIERE 89

but we know as much o f them as philosophy is able to

learn .

Mali er ? e . And you yourself know no more ’ l NO ? Parac e su s . . Isn t that quite enough

M Yo u li er ? . a e . Enough It is nothing at all mean that y o u have leapt over men whom y ou do n o t under

i n ? stand , order to come upon genii

P ar celsu s a . Genii are much more stimulatory to our natural curiosity . M i i ol ere . s Yes , but it unpardonable to Speculate ’ about them before one h as completed one s knowledge

he n o f men . One would think t huma mind wholly ex h au st e d a as o f n , when one sees men t king obj ects k owl

e edge things which hav perhaps no reality, and when

o n e . sees how gaily they do this However, it is certain that there are enough very real obj ects to keep one wholly employed .

P ar l u ac e s s . The human mind naturally neglects the h sciences which are too simple , and runs after t ose more i mysterious . It is only upon these last that t can ex pend all its activity .

Mali er e So o u . much the worse for the mind ; what y s a i s Th e h ts y not at all to its credit . trut presen itself,

as ridi cu but being too simple it p ses unrecognized , and lous mysteries are received only because o f their mys

r t e y . I believe that if most men s aw the univers e as it “ ” “ ” i r tu e is , seeing there neither v s nor numbers , nor “ ” t o f proper ies the planets , nor fatalities tied to cer tain times and revolutions , they could not help saying o f : its admirable arrangement What , is that all there ” is to it ?

P r l Y a ac e su s . o u s b e call the e mysteries ridiculous , i cause you have not been able to reach nto them , they are truly res erved f o r the great . 90 FONTENELLE

Mali ere . I esteem those who do not understand these mysteries quite as much as those wh o do understand them ; unfortunately nature has not made every o n e

e f incapabl o such understanding .

Parac elsu o u so s . But y who seem didactic , what pro f essio n did you foll ow on earth ? M ff o li er . e . A profession quite di erent from yours

o f o f You studied the powers genii , I studied the follies men .

P r l . a ac e su s . A ﬁne subj ect Do we not know well enough that men are subject to plenty o f follies ?

M i n i an al ere . t d We k ow in the gross , confusedly ; but we must come to details , and then we can under stand th e scOp e and extent o f this science .

P r l o f ? a ac e su s . o u Well , what use did y make it

M i r o l e e . I gathered in a particular place the greatest possible number of people and then showed them that they were all fools .

P r It h a ac elsu s . must have needed a terrible speec to get that plain fact into their heads . M l o i . ére . Nothing is easier One proves them their s o r illiness without using much eloquence , much pre s meditated reasoning . Their acts are o ludicrous that h if you but Show like acts before them , you overw elm them with their o wn laughter .

Par ls o u . ace u s . I understand y , you were a comedian For myself I cannot conceive how one can get any pleas ure from comedy ; one goes t o laugh at a representation o f s o n e h custom , why should not laug at the customs themselves ? ’ Mali er e ff o n e . In order to laugh at the world s a airs

t o r . must in some fashion stand apar , outside them Com edy takes you outside them , she shows them to you as a pageant in which you yourself have no part .

92 FONTENELLE

h with their authors , very muc in the manner that certain races bury a man with his most valued belongings : I know perfectly well that there may be revolutions in the

o o f kingd m letters , and , with all that I guarantee that

ri my w tings will endure . And I know why , for he who would paint f o r immort ality must paint fools .

’ FONTENELLE S TRANSLATION FROM HADRIE N

am e o Ma petite , ma mign nne , ’ ﬁlle et s ach e o u Tu t en vas donc , ma , Dieu c tu vas ;

n u e et ! Tu pars seulette , , tremblotante , Helas Qu e deviendra ton humeur f o li ch o n e ? Qu e d eviendront tant de j olis ébats ? DIVISIONS

96 DIVISI ONS

’ b e t lowers are musical must left o the reader s decisio n . “ ” e At times I can ﬁnd a marked metr in vers libres , as

h ack n eved as - S stale and any pseudo winburnian , at times the writers seem to follow n o musical stru cture what

Bu t o n e ever . it is , the whol , good that the ﬁeld should

f e be ploughed . Perhaps a w good poems have come

m th s o i s e . fro new method , and if it justiﬁed

Criticism i s not a circumscription o r a set o f p roh ibi tions . It provides ﬁxed points o f depart ure . It may

t o f startle a dull reader in o alertness . That little it which is good is mostly in stray phras es ; o r if it be an older artist helping a younger it i s in great measure

o f . but rules thumb , cautions gained by experience I set together a few phrases o n practical working about h the time t e first remarks on imagismo were published . “ ” The first use o f t h e word Imagiste was in my note ’ fi ve o f to T . E . Hulme s poems, printed at the end my “ ” 1 R ipostes in the autumn o f 19 2 . I reprint my cau 1 P o etr 913 . tions from y for March ,

A FEW DON’ TS An Image is that which presents an intellectual

an f e u se th e and emotional complex in an inst t o tim . I “ ” term complex rather i n the technical sense employed by the newer psychologists , such as Hart , though we

u r might not agree absolutely in o application . “ ” It is the presentation o f such a complex instantane ou sly which gives that sense o f sudden liberation ; that sen se o f freedom from time limits an d space limits ; that f h t h e sense o sudden growth , whic we experience in

r presence o f the greatest works of a t . A RETROSPECT 97

It i s better to present o n e Image i n a lifetime than to produce voluminous works . All' this, however, some may consider Open to debate . ’ The immediate necessity is t o tabulate A LIST OF DON TS f o r those beginning to write verses . I can not put all o f them into Mosaic negative .

To begin with , consider the three propositions (de t f manding direc treatment , economy o words , and the — sequence o f the musical phrase ) not as d ogm a never — , conside r anything as dogma but as the result o f long ’ hi if o n e contemplation , w ch , even is some else s con t em l at i o n h n p , may be wort co sideration . Pay no attention to the criticism of men who h ave never themselves written a notable work . Consider the discrepancies between the actual writing o f the Greek

t h e G raeco poets and dramatists , and the theories of

R n . oma grammarians , concocted to explain their metres

LANGUAGE

Use n o superﬂuous word, no adjective , which does not reveal something . ’ h n as n o eace Don t use suc a expression dim la ds f p .

an It dulls the image . It mixes abstraction with the ’ n o t concrete . It comes from the writer s realizing that the natural obj ect is always the ad equ ate symbol . f G o in fear o abstractions . Do not retell in mediocre ’ verse what has alre ad y been done in good prose . Don t think any intelligent pers on is going to be deceived when y o u try to Shirk all the difﬁculties o f the unspeakably difﬁcult art o f good prose by chopping your composition into line lengt hs . What the expert is tired o f today the public will be tired o f tomorrow. ’ Don t imagine that the art o f poetry is an y simpler 98 DIVISIONS

art o f c an than the music , or that you please the expert before you have Spent at least as much eﬁ o rt on th e art of verse as the average pian o teacher spends o n the - art o f music . t can B e inﬂuenced by as many great artis s as you , but have the decency either t o ack n owledge the debt

o r t o . outright, try to conceal it ’ “ ” Don t allow inﬂuence to mean merely that y o u mop up the particular decorative vocabulary of some o n o r o u e two poets whom y happen to admire . A Turk ish war correspon dent was rec ently caught red - handed “ ” hi s o f - o r babbling in dispatches dove gray hills , else “ ” - it was pearl pale , I can not remember .

r Us e either n o ornament o good ornament .

RHYTHM AND RHYME Let the candidate ﬁll his mind with the ﬁnest cadences 1 c an i e he discover, preferably in a fore gn languag so that the meaning o f the words may b e less lik ely to divert

e . . S his attention from the movement ; g , axon charms , Hebridean Folk Songs the verse of Dant e and th e lyrics — , , o f Shakesp e are if he can diss ociate the vocabulary from hi m the cadence . Let dissect the lyrics o f Goethe coldly

s into their component sound values , syllable long and

short , stressed and unstressed , into vowels and con

sonants . It is not necessary that a poem should rely o n its

o n music , but if it does rely its music that music must be

such as will delight the expert .

th e e o e an d Let neophyt kn w assonanc alliteration , t rhyme immedia e and delayed , Simple and polyphonic ,

1 Th i s i f o r rh th m h i s o a ar m st o f o r n i n s y , v c bul y u c u se b e fo u d h i s n a i t o n e t ve gu .

100 DIVISIONS d ealin g with that ph as e o f your art which h as exact

. s n parallels in music The same law gover , and you are bound by no others .

Naturally, your rhythmic stru cture should not destroy

o f o r the shape your words , or their natural sound , their

. . e meaning It is improbabl that , at the start , you will be able to get a rhythm - stru cture strong enough to aff ect

o u m them very much , though y may fall a victi to all

o f t o a e sorts false stopping due line ends and c esura . The musician can rely o n pitch and the volume o f Th m the orchestra . You can not . e term har ony is misapplied to poetry ; it refers to simultaneous sounds o f ff . w di erent pitch There is , ho ever, in the best verse a sort o f residue o f sound which remains in the ear o f the b e arer as - and acts more or less an organ base . A rhyme must have in it some slight element o f su r prise if it is to give pleasure ; it n eed n o t b e bizarre or b e . curious , but it must well used if used at all ’ Vide further V ildrac and Du h am el s notes o n rhyme

ni P i in Tech que o et qu e . That part o f your poetry which strikes upon th e im agi n at ive ey e o f the reader will lose nothing by trans lation into a foreign tongue ; that which appeals to the h c ar can reach only those w o take it in the original . ’ deﬁn it en ess s Consider the of Dante presentation , as ’ R as o f compared with Milton s rhetoric . ead much 1 Wordsworth as does not seem t o o unutterably dull . o f S If you want the gist the matter go to appho ,

Catullus , Villon , Heine when he is in the vein , Gautier h n o r when e is o t too frigid ; , if you have not the tongues , do seek o u t the leisurely Chaucer . Good prose will you

t o no harm , and there is good discipline be had by try

ri ing to w te it .

1 i i n r V de f a . A RETR OSPE CT 101

Tra Islati o n o is likewise good training, if u ﬁnd that ‘ y “ your t rigin al matter wobbles when you try to rewri te

o f it . The meaning the poem to be translated can not “ ” wobble . ’ If you are using a symmetrical form , don t put in what you want to say and then ﬁll up the remaining vacuums with slush . ’ Don t mess up the perception of o n e sense by trying

m s al to define it in ter of another . This is usu ly only the result o f being too lazy to find the exact word . To thi s ss clause t here are po ibly exceptions . The first three Simple proscriptions will throw o u t nine - tenths of all the bad poetry now accepted as stand ard and classic ; and will prevent y ou from many a f crime o production . ’ M i ab o rd i l o t etr n t MM a d u u o e e . s f e p , as Duhamel and V ildrac have said at the end o f their little “ ” n P eti u e su r o . book , Notes la Tech ique q

S 1 91 3 F Hu eff er ince March , , ord Madox has pointed o u t that Wordsworth was so intent o n th e ordinary o r plain word that he never thought o f hunting f o r la m o t t ju s e .

John Butler Yeats has han dled o r m an -handled Words worth and the Victorians , and his criticism , contained

n ow . in letters to his son , is printed and available

abo u t I do not like writing art , my ﬁrst , at least I

o n th e was s think it was my ﬁrst essay subj ect , a prote t against it .

1 0 Page 00 . 102 DIVISIONS

PROLEG OMENA1

Time was when the poet lay in a green ﬁeld with h is head against a tree an d played his diversion o n a ’ ’ ha penny whistle , and C aesar s predecessors conquered

f s the earth , and the predecessors o golden Cra sus em

z s a be zled , and fashions had their y , and let him alone . And presumably he was fairly content in this circum stance , for I have small doubt that the occasional passer b n y , being attracted by curiosity to know why any o e ’ should lie under a tree and blo w diversion o n a ha penny whistle, came and conversed with him , and that among these passers - by there was o n occas ion a person of charm “ o r a young lady wh o had not read Man and Super m an and looking back upo n this na1ve state o f aff airs we call it the age o f gold .

s an o n e Metasta io , and he should know if y , assures — us that this - age endures even though the modern poet is expected to holloa his vers es down a speaking tube

f z — S M l re o r S . c C u to the editors o cheap maga ines . , — some o n e o f that sort even though hordes o f authors “ meet in dreari ness and drink healths to the Copyright

s o f Bill even though these thing be, the age gold per Y ou . o u tains . Imperceivably , if y like , but pertains meet unkempt Amyclas i n a Soho restaurant an d chant — together o f dead and forgotten things it is a manner

o f - n of speech among poets to chant dead , half forgotte

n o i n things , there seems special harm it ; it has always been done— and it ’ s rather better to be a clerk in the

ﬁ l o t o f Post Of ce th an to look after a stinking , verminous — sheep and at another hour o f the day o n e substitutes

” the drawing - room for the restaurant and tea is prob

1 m th en th e o e tr R evi ew e it e Haro Po e try an d Dra a ( P y , d d by ld

r F . 19 12 Mo n o ) , eb , .

104 DIVISIONS

h content , that some poems may have form as a tree as

s form , some as water poured into a vase . That most ym n m metrical forms have certain uses . That a vast u

o f n o ber subj ects cannot be precisely , and therefore t properly rendered in symmetrical forms . “ Thinking that alone worthy wherein the whole art k is employed , I thin the artist Should master all

o f i known forms and Systems metr c , and I have with

s set r some persi tence about doing this , sea ching par t icu l arly into those periods wherein the systems came to

n birth o r attained their maturity . It has bee com

- plained , with some justice , that I dump my note books

k u on the public . I thin that only after a long str ggle

o f will poetry attain such a degree of development , , if n you will , moder ity , that it will vitally concern people

ar t o who e accustomed , in prose , Henry James and Ana F . ns n tole rance , in music to Debussy I am co ta tly con tending that it took two centuries o f Provengo and o n e ’ o f Tuscany to develop the media o f Dante s master

it o f R n work , that took the latinists the enaissa ce , and

h 1s own the Pleiade , and age of painted speech to pre im pare Shakespeare his tools . It is tremendously

r n o o f portant that great poetry be w itten , it makes jot

ff e di erence who writes it . The experim ntal demonstra — tions of one in an may save th e time o f many hence my — ’ furore over Arnaut Daniel if a man s experiments try u n e e o r o n e o t o new rim , dispense conclusively with iota

e o f currently accepted nonsens , he is merely playing fair with his colleagues when he chalks up his result . “ No man ever writes very much poetry that matters . b l o n e al In u k, that is , no produces much that is ﬁn , and

n t when a man is o doing this highest thing , this saying

1 E i D n e De o ari o o . a t , V lg l qu A RETROSPE CT 105 the thing once f o r all and perfectly ; when he is not ’ " "“ Ho cK ad o ti da/ h th v l 0 .1 OI matc ing p , Hist ” K u ch said ate the Q een , he had mu better be making the sort s o f experi ment which may b e o f u s e to him in

o r . his later work, to his successors “ l f s o so The y short, the craft long to lerne It is a foolish thing for a m an to begin his work o n a too ’ i s narrow foundation , it a disgraceful thing for a man s work not to show steady growth and incre asing ﬁneness

m. fro ﬁrst to last . “ A S for adaptations one ﬁnds that all the o ld mas

‘ ters o f painting reco m m en d t o their pupils that they

n begin by copyi g masterwork , and proceed to their own composition . “ w As for Every man h is o n poet . The more every man knows about poetry the better . I believe in every

n o e writing poetry who wants to ; most do . I believe in every man knowing enough o f music to play God bless ” o u r o n h arm o n i cu m do e home the , but I not believ in

h 1 1n every man giving concerts and printing s s .

The mastery of any art is the work o f a lifetime . I should not discriminate between the “ amateur ” and the “ ” s o r e profe sional , rather I Should discriminat quite

in o f discrim i often favour the amateur, but I Should nate between the am ateur and the expert . It is certain that the present chaos will endure until the Art of poetry w has been preached do n the amateur gullet , until there is such a general understanding of the fact that poetry is an art and n o t a pastime ; such a knowledge o f tech

f e o f nique ; of technique o surface and techniqu content , that the amateurs will ceas e to try to drown o u t the masters . If a certain thing was said on ce f o r all in Atlantis 106 DIVISIONS o r 45 0 1290 Arcadia, in Before Christ or in after, it is

f r o r c not o us moderns to go saying it over , to go obs ur ing th e memory o f the dead by saying the same thing with less Skill and less conviction .

My pawing over the an cients and semi - ancients h as

o n e been struggle to ﬁnd out what has been done , once

a t o for all , better th n it can ever be done again , and

o u t r e ﬁnd what remains for us to do , and plenty does main , for if we still feel the same emotions as those

n i s which launched the thousa d ships , it quite certain

o n ff that we come these feelings di erently, through dif o ff f rent nuances , by di erent intellectual gradations .

o wn Each age has its abounding gifts , yet only some ages transmute them into matter of duration . No good

o ld poetry is ever written in a manner twenty years , for to write in such a manner shows conclusively that the

’ cli ch e writer thinks from books , convention and , and not

th e f from life , yet a man feeling divorce o life and his art may naturally try to resurrect a forgotten mode if

e o r h e he ﬁnd in that mod some leaven , if think he sees in it some element lacking in contemporary art which

i e ts . might unite that art again to sustenance , lif

th e art In of Daniel and Cavalcanti , I have seen that precision which I miss in the Victorians—that explicit f f o r o . rendering , be it o external nature , emotion Their

is o f s testimony the eyewitnes , their symptoms are ﬁrst

hand .

As f o r the nineteenth century, with all respect to its

as achievements , I think we Shall look back upon it a

h r b l rr s o f rat e u y , mes y sort a period , a rather senti

i h o f m an n er s . sa s mentalistic , sort a period I y thi with

- s i - o u t any self righteousnes , w th no self satisfaction . “ ” o r As for there being a movement my being of it ,

108 DIVISIONS u ri u s o riot . We will have fewer painted adj ectives im

edin f r an d o f . o p g the shock stroke it At least myself, so I want it , austere , direct , free from emotional slither .

n o 1917 o ? What is there w, in , t be added

RE V ER S LIBRE

I think the desire f o r vers libre is due to the sense of

a quantity re sserting itself after years of starvation .

e But I doubt if we can tak over, for English , the rules o f n qua tity laid down for greek and latin , mostly by latin grammarians . I think o n e Should write vers libre only when o n e ” “ ” i s must , that to say, only when the thing builds

e o f o r up a rhythm more b autiful than that set metres , “ ” t o f o f t h e more real , more a par the emotion thing ,

a n th e more germ ne , intimate , i terpretative than meas ure of regular accentual verse ; a rhythm which discon

r n tents o n e with set iambic o s et a apaestic . th e NO Eliot has said thing very well when he said ,

r f o r w n o ob vers is li b e the man who a ts t do a good j .

A o f S a matter detail , there is vers libre with accent heavily marked as a drum -beat ( as par example my Dance an d o n the other hand I think I have gone as far as can proﬁtably be gone in the other di f r rection ( and perhaps too a ) . I mean I do not think o n e c an u se to any advantage rhythms much more ten

e u o u s and imperceptible than som I have used . I think progress lies rather in an attempt t o approximate clas s ic al quantitative metres (NOT to copy them) than in 1 a carelessness regardi ng such things .

1 A m n 20 u 19 1 . h i at e e t . 7 L et m e dat e t s st g , A RE TROSPE CT 109 I agree with John Yeats on the relation of beauty to certitude . I prefer satire , which is due to emotion, to f any sham o emotion .

o r I have had to write , at least I have written a good deal about art , sculpture , painting and poetry . I have seen what seemed to me the best of contemporary work

r o n e e reviled and obst ucted . Can any e writ pros of perm anent or durable interest when he is merely saying for o n e year what nearly every o n e will say at the end o f three o r four years ? I have been battistrada for a n sculptor, a pai ter, a novelist , several poets . I wrote also of certain French writers in Th e New' Age in nine

r teen twelve o eleven . I woul d much rather that people would look at Brzes ’ ’ k a s sculpture and Lewis drawings , and that they would R read Joyce , Jules omains , Eliot , than that they should

e o f o r read what I hav said these men , that I should be asked to republish argumentative essays and reviews . All that the critic can do for the reader o r audience o r h i s az o r R spect ator is to focus g e audition . ightly or wrongly I think my blasts and essays have done their t work, and that more people are now likely o go to the sources than are likely to read this book . ’ “ ” “ Jammes E xistences in La Triomphe de la Vie is

S . available . o are his early poems I think we need a convenient anthology rather than descriptive criticism . Carl Sandburg wrote me from Chicago “ It ’ s hell when‘ ’ ff ” poets can t a ord to buy each other s books . Half

. so the peop le who care , only borrow In America few people know each other that the diffi culty lies more than half in distribution: Perhaps o n e should make an an ’ ” th o lo gy : R omains Un Etre en Marche and “ ’ ” e V il r R d ac . Pri res , s Visite etrospectively the

ﬁne r t o f L th e as e o f R w ough work a Forgue, ﬂ h s imbaud , 1 10 DIVISIONS

’ - Tailh a e s the hard bit lines Of Tristan Corbiere , d “ ” “ ” ri h an es u es sketches in Po em es A st o p q , the Litanies f - o DeGourmont .

ff It is di icult at all times to write of the ﬁne arts , it ’ is almost impossible unless o n e can accompany o n e s S prose with many reproductions . till I would seize this chance or any chanc e to reafﬁrm my belief in Wyndham ’

o h is. a s h i s Lewis genius , b th in dr wing and writings .

o u t o f And I would name an the way prose book, the ” S an d M cenes Portraits of Frederic anning , as well ’ t “ as James Joyce s short s ories and novel , Dubliners “ ” o f th e t and the now well known Portrait Ar ist , as ’ “ ” well as Lewis Tarr , if, that is , I may treat my strange reader as if he were a new friend come into the

o n . room , intent ransacking my bookshelf

ONLY EMOTION ENDUR ES

ONLY emotion endures . Surely it is better for me f ew o a tif u to name over the s l e u l poems that still ring in my head than for me to search my ﬂat for back num bers o f periodicals an d rearr ange all that I have said

about fri endly and hostile writers . ’ “ The first twelve lines o f Padraic Co lu m s Drover “ as his 0 Woman shapely a swan , on your account I ” ’ “ ” shall not die ; Joyce s I hear an army ; th e lines of Yeats that ring in my head and in the heads o f all young men o f my time who care for poetr y : B r ase al and the “ F m sh e isher an , The fire that stirs about her when ” “ stirs ; the later lines o f The Scholars the faces o f ’ “ ” the Magi ; William C arlos Williams Postlude , Ald ’ “ “ ’ ” h is D A . S n n o n o f tt . i gt o s versi , and H waves like “ ” an d e Im a ist es s pine tops , her vers in Des g the fir t

REMY DE GOURMONT 1

IT i s a foolish , perhaps , to say that man stands for ” i all that is best in such and such a country . It s a

a e s vague phr s , and the use of vague phrases is fooli h , and yet R emy d e Gourmont had in some way made him self into a symbol o f so much that is ﬁnest in France that one is tempted t o apply some such phrase to him . I think no m an in France could have died leaving so personal a sense o f loss amon g scattered groups o f intel ligen t young men who had never laid eyes on him . I “ do not mean t o say that he was the gre at est writer in ” France . That method of assessing authors by size is

r e F unfortunate an d Victo ian . Ther were in rance a few

- : e F R pre eminently good writers Anatol rance , emy de

R s a Gourmont , Henri de egnier, Franci J mmes, Laurent T i h n d a l ade . There are popular ﬁgures a crazes like

F m n t . a o t Maeterlinck , Claudel, and Paul or I an ex am in i n g board trying to determine which o f these gentle

rm in men i s t o receive the highest award . I am not det e f h ing a percentage of bay leaves . The writings o t e ﬁve ’ ﬁ rst - mentioned men are all o f them indispensable to one s comfort . Y et before the war Anatole France was so o ld that communicatio n between him and the active part Of o u r

c a R n world had almost e sed . And Henri de eg ier was “ ” s et w e S o f apart , as it er , amid The poils Poynton ,

1 T Fo r tni h tl R evi e w 1 9 15 . h e g y , 1 12 R EMY DE GOURMONT 1 13 o r behind some such metaphorical barrier . And

es Jamm , after four beautiful books to his credit , had

a a R gone g g over catholicism , and from emy de Gour

o . mont al ne there proceeded a personal , living force “ ” Force is almost a misnomer ; let us call it a personal light .

The man Was infused through his work . If you hold ” a pistol to my head an d s ay : Produce the masterpiece o n which you b ase these preposterous claims for De Gourmont I might not be able t o lay o u t an array o f

e o f F c books to equal thos his elder friend , Anatole ran e,

o f R t o f or De egnier, or to ﬁnd hree volumes poems to

F o r in compare with the ﬁrst books by rancis Jammes , , deed , to uphold that test against various men whose Y s n o t . o u name I have mentioned , on the other hand , would be in very much th e same ﬁx if you were co m m an de d suddenly to produce the basis o f your respect , c r e for De Quin ey o Coleridg .

i s ri o It , I think , Cole dge who says that the test f a

t o un l s great poet is not be fo d in individua passage , but “ s e in a mysterious pervasive es ence , everywher present an d nowhere a distinct excitement . ’ AS y ou r ead D e G o u rm o n t s work it is n ot any par t i cu l ar s o r so h phra e , poem , essay that holds you , muc

n e o f as a continui g sens of intelligence , a limpid , active f intelligence in the mind o the writer .

an d I express , perhaps , a personal an unpopular emo tion when I s ay that this constant sense o f th e i n t elli m gence of the an behind the wr iting is a great comfort .

s I even hope that intelligence , in writer , is coming back, a if not into fashion , at le st into favour with a public large enough to make certain kinds o f books onc e more

h ff i n printable . We ave su ered a period which the glori

ﬁ cati o n o f and o f stupidity the worship unintelligent , 1 1 4 DIVISIONS

messy energy have been too much encouraged . (With

f . S o . the appearance James Joyce and T Eliot , and the ” M ’ more normal part of r . Wyndham Lewis s narra

o n e v tive writings , may e en hope that intelligence shall

o u r t once more have its innings , even in own stalwar tongue . ) ’ The qualities o f Remy de G o u rm o n t s intelligence ?

Limpidity and fairness and graciousness , and irony , and a sensuous charm in h i s decoration when he chos e to make his keen thought ﬂash o u t against a richl y - coloured background ; these things were all in his writing . The peculiarity o f his narrative work may have been just this method o f resting the mind as it were by an “ ? aroma . What shall I call it “ o f th e He stirs the senses imagination , the reader

s w is pervaded by luxuriou rest , and then hen the mind

rt is most open , De Gourmont da s in with his acumen , a

s o . thrust , an incisive or revolutionary idea , spoken softly “ ” His Diomedes s e arches f o r truth in the Ru e Bona v parte and en irons . As Turgenev builds up a whole novel to enforce two o r three Russian proverbs ; to make you know that he , the author, has understood some very “ simple phrase in all its profundity ; as in the Nichée ” “ de t o f Gentilshommes he has put ﬁrst , The hear f another is a dark forest , and then in the middle o the

s book , man , his hero , opposed to the old tree of his dis ’ M Tim o f evn s mantled garden , and then ﬁnally old aria a “ r s o Nothing but death is ir evocable , , in a very dif f eren t manner R emy de Gourmont has embedded his x o f philosophy in a lu urious mist the senses . But this particularity of method would in itself amount to very little .

De Gourmont wrote twice a month , a little Epilogue Fr n h is in th e Marcu r e d e a c e . Early in career he had

11 6 DIVISIONS in m ideas . Ger any has go t decidedly and di sgustingly f “ drunk . But Paris i s the laboratory o ideas ; it is there

s c an s o f that poi ons be tested , and new mode sanity be

o f discovered . It is there that the antiseptic conditions f i o . the laboratory exist . That is the function Par s f It was peculiarly the function o De Gourmont . “ ” For years he has written controversially, if I may use a word with such strong connotations . I believe he

an - o r has never once made over statement , , for that mat ’ - an o f . sa ter, under statement his thought I don t y that

ab sohi t e he has always been right . But he had this fair

th e n f o wn ness , fair ess o a man watching his experiment n in laboratory . And this absolute fair ess , this absolute f openness to all thought , is precisely the most di ﬁcult thing to attain .

We are all touched with the blight of Tertullian . Whatever o u r aims and ambitions and o u r ﬁrm convio

e o u r o ff tion to the contrary , we hav moments guard

o n i n when we bec me unfair, and partisa , and personal

o u r . spite , an d intolerant De Gourmont carri ed his luc idity to the point o f

k s t o genius . All ideas , all wor Of art , all writing came

an d an d him , he received them all graciously , he praised

o r . e graciously, ignored graciously And he wrot beau if ll m H w t u y and graciously fro himself . e as the friend f ’ o . le e n e in telligence He had not lost touch with s j u s . And that last is more import ant an d more difﬁcult “ ” e than o n e might think . If a man has com in with o n e generation and taken part in th e development o f “ ” an d h o n e s et o f is triump of new ideas , it especially and pecul iarly difﬁcult for him to adapt himself to the next set , which comes in some twenty years later . No

c an two h im man lead movements , and it is very hard for o e to understand two m vements . A movement d generates REMY DE GOURMONT 1 17

- w into over emphasis . It begins ith the recognition o f a negle ct . When youth is divided into acrimonious parties it is perhap s difﬁcult for age to tell which side has the R intelligence , but you could trust emy de Gourmont t o m discover intelligence in whatever for it might appear .

am n ow It is a slight thing that I going to tell , but it

' mi is not without its nute s igniﬁcance . When I was in

a o Paris some years g I happened, by merest accident ,

o t to be plunged int a mee ing, a vortex of twenty men , and among them ﬁve o r six o f th e most intelligent young n sa men i Paris . I should y that Paris is a place like “ ” another ; in literature the - F rench are curs ed with

&c . amorphous thought , rhetoric , bombast , Claudel , , stale

e n &c . us Hugo , stal Cor eille , , j t as we are cursed here

Mil n i e t o an a &c . n with stal Victoriana , stale , The you g

o f i n o w party intelligence in Par s , a party just verging

h e f - i s on t threshold o middle age , the group that centred “ L ’ Eff ” o rt . s R about Libre It contain Jules omains ,

V ildr h en n e iere ac C v . , Duhamel , , Jouve , and their friends ‘ ” These m en were plotting a gigan tic blague . A blague

is e when it a ﬁne blagu is a satire upon stupidity, an

th e ln attack . It is weapon of intelligence at bay ; of t elligen ce ﬁghting against an alignment of odds . These

o f i n o men were thorough . They had exposed a deal g rance an d stupidity in places where there should have been the reverse . They were serious , and they were “ keeping it up And the o n e man they mentioned m with sympathy, the one older man to who they could

o t s look for comprehensi n , and even for discree a sist R ance , was Remy de Gourmont . emy would send them

a brief telegr am to b e rea d at their public meeting . t That is , at ﬁrst sigh , a very triﬂing matter, but , if

: examined closely , it shows a number of things ﬁrst , was th at de Gourmont absolutely independent , that h e 11 8 DIVISIONS was not tied to any institution , that his position was “ based on his intelligence alone and not o n his connec ” tions (as I believe they are called in o u r literary world “ ’ F e cri r e c c ranchement d qu on pense , seul plaisir ’ ” ’

. w o n e S d un écrivain To put do n thought frankly , ’ ” s as th a writer s one plea ure . That phrase w e centre

’ o f G o u rm n s n o t o t positio n . It was a phrase under ﬁ I f stood super cially . t is as much the basis o a clean

o f literature , all literature worth the name , as is an anti

o f . septic method , the basis sound surgical treatment F ” “ F ” “ F ” ranchement , rankly , is renchly , if one may drag in philology . If, in ten lines . or in a hundred

c an et o pages , I g the reader t comprehend what that one

m ean s i t adjective in literature , what means to all civ ilisati o n al a o f h e , I sh l h ve led him part t way toward ’ o u rm n an understanding of de G o t S import ance . ‘ F ” “ ” rankly does not mean grossly . It does not

- h as s o f - -bl o o di sm mean the over emp i neo realism , Of red ,

hi r Of Slums dragged into light , of men writing w le d u gged

o r th with two three notions , or with e lust for an epi

n s gram . It mea s imply that a man writes his thought ,

t o s a h i s h i s as h i s that is y , doubts , inconclusions well as “ ” ff as t . convictions , which l are so often borrowed a airs There is no lasting shelter between an intelligent man

u t - e s o f and his o wn perception of tr h , but nine t nth all

t o writing displays an author trying , by force of will ,

f r m t o n erect such shelter o others . De Gour on was e of the rare authors who did not make this stupid endeavour ; wh o wholly es chewed mal in gering . al It was not a puritanic privation for him , it was his

th e nature to move in this way . The mind , imagination is the proper domain of freedom . The body, the outer f n is o e . world , the proper domain frater al defer nce

120 DIVISI ONS

s Voltaire called in a certain glitter to a sist him . De ’ G ou rm o n t s ultimate signiﬁcance may not be less than ’ h Voltaire s . He walked gently throug the ﬁeld of his

Hi s f ar e mind . reach , his ultimate e ﬁciency just this ; an i n he thought things which other men cannot , for

o f b e deﬁnitely prolonged period time , prevented from

k s thin ing . His thought were not merely the ﬁxed men

h n h o m o tal habits of t e a imal . h e de And I call the read er to witness that , Gour

ff F Web b i st s S o f mont , di ered from abians , , havians ( all al s whom , ong with all dealer in abstractions , are ulti ff a mately futile ) . He di ered from them in th t his f th e e o . thoughts had prop rty life They , the thoughts , were all related t o life they were immersed in the mani , W fest universe while he thought them , they ere not cut

o u t o n . , put shelves and in bottles n Anyone who has read him will know what I mea . Perhaps it is quite impossible to explain it t o o n e who

n o has t .

In poetry as in prose de Gourmont has built up h is o n n o w particular form . I am t sure that he was successful , in fact I am rather convinced that he was “ ” n o t f S e success ul in the imon , where he stays nearer w the poetic forms invented by others . His o n mode

th e began I think , with translation of the very beau ” tiful se qu ai re o f G o ddesch alk in L e Latin My s e tique . This he mad , very possibly , the basis of his “ ” s evo c ati n al Livre de Litanie , at least this curious o

e t h e form , the curious r petitions , personal sweeping r o wn e -m hythm , are made wholly his , and he us d the “ ” t o f later in Les Sain s de Paradis , and last all in the prose sonnets . R EMY DE G OURMONT 1 21

These sonnets are among th e few successful en d eavo u rs e u r n i m to writ poetry of o ow t e . I know there i s fi i n n much super cial modernity, but these prose so nets Remy de Gourmont h as s olved the two thorn iest f questions . The first di ficulty in a modern poem is to o f th e give a feeling of the reality speaker, the second ,

e o f given the reality of the Speaker, to gain any degre ’ s poignancy in one utterance .

That is to say, you must begin in a normal , natural

o f o u s o r tone voice , and y must , somewhere , expre s cause

. u s a s a deep feeling I am , let s y , in an omnibu with — Mis i I h as. n c o t o w. He just see some Japanese armour ’ e and says it is like his grandfath r s , and then simply “ running on in his o wn memory he says When I ’ o n ﬁrst put my grandfather s helmet , my grandmother cried because I was s o like what my gran dfather ” was at eighteen .

Yo u It o w may say that is himself an exotic , but still ,

e e u th re is mat rial for an hokk , and poetry does touch modern life , or at least pass over it swiftly, though it does n o t much ap p e ar in modern verses . De Gourmont has not been driven even to an exotic

Hi th e . speaker . s sonnets begin in metropolis The speaker is past middle age . It is a discussion Of what “ he calls in the course o f th e sequence o f poems la ” géométrie subordonnée du corps humain . I shall give a dozen o r more phrases from the sequence

o f (which consists , if I remember rightly, about two an dozen poems) . By this me s I Shall try to give , not a i continuous meaning, but s mply the tone, the conversa

ti o n al o f sci en , ironic , natural tone the writing, the

t iﬁ c as o s dryness , even , foll w

Mes dedu cti o n s so nt ce rtai ns

n Mai s lo bl an c e st f o n d am e tal . 1 22 DIVISIONS

“ ’ J ai p lus aim é les yeux qu e to utes les autres m anifestatio ns c o rp o relles de la b eauté . “ Les yeux s o nt le m an o m etre de la m achin e an im ale . “ ’ si de e re o u la a i i Et leurs p aro les sign iﬁen t le dé r l t , p l c d té de s a vo l o nté . “ s l s m ain s a e les en o x a e Mais on p ense au si ave c e , v c g u , v c

x e a o h e et a e lo oe . On ense a e o s les yeu , av c l b uc v c c ur p v c t u

an es les o rg ,

“ - a i n o s n e so m m es e e re u e ens e . Et 5 vr i d re, u p ut t q p é

ai s des e x e h an erai s le s e x o e m a vie . Je p arl er y u , j c t y u t ut e s o o n s e r Je s ais to ute s leurs co ule urs et t o utes l ur v l té , l u

n desti ée . “ ’ n n Do nt je n ign o re p as le s c o rr esp o d a ce s . “ ’ ’ h o u n tét e d f m m e i rem ent in C e st un e b e lle c s e qu e e e , l b h s crite dan s lo ccrcle e st étique .

Or even more solidly

Je s culp te un e hyp o thes e dan s le m arbre de la lo gi que

étern elle . “ ’ Les ép aules so nt des s o ur ces d o u d es cen d la ﬂ u idité des

a br s .

h o n i s o ff And then , w en e intent and wholly guard “ ” o u t o f s co nstatati n comes , thi unpoetic , unemotional o , the passage

“ Le s e x s e f o n des i s o rs n r x y u t d c u e t e eu .

P es de se e n i les m i en s te a ero n en o r m ai s ils r t r r p rl t c e, ’ n em o rtero nt as ien o in ta r o n s e p p b l ép , ’ Car o n n em o ri n n m - rte e o e r . L i p , u t a sse m o i do n c regar der ’ les e x u e ai de co u v rts y u q j e , ” L e u i m e r i o n s yeux q su v vr t .

He h as Worn OR the trivi al ities o f the day he h as conquered the fret o f contemporan eo usness by exhaust

f o n ing it in his pages o dry discussion , and we c me o the

1 24 DIVISIONS the minds of m an y youn g men who had never laid eyes o n him . Some fames and reputations are like that ;

e t . Mallarm is almos a mantram , a word for conjuring ’ A critique o f de G o u rm o n t s poetry would be by no

c i f F o r o e . means a rit que his inﬂuenc , again , I think that every young man in London whose work is worth

h as considering at all, felt that in Paris existed this

al gracious presence , this ﬁn and kindly tribunal where

n n One all work would sta d o its merits . had this sense

o f n — e - absolute fair ess no pr stige , no over emphasis ,

o could work up n it . “ ’ P erm ettr e d c eu x qu i en valen t la p ei n e d é cri re ’ — ’ ” fran che m en t c c qu i l p ens e seal p lai si r d u n e cri vai n e thes were almost the last words he wrote to me , save a

posts c ript o n the outside o f th e envelope ; and they are “ ” almost his whole law and gospel . And indeed a right unde rstan ding o f them m e ans the whole civiliza

o f tion letters . Outside a small circle in Paris and a f ew scattered

groups elsewhere , this civilization does not exist . Yet “ the phrase i s s o plain an d simple : to permit those who

ar e e worth it to writ frankly what they think . That is the destru ction Of all rhetori c and al l journal

n a o r o r ism . I mea that when nation , a group of men

s o f an editor, arrive at the state mind where he really s an d understands that phra e , rhetoric j ournalism are

Th e u done with . tr e aristocracy is founded , permanent

l o - and indestructible . It is also the end of g rolling , the end o f th e British school of criticism for the preser s h vation of orderly and innocuou persons . It is t e end ” “ o f that gravity to which Sterne alludes as a m y s : t eri o u s carriage of the body to cover the defects o f the ” mind .

o - De Gourm ont did not make ver statements . His R EMY DE GOURMONT 1 25

Diomedes is a hero because he is facing life , he is facing

i e . it qu te sincerely , with no protection whatev r Ibsen “ o u t e with his s moky lightning had rumbled , Ther is ” no intermediator between God and man . De Gour

h is s h ad im mont , with perfect and graciou p lacidity ,

— es e plied y , implied , mad apparent rather than stated that no formula c an stand between man and life ; o r rather that no creed , no dogma, can protect the think ing man from looking at life directly , forming his own though t from his o wn sensuous contact and from his con tact with thoughts .

Nietzsche h as done n o harm in France because France has understood that thought can exist apart from action ; that it is perfectly ﬁtting and exp edient clearly to think certain things which it is neither ﬁtting n o r exp e dient “ to sp oil by action Spoil by action is perhaps a bad memory o f the phrase ; but just as Dante was able to consider two

Off s o thoughts as blending and giving music , Diomedes ’ in De G o u rm o n t s story is able to think thi ngs which ’ o f r translation int action would spoil . As o Diomedes ’ e R F car er, I am perfectly willing to accept obert rost s statement that “ there is nothing like it in New Eng

at land . What there is in all provincial places is an

e t o t mp t suppress part of the evidence , to present life out of proportion with elf, squared to ﬁt some local formula of reSp e ct ab Remy de Gourmont had written throughout his life in

- dn was . absolute single blesse ess it to express his thought , a his delicate , subtle , quiet and absolutely untr mmeled

s revery, with no regard what oever for existing belief, with no after- thought or beside - thought eith er to con

o r m in h - form to avoid confor ing . That is the s a t OOd of literature . 126 DIVISIONS

I think I can show what I mean almost by a single " o f o f sentence . In the midst the present whirlwind “ K n abuse he said quietly : By ultur, the Germans mea ‘ ’ what we mean by state education .

so h i s o n h o w It had been all life ; whatever matter, ever s light the matter o r however strong his own p as sion , there had been that same quiet precision , that same ultimate justness .

are The rest of us caught in the ﬂurry of controversy . Remy de Gourmont had found— it might not be incor — rect to say that Paris had given him a place where all things could be said quietly and Openly, where one

n o t o f ml would think circu ocution and prejudice , where circumlocution and prejudice would have seemed u n natural .

E u to u s les a s i l a u n n o au d e b an s es r i ts p y y y p , ’ d e ri t i r Il sp s l b es . fau t leu r d an n er qu elqu e ch o se qu i les ch an e d e la ad eu r d es m a azi n es u el e h i g f g , q qu c o se qu leu r d o n n e c o n anc e en au x- m em es e t le r i t u n oi n t ﬁ , u so p ’ d a u i p p . M That is good news , but for years . de Gourmont had believed it and written accordingly . He had written m en . selﬂessly , and was glad when other could write well

t o wh o n t He dared write for the few , for the few are o

o r n a clique a faction , but who are u ited by the ability

wh o n o t o r to think clearly , and do attempt to warp to ( smother this faculty ; who do not suppress part o f the

evidence . The signiﬁcance o f Remy de Gourmont an d the sign iﬁ

r cance o f his poetry are two things apart . He has w it

f r t ul e s ten o the most part beau if prose , much controv r y , “ ” du . a boo k o n Le Latin Mystique Moyen Age , etc h r n L n s He h as written a p aem e c amp et e a d so me ita i e .

128 DIVISIONS

’ (they said there was n o room an d buried the canon s

e a - wife the week after) , perhaps , as my friend wrot t the “ it t — h e f time , perhaps is jus as well suf ered fools badly . I have known also that the really distinguished mem “ ” ber at a meeting of an other great body , encouraged

n h is u wa o e of more serious colleag es , who s showing “ o f n o t signs tedium , with Come , come , we are here to ” enjoy ourselves . De Gourmont has gone

B l n du la t en u lla va u la a , , g M o n e . r almost with a j est his lips , for his satir on C o

r Mercu re qu an t cl la G u er a continues in the current . M H E FFE R . U R AND THE PR OSE TRADITION IN VERSE 1

IN a country in love with amateurs , in a country where the incompetent have such beautiful manners and per so n alit i es so o n e fragile and charming , that can not bear to injure their feelings by th e i n t ro du ct io n o f competent

w o n e m an criticism , it is ell that should have a vision of perfection and that he Should be sick to the d eath and disconsolate because he can not attain it .

Mr . Yeats wrote years ago that the highest poetry is s o p recious that one Should be willing to search many a d o A S ull tome t ﬁnd and gather the fragments . touch

was . ing poetry this , perhaps , no new feeling Yet where nearly everyo ne else is still dominated by an

- M H ff h a r . u e er s eighteenth century verbalism , had this

f o r . s instinct prose It is he who has in isted , in the face

- i n s e o f of a still Victor a pres , upon the importanc good

as t o writing opposed the opalescent word , the rhetorical S F . d tradition ten hal had said , and laubert , De Mau “ passant and Turgenev had proved , that prose was the ” r — higher a t at least their prose . It i s imposs ible to talk about perfe ction without get

ting yourself very much disliked . It is even more diff i ’ cult i n a capital where everyb ody S Aunt Lucy or o r Uncle George has written something other, and where the victory of any standard save that o f mediocrity would at once banish s o many nice people from the temple Of

1 o e tr Ju n e 19 14 . P y , , 130 DIVISIONS

H ff i . u e er mmortality . So it comes about that Mr is the

sa o f best critic in England , one might y the only critic

t r e any impor ance . What he says today the press , the

wh o viewers , who hate him and disparage his books , ’

s a o r . will y in about nine years time, possibly sooner “ S S n u helley , Yeats , winburne , with , respectively , their ” “ ff acknowledged legislators , with Nothing a ects these “ x people e cept our conversation , with The rest live ” R w under us ; emy de Gourmont , hen he says that most men think only husks and shells o f the thoughts that have been already lived over by others , have Shown their very

o f th e o f just appreciation system echoes , of the general i vacuity of public Opinion . America is l ke England , America is very much what England would be with the ’ two hun dred most interesting people removed . One s life is th e score of this two hundred with whom o n e se happens to have made friends . I do not e that we

n need to say the rest live under them , but it is certai h sa a that what t ese people y comes to p ss . They live in their mutual credence , and thus they live things over

s m r and fa hio n the befo e the rest of the world is aware .

it s - e I dare say is a Ca sandra lik and useless faculty, at ’ f Hu eff r . e h as least from the world s point o view . Mr “ o f o r o n possessed the peculiar faculty foresight , Of c

i 1 m - d . structive cr tic sm , a pre eminent egree

And if y o u think things . ten o r ﬁfteen or twenty years before anyone else th inks them you will be considered S absurd an d ridiculous . ome professo r feels that if cer tain ideas gain ground he will have to rewrite his lec

s tures , some parson feel that if certain other ideas are

. accepted he will have to throw up his position . They ’ search for the forecaster s weak points .

Hu eff r i f o r Mr . e s still underestimated another rea

: t i s son namely , tha we have not yet learned that prose ,

132 DIVISIONS

Ro himself will tell you that it is all Christina ssetti , “ and that it was not Wordsworth , for Wordsworth was so busied about the ordinary wo rd that he never found t ” time to think about le m at jus e . H ff . u e er As for Christina , Mr is a better critic than I am , and I would be the last to deny that a certain limpid ity and prec ision are the ultimate qualities Of style ; yet

n I can o t accept his Opinion . Christina had these qual

e —i n t o ities , it is tru places , but they are be found also in Browning and even in Swinburne at rare moments .

o n — so Christina very often sets my teeth edge , and for

Mr H ff r f e e . is o that matter does . u But it the function criticism to ﬁnd what a given work is , not what it is not . It is also the faculty o f a capital o r o f high civilization

e t o o f to value a man for some rar ability , make use him and not hinder him o r itself by asking of him faculties which he does not possess .

Hu eff er o f Mr . may have found certain properties t f style , ﬁrs for himsel , in Christina, but others have

n found them elsewhere , notably in Ar aut Daniel and in

Guido and in Dante , where Christina herself would have

n o found them . Still there is denying that there is less ’ o f t h e are ro tu n da in Christina s work than in that o f ’ Hu eff er s her contemporaries , and that there is also in writing a clear descent from such pas sages as

I listened to their honest chat ° Said o n e Tomorrow we shall be Plod plod along th e featureless sands

o f And coasting miles and miles sea . “ Said o n e : Before the turn of tide ” - We will achieve the ey rie seat . “ Said o ne To -morr ow shall b e like

- To day, but much more sweet . THE PR OSE TRADITION 133

We ﬁnd th e qualities of what some people are calling ” m A Di r the odern cadence in this strophe , also in ge,

H ll i n in Up i ,

Somewhere or other there must surely be

n o t th e The face seen , voice not heard , and in

Sometimes I said : It is an empty name I long for ; t o a name why should I give ” The peace of all th e days I have to live ?

Yet gave it all the same.

Hu eff er Mr . brings to his work a prose training such

t o as Christina never had , and it is absolutely the devil try to quote snippets from a man whose poems are

- gracious impressions , leisurely , low toned . One would

Th ar i n n e th quote e S t l g, but o would have to give e whole

f o n three pages o it . And e would like t o quote patches

Of th e To A ll th e Dead — out curious medley, , save that ’ the picturesque p atche s aren t the whole o r the feel Of ’ r ii ssm u n d s ri Address I rn it ; o S cap cious , a sort of nf e o H v o ea en . t o to the But that also is long , SO I content

th e Fi n ch l myself with Opening of an earlier poem , ey R o ad .

As we come up at Baker Street Where tubes and trains and ’buses meet ’ There s a touch of fog and a touch of sleet ; And we go on up Hampstead way Toward the closing in o f

You Should be a queen or a duchess rather,

R o f eigning, instead a warlike father, 134 DIVISIONS

’ er n In peaceful times o a tiny tow , Where all the roads wind up and down

m — a o ld Fro your little palace small , place Where every soul should kn ow your face

And bless your coming .

I quote again , from a still earlier poem where the quiet o f h i s manner i s less marked

Being in Rome I wonder will you go

Up to the Hill . But I forget the n ame

Pin ci o ? : n Aventine ? No I do not k ow .

Y a e I was there yesterday and watched . o u c m .

(I gi ve th e Op eni ng o n ly to p lac e th e s eco n d p orti o n o th e em f p o . )

’ R ou n o t Yo u Though you re in ome y will go , my , t e th e Up o that Hill but I forg t name .

? Pi n ci o ? No r n Aventine , I neve k ew

Yo I was there yesterday . u never came .

R ou I have that ome ; and you , y have a Me , a R Yo u You h ve a ome , and I , I have my ; R R : . My ome is not your ome my You , not you

F o r n an , if man k ew wom

m an I should have plumbed your heart ; if woman , , Your Me should be tru e I If in your day

Yo u wh o a have mingled with my soul in dre ms ,

Y o u e an who have given my lif aim and purpose , m —if A heart , an imaged for in your dreams You have imagined unfamiliar cities

And me among them , I shall never stand

o r o Beneath your pillars your poplar gr ves ,

136 DIVISIONS

’

. . o wn Mr Yeats lyrics The words have a music of their ,

“ ’ ” ' and a second musician s music is an imp ertinence o r an intrusion . There still remains the song to sing : to be set to ” f H eff er o o f . u music , and this sort poem Mr has given l us no table examples i n h i s rendering o f V o n der Vogel ’ e Tan daro ei h is o n w ide s d and , in lighter measure , in w

Th e Th re e-Ten :

When in the prime and May - day time dead lo vers went

a- k wal ing, ’ Ho w h ow as bright the grass in lads eyes was , e y poet ’ s talk ing !

e ff on Her were green hills and da odils , and copses to c tain them Daisies for ﬂoors did front their doo rs agog f o r maids

to chain them . So when th e ray o f rising day did pierce the eas tern heaven Maids did arise to make the Skies seem brighter far by

seven . ’ ’ ’ No w here s a street where bus routes meet, and twixt the wheels and pavin g Standeth a lout who doth hold o u t ﬂowers n ot worth

the having .

' B ! T tr u t s ee, bu t s ee h e c lo ck s i k es th ree above th e

Ki r t ti n lbu n S a o , ’ Th th n k ar a os e m ai ds , a G o d, e n e th th e sad an d all

n ti n th ei r ge era o .

’ h n n o h o What she shall wear w o ll soo appear, it is t od

nor wimple , But by the powers there are no ﬂowers so stately o r so

Simple . THE PROSE TRADITION 37

’ And paper shops and full bus tops confron t the su n

so brightly,

- n o That, come three ten , lovers then had hearts that beat s o lightly e u l As ours or loved mor tr y , Or found green shades o r ﬂowered glades to ﬁt their

loves more duly . ’ A n n s e ! Ti s t en ast th ree ab o e th Ki l d s ee, a d e p v e

b rn tati o n u S , ’

T m ai s th n k ! re n e t . th n all h o s e d , a G o d a a h e so d a d

n r i n th ei r ge e at o .

Oh well , there are very few song writers in England , ’ and it s a simple o ld -fas hioned song with a note o f f u t u ri sm i n its very lyric. refrain ; an d I dare say y ou will pay as little attention to it as I did ﬁve years ago .

o u And if y sing it aloud , once over, to yourself, I dare ’ s ay you ll be just as incapable o f getting it out o f your

e on e o f . head , which is p rhaps test a lyric H ff ’ f n o t e Mr . u e er s o It is , how ver, for gift song writing that I have cons idered hi m at such length ; this h im n d gift is rare but n ot novel . I find significant a revolutionary because o f his insistance upon clarity and precision upon the prose tradition ; in brief upon effi , — , cient writing even in verse . THE REV G R LL B O . . . ABBE ,

SINC S th E the death of Laurence terne or ereabouts , there has been neither in England nor America any

f o f e o f su ﬁcient sense of the value realism in literatur , the value o f writing words that conform precisely with

c e a irc m lo u fa t , of fre Speech without ev sions and c u c ” tions .

h Rev e I had forgotten , when I wrote t is, the . Crabb ,

LL . B . Think o f the slobber that Wordsworth would have made over the illegitimate infant whom Crabbe dismiss es “ : Th ere sm i le ou r B rid e th er ra l r with s y , e sp w s y o u n ew ’ b o rn S an .

n o t . Byron liked him , but the British Public did The

h as . w British public liked , liked, likes and always ill s like all art , music , poetry , literature , glas engraving , sculpture , etc . , in just such measure as it approaches

. . s S o r at the Tennysonian tone It like hakespear, least h i “ accepts m in just so far as he is Tennysonian . It has published the bard o f Avon expurgated and even f “ emended . There has never been an edition o Puriﬁed

Tennyson . “ It is incredible that his ( Tennyson ’s ) whole mind b e should made up of ﬁne sentiments , says Bagehot . Of ’ - was. course it wasn t . It that lady like attitude toward

e it— ln the printed pag that did that something, that “ ” ff o u t o f e able something , which kept Tennyson his ’ n i V i cc n works . Whe he began to wr te for y s ignora t “ c ar so z , he immediately ceased to be the Tennyson mu zy 138

140 DIVISIONS

a e f o r im a i sm e a genius , an unquestion bl genius , g , for a

o f d - in a presentation natural etail , wild fowl bathing

i c e . h hole in the , etc , and this talent , or the fruits of t is

f i . talent , he buried in a desert o bleat ngs

Blake denounced him as an atheist, but for all that h as o he has been deemed so innocuous that he bec me ,

n o t e o n e if the backbon , at least of the ribs of British kultur . And Crabbe ? The worst that should be said o f h im is that h e still ’ o f clings to a few Pope s tricks , and that he is not utterly

t o f i i s in free from the habi moraliz ng . What , actuality,

o f h e o r at ro n iz usually said him is that is unpoetic , , p “ ’ ” i n l an . g y , that you c t call this really great poetry .

n Pope is sometimes an excellent writer, Crabbe is ever

s absolute slush, nonsense or bombast . That admis ion

ul n o t should satisfy the m titudinous reader , but it will . If the nineteenth century had built itself o n Crabbe ?

! n . Ah , if But no ; they wanted confectio s

n o o f i n Crabbe has variety metric , but he shows no

u s e h i s o n considerable skill in the of e habitual metre , to save the sam e from monotony . I admit that he makes vague generalities about ” “ ” Vice , Villainy and Crime, etc . , but these para graphs are hardly more than short cuts between o n e n passage o f poetry a d another .

h e He does not bore you , he does not disgust you , does not b ri ng o n that feeling o f naus ea which we have when we realize that we are listening to an idiot who

u r n occ as ionally makes bea tiful ( o o r amental) vers es . ’ hi s o n Browning at best went with Crabbe s me thod .

o f S h He expressed an adoration helley , and e might

‘ r have lea ned more from Crabbe , but he was nevertheless

the soundest o f all the Victorians . Crabbe will perhaps

n o f keep better tha Browning, he will have a savour THE RE G . R V . O LL B ABBE , . 141 freshness ; o f course he is n o t the greater poet o f the two , but then he gives us such sound satisfaction in his best moments . And those moments are precisely the moments when he draws his “ Borough ” with greatest exactness , and when he refrains from commenting . They “ ” t s are the momen when he lets himself go , when he is “ ” h “ Rev t e . neither The . nor LL B but just good , ” sensible Crabbe , as at the end of Inns , or reporting “ ” “ ” “ ” o conversati ns in Amusements , Blaney, Clelia , and the people remembered by Benbow . If Eng li sh m en had known how to select the best o u t o f Crabbe

’

' f n in F they would have less need o c o su lt g rench stylists . E t pourtant

’ — Then liv d the good Squire Asgill what a change Has Death and Fashion shown us at the Gran ge ?

h e h is He bravely t ought it best becam rank , That all his Tenants and his Tradesmen drank ; He was delighted from his favorite Room ’ s e To see them cros the Park go daily hom , s Praisi ng aloud the Liquor and the Ho t , m And striving who should venerate h i mo st .

Along his valleys in the Evening - Hours ’ The Borough - Damsels stray d to gather Flowers , Or by the Brakes and Brushwood o f the Park

To take their pleasant rambles in the dark .

S H o f f o reb o re t o ome udes , rigid kind , call — On the kind Females Favorites at the Hall ;

saw But better natures , with much delight , Th e diff erent orders o f mankind unite ; ’ F Twas scho oling Pride t o s ee the o otman wait ,

Smile o n his sister and receive her plate . 142 DIVISIONS

Or Sir Denys admitting Clelia to the alm s -h ous e

With all her faults h e said the wom an lm ew ,— , Ho w t o distinguish had a manner t o o ;

sh e a And , as they say, is llied to some — In decent station let the creature come .

h im ! . Oh , well Byron enj oyed And the people liked “

f o r n . e Byron . They liked him being roma tic Th y M m ’ r . adored s . He ans And some day when Arthur s

i s e f o r tomb no longer an obj ct metrical research , and ’ when the Albert Memorial is no longer regilded , Crabbe s

r people will still remain vivid . People will ead Miss

a t Austen because of her knowledge of the human he r , and not solely for her reﬁnement .

’ th e His , Crabbe s , realism is not hurried realism o f “ h e an ignorance , describes inn called The i n “ his day there was no Maison Tellier to serve for a paradigm

’ There dwells a kind o ld aunt and th ere you ll see Some kind young nieces in her company

i t s What though may some cool observer strike , That such fair sist ers should be s o unlike ;

And still another and another comes , ’ And at the Matron s table smiles and blooms ;

A pious fri end who with the ancient Dame

At sober cribbage takes an Evening- Game ; aff His cup beside him , through their play he qu s

t o e Or growing serious the T xt resorts ,

An th e S - S d from unday ermon makes reports ,

1 44 DIVISIONS

’ n o Gods longer walked in men s garden s . The ﬁrs t “ ” e e myths aros when a man walked sheer into nons nse ,

s a n an d that is to y , whe some very vivid undeniable h e adventure befell him , and told someone else who

. ri called him a liar Thereupon , after bitter expe ence , perceiving that no o n e could understan d what he meant ” t “ when he said tha he turned into a tree , he made a — — myth a work o f art that is an impersonal o r obj ective

o u o f o wn th e story woven t his emotion , as nearest o f equation that he was capable putting into words .

That story , perhaps, then gave rise to a weaker copy o f i n his emotion others , until there arose a cult , a com ’ pany o f people who could understand each other s n o n sense about the gods . These things were afterwards incorporated for the a “ S ” condemn ble good of the tate , and what was once

o f a species truth became only lies and prop aganda . And they told horri d tales to little boys in order to make them b e good ; o r to the ignorant populace in order to preserve the empire ; and religion came to an end and b civic science began to e studied . Plato said that

t o u t o f artis s ought to be kept the ideal republic , and the artists swore by their gods that nothing would drag “

. o f o them into it That is the history civilisation , r K o r ul . philology, tur

n i s o f o r Whe any man able , by a pattern notes by

o f o r t o an arrangement planes colours , throw us back f e into the age o truth , everyone who has b en cast back into that age o f truth for o n e instant gives honour to

- o r art the spell which has worked , to the witch work the

o r . s a work, to whatever you like to call it I y , there t e fore , that I saw and heard the God Pan ; shor ly aft r

s . . wards I saw and heard Mr . Dolmet ch Mr Dolmetsch n d h e was talking volubly, a said something very deroga ARNOLD D OLMETSCH 145

s 240 o r n tory to music, which need ( some such umber o f c an in o n e o r ) players , and only be performed two F o f capitals . Pepys writes , that in the ire London ,

e o n s when the people wer escaping by boat the Thame , there was scarcely a boat in which you would not see them taking a pair of virginals as am ong their dearest possessions . a s Older journ list tell me it is cold mutton , that f was o . Mr . Dolmetsch heard ﬁfteen years ago This shows a tendency that I have before remarked in a civ

ilisati o n u o n o u rn ali sm h as which rests p , j , and which h only a spora dic care for t e arts. Everyone in London “ ” M i n stru r t r . over fo y has heard of Dolmetsch , his

e ments , etc . The g neration under thirty may have al heard of him , but you cannot be sure of it . His topic

. f e o . interest is over . I hav heard Mr Dolmetsch for

an d am ﬁfteen years , because I am a crank interested

s Mr h as in such matter . . Dolmetsch always been in F ’ o r o e as . rance America, r som where I wasn t when he w

- s in Also , I have seen broken down pinets portentous

- h ar i and pretentious drawing rooms . I have heard p s

i n s n chords played Parisian concert , and they sou ded

like the scratching of multitudinous hens , and I did not

wonder that pianos had superseded them . Also , I have known good musicians an d have favoured divers s orts

o f s good mu ic . And I have supposed that clavichords

were things y o u might o wn if you were a millionaire ; and that virginals went with cithern s an d citoles in the f R o . s . poems the late D G . o setti F So . s I had two sets of adventures ir t , I perceived a sound which is undoubtedly derived from th e Gods and —, then I found myself in a reconstructed century in a

o f o r century music , back before Mozart Purcell, listen t o o as A ing clear music, to t nes clear brown amber . nd 146 DIVISIONS this music came indifferently o u t o f the harpsichord or the clavichord or o u t of virginals or o u t o f o dd- shaped viols , or whatever they may be . There were two small girls playing upon them with an exquisite prec ision ; with a precisio n quite unlike anything I have ever heard

s o f from an orchestra . Then someone aid in a tone “ i authority It s nonsense to teach peopl e scales . It

e th i s is rubbish to mak them play (tum , tum , tum , tum

. s tum) . They must begin to play music Three year H . o w playing scales , that is what they tell you can ” they ever b e musicians ?

e It reduces itself to about this . Onc people played music . It was gracious , exquisite music , and it was ’ played on instru ments which gave o u t the players

x e act mood and personality . It is beautiful even if " ” o u i wr n o f y play t o g. The clavichord has the beauty

r e h s three o four lutes pl ay d together . It a more than

a that , but no matter . You have your ﬁngers lways en rapport with the strings ; it is not one dab and then

an o r h either other dab else nothing , as wit the piano ;

l o n ﬁn er - the music is a ways lying your own g tips .

Yo This old mus ic was not theatrical . u played it

e yourself as you r ad a book of precision . A few people played it together . It was not an interruption but a concentration .

o n th e Now , other hand , I remember a healthy con ’ “ ” cert pianist complaining that y o u couldn t really give a big piano concert unless you had the endurance o f an “ ’ ” x o f o ; and that women couldn t , course ; and that gradually th e person with long hands was being elim i n at e c d from the pianisti world , and that only people

e t ech n i with littl , short fat ﬁngers could come up to the

is so o r . we cal requirements Whether this not , have

n r come to the pianola . And o e o two people are going

148 DIVISIONS M r . m h l et u s s a o f n Dol etsc was , y , enamoured a cient ~ . mi music He found it sundersto od . He saw a beauty so so great and various that he stopped composing . He found that th e beauty was untranslatable with m o d e rn instruments ; he h as repaired and h as entirely re “ ” Th made ancient instruments . e co mfort is that he h as d hi n o t h o n e one t s for a few ric faddists , as had H l been led to suppose . e makes his virgina s and clavi

e o f o f n o chords for the pric a bad , a very bad pia . You can have a virginal for £25 if y ou order it wh en he is making a dozen ; and you can have a clavichord f o r a

i s few pounds more , even if he not making more than

o n e .

Dol My interest in these things is n o t topical . Mr .

s h was o u are n o t met c a topic some years ago , but y an c ou ran t n , and you do o t much care for music unless y ou kn ow that a certain sort o f very beautiful music

n is o longer impossible . It is not necessary to wait f o r o r a great legacy, to inhabit a capital city in order to hear magical voices , in order to hear perfect music which does n o t depend upon your ability to ap p ro xi l o r n a t . mate the pianola, upo great physic streng h Of

o n e c the clavichord , can only say , very inexa tly , that it is to the piano what the violin is t o the b ass viol .

As I believe that Lewis and Picas so are capable o f revitalising th e instinct o f design so I believe that a r e

an n a turn , awake ing to the possibilities , not necess rily “ ” o f b u an Old music , t of pattern music played upon

e cient instruments , is , perhaps, abl to make music again

o f l l a o f . a part ife, not mere y part theatricals The an m musici , the perfor ing musician as distinct from the i an s composer, m ght again be interesting per on , an

n o t t o f n o r artist, merely a sor manual saltimba que a is e t on o f stage hyp notist . It , perhaps, a qu s i whether ARNOLD DOLMET SCH 149

o u n us e o u t o an y wa t m ic , or wheth r y want see obsessed “ ” personality trying to dominate an audience .

I have said little that can be called technical criticism . i s I have perhaps implied it . There precision in the making of ancient instruments . Men still make pass able violins ; I do n o t s ee why the art of beautiful -keyed h as instr u ments need be regarded as utterly lost . There ’ l s o f n been precision in Mr . Do met ch s study a cient texts 1 h h as and notation ; he as routed o u t many errors . He

e o f an even , with certain h lp , unravelled the precision h as a cient dancing . He found c omplete notation which

' might n o t i n t erest us were it not that this very dancing

o n e h o ld forces to a greater precision with t e music .

n e One ﬁnds , for insta c , that certain tunes called dance tu n es must be played double the time at which they are modernly taken . m One art interprets the other . It would al ost touch

h a upon t eatric ls , which I am trying to avoid , if I should s ay that o n e steps into a past era when o n e sees all the o Dolm etsch es o f Six ther dancing quaint , ancient steps t een th n Century da cing . One feels that the dance would

o n e go even if there w re no audience . That is where

n e real drama begi s , and wher we leave what I have called, “ ” with odium , theatricals . It is a dance , danced for ’

an s n o t . c the d ce sake, a display It is musi that exists

e o f f o r o f as for the sak being music , not the sake , they sa an y , producing impression . Of course there are other musicians working with this same ideal . I take Mr . Dolmetsch as perhaps a

n as s o n e h u ique ﬁgure , perhap the man w o knows most

h e wh h as deﬁnitely whither is going, and why, and o o l given most time to d music .

“ 1 V i de h i s Th e In t erp ret ati o n o f th e Musi c o f th e XVIIth ” II n and XV Ith Ce turi es . 1 50 DIVISIONS They tell me everyone knows Dolmetsch who k nows o f n o o f old music , but t many people know it Is that

o r sheer nonsense , or what is the fragment of truth rumour upon which it i s based ? Why is it that th e ﬁne things always seem to go o n in a corner ? Is it a judgment o n democracy ? Is it that what has once been

s o f an o f - the plea ure the m y , the pre Cromwellian many, h as been perm anently swept out of life ? Musical Eng land ? A wild man comes into my room and talks o f

o f o f - - piles turquoises in a boat , a sort shop house boat

Hi s o f east of Cashmer e . talk is full the colour o f the

- Orient . Then I ﬁnd he is living over an old clothes shop in Bow . And there they seem to play all sorts o f instruments . Is there a popular instinct for an yt hing diff erent from “ ” what my ex- landlord calls the four-hour-touch ? Is

t h e h o set it that aristocracy, whic ught to the fashion, is t o o weakened and t o o unreal to perform the due “ ” o f ? t functions aristocracy Is it tha nature can , in t o f s ? fact , only produce a cer ain number vortice That the quattrocento shines o u t because the vortices of so c ial power coinc ided with th e vortices of creative in t elligen c e ? And that when these vortices do n o t coin “ ” cide we have an age o f art in strange corn ers and of great dullness among the quite rich ? Is it that real o h democracy can only exist under feudal conditi ns , w en no m an fears to recognise creative skill i n h is n eigh bour ?

1 52 DIVISIONS

t o o e t . It is lat to preven vers libre But conceivably, o n e s might improve it , and one might stop at lea t a little o f the idiotic and narro w discussion based o n an ign o n e f f s n o s . t c o ra c mu ic Bigo ed atta k, born thi ig orance o f o f was we the tradition music , what had to live through .

’ Th f Arnold Dolmetsch s book , e Interpretation o the ” 1 o f XV IIth XV IIIth Music the and Centuries , is full “ ” of what we may call either ri pe wisdom o r common ” “ o r e hi t sense , thos t ngs which all good ar ists at all times have tried (perhaps vainly) to hammer into in

S o f h is n sensitive heads . ome dicta are , by their ature,

o r applicable only to instrumental music melody, others are susceptible of a sort o f transposition into terms o f

e n t the sister arts , still others have a dir ct bearing o poe ry ,

r iﬁ a i n a o at least o n vers c t o . It is with these l st that I ’ r shall conce n myself . Dolmetsch s style is so clear and his citations o f old authors so apt that I had perhaps better quote with small comm ent . “ ’ ” a n t 16 13 M ce, Musick s Mo umen ( )

(1 )

m s w Th a a h o i n Fi rs n e y o u u t Kn o , t, lt ugh o u r t U d r

ak in s we o h t o s t ri ve f o r th e m o s Exa Ha i o f Ti m e t g , ug t , t ct b t

n h o si we c an a ain n o and f o r e e al k e ep i g t at p s bly tt u t , ( s v r

o o R e as n s et wh en we o m e to b e Mas t e rs so at we g d o ) y , c , th n n o f Tim e at o u r wn P as r s we c an c o m m an d all m a e r , o le u e ;

n t i b e rt an d er o f en f o r H m o an d o od Th e ak e L y , ( v y t , u ur, g

A rn m n - sak e i n e ai n P a es t o B reak Ti m e om etim es do e t , c rt l c ) ; s

n d s o m e im es S o we as we e ei e th e Natu re o F aster, a t l r, p rc v f

n Re i es wh i h o en a ds m G race an d L us ter th e Thi g qu r , c ft d , uch , , ” t o th e Perfo rm an ce .

1 Y rk . H G a Co . N o W. r and ew L n o n l os . 6d . . ( No vello , o d , ; y , ) VERS LIBRE AND ARNOLD D OLMETSCH 1 53

(2 )

h hi n e o n i b u n m ak n t e t g to b d e, s t o ly to e a k i d o f

Cess ati o n o r s tandi n s ti ll i n du e a e an ex e en , g p l c c ll t grace .

130 I n t ni o rm . : ou d i u Again , from Mace , p f y ﬁ f , ” and r etorti ve either in its bars o r strains y ou are told

o f s to get variety by the quality loud and oft , etc . , . “ ” X r s h an d if it e p e set short sentences this applies . And you are to make pauses o n long notes at the end o f sentences .

“ ‘ R 1687 Maitre de et ousseau , , in Musique de Viole

(1 )

“ ” At thi s wo rd m o vem ent th ere are p eo p le wh o im agin e th at t o give th e m o vem en t i s to f o ll o w an d k eep tim e ; b u t

h ere i s m h iff eren e etwe e n th e o n e an d th e o h er r t uc d c b t , f o o n e m a k ee im e wi h o en eri n i n o h m y p t t ut t g t t e o vem ent .

( 2 )

Yo u m s a o i a o f si o n o f i i sio ns wh u t v d p r u d v , ich o nly di s r th e un e an d o s e i ts tu b t , b cur beauty .

Mark n o t th e ea m b t to o uch .

The accompanist i s told to imitate the irr egularities o f the beautiful voice .

“ ’ F n n 1717 L ra cois Couperi , , Art de touch er l e ” Clavecin (1 )

We wri e iff eren f o m wh a we t d tly r t p lay . ( 2 )

I ﬁn d h a we o n f se Tim e o r Me as e t t c u , ur , with wh at i s a e Ca en e o r Mo em en c ll d d c v t . Measure deﬁn es th e quantity 154 DIVISIONS

th e s iri th e so an d e quality o f b e ats ; Caden ce is p ro p erly p t, ul th at m ust b e a dd e d .

w i en i n m e as ed im e Alth o ugh th ese Prelud es are r tt ur t , th ere i s h o we ver a custo m ary style which sh o uld b e f o llo we d . Th o se wh o will u se th ese s et Pre ludes m ust p l ay th em i n

n n r W ITH OUT BINDING THE MSELVE S To STRICT an easy m a e ,

IME n ess I sh o h a e ex ress m ark e it th e wo T , u l uld v p ly d by rd

m esu ré .

On e need seek no further for proof of th e recognition — “ o f vers libre in music an d this during th e classical

period . I have pointed o u t elsewhere that the even bar meas

NO o n e n o r ure is certainly T the and importa t thing , even

the ﬁrst important thing ; and that European musicians,

a at le st, did not begin to record it until comparatively

late in the history o f notation . Couperin later notes the barring as a convenience

On e o f th e re as o n s why I h ave m e asure d th ese Preludes

i s th e f a i i o n e wi ﬁn d to e a h h m o m c l ty ll t c t e r le arn th e .

sa o f ff That is to y , musical bars are a sort sca old to be e kicked away when no longer ne ded . Disregard o f bars is not to be confused with temp o t ru o . ba , affecting the notes inside a single bar

Dolmetsch ’ s wisdom is not conﬁned to the demon st r atio n of a single point of topical interest to the

n o t poet . I have t space to quote wo whole chapters , “ o r even to elaborate brief quotations like You must ” a bind perfectly all that you pl y . The serious writer o f verse will not rest content until he h as gone to the

th e e o n source . I do not Wish to give rr neous impressio

R MR S 1 DUBLINE S AND . JAME JOYCE

FREEDOM from sloppiness is so rare in contemporary “ o n e sa English prose that might well y simply, Mr . ’ Joyce s book o f short stories is prose free from l p p i ” run ness , and leave the intelligent reader ready to

h i s t o from study , immediately spend three and Sixpence o n the volume . ’ Unfortunately one s credit as a critic i s insufﬁcient to produce this result .

f Th E o t o e is . The readers g , having had Mr Joyce under their eyes for some months , will scarcely need to

o o u t t have his qualities p inted o them . Both they and the paper have been very fortunate in his collaboration .

s Mr . Joyce write a clear hard prose . He deals with

e subj ective things , but he pr sents them with such clarity o f outline that he might b e dealing with locomotives ’ r F o r o n e o with builders speciﬁcations . that reason

o n c o n can read Mr . Joyce without feeling that e is

. u t ferring a favour I must p this thing my own way . I 1 68 e know about authors . About once a year I r ad somethin g contemporary without feeling that I am

r F softening th e path for poor Jones o poor ulano d e Tal . I can lay down a good piece o f French writing and pick up a piece of writing by Mr . Joyce without feeling ff as if my head were being stu ed through a cushion . There are still impressionists about and I dare say they

s claim Mr . Joyce . I admire impressionist writer . Eng

1 “ D i ners Jam e s Jo e . G rant Ri h ar s . ubl , by yc c d 15 6 MR DUBLINERS AND . JAME S JOYCE 1 57

’ lish prose writers who haven t go t as far as impression

is 95 . ism (that to say, per cent of English writers of prose and vers e ) are a bore .

o r Impressionism has , however, two meanings , per “ ‘ ” s a haps I had better y , the word impressionism gives f ‘ two di ferent impressions .

o f There is a school of prose writers , and verse writers S for that matter, whose forerunner was tendhal and

F o f F whose foun der was laubert . The followers laubert

i so o n deal n exact presentation . They are often intent s exact presentation that they neglect inten ity, selection ,

' r erh a and concentration . They a e p p s the most clarify ing an d they have been perhaps the most beneﬁcial force in modern writing .

set f r There is another , mostly o ve se writers , who ’ founded themselves not upon anybody s writing but M upon the pictures o f onet . Every movement in paint ing picks up a f ew wr iters who try t o imitate in words

h n n i saw what someone as done in pai t . Thus o e wr ter “ a picture by Monet and talked o f pink pigs blossom ” “ in o n g a hillside , and a later writer talked of slate ” “ ” - blue hair and raspberry coloured ﬂanks . “ ” These impressionists who write in imitation of ’ Monet s softness instead of wr iting in imitation o f Flau ’ d eﬂ n it en ess s bert s , are a bore , a grimy, or perhap I

s a ﬂ i n o r b u d . should y , a rosy , bore The spirit o f a decade stri kes properly upon all of th e “ ” arts . There are parallel movements . Their causes

ff s r and their e ects may not eem , supe ﬁcially, similar .

o r e This mimicking of painting ten twenty years lat , “ ” is not in the leas t the same as the literary movement

th o parallel to e painting m vement imitated .

The force that lead s a poet to leave out a moral n reﬂection may lead a painter to leave ou t represe tation . 1 58 DIVISIONS

The resultan t poem may not suggest the resultant pain t ing . ’ Mr . Joyce s merit, I will not say his chief merit but

r his most engaging me it , is that he carefully avoids tell ’ s ing you a lot that you don t want to kno w . He present

s e al s his people wiftly and vividly , he does not s ntiment i e over them , he does not weave convolutions . He is a “ ” realist . He does not believe life would be all right if we stopped vivisection o r if we instituted a new sort f “ ” o . i s n o t economics He gives the thing as it . He is bound by the tiresome convention that any part of life , to be interesting, must be shaped into the conventional f “ ” form o a story . Since De Maupassant we have had “ so many people trying to write stories and so few people presenting life . Life for the most part does not happen in neat little diagrams an d nothing is more tire

some than the continual pret ence that it does . ’ “ Mr . Joyce s Araby , for instance , is much better h “ t an a story , it is a vivid waiting . i s It is surpr sing that Mr . Joyce is Irish . One is o “ ” “ tired o f the Irish o r Celtic imagination (or phan ”

n . tasy as I think they o w call it) ﬂopping about . Mr

ﬂ . n o Joyce does not Op about He deﬁnes . He is t an s institution for the promotion of Irish pe asant industrie . He accepts an international standard of prose writing

and lives up to it .

i s n o t He gives us Dublin as it presumably . He does

d n o t descend to farce . He oes rely upon Dickensian

s as caricature . He give us things they are , not only for

Dublin , but for every city . Erase the local names and

a few Speciﬁcally local allusions , and a few historic

o f f ew ff events the past , and substitute a di erent local e o names , allusions and events , and thes st ries could be f n retold o any to w .

1 60 DIVISIONS

e o f o f becaus his more rigorous selection , because his o f exclusion all unnecessary detail . There is a very clear demarcation between u n n eces sary detail and irrelevant detail . An impressionist “ friend o f mine talks to me a good deal about prepar ” eﬂ ects u n n eces ing , and on that score he justiﬁes much “ ” i s n o t sary detail , which irrelevant , but which ends by being wearis ome and by putting o n e out o f conceit h i with s narrative . ’ e f Mr . Joyc s more rigorous selection o the presented d s h im o n etail mark , I think as belonging to my w

e is - gen ration , that , to the nineteen tens , not to the ’ ” - decade between the nineties and to day . At any rate these stories and the novel now appearing i n f o serial form are such as to win r Mr . Joyce a very deﬁnite place among English contemporary prose writ “ ers f , not merely a place in the Novels o the Week

o f column , and our writers good clear prose are so few

ff o r that we cannot a ord to confuse to overlook them . MEDITATIONS 1

ANENT THE DIFFICU LTIES OF GETTING A POR TRAIT OF THE ” ARTIST As A YOU NG MAN PRINTED IN ENGLAND

TH H T h OUG . S , rages , p enomena I have seen in the o c urse of the morning new ecclesiastica l buildings , and I know from the events o f the last few months that it is “ diﬁ lt m very cu to get the two ost remarkable novels ,

e h ou r writt n in Englis by generation , published “ h e through t ordinary channels . Yet it is more desirable that a nation should have a ﬁrm literature than that paste -board nonentities should

n S e ! pour fort h rehas hed Victoria a o n undays . Wast

e m u lti li citl s ! Wast , and again , p y , wa te

O Christian and benevolent reader, I am not attack ing your religion . I am even willing to confess a very

it s f o r considerable respect for founder, and Confucius an d o r h as Mohammed , any other individual who striven to implant a germ o f intelligence in the soil o f the cir cu m acen t j stupidity . And I respect him whatever his n h is i s s a h as mea s and medium , that , y , whether he

s o r worked by violent peech , by suave and persuasive

o r a i n paragraphs , by pretending to h ve received his stru cti o ns n , and gazed unabashed upo the hind side ’ ’ o f h v o n the intemperate and sensuous J , the escarps f o Mou nt Sinai . th h Because we , that is to say, you and I and e y

o th eti cal ou r i n m p rest of readers , nor al mood, have

l E o i s t Mar h 1st 9 6 1 1 . g . c , 162 DIVISIONS n o e h conc rn with churches , we generally presume t at h n o all this pother as been settled long since , and that

i e body bothers about t . It is inde d a rare thought that

an o f Tert u lli an s there are thous ds prim , soaped little e b opposing enlightenment , entrench d in their igotry , dl mil y, placidly, contentedly entrenched in small livings

n s and in fat livi gs, and in miserable , degrading curacie ,

and that they are all sterile , save perhaps in the pro

o o f ff r ducti n human o spring , whe eof there is already a superabundance .

10 f o f n Perhaps per cent . o the activities the Christia

m ai s asso ns ! An d churches are not wholly venal , p the r ? arts , and good letters , serious w iting “ t !” Oh , you go on too much about art and let ers

o f Bleat about the importance Yes, I have n heard these phrases . And very an oying people will ” n go o about art . “ In no country in the world do the authorities take ” e s such good car of their author . There are various

o f . points view There are various tyrannies . “ We are going to have an outbreak o f rampant puri ” t an i sm after the war . “ ” We shall have a Saturn alia !

r f There a e various points o view . The monster o f f intolerance sni fs like a ghoul about the battleﬁelds even . Flammari on o r someone said that the su n was about to

was F r explode on , I think it , eb uary the ﬁfth o f this

i s year . The end of the world approaching . Perhaps . At any rate I am not the ﬁrst author to remark that

i s o r the future unknowable, at least indeﬁnite an d u n

t . w cer ain Concerning the past e know a little . Con ” h o w ? cerning progress, much It is about thirty-nin e years sinc e Edmond de Gon

court wrote the preface I quote .

1 64 DIVISIONS as a s avant i s t w n n n r as a h o ria n . It o b e i s l i i u i eu zc , uld u t g ( j ) to u s th e o n an d s eri o s s h o o o f m o ern n o e i s s , y u g u c l d v l t , to f o id u s t o hi nk t o an a se to e s ri e all h a i s e m i rb t , ly , d c b t t p r tte d “ ” t o o h e s t o u t in o a o m e whi h h as o n its o e t r p t v lu c c v r Study,

r n h r i Y u a nn o k u a hi im o a y o t er g ave t tle . o c t as s t t s t e o f da t o am s e h e o n a i n th e rai -ro a a r a y u t y u g l dy l d c r i ge . I

hi n we h a e a ire s in e th e e i nni n o f th e en t k v cqu d, c b g g c tury,

h i h t o wri e f o r f o rm e m en wi th o h si n t e r g t t d , ut t e d ep res g n e essi o f ﬂ e ei n t o f o ei n resses o r t o h a e n e c ty g r g p , v , u d r a f ull

i an e im e o u r i sh e s i n Ho l an s rep ubl c r g , p ubl r l d, a we did in i th e tim e o f L o ui s XIV an d L o u s XV .

e o f u n Well, there you have it . We wer most us

n o r bor , at least mewling and puking, when those per f e ctl n e o b vi y plain , simple and , o would have supposed , o u s s entences were put together .

And yet we are still faced with the problem : Is literature possible in England and America ? Is it pos sible that the great book and the ﬁ rm book can appear “ ” n ? sa in normal conditio s That is to y , under the same conditions that make musical comedy, Edna ’ - - h S t . W at s her name , Victoria Cross , Clement hor er, etc ,

s ! etc . , o infernally poss ible among us

nl n It seems most u ikely . Of course , ﬁve hu dred peo

c an s ple do any mortal thing they like , provided it doe n o t imply the coercion o f a large body o f diﬂ e ren t peo ! ple . I mean , for instance , ﬁve hundred people can have any so rt o f drama o r no vel o r literature that they like . It i s p o ssible that th e Mercu re d e F ran ce h as don e much t o make serious literature poss ible in France “ ” s under present conditions . The Yale Univer ity Press in Ameri ca claims that it selects its books solely

‘ o n their merit and regardless o f p u bli c Opinion ( or per “ ” o f i haps I am wrong , regardless their vend bility may be th e mean ing o f their phras e as I remember it) . MEDITATIONS 1 65 And England ?

Oh , Blink is afraid to face the Libraries , I thought ” “ ’ s o . e . . The C nsor, etc , etc We don t think it ” o u r necessary to superintend the morals of subscribers . “ ” Yo n i u ca have it by taking a double subscr ption . Let me s ay at once that I make no plea f o r sm u tti s t . e c . ness , for an unneces ary erotic glamour, etc , I have what I have been recently informed is a typically F ” ’ rench disgust at the coarseness of Milton s mind .

f r I have more than once been ridiculed o my prudery . ’ “ o n e ar o i s But if can t , p f , write as a physician , as a ” ’ we savant as a historian , if can t write plays novels , _ , , _ poems or any other conceivable form o f literature with ’ s the scientist s freedo m and privilege , with at lea t the ’ f s i chance o at least the scienti t s verity , then where n e h of the world hav we got to , and w at is the use any

an thi n ? thing, y g TROUBADOUR S : THEIR SORT S AND CONDI TIONS 1

THE argument whether or n o the troubadours are a

o f o l n e subj ect worthy study is an d and respectable o . It is far too old and respectable to be decided hastily o r

n n n f o e o t . o by infallible person If Guillaume , Cou t

Peit eu s K R oe d e , grandfather of ing ichard C ur Lion , had

e not been a man of many energies , there might hav been

f a a l o r . w s s o d little food this discussion He , the book “ o f o f says him , the greatest counts in the world, and ” he had his way with women . Beside this h e made songs for either them o r himself o r for his mo re ribal d

sa un companions . They y also that his wife was Co tess “ o f wh o o Dia , fair lady and righteous , fell in l ve with ’ R im b au Au r n a an a t d e g and made him m y a song . How

e ever that may be, Count Guillaume mad composition in f s verse the best o court fa hions, and gave it a soc ial prestige which it held till the accursed crusade o f 1208

Th e f against the Albigenses . mirth o Provencal song i an s at times anything but sunburnt, d the mood is often

Fo r anything but idle . example De Born advises the

w o barons to pa n their castles bef re making war , thus e if they won th y could redeem them , if they lost the loss fell on the holder o f the mort gage .

m s as The for of the poetry are highly artiﬁcial , and artiﬁce they have still f o r the serious craftsman an in t erest in , less deed than they had for D ante, but by no

n No o f mea s inconsiderable . student the period can m doubt that the involved for s , and especially the veiled

1 Th e ua r t erl R evi ew 19 1 Q y , 3

1 68 DIVISIONS

s i o f n at Pari the manuscr pt Miquel de la Tour, writte , ’ o wn perhaps , in the author s handwriting ; at least we “ M ” scr ven . read I iquel de la Tour, y , do ye to wit Miquel gives us to know that such and such ladies were courted o r loved or sung with greater o r less good

h an d r fortune by suc such minstrels of various deg ee,

o n e m an w va as so u r n K for as a poor v , and a other was ing

Am f o s o f an d so n Aragon ; another , Vidal , was of a

h an furrier, and sang better t any man in the world ; and another was a poor kn ight that had but part of a castle ; 1 an d r and another was a clerk, he had an unde standing with a b o rgesa who had no mi nd to love him o r to keep R him , and who became mistress to the Count of odez . ’ ’ lx Voila l estat divers d entre eu . There was in deed a diff erence o f estate and fortune “ G au r z P . b e t o i ceb o t between them The monk , de , was

m an f Lim o zin a o birth ; he was of the bishopric of , son

a o f Po i ceb o of the c stellan t . And he was made monk

h e was S when a child in a monastery , which is called ain L eo n art . w And he kne well letters , and well to sing , 2 ro bar An d f o r s o f h an d well t . de ire woman e went forth from the monastery . And he came thence t o the m an to whom came all who f o r courtesy wished honour — — and goo d deeds to Sir Savari c de Malleon and this man gave him the harn ess o f a joglar and a horse and clothin g ; and then he went through the courts and com h posed and made good canzos . And e s et h is heart upon a donz ella gentle and fair and made h is songs o f

an d sh e u s her , did not wish to love him nle s he should get himself made a knight and take her to wife . And he

Savari c h o w told En the girl had refused him , where fore E n Savari c made him a knight and gave him land

1 R aim o n de Mi ra a an d Uc Bru n e cs r e s e ti e v l p c v ly . ” 2 “ o t i a o m o si ti o n it era t o ﬁ n d . P e c l c p , l lly TR OUBADOURS 1 69

n and the income from it . And he married the girl a d held her in gre at honour . And it happened that he

S . went into pain , leaving her behind him And a knight o u t o f England set his mind upon her and did s o much and said so much that he led her with him , and he kept her long time his mis tress and then let her go t o the

m l m n n G au b ert z dogs ( a a e a ar ) . And En returned

S o n from pain , and lodged himself e night in the city

as . d where she w And he went o ut for esire of woman , and he entered the al b erc o f a poor woman ; f o r they

ﬁ n told him there was a e woman within . And he found

“ sa sh e . w his wife And when he her, and him , great was the grief between them and great shame . And he

h e stopped the night with her, and on the morrow went forth with her an d took her to a nunnery where he had

f o r her enter . And this grief he ceased to sing and to ” in his . o u wn compose If y are minded , as Bro ing was “ ” o u t One Word More, you may search the song that

G au b ert z En made , riding down the second time from M h k alleon , ﬂushed wit the unexpected nighthood .

Per amor del b elh temps suau ” E m en 1 quar ﬁn amor somo .

Fo r love of th e sweet time an d soft he beseeches this lady in whom joy an d worth have shut themselves and ” all good in its completeness to give him grace and the t o kisses due him a year s ince . And he ends in envoi to Savari c .

Sen h er savari c larc e b o V o s t ro b a hom tota fazo

“ 1 Fo r o e o f t h e fai r t im e an d f l v so t , An d e a se ﬁ n e o e a eth m e t i b c u l v c ll o t . 1 70 DIVISIONS

Quel vostre ric fag so n p rezan ” 1 El dig cort es e benestan .

La Tour h as given us seed o f drama in the p as sage above rendered . He has left us also an epic in his “ Maen sac o f Al straightforward prose . Piere de was

e verne (Auvergn ) a poor knight , and he had a brother

A u st o rs Maen sac t ro u b a named de , and they both were dours an d they both were in concord that o n e should ” s t ro ar take the ca tle and the other the b . And pre su m ab ly they tossed up a m arab o ti n or some such o b so

th e Aus to rs lete coin , for we read , And castle went to

r o f and the poet y to Piere , and he sang of the wife

Bern art de Ti er ci . So much he sang of her and so much he honoured her that it befell that the lady let herself

r r el o f go (fu a a d ) . And he took her to the castle the

Dalﬁn o f o f Auvergne, and the husband , in the manner M the golden enelaus , demanded her much , with the church to back h im an d with th e great war that they

D lﬁn h im s made . But the a maintained ( Piere ) o that

was he never gave her up . He (Piere ) a straight man

r itz o m ( d e ) and good company, and he made charming

th e co bl as o f songs , tunes and words , and good pleas ” o n e ure . And among them is beginning

Longa saison ai est at vas amor

Hu m ils f ai ch s o n n e francs, y ai coma .

Dante and Brownin g have created so much interest in Sordello that it may not be amiss to give the bri ef ao

“ 1 Mi o r S avari c en e ro s l d , g u T h ast o n m en ﬁ nd th ee t h s o t y l b d, u , Th at t h y ri ch act s are fo o d f o r p rai s e ” r n An d co urt ly are th y wo d s a d d ays . “ 2 Fo r a lo n g t im e h ave I st o o d to war d Lo ve

H d fr nk and h a e o n e h i s o m m an s . um ble an a , v d c d

172 DIVISIONS

th e as among barons o r among th e better cl s, but much he go t himself welcomed among harlots and slattern s

- n sa co m and by inn keepers and taver ers . And if he w

o f was ing a good man the court , there where he was , he t o sorry and grieved at it , and he nearly split himself take him down a peg ( ct ades p ercu ssava de lu i ub ai s sar ) Fo r one razzo that shows an unusual character there are a dozen that s ay simply that such or such a man was

o f an o r o f Cat al o i n a R o ssil o n o r o f M es , g by , elsewhere ,

“ ” 1 ” a poor cavalier . They made their way by favour

o r o r m at times , by singing, by some other for of utility . “ G au ved an w o f e Marvo i s so n Ademar of as the castl ,

o f f M r a poor knight . He was knighted by the lord o a

as n o t i vois . He w a brave man b u t could keep up h s

as re estate knight , and he became jongleur and was

s p ect ed by all the best people . And later he went into ” “ Cai rels S orders at Gran Mon . Elias was of arlat ;

h e an d ill he sang, ill he composed , ill played the ﬁddle

h o u t worse he spoke , but e was good at writing words An d was w and tunes . he a long time andering, and h e S when he quitted it , returned to arlat and died

Per i w s n o f n there . d go as the o a ﬁsherma and made

Pei ro l his fortune by h i s art . was a poor knight who was ﬁtted o u t by the Dalﬁn o f Auvergne an d made love to Sail de Claustra ; an d all we know o f Cercam on is that he made vers and p as to r elas in the o ld way and h ” that he went every where e could get to . Pistoleta “ Marvo il was a singer for Arnaut of , and later he took to tro bar and made songs with pleasing tunes and he

i e was well rec e y d by the best people , although a man o f little comfort an d o f poor endowm ent an d o f little

1 F r e am e ei re e rm o u an d Pal azo l . o x pl , P B TR OUBADOURS 173

h a s stamina . And e took a wife t Marseille and became a merchant and became rich and ceased going about the ” ill m . G u e s courts the skinny was a j oglar of Manes , 3 5 4 and the capital letter shows him throwing , , and , “

o n . o n a red dice board Never had he harness , and

h e m al m n n what he gained lost a e , to the taver s an d the S ” women . And he ended in a hospital in pain .

The r azzo s have in them the seeds o f literary eriti i m c s . . The speech is , however, laconic Aimar lo Ners “ H h n w was a gentleman . e made suc songs as he k e ” h Aim eri m o w . c S to de arlat , a joglar , beca e a trou ”

a o n e . badour, and yet he m de but song Piere Guil “ ul h lem of To ouse Made good co las , but he made too f many . Daude o Pradas made cansos per sen de

trobar, which I think we may translate from a men “ tal grasp o f the craft . But they did not move from

love , wherefore they had not favour among folk . They ” were not sung . We ﬁnd also that the labour and skill

were divided . One man played the viol most excel

l en tl a y , and another s ng, and another spoke his songs 1 ’ t o au f re R B reb ezieu s music , and another, J udel , father “ i h - law, made good tunes with poor words to go with ” them .

’ The troubadour s person comes in for as much free

criticism as his performance . Elias fons Salada was “ o a fair man verily , as to feature , a joglar, no go d trou ” 2 “ . Faidit o f Uz badour But , a joglar erche, was ex c eedin l g y greedy both to drink and t o eat , and he b e h came fat beyond measure . And e took to wife a pub h lic woman ; very fair and well taught she was , but s e

1 R i h ar o f Breb ezi eu di i o n s c d ( s a s ) . “ ” ” 2 Th e o ar was t h e a er an d s i n er h e t r r h j gl p l y g , t o ubado u t e ” ﬁ n er o r o m o ser o f s o n s an d w r d c p g o ds . 1 74 DIVISIONS

sh e m became as big and fat as he was . And was fro a rich town Alest o f the Mark o f Proven ca from the ’A seignory of En Ber nart d n du ssa .

o f o f One the noblest ﬁgures the time , if we are to

e S avari c M believ the chronicle , was de auleon , a rich

o f Peiti eu m i e so n o f baron , who I have ment oned abov , “ Si r R e io s de Malleon ; lord was he of Malleon and of

Tal arn o m o f F o f s o f and ontenai , and ca tle Aillon and

B en ao n f St Boet and of and o . Miquel en Letz and of the isle of Ners and of the isle of Mues and of Nest rin e and o f

E n o lli s s g u and of many other good place . As one may read in the continuation o f this notice and verify fro m “ raz zo s h the of the ot er troubadours , he was of the most ” - Op en handed men in the world . He seems to have left

F aidit little verse save the tenzon with . !” Behold divers estate between them all Yet , de spite the diﬂ eren ce in condit ions o f life between the 12th

o u r o wn century and , these few citations should be

e enough to prov that the people were much the same ,

o n and if the preceding notes do not do this , there is e tale left that should succeed . “ The Vicomte o f St . Antoni was of the bishopri c o f

z f Cao rt o St . ( Cahors ) , Lord and Vicomte Antoni ; and he loved a noble lady who was wife of the s eign o r o f D l a b e es . Pena g , of a rich castle and a strong The lady was gentle and fair and valiant and highly prized and much honoured ; and he very valiant and well trained

m t ro b ai re and good at arms and char ing , and a good , and had name R aim o n s Jordans ; and the lady was called the V i co n t esse de Pena ; and the love of these two was beyond all measure . And it befell that the Vis count went into a land o f his enemies and was grievous

d . wounded , so that report held him for ead And at th e n ews sh e in great grief went and gave candles at

1 76 DIVISIONS

l Foix , in a song which begins mild y enough for a spring song

ﬂ o r si Mas qui a vol mesclar, and turns swiftly enough to a livelier measure

Ben deu gardar lo sieu baston Car frances sabon gr ans colps E t albi rar ab lor bordon E nous ﬁ zes in carcasses i Ni en genes n en gascon .

Let n o m an lounge amid the ﬂowers

Without a stout club o f some kind . K now ye the French are stiff in stours And sing n o t all they have in mind

So n o t Car c aso n trust ye in ,

as . In Genovese , nor in G con

My purpose in all this is to suggest t o the casual reader that the Middle Ages did n o t exist in tapestry 14th alone , nor in the century romances , but that there

wn n o e o f n was a life like our o , mere sequenc cither s and s citoles , nor a continuous stalking about in endal and

. u n di aSp r e . Men were pressed for money There was Th e speakable boredo m in the castles . chivalric singing was devised to lighten the boredom ; and this very sing

in i n o f ing became itself due time , the manner all things , an ennui .

‘ There h as b een so much written about the poetry o f wi 2 the best Provencal period , to t the end o f the 1 th

al century, that I shall say nothing of it here , but sh l conﬁne th e latter p art of th is essay to a mention o f TR OUBADOURS 1 77

ff o r o f ff three e orts , three sorts e ort which were made t o 2 keep poetry alive after the crusade of 1 08 . Any study of European poetry is unsound if it does n o t o f e commence with a study that art in Provenc .

o f an e The art qu titative vers had been lost . This loss was due more to ignorance than to actual chan ges o f m language , fro Latin , that is , into the younger tongu es . It is open to doubt whether the ZE o lic singing was ever R comprehended fully even in ome . When men began

o n r it to write tablets and ceased singing to the b a b os, f ‘ a loss o some sort was unavoidable . Propertius may be

as x s cited an e ception , but Propertius write only one

e th e s c o f R s metre . In any cas cla si culture the enai sance was grafted on to medieval culture , a process which is excellently illustrated by Andreas Divus Iu sti ’ n li an f o p o t u s translation o the Odyssey into Latin . It is true that each century after the R enaissance h as tried

its s in own way to come nearer the cla sic, but , if we are to understand that part of o u r civilisation which is the i art of verse , we must beg n at the root , and that root is medieval . The poetic art of Provence paved the way for the poetic art of Tus cany ; an d t o this D an te bears “ ” su fﬁcient witness in his treatise De Vulgari Eloquio . The heritage o f art is o n e thing to the public and qui te ’ i n another to the succeeding artists . The artist s heritance from other artists can be little more than

a s certain enthusi sms, which usually spoil his ﬁr t work ;

o f s o f e and a deﬁnite knowledge the mode expr ssion , which knowledge contributes to perfecting h is more f n o . mature performa ce . All this is a matter technique After the compositions o f Vidal and o f Rudel and o f

Bo rn elh an d n a Ventadour, of Bertra s de Born and Arn ut e o f Daniel , there seemed littl chance doing distinctive “ ’ ” work i n the c anzon de l amour courtois . There was 178 DIVISIONS n o o r as way, at le t there was no man in Provence capable o f ﬁnding a new way of saying in seven closely rhymed

o r was strophes that a certain girl , matron widow like a ’ t o f i t cer ain set th ngs , and that the troubadour s vir ues s et were like another , and that all this was very sorrow

o r was ful otherwise , and that there but one obvious

R o f B reb ezi eu s remedy . ichard had done his be t for tired ears ; he had made similes o f beasts and o f the stars which got him a pas sing favour . He had compared himself to the fallen elephant and to the self- piercing

o n e . pelican , and no could go any further Novelty is reas onably rare even in modes of decadence and revival . The three devices tried for poetic restoration in the early

1 r 3th century were the three usual devices . Ce tain men turned to talking art and aesthetics and attempted to

- t dress up th e folk song . Cer ain men tried to make verse more engaging by stufﬁ ng it with an intellectual an d

r n argumentative content . Ce tai men turned to social

. R satire oughly , we may divide the interesting work of A s the later Provencal period into these three divisions . f all o these men had progeny in Tuscany , they are , from ’ ri o f V f ew at the histo cal point iew , worth a moments

tention . The ﬁrst school is best represented i n the work of

Giraut Riquier of Narbonne . His most notable feat was

P t rela r the revival o f the as o . The Pasto ela is a poem in which a knight tells of having met with a shepherdess o r

o f co n some woman of that class , and what fortune and

e versation befell him . The form had be n used long b e

Marcab ru n in fore by , and is familiar to us such poems ’ “ as Guido Cavalcanti s In u n boschetto trovai pas ’ “ ”

o r S . torella , in winburne s An Interlude Guido ,

who did all things well , whenever the fancy took him ,

180 DIVISIONS

Al cor gentil ripara sempre amore , l ’ Come au gello in selva alla verdura .

An d : Cavalcanti wrote A lady asks me , wherefore I 1 n i s wish to speak of a accident which often cruel . Upon this poem there are nineteen great an d learned h i ’ . s e commentaries And Dante , following in lders foot “ h as steps, burdened us with a Convito .

Th e o f third school is the school satire , and is the only o n e which gives u s a contact with the normal life o f the time . There had been Provencal satire before Piere Cardinal ; but the sirventes o f Sordello and de Born were

s directed for the most part against per ons , while the

Canon of Clermont drives rather against conditions . In so o f s far as Dante is critic morals , Cardinal mu t be held as r o f as his fore unner . Miquel writes him follows

Peire Cardinal was o f Veillac o f the city Pui Ma

so n n Donna, and he was of honourable lineage , of a k ight and a lady . And when he was little his father put him f o r canon in the can o ni ca m ajo r of Pui ; and he learnt

s letter , and he knew well how to read and to sing ; and ’ when he was come to man s estate he had high kn owl

o f o f hi edge the vanity this world , for he felt mself gay

An n and fair and young . d he made ma y fair argu h an d . e e b u t ments fair songs And mad cansos , he

o f e an d made only a few thes , and sirventes he did best in the said sirventes where he s et forth many ﬁn e argu ments and fair examples f o r those who understand them ; f o r much he rebuked the folly o f this world and h as e . much reproved the false clerks , his sirventes show A n d he went through the court s o f kings an d o f noble

l oi cl en t e se a s a re t e h n i a t e rm o f h i s s h o asti c , u d p u ly c c l c l h i o h p l so p y . TR OUBADOURS 1 81 barons and took with him his j oglar who sang th e sir

wa w ventes . And much s he honoured and elcomed by my lord the good king of Aragon and by honourable M i . escru an barons And I , master iquel de la Tour , t t (scribe) , do ye o wit tha N . Peire Cardinal when he as s p sed from this life wa nearly a hun dred . And I , v the aforesaid Miquel , have written these sir entes in the city of Nem ze (Nimes) and h ere are written some o f his sirventes .

If the V i co n t esse de Pena reminds u s of certain ladies

we m et e s with whom have , thes irventes of Cardinal may well remind us that thoughtful men have in every age foun d almost the s ame set o f th ings o r at least the same sort of things to protest against ; if it be n o t a corrupt

i s e o f e u iva press or some monopoly, it always som sort q

c . lent , some conspira y of ignorance and interest And “ ”

a . thus he says , Li clerc si fan p stor The clerks pre ﬂ s wo l sh t . tend to be hepherds , but they are at hear

ru If he can ﬁnd a straight man , it is t ly matter for s sa o f ong ; and so we hear him y the Duke of Narbonne ,

adm i n i s who was, apparently, making a ﬁght for honest t rati o n :

Coms raymon duc de Narbona Marques de p ro en sa Vostra valors es tan bona

u e t t 1 Q o 0 mon gensa, Quar de la mar de bayona En tro a valenca Agra gent f al sae fellona

t em en sa Lai ab vil , Mas vo s t en etz vil lor ’ O u frances b evedo r DIVISIONS

1 Plus qua p er ditz au st o r ” 2 o s em ens No v fan t a.

Cardinal is not content to Spend himself in mere ’ Fi ei ra abuse , like the little tailor g , who rhymes Christ s “ mortal pena ” with

vo let z t ot z o rs Car j portar la borsa plena,

f ” is o n e o ! s . which way saying , Judas to the prie ts

s n o t He , Cardinal , see that the technique of honesty is always utterly simple .

“ o stilh elh Li p , legat cardinal

est abli r Fa cordon tug, y an fag

u n o s o t rai sso n esdir Q e qui p t de ,

which may mean , The pope and the legate and the cardinal have twisted such a cord that they have brought things to such a pas s that no o n e can escape committing ” As treachery . for the rich

1 Here li e s th e difficulty o f a ll th i s s o rt o f s ch o larsh ip ! Is th i s ” “ ” qu a o r qu e ? Th e ch ange o f th e lett er wi ll sh i ft u s i n t o i ro ny . “ ”— 2 No w i s co m e fro m Fran ce wh at o n e di d n o t a sk f o r h e i s addre ssi ng th e m an wh o i s st an di n g agai n st th e No rth

Co n t Ra m o n D k e o f ar o nn e u y , u N b , Mar i s o f ro en e qu P v c , Yo ur va lo ur i s s o un d en o ugh To m ak e u p f o r t h e co wa rdi ce o f A h n t r ll th e re st o f t e ge y . Fo r fro m t h e s e a a t a o n n e B y , E n t V a en e ve o l c , Fo k wo h a e i en i n s o o u t l uld v g v ( ld ) , B u t o u h o t h em i n s o rn y ld c , ‘ Or r e a i n s o rn th e [ , d g c S o th at t h e drunk en Fren ch A larm y o u n o m o re wk Th an a p art ri dge frigh t en s a h a .

1 84 DIVISI ONS

h misunderstands) , and who is little concerned wit the rs t e art of ve e , has often failed o notic how ﬁnely the ’ sound o f Cardinal s poems is matched with their mean

n ing . There is a lash and sti g in his timbre and in his

Y et o ld i s o r movement . the man not always bitter ; , i s o f if he bitter, it is with the bitterness a torn heart

n and not o f a hard o e . It is so we ﬁnd him in the sir vente beginning

so n o r As a man weepeth for his for his father, Or for his friend when death has taken him ~ , So do I mourn for the living who do their o wn

e s l ill - Fals , di loyal , felon , and ful of fare ,

- o f - Deceitful , breakers pact, i Cowards , compla ners ,

-b - - Highwaymen , thieves y stealth , turn coats , l o f Betrayers, and ful treachery , Here where the devil reigns

And teaches th em to act thus .

He is almost the only singer o f his time to protest against the follies o f war . As here

R o su n eady for war, as night is to foll w the , Readier for it than i s the fool to be cuckold When he has ﬁrst plagu ed his wife !

n And war is an ill thi g to look upon , And I know that there is not o n e m an drawn into it

o r i But his child , his cousin or someone ak n to him ” Prays God that it be given over .

h He says plainly, in anot er place , that the barons make

wn o f . war for their o proﬁt , regardless the peasants “ ” Hi i F ai mal sen h er vas los sieu . s sobriety s not to TR OUBADOURS 1 85

be fooled with sentiment either martial o r otherwis e .

i s o f o f f em in o l at r There in him little the fashion y , and the gentle reader in search of trunk -hose and t h e light l “ ’ guitar had better go e s ewhere . As for women : L una ” r fai d u t .

On e turns leman f o r the sake of great possessions ;

n n And a other because poverty is killi g her, ’ And one hasn t even a shift o f coarse linen ;

h as s And another two and does likewi e .

o n e o ld — sh e And gets an man and is a young wench , ” ld i h x And the o woman g ves t e man an eli ir .

f o r n o w : r1ch an As justice , there is little If a m

n steal by chicanery, he will have right before Consta

i e tine ( . . by legal circumambience) , but the poor thief ” s may go hang . And after this there is a pas age of p ity

o f ﬁ n e - as and irony drawn much of his work is , for he keeps the very formula that De Born had used in his “ Belh m e praise of battle , s quan vey and , perhaps , ’ in Si r Bertrans time even th e Provencal wars may have t o seemed more like a game , and may have appeared have some element o f sport and chance in them . But

12th o f the century had gone , and the Spirit the people ’ was s m a l s weary , and the old can on passage y wel erve as a ﬁnal epitaph o n all that remained o f silk thread and cisclaton s o f ai er , viol and g sab .

so Never again shall we see the Eas ter come in fairly ,

That was wont t o come in with pleasure and with song .

! e i No but we s e t arrayed with alarms and excursions ,

Arrayed with war and dismay and fear ,

Arrayed with troops an d with cavalcades , ’ it s ﬁ n e Oh , yes , a sight to see holder and shepherd

Going so wretched that they know not where they are . NOTE S ON ELIZABE THAN CLASSICIST S

THE reactions an d movements o f literature are

e o r scarcely, if ver, movements against good work good custom . Dryden and the precursors of Dryden did not “ - react against Hamlet . If the eighteenth century movement toward regularity is among those least sympa “ th e o f thetic to public our moment , it is historically ” k a a h resti cal o s justiﬁable , even though the t c vig ur of Marlowe ’ s “ Hero and Leander ” may not be enough to “ ” explain the existence of P o pe . A single faulty work showing great powers would hardly be enough to start “ ” a reaction ; only the mediocrity o f a given time can “ drive the more intelligent men of that time to break n” with traditio . I take it that the phras e break with tradition is currently used to mean “ desert the more obvious im ’ ” b eciliti es h as of one s immediate elders ; at least , it had that meaning in the periodical mouth for some years . Only the careful and critical mind will seek to know how much tradition inhered in the immediate elders . Vaguely in some course of literature we heard o f ” ld t vul arit er th e o f the o four eeners , g , metre the ” “ ” f n ot e Battle o Ivry . Hamlet could hav been written in this pleasing and popular measure . The “ ” F r . o classics , however, appeared in it Court ladies and cosmopolitan heroes it is perhaps a little bewilder th e o o f ing , but in m uth Oenone 186

1 88 DIVISIONS

n o w art And thou , who Priams sonne (all reu eren ce l ay d e apart ) Were tho a Hy ard to b eh o lde

when first thou wanste my heart . How o f t have we in Sh addo w laine wh y lst h u n gri e flocks have fedde ? How o f t have we o f grasse and gr e an es p rep arde a homely bedde ? Ho w o f t on simple stacks o f st rawe and bennet did we rest ? How o f t th e dew and foggie mist o u r lodging hath o p p r es t ? Who first di sco u erde thee the h o lt e s and L awn des o f l u r ck i n g game ? Wh o first di Sp laid thee where the whelps lay sucking of their Dame ? I su n dri e tymes have h olpe to pitch thy t o yl es for want o f ay de : And forst thy Hounds to clim b e the hilles

st a d e that gladly would have y .

’ One b oy st erou s Beech Och one s name in outward barke doth beare And with thy c aru in g kn ife is cut

OR N N . O , every wheare And as the trees in ty m e d o e ware so doth encrease my name

t o o n Go , grow , erect your selves a n c helpe to du a e my fame .

There gro wes ( I minde it u eri e well) an ck e upon a b , a tre Whereon ther doth a fresh recorde

i rem ain e o f and w ll mee, NOTE S ON ELIZABE THAN CLASSICIST S 1 89

h a i e sa Live long thou p p tree , I y , that o n the brinck doth stande ; And has t i n gr au e d in thy barke

these wordes , with Paris hande

h reu o lt e When Pastor Paris s all , ’ and O en o n s love f o rgo e Then Xanthus waters shall recoyle

F n i n ﬂ and to their o u t a es o e .

No w R u er s y backward bend thy cour e , let Xanthus streame retier : Fo r Paris hat h r en o u n st th e Nymph x an r o u -r d p o de himself a lie .

That cursed day bred all my doole ,

the winter of my joy , With cl o u des of froward fortune fraugh t

p ro cu rde me this annoy ;

When c an k re d cr af t e Iu n o came with Venus (Nu rc e o f Love )

s And Palla eke , that warlike wench ,

their beauties pride to proue .

The pastoral note is at least not unpleasing , and the

m th s o f story more real than in the o u the later poets ,

‘ who enliven us with th e couplet t o the tune

i dain ti e Or Par s , who , to steal that piece , ’ ’ Traveled as f ar as twas twixt Trov and Greece .

o ld s o f t The version Ovid are , I think , well wor h a week or so random reading . Turning from the Heroides “ ” I ﬁnd this in a little booklet said t o be printed abroad ” a d I . e a . n undated . t bears C Marlow o n th title p ge 1 90 DIVISIONS

AMORUM 1

No w on the sea from her olde loue comes shee ’ ra s ax e - That d we the day from heaven s cold l tree ,

slidest a ain e Aurora whither thou down g ,

b rdes eerl sl ain e And y from Memnon y y shall be .

swe etli e Now in her tender arms I bide ,

sh e If euer, now well lies by my side , e is o The ayr olde , and sleep is sweetest now ,

rd h ril And by es send f o o rth s notes from every bow .

u h Whither r st thou , that men and women loue not ,

Holde in thy rosie horses that they moue not .

e Ere thou rise stars teach seamen wher to saile , f o . But when thou comest , they their course faile

t rau ail ers e Poore though tired , ris at thy sight , The painful Hinde by thee t o ﬁld is sent

Slow oxen early in the yoke are pent .

c ou sn est Thou boyes of sleep , and dost betray them

u To Pedants that with cr el lashes pay them .

Any fault is more pleas ing than the current fault of

o r the many . One should read a few bad poets f eve y

o f era, as one should read a little trash every contem

o rar k n t o f p y nation , if one would ow the wor h the good in e ither .

t o Th e Turning from translations , for a moment , ’ S h ep h erde s S tarr e for the abandonment o f syn an d tax sense , for an interesting exp eriment in metric ,

n o f for beautiful li es astray in a maze unsense , I ﬁnd h the incoherent conclusion of muc incoherence , where

1 A ru m lib . i e e i a 13 . mo , , l g

1 92 DIVISIONS

F alatea s airer in deede then G , faire t

D r Of i an as t o o p e to bewitch the wisest, With am asin g eye to abandon humors

o f any gallants ,

S Th eti s G alataea hee faier, modest ,

s a Albeit some y in a Chrystal often ,

u lu rk eth Tis a r le , there a deadly poyson , T i s but a false ru le .

F o r Yse R what is hid in a Diamond ing ,

s Where the wise beholder hath eye refusing ,

All ab ast e rs vaines to no workman hidden ,

Gold t o no Touchstone .

There b e dec k es fairest R osam o n d the fountaine Where resort s those greene Dri ades the waterie

Nim hs o f r e cre at Ph aebu s p , olive plants by

m ari e d Till they be .

S o beginning ends the report of her fame ,

Whose report passing any pennes relation ,

Doth entreat her loue , by reinspiration To dull heads y eeldin g faer ei es reﬂection

Still to be present .

Surely among poems containing a considerable amount

f i s n h ri o o e t e w . beauty, this of worst ever tten Patient endeavour will reveal to the reader a little more coher ence and syntax than i s at ﬁrst glance apparent but

s from thi I draw no moral conclusion .

Fo r - t o all half forgotten writing there is , my mind , “ ” e Dri a es littl criticism save selection . Those greene d ; “ ff s ﬂ o u d o f Oenone , o p ring of a the music the Elegy must make their own argument . NOTE S ON ELIZABETHAN CLASSICIST S 1 93

A great age of literature is perhaps always a great age o f trans lations ; o r follows it . The Victo"rians in F S n lesser degree had itzgerald , and winbur e s Villon , R and ossetti . One is at ﬁrst a little surprised at the importance which historians of Spanish poetry give to

o u r t o o Boscan , but histories give our own translators little . And worse , we have long since fallen under the

o f c blight the Miltoni or noise tradition , to a stilted dia lect in translating the classics, - a dialect which imitates the idiom of the ancients rather than seeking their mean “ e i h i s ing, a stat of mind which a ms at teaching the boy ” o r h as latin greek or whatever it may be , but long since ceased to care f o r the beauty o f the original ; o r hi “ ” which perhaps t nks appreciation obligatory , and the meaning and content mere accessories .

was Golding no inconsiderable poet , and the Marlow o f the translations h as beauties no whit inferior to the

o f In o f Marlowe original composition . fact , the skill the translations forbids o n e to balk at the term inal “ e . We conclude the identity without seeking through works o f reference . Compare (pardon the professional tone whereof I seem unable to divest myself in discussing these mat

e m ters) , compar the anony ous rather unskilled work ’ i n o f Si r e Idi ll-ia M s the translation , with arlow version

f m r 1 o A m . 3 . o u , lib iii , 194 DIVISI ONS

THE XVIII JDILLION

HELDENS EPITHALAMION 1

S t crown e In par a long agoe , where Menelaus wore the ,

Twelve noble Virgins , daughters to the greatest in the w to ne , All dight upon their haire in Crowtoe garlands fresh

and greene ,

Dan st o f at the chamber doore Helena the Queene ,

Men el a S What time this y , the younger onne of Atreus , Did m arry with this lon ely daughter o f Prince Tyn

daru s .

And therewithal at eue , a wedding song they jointly

sung,

h fﬂ f eet e Pallac With suc a shu ing of their , that all the e

rung .

CYCLOPS T O GALATEA THE WATE R -NYMPH

IX JDILLION

o f o f u se O Apple , sweet , thee , and myself I to sing , t t o f t al eavn e And tha at midnigh , for thee , faunes up

I bring ,

an d e All great with young, four beares whelps , I nour

i sh up for thee .

But come thou hither ﬁrst , and thou shalt have them

all o f me .

l Si we Idi lli a i sh e Jo se h arn es Oxfo r 15 88 10 0 , p ubl d by p B , d, ; i Ox 1 o i s re ri nt e H. Dan e fo r 8 83 . c p e p d by l, d,

1 96 DIVISIONS

No r do I give thee c o u n s ail e to liu e chast ’ But that thou wouldst dissemble when tis p ast .

Sh e hath not trod awry that doth deny it , S uch as confesse haue lost their good names by it .

i s What madness t to tell night sports by day,

l t Or hidden secrets open y to bewray,

The strumpet with the stranger will not do ,

t o o e . Before the room be cleare , and dor put Will you make shi p wrack e of your honest name And let the world be witn esse o f the same ?

adu is de e Be more , walke as a puritain ,

And I shall think you chast do what yo u can .

Sli e ti s p p still , onely deny it when done ,

e s And before peopl immodest speeche shun ,

l as ciu i o u s m eet e The bed is for toyings ,

t r e ade m f e et e There use all toyes , and sha e under ,

When you are up and drest , be sage and graue ,

And in the bed hide all the faults you haue .

Be not a shamed to strippe you being there ,

t o And mingle thighes , mine ever yours beare ,

There in your rosie lips my tongue intomb ,

s n e o u Practise a thou a d sports when ther y come ,

F e orbare no wanton words you ther would speake ,

And with your pastime let the bedsted creake .

But with your robes , put on an honest face ,

And blush and seeme as you were full of grace .

De ceiu e e an d ri all , let me err , think I am ght

l hi n k i f a t e u o de o . And like a witt , thee slight

t h i s The reader, if he can diver thought from matter to manner , may well wonder how much the eighteenth

century authors have added , or if they added anything

o f f o r save a sort faculty systematization of product , a f power to repeat certain e fects regularly and at will . NOTE S ON ELIZABE THAN CLASSICIST S 1 97

’ But Golding s book published before all these others

i e . s will g ve us mor matter for reverie One wonder , in o f reading it , how much more the Middle Ages was

Ovid . We know well enough that they read him and h im loved more than the more Tennysonian Virgil . Yet how great was Chaucer’ s debt to the Doctor ’ Am o ris ? That we will never know . Was Chaucer s ? delectable style simply the ﬁrst Ovid in English Or, ’ ? as likely , is Golding s Ovid a mirror Of Chaucer Or is a ﬁne poet ever translated until an other his equal

n ew u ? f o r invents a style in a later lang age Can we ,

-" o u r o u r il we ? part , know Ovid unt ﬁnd him in Golding

o n e o f so Is there us so good at his latin , and ready in imagination that Golding will not throw upon his mind shades and glamours inherent in the original text , which had f o r all that escaped h im ? Is any foreign speech

o u r e s o o f o u r i n m ever own , ev r full beauty as l gu a a t ern a (whatever li ngu a m atern a that may be) ? Or is not a new beauty created, an Old beauty doubled when the o verch an ge is well done ? Will

cum super atria velum Candida p u rp u riu m sim u l at u s in ﬁ cit umbras quite give us the scarlet curtain of the simile in the Flight from Hipp omenes ? Perhap s al l these things

o r are personal matters , and not matter for criticism “ discussion . But it is certain that we have forgotten ” o u r Ovid, we being the reading public , the readers o f o u r English poetry , have forgotten Ovid since Gold

o f ing went u t o print . 1 98 DIVISIONS

ME TAMORPHOSIS 1

While in this garden Proserpine was taking hir p as

time ,

e th er s w o r In gathering y Violet ble , Lillies white as

Lime , And while o f Maidenly desire sh e ﬁllde hir B aund and

L a p ,

E n ea o r in t h r d u g to o u gat e hir companions there . By hap Dis spide her : l ovde her : caught her up : and all at

once well nere .

So hastie , hote , and swift a thing is Loue as may

a e are p p . The Ladie with a wailing voy c e afright did often call

an d Maides Hir mother hir waiting , but Mother most o f all .

ATALANTA 2

And from the Citi e o f Tegea there came th e Paragone

L c e At alan t o n Of y y forrest , , a goodly Ladie , e

ch oen es . Of S y daughters , then a Maide The garment she did weare

f as n A b r ay ded button t ed at hir gorget . All hir h eare

n F Untrimmed in o e only knot was truss ed . rom hir left Side han ging o n hi r shoulder was an Ivorie qu iu er deft :

1 Me m o r h o i s Arth r G o i n 1 5 6 Th F ft k ta s 7 . e o o e . p , by u ld g, y b R ri n f 300 o i e s De l a Mo re re s s i n i e t o fo o . p c p by P , l 2 k Th e E i h t o o e . At a lan t a . g b

200 DIVISIONS

FLIGHT FROM HIPPOMENE S

now while Hippomenes Debates theis things within himself and other like to

e thes ,

Th e D m z ll f a e ronnes as if her eet e were wings . And though that shee Did ﬂy as swift as arrow from a Tu rky e bowe : yit hee More wo o n ded at hir b eawty e than at the swif tn ess e o f her pace Her ronning greatly did augment her b eawty e and

her grace . The wynd ay whisking from h er f eete th e l ab ells of her socks Up p o n her back as wh y ght as sno we did to sse h er s golden lock , And ek e th emb roy dred gart ers that were tyde b e

n ea h t e her ham . A redness mixt with wh y gh t u p p o n her tender body

c am , As when a scarlet cu rt ain e strey n d ageinst a p l ay stred wall

sh ad owe r d h Doth cast like , making it seeme u d y e t ere

with all .

R eality and particul arization ! Th e Elizabeth an s ri n themselves began the long se es of si s against them . In Ovid at least they are not divorced from sweeping 222 imagination as in the F asti (v . )

Unius tellus ante co loris erat ;

n o f th e Metam o r h os es o r in the Openi g p , as by Go ldin g NOTE S ON ELIZABETHAN CLASSICIST S 201

n Which Chaos hight , a huge rude heape and othing else but even A h eavi e lump and clott red clod o f s eedes

Nor yet the earth am iddes the ayre did hang by won

“ dro u s slight

N r Just peysed by hir proper weight . o winding in and o u t Did Am p h itry t ee with her armes embrace the earth

about,

Fo r waS ‘ sea e so where was earth , and ayr , was the

n earth u stable .

sea h The ayre all darke , the likewise to beare a s ip

unable .

The suttle ayre t o ﬂickering fowles an d b i rdes he h ath

i n e ass g d .

I throw in the last line f o r the qual ity o f o n e adje c

o f s o f tive , and close this section excerpt with a bit fun anent Bacchus .

R S S ADD E S T O BACCHU . IV

Thou into Se a didst send e The Tyrrhen shipmen . Thou with bittes the sturdy n eck es dost bend Of spotted Lynxes : throngs o f Fownes and Satyres o n

thee tend , And that o ld Hag that with a staff his staggering lim m es doth stay

S l o n h is f o r carce ab e Asse to sit reeling every way . 202 DIVISIONS

Tho u comes t not in any place but that is h eard e th e n oy se Of gaglin g womens t atlin g tongues and sh o wtin g ou t

of boyes .

an d With sound of Timbrels , Tabors , Pipes , Brazen pannes and pots e in Confus dly among the rout that thine Orgies trots .

— The s in or error o f Milton let me leave o ff vague

expressions of a personal active dislike , and make my

e i yearlong diatribes more coherent . Honour wher t is due ! Milton undoubtedly built up the sonority of the

blank verse paragraph in o u r language . But he did f this at the cost o his idiom . He tried to turn English into latin ; to use an u n i n ﬂ ect e d language as if it were

c o n e f an inﬂe ted , neglecting the genius o English , dis

t o rtin n g its ﬁbrous manner, making schoolboy translatio s “ ” f : o latin phrases Him who disobeys me disobeys . I am leaving apart all my disgust with what he has

h i s to say , his asinine bigotry , beastly hebraism, the

s o f i coarsenes his mentality , I am dealing w th a tech

i al s o n n c matter . All thi clause structure modelled latin

rhetoric , borrowed and thrust into sonorities which are

sometimes most enviable . The sin of vague pompous words is neither his own

e sin nor original . Euphues and Gongora wer before him . The Elizabethan audience was interested in large “ ” speech . Multitudinous seas incarnadine caused as ’ much thrill as any epigram in L ady Wi n d erm ere s F an

r T I n B ei n E arn est o h e m p or ta c e of g . The Dramatists M had started this manner, ilton but continued in their

204 DIVISIONS

them with a rumble . And I hold that the real poet is sufﬁciently absorbed in his content to care more for the content than the rumble ; and also that Chaucer and Golding are more like to ﬁnd the m o t ju ste (whether o r n o they held any theories there - anent) than were for some centuries their successors , saving the author of “ ” Hamlet .

’ o f li ch Beside the fustian tradition , the tradition c e

o n and l u t phrases , copies greek latin c a se struc ure e and phrase structure , two causes hav removed the

e as clas sics from us . On one hand w have ce ed to read

o f greek with the aid latin cribs , and latin is the only language into which any great amount of greek can be

s e t is in a lively fashion over ; secondly , there is no d crimination in classical studies . The student is told that all the classics are excellent and that it is a crime

i u s to think about what he reads . There s no e pretend

e a ing that these lit ratures are read s literature . An apostolic succession of school teachers has becom e the

ri medium o f dist bution .

al a The critic faculty is discour g ed , the poets are made

an e an exercise , a means of teaching the l guag . Even in this there is a great deal of buncombe . It i s much better that a man should use a crib , and kno w the con tent o f his authors than that he should be able to recite ’ th e n all rules in Alle and Greenough s grammar . Even

o l i ‘ the teaching by rules is largely a h ax . The at n h ad

F r . o certain case feelings the genitive he felt source , for the dative indirect action upon , for the accusative

th e e eri h o ri c direct action upon , for ablativ all other p p i o r i . e s sensation , . it less deﬁnitely directly the source c than the genitive , it is contributory circumstan e ; lump “ o n e the locative with it, and might call it the circum NOTE S ON ELIZABETHAN CLASSICIST S 205

” st an ti al . h th e e W ere it and dative hav the same form , we may conclude that there was simply a general indi rect case . The humanizing inﬂuence o f the classics depends more o n o n an a wide knowledge, a reading knowledge , than ability to write exercises in latin ; it i s ridiculous to pretend that a reading knowledge need imply more

o f a than a general intelligence the minuti e of grammar . I am not assum ing t h e position o f those wh o obj ected ’ “ ” - to Erasmus s tittle tattles , but there is a sane order o f importance . When the classics were a n ew beauty and ecstasy people cared a damn sight more about the meaning o f

a the authors , and a d mn sight less about their grammar

and philology .

vei au e en lo o rn We await , j j , the time when the student will be encou raged to say which poems bore him to

tears , and which he thinks rubbish , and whether there ’ o f is any beauty in Maecenas sprung from a line kings . It is bad enough that so much o f the ﬁnest poetry in the world should be di stributed almost wholly through class “ : rooms , but if the ﬁrst question to be asked were Gen ” tlem en r ? e o f , are these ve ses worth reading inst ad

What is the mood of if, in short , the pro f esso r were put o n his mettle to ﬁnd poems worth read

t h aci lem di sc en su m ing instead of given e f , the shoot ,

the supine Shoot , of grammatical discussion , he might

h 1s more dig out the vital spots in authors , and meet from his class a less pers istent undercurrent o f convie

ri tion that all latin authors are a t al .

c h as h The uncritical s holarly attitude so spread, t at hardly a li ving man can tell you at what points the

o a th e o f latin auth rs surp ss greek , yet the comparison

their differences is full o f all fascinations . Because 206 DIVISIONS

s Homer is better than Virgil , and Ae chylus , presumably ,

S e e s than en ca, there has spread a sup r tition that the mere fact o f a text being in greek makes it of necessity t — better than a text written in la in which is buncombe . Ovid indubitably added and invented much which is not in greek , and the greeks might be hard put to ﬁnd a better poet among themselves than is their dis

ci l e . S p Catullus Is not appho , in comparison , a little, just a little Swinburnian ?

hi o n e s I do not state t s as dogma, but hould be Open to su ch speculation .

w all c l ass i c au th o rit a I kno that . authors have been

Teu b n er tively edited and printed by , and their word ing ultimately settled at Leipzig , but all questions con “ ” cerning the classics are not deﬁnitely settled , cold st o r a ed g , and shelved . I may have been an ensanguined fool to spend so

m ae o r th e much ti e on medi val literature , time SO “ ” wasted m ay help me to read Ovid with greater in

o r sight . I may have been right wrong to read renais

c i s san e latinists , instead of follow ng the profe sorial caution that “ after all if one conﬁned oneself to the

o n ff accepted authors e was sure of reading good stu , where as there was a risk in hunting about among the unknown . I am much more grateful for the ﬁve minutes during which a certain lecturer emphasized young Icarus b e gorming himself with Daedalus ’ wax than for all the dead hours he spent in trying to make me a scholar .

o m over at mod quas vaga aura, Cap t ab at plumas : ﬂ avam modo pollice ceram Mo li ab at ; lu su squ e su o mirabile patris i Imp ed ab at Opus .

208 DIVISI ONS

’ . S s th e o f Ovid Horace s atire are, we believe, basis h much eighteenth century satire . T e earliest English version o f any Horace that I have found is headed : “ i 2 Bo o k es A Medic nable Morall , that is of Horace h is S E n l h e t o f atyres , g y s d according o the prescription

Hi r m E i f ﬁn e o s o Ru . saint e ( p t . ad ) Quod malum est ,

Wail n est . s muta, Quod bonum , prode The y g of the Prophet Hi erem i ah done into E n gly sh e verse also Epi grammes , by T . Drant . Perused and allowed according

Madi esti es In iu n ct io n s to the Queen , London

T f h i n Ar h e mutation o t e satires s o t inviting . The s Poetica Opens as follows

A Paynter if he sh ou lde adio y n e unto a womans heade A long maires necke and overspread the corpse in every e st eade

so n dr f With y feathers o straunge huie , the whole proportioned so Without all good co n gru ity e the nether parts do goe

ﬁ sh e o n f resh e Into a , hye a Welf avo rd womans face : My f rin ds let in to see this sigh t e could y o u not laugh a pace ?

By 16 25 the Miltonic cliché is already formed . It is ’ i perhaps n o t part icularly Milton s . S r T . Hawkins is

m t ran sl a greeted by John Beau ont , but I do not ﬁnd his n tions very readable . I tur back , indeed , gratefully to

Corinna (Amores I . in a long loose gown

Her white neck hid with t rells hanging downe Resembling fair Semiramis going t o bed

- Or L ay is o f a th ousand lovers Spread . NOTE S ON ELIZABETHAN CLASSICIST S 209

“ h . n in C M . gets quality eve t e hackneyed topic

o f V arro es e n o t What age nam shall be told , Iaso n s o f And Argos, and the ﬂeece golde , Lofty Lu cresiu s shall live that ho ure

r That Nature shall dissolve this earthly how e .

Tit eriu s Eneas warre , and shall be read

R o f ll While ome a the conquering world is head . ’ ﬁ eri e Till Cupid s bow and shafts be broken , sweete Thy verses , Tibullus , shal be spoken .

As late as 1 6 33 Salt o n stali - k eeps some trace o f good

t . cadence , though it is manifestly depar ing

s eare Now Zephyru warmes the ayre , the y is runne n n o w o And the long seeming wi ter is d ne , R e The amme which bore faire H llen once away,

e u all t o Hath made the darke night q the day .

No w i rl es boyes and g do sweet Violets get , th e Which in country often grow unset , t h e Meddo wes Faire coloured ﬂowers in Spring, n o w And the Birds their untaught notes do sing .

( Tristia XII . )

Tu rb eru ile in the 1 5 67 edition o f the Heroides does

n o t s o n e n o r . conﬁne him elf to measure, to rhyme I think I have seen a mis statemen t about the date o f the

s earliest blank ver e in English . These eight lines Should

is prevent its being set too late . The movement , t o me

s o f at least , of interest , apart from any que tion scholastic preciosity .

Aem n i an o Laodamia sendeth health , And greeting to Protesilaus hir spouse i u rn s i sh eth so o . And w it , where he , to stay 210 DIVISIONS

Report hath spread in Au lide that you lie

e f In rode , by m ane o ﬁerce and froward gale .

u f o rso o k st e was Ah when tho me , where the winde , Then broiling seas thine O ares should have with

stood ,

That was a ﬁtting time for wrathful waves .

Hi s h as a e Phaedra the fourteener me sur .

My pleasure i s to h au gh tie hills and bushie brakes to hie

Ho u n des To pitch my hay, or with my

ra se lu sti to y a e crie .

e But there is an inﬁnite monotony of fourteen rs , and then there is an inﬁnite plethora of rhymed ten syllable “ x couplets . And they are all e actly alike . Whether they translate Horace o r Homer they are all exactly

t i . alike . Beau y s a gasp between clichés

Fo r every great age a few poets have written a

o r few beautiful lines , found a few exquisite melodies , an d ten thousand people have copied them , until each a stran d o f music is planed down to a dulness . The S p

h i c n s an d p sta za appear an exception , yet , Greece and Alexandria may h ave been embedded knee S t o deep in bad apphics , and it is easy to turn it ridi cule , comical , thumping .

There is a certain resonance in Certain Bokes o f ” V i rgil es A en aei s by Henry E arl o f Surrey (apud Ri cardu m To tt el

212 DIVISIONS

n m h He uses in er rhy e , and alliteration apparently wit u t o . S any design , merely because they happen uch “ n s t o li es as For a at s erne I stood, and steering str ngly ” held my helme d o not compare favorably with the relatively fre e Saxon fragments . But when we come “ to The XIII BUK E S of ENEADOS o f the famose

V i r ill t ran slat et ou t o f L at n e s S Poete g , y ver es into cot tish metir by the Reverend Father in God Mayster Gawin

u n k il e o f Douglas Bishop o f Dunkel , to the Erl Angus , every bo ok having h y s particular prologe (prin ted in 1 553 we have to deal with a highly diff eren t mat ter .

The b att ellis and the man I will discrive

Tro i s b o u n dis Fra y , ﬁrst that fugitive

t o It ali c c o ist l a n e By fate , came u y

se ach it h m eik ill Ouer land and , c wit pyne

o f o ddis e By force g abov , fra every stede

r em em b ri t Of cruel Juno , throw auld feid

s su ff eri t o Grete payne in battelle , he als

o ddis l ati o Or he his g , brocht in

u h am n ob il And belt the ciete , fra q of fame Th e l at n eo il h as y e p p , taken thare name

o a n His c mm s are not pu ctuation , but indicate his cae “ n surae . Approachi g the passage concerning the h un dr B f Ph d u es o . aer u s y headed gg Dr , Do glas translate as follows :

Fra thine st rek is the way profoun d anon e

ﬂ u de o f A ch ero n Depe unto hellis , e

1 i i H III 5 2 i e . e ar h n ri n a o t 1 1 . n t e re o f enr V W tt e b u , ly g y , “ ” z and bv n o m ean s Eli abeth an . NOTE S ON ELIZABETHAN CLASSICIST S 213

h o l eb ism e h iddu ou s With , and swelth unrude k l n o f e s a da d as . Drumly mud , and it war wode

“ Thir riu eris and thir watt eris kepit war

f err e ar Be ane Charone , ane grisly

Terrib l o f o f y schape , and sluggard array

A o u n h is f eill p chin , Chanos haris gray .

I am inclined t o think that he gets more poetry out o f n e Virgil than any other translator . At least he gives o ’ h e a clue to Dante s respect for the Mantuan . In t ﬁrst “ ” book Aeneas with the traist - Achates is walking by the sea-bord

e Amid the wod , his mother met th m tuay

Sem an s d and made , in vis age and array wa in n is o f s arth a With p p , like the Virginis p

st o wt wen sch e o f Har alit a Or the , trace p

Haist an d f adder to resk ewe the hors , her

e i ar h eb ro u n ﬂ u de erse Sp d than , the swift did p w. s For Venus efter the gy , and maner thare

An e a o u n active bow, p her schulder bare A e h u n t r eis S sche had bene , an wilde

fﬁn a o f e . With wind w g, hir haris lowsit trac

’ ’ This is n o t spoiled by one s memory o f Chaucer s allu

Sion .

G oy n g in a qu ey n t array

As b h u n t eresse she adde ben an , With wynd blOWy n ge upon hir tresse

Douglas continues

k iltit h er k n Hir Skirt , till bare ee ik o f n s e e . And ﬁrst other, u to them, thus p sche 214 DIVISIONS

From Aeneas answer, these lines

u h idder b r ch Q thou be diane , phebus sister y t

su m o ddi s o f N m h i s Or than g , thyr y p y kynd

wo ddis u s an d Maistres of beis to , happy kynd

R o u r r ll b t ave . elief lang , qu at ever thow be

And after her prophecy

V era i n cess at i d e u p u t a .

n Thus sayd sche , and tur ed incontinent e R Hir nek schan , like unto the ose in may

h eu i n l Hir y haris, glitterand bricht and gay K su eit est from her forehead , ane smell glorious and

Hir habit fell doune , co vering to her feit

r did k ith And in hir passage , ane ver ay god her y allwith And fra that he knew, his moder .

s s o o f But Venu with ane p , myst baith tway And with an e dirk cloud clo sit round about That na man sul tham s e

O l f t a h u m sw th Hir self p y , to p p past y h TO vesy her resting place , joly and blyt

m ill Ci irl an d There is hir t e p , in p Qu h arin thare dois ane hundreth alt aris stand f all s Hait burning ful l o saba , sence houri ﬂ s m ell an d ou ri . Ane s swete , with fresch garland and

a h as G awin e Douglas w s a great poet , and Golding

' never had due praise since his o wn contempo raries b e

21 6 DIVISIONS

5 . i wh o This w ll probably be done by some dull dog, will thereby receive cash and great scholastic distino tion . I however shall die in the gutter because I have “ n o t observed that commandment which says Thou shalt respect the imbecilities o f thine elders in order that thy belly shall be made fat from th e jobs which lie in their ” charge . 6 . That editors , publishers , and universities loathe the inquisitive spirit . APPENDICE S

220 APPENDIX I

’ The rose springs faires t from some buried Caesar s th roat and the dogwood with its ﬂower o f four petals (our dog wood, not the tree you call by that name ) is grown from

o f A in u c ass o r . the heart , perhaps this is only fancy

Let us pursue the matter in ethic . It is obvious that ethics are based o n the nature o f t as man , jus it is obvious that civics are based upon f the nature o men when living together in groups . It i s obvious that the good of th e greatest number cannot be attained until we know in some sort o f what that good must consist . In other words we must know

o f what sort an animal man is , before we can contrive

o r can his maximum happiness , before we decide what percentage o f that happiness he can have without caus ing too great a percentage o f unhappiness t o those about him .

arts ' lit eratu re as The , , poesy , are a science , just chem i s r i t s . y a science Their subject is man , mankind and

f co n the individual . The subject o chemistry is matter sidere d as to its composition . The arts give us a great percentage o f the lasting and

m an o f unassailable data regarding the nature of , imma t eri al o f as man , man considered a thinking and sentient

o f creature . They begin where the science medicine o r leaves o ff or rather they overlap that science . The b ders o f the two arts overcross . From medicine we learn that man thrives best when

n . duly washed, aired and sun ed From the arts we learn f m o n e e . that an is whimsical , that man di f rs from another That men diff er among themselves as leaves upon trees f as do di fer . That they do not resemble each other but tons cut by machine . From the arts also we learn in what ways m an re sembles and in what way he diff ers from certain o ther THE SERIOUS AR TIST 221

s r animal . We learn that ce tain men are Often more akin to certain especial animals than t hey are to other men ff l o f di erent composition . We learn that al men do not desire the same things and that it would therefore be inequitable to give to all men two acres and a cow . It would be manifestly inequitable to treat the ostrich

s n and the polar bear in the same fa hion , gra ted that it is n Ot unjust to have them pent up where you can treat them at all . An ethic bas ed o n a belief that men are different from what they are is manifes tly stupid . It is stupid to apply such an ethic as it is to apply laws and moral s

f o r designed for a nomadic tribe , or a tribe in the state o f o f barbarism , to a people crowded into the slums a i b e modern metropolis . Thus in the tr be it is well to

et th e u g children , for more strong male children y o have in th e tribe the less likely y o u are to be bashed o n the ad s he by male of the neighbouring tribes, and the more th i n female children e more rapidly the tr be will i crease . Conversely it is a crime rather worse than murder t o

f o r beget children in a slum , to beget children whom no

ﬁtting provision is made , either as touching their phys

r ff ical o economi c wellbeing . The increase not only a licts the child born but the increas ing number o f the poor

o keeps down the wage . On this count the bishop f f f s London , as an encourager o this sort o increa e , is a criminal o f a type rather lower and rather more de testable than the souteneur . I ci te this as o n e example o f inequity per sisting b e cause o f a continued refusal to consider a code devised ’ o n e it s s o for state of society, in (the code ) relation t

ff o f i s r a di erent state society . It as if, in physics o

we r engineering , refused to consider a fo ce designed to ’ ff n in i o e s . e . t n a ect ma s , its relation ( the force s ) o a 222 APPENDIX I

s ff n other mas wholly di eri g , or in some notable way dif f eri n g, from the ﬁrst mass . As inequities can exist because o f refus als to con sider th e actualities o f a law in relation to a social

so s condition , can inequities exist through refu al to con

th e o r sider the actualities of composition of the masses , f o the indi viduals t o which they are applied . If all men desired above everything else two acres

co w a and a , obviously the perfect state would be th t

state which gave to each man two acres and a cow .

If any science s ave the. art s were able more pre c isely to determine what the individual does actually

o f in desire , then that science would be more use pro

y th f r iding e data o ethics .

i n In l ke ma ner, if any sciences save medicine and chemistry were more able to determine what things were

e compatible with physical wellbeing , then thos sciences would be o f more value for providing the data o f h y

h gic e .

This brings us to the immorality of bad art . Bad

art is inaccurate art . It is art that makes false reports . If a scientist f alsiﬁes a report either deliberately o r through negligence we consider him as either a crim inal o r a bad scientist according to the enormity of h is

ff r O ence , and he is punished o despised accordingly . If he f alsifi es the reports o f a maternity hospital in order to retain his position and get profit and advance h t e . ment from city board , he may escape detection If he declines to make such falsification he may lose fin an

c i al o r rewards , and in either case his baseness his pluck may pass unknown and unnoticed save by a very few

o n e h is people . Nevertheless does not have to argue

o n case . The layman knows soon enough hearing it

n r whether the physicia is to be blamed o praised .

224 APPENDIX I

’ o f t as o f ignorant the patien s dise e , being in reach more o f skilful physicians , deliberately denies an ignorance which he is quite conscious , refuses to consult other ’ physicians , tries to prevent the patient s having access t o o r more skilful physicians , deliberately tortures the

f o r o n patient his w ends . On e does n o t need to read black print to learn this o f ethical fact about physicians . Yet it takes a deal “ talking t o convince a layman that b ad art is im “ moral . And that good art however immoral it

is o f e . , is wholly a thing virtu Purely and simply that good art can NOT be im moral By good art I mean art that bears true witness , I mean the art that is most pre

Yo u i n cise . can be wholly precise representing a

b e vagueness . You can wholly a liar in pretending that h t e particular vagueness was precise in its outline . If y o u cannot understand this with regard to poetry , con f sider the matter in terms o painting . If you have forgotten my statement that the arts bear witnes s and deﬁne for u s the inner nature and condi

o f S tions man , consider the Victory of amothrace and

f r the Taj o Ag a . The man who carved the one and the man who designed the other may either or both of them

an r two s . have looked like ape , o like apes re pectively They may have looked like other apelike o r swinelike h men . We have the Victory and t e Taj to witness that there was something within them differing from the contents of apes an d of the other swinelike men . Thus we learn that humanity is a Sp ecies or genus o f animals capable o f a variation that will produce the de

r o f sire for a Taj o a Victory, and moreover capable

ff r e ecting that T aj o Victory in stone . We know from other testimony o f the arts an d from ours elves that the desire often oversh oo ts th e power o f efﬁ cient presenta THE SERIOUS ARTIST 225 tion ; we therefore conclude that other members o f the

ﬁ r race may have desired to c ect a Taj o a Victory . We even suppose that men have desired to eﬁ e ct more beau tiful things although few o f us are capable o f formin g any precise mental image of things , in their particular

m e o r . way , ore b autiful than this statue this building So difficult is this that no o n e h as yet been able to f ef ect a restoration for the missing head o f the Victory .

a n e so so n . At le st no o has done in stone , far as I k ow Doubtless many people have stood opposite th e statue

h eir i m a i n a i on and made such heads in t g t . As there are in medicine the art o f diagnosis and the so so t o f art of cure , in the arts , in the particular ar s

f e th e poetry and o lit rature, there is art of diagnosis

h f n e f and t ere is the art o cure . They call o the cult o h ugliness an d the other t e cult of beauty .

o f su n an d The cult beauty is the hygiene , it is , air hi the sea and the rain and the lake bat ng . The cult o f e ugliness , Villon , Baudelaire , Corbi re , Beardsley are

d . o S iagnosis Flaubert is diagn sis . atire , if we are to

a i n ser ride this met phor to staggers, satire is surgery , tions and amputations .

o n e e Beauty in art reminds what is worth whil . I am n t n o o n o o w f . t speaking Shams I mean beauty, slither, not sentimentalising about beauty , not telling i people that beauty s the proper and respectable thing . Y ’ n . o u e i I mea beauty don t argu about an April w nd , Y you feel bucked up when y o u meet it . o u feel bucked up when y o u come on a swift moving thought in Plato o r o n a ﬁne line in a statue . Even this pother about gods reminds o n e that some thing is worth wh ile . Satire reminds one that certain r o n things are not wo th while . It draws e to consider time wasted . 226 APPENDIX I

The cult of beauty an d the delineation o f ugliness are not in mutual opposition .

I have said that the arts give us our best data f o r

o u r determ ining what sort o f creature man is . As tre atment of m an must be d etermined by o u r knowl

o r edge conception of what man is , the arts provide data for ethics . These data are sound and th e data of generalising

th eo ri ci an s psychologists and social are usually unsound , for the serious artist is scientiﬁ c and the theorist is

a i usually empiric in the medi eval fashion . That s to say a good biologist will make a reasonable number o f observations o f any given phenomenon before he draws “ as 1 100 a conclusion , thus we read such phrases over cultures from the secretions o f the respiratory tracts ” o f 5 00 30 over patients and nurses and attendants . The results o f each observation mus t b e p reci se and n o Single observation must in itself be taken as determining

Oh a general law, although , after experiment , certain e servati o n s may be held as typical or norm al . The s ri o u s artist is sci entiﬁc in that he presents the image o f

' o f h at e o f ff his desire, his , his indi erence as precisely

as th e o f o wn o r that , precisely image his desire , hate e indiff rence . The more precise his record the more last ing and unassailable h is work o f art .

see us The theorist , and we this constantly ill trated

n sex h by the English writers o , t e theorist constantly

o wn as e o wn proceeds as if his c , his limits and predi o r lections were the typical case , even as if it were the universal . He is constantly urging someone else t o b e th e have as he , theorist , would like to behave . Now art n o do ever asks anyb dy to anything, or to think any

228 APPENDIX I en tist and o f the serious artist ; of the scientist as touch o f en ing the relations of abstract numbers , molecular ' f e r th e o f . o gy , of composition matter , etc ; the serious

as i o f Of a . artist, touch ng the nature man , individu ls M 1 en have ceased trying to conquer the world , and

t o ro t o acquire universal k nowledge . Men still try p mo te the ideal state . No perfect state will be founded o n r o n the theory , o the working hypothesis that all men

s are alike . No cience save the arts will give us the requisite data for learn ing in what ways men differ . The very fact that many men hate the arts is o f

o u t o f value , for we are enabled by ﬁnding what part

n e . the arts they hate , to learn somethi g of their natur Usually when men s ay they hate th e arts we ﬁnd that they merely detest quackery and bad artists . ’ In the cas e o f a man s hating o n e art and not the others we may learn that h e is o f defective hearing o r f n o defective intelligence . Thus a intelligent man may hate music o r a good musician may detest very excellen t authors .

all And thes e things are very obvious . Among thin king and sentient people the bad artist is contemned as we would contemn a negligent physi ci an o r s s a loppy, inaccurate scientist , and the seriou

o r en ou r artist is left in peace , even supported and c h aged . In the fog and t e outer darkness no measures are taken to distinguish between the serious and the at unserious r ist . The unserious artist being the com moner brand an d greatly o utnumbering the serious va ri et y , and it being to the temporary and apparent ad vantage o f the false artist t o gain the rewards proper

th e . to serious artist , it , is natural that the unserious

1 i i m i n O t m s a . . 19 13 . Bl d p , d THE SERIOUS ARTIST 229 art ist shoul d do all i n his power to obfuscate the lines o f a dem rcation . Whenever o n e attempts to demonstrate the diff erence

w o n e bet een serious and unserious work , is told that “ ” h it is merely a technical dis cussion . It as rested at — that i n England it h as rested at that for more than three hundred years . The people would rather have patent medicines than scientiﬁc treatment . They will occasionally be told that art as art is not a violation of ’ ’ s God s most holy laws . They will not have a specialist

l n Opinion as to what art is good . They wil o t consider “ ” the problem o f style . They want The value o f art ” “ ” to life and Fun damental issues . As touching fundamental issues : The arts give u s o u r o f o f t o h is data psychology , man as interiors , as f h i o o s . . to the rati thought to his emotions , etc . , etc , etc o f it The touchstone an art is s precision . This pre c is i o n is o f various and complicated sorts and only the specialist can determine whether certain works o f art ’ s t possess certain orts of precision . I don t mean o say that any intelligent pers on cannot have more o r less sound judgment as t o whether a cert ain work o f art is

s good o r not . An intelligent per on can usually tell

r i n n whether o not a person is good health . It is one the less true that it tak es a skilful physician t o make certain diagnoses o r to discern the lurking dis ease b e h n eath t e appearance o f vigour . It is n o more possible to give in a few pages full instructions for knowing a mas terp iece than it would

f o r be to give full instructions all medical diagnosis . 230 APPENDIX I

EMOTION AND POESY

as Obviously , it is not e y to be a great poet . If it s At a e n o . were, m ny more people would hav do e \ no period in history h as the world been free o f people who have mildly desired to be great poets and not a few have endeavoured conscientiously t o be such . I am aware that adjectives of magn itude are held

i s de to savour o f barbarism . Still there no shame in siring t o give great gifts and an enlight ened criticism does n o t draw ignominious com parisons b etweeen Villon

so - and Dante . The called major poets have most of “ m o wn i the given their g ft , but the peculiar term ma ” m j or is rather a gift to the from Chronos . I mean that they have been born upon th e stroke o f their h our and that it has been given them t o heap together an d ar ’ n range and harmonize the results of many me s labour . This very faculty for amal gamation is a part of their o f s t f genius and it is , in a way, a sort mode ty, a sor o ﬁ u n sel sh n es s . e f o r They hav not wished property . The m en from whom D an te borrowed are remem bered as much for the fact that he did borrow as f o r their o wn compositions . At the same time he gave o f h is o wn s , and no mere compiler and cla siﬁer of other ’ “ ” men s discoveri es is given the n ame o f major poet f o r more than a seas on . If Dante had not done a deal more than borrow rhymes from Arnaut Daniel and theology from Aquinas he woul d not be published by Dent in the year o f grace 1 913 .

We might come t o believe that th e thing that mat

t i . ers in art s a sort of energy , something more o r less

232 APPENDIX I

Nevert heless it has been held for a shameful th ing that a man should not be able to give a reason for his

n acts an d words . And if o e does not care about being taken f o r a m y stiﬁcat eu r o n e may as well try to give approximate answers to questions asked in good faith . It mi ght be better to do the thing thoroughly in a

e o n e n o t a properly accurate treatis , but has alw ys two ’ o r e o n e s o n e thre Spare years at disposal , and is dealing so with very subtle and complicated matter, and even , f i the very algebra o logic s itself open to debate . R i oughly then , Good writing is writ ng that is per f ectl y controlled , the writer says just what he means .

He says it with complete clarity and simplicity . He f n uses the smallest possible numb er o words . I do o t mean that he Skimps paper, or that he screws about like

Tacitu s to get his thought crowded into the least . p o s wo sible Space . But , granting that t sentences are at times easier to understand than o n e sentence containing

n s t o the double mea ing, the author trie communicate

e with the reader with the great st possible despatch , save where f o r any o n e o f forty reason s he does not wish to do so . s i f i s Also there are variou k nds o clarity . There the clarity o f the request : Send me four pounds o f

- An d ten penny nails . there is the syntactical simplicity

: th e o f R of th e request Buy me kind embrandt I like .

This last is an utter cry ptogram . It presupposes a more complex an d intimate understanding o f the speak er than most o f u s ever acquire o f anyone . It h as as many

an as me ings , almost , there are persons who might Speak ll a . it . To a stranger it conveys nothing at It i s the almost constant labour o f the prose art is t to translate this latter ki nd o f clarity into the former ; “ to s ay Send me the kind o f Rembran dt I like in the T HE SERIOUS ARTIST 33

“ o f S n o f t en - n terms , end me four pou ds pe ny

nails .

The whole thing is an evolution . In the beginning

i : F s mple words were enough ood ; water ; ﬁre . Both

prose an d poetry are but an extension o f language .

n Man desires to commu icate with his fellows . He de n sires an ever i creasingly complicated communication .

S r . Gesture serves up to a point . ymbols may se ve When y o u desire s omething n o t present t o the eye o r

o u m o u when y desire to co municate ideas , y must have recourse to Speech . Gradually y o u wish to communi n cate something less bare and ambiguous tha ideas .

Yo u h n wis to commu icate an idea and its modiﬁcations , f an idea and a crowd of its e fects , atmospheres , contra dictio ns . You wish to question whether a certain form

. o f ula works in every case , or in what per cent cases ,

. . a . etc , etc , etc . , you get the Henry J mes novel You wish t o com municate an idea an d its concomitant

o r an d o r emotions , an emotion its concomitant ideas ,

s an d e s o r a sen ation its derivativ emotion , an impres Y . . o u sion that is emotive , etc , etc , etc . begin with the eo wl y and the bark , and you develop into the dance and

c into musi , and into music with words , and ﬁnally into words with music , and ﬁnally into words with a vague

o f o f s adumbration music , words suggestive mu ic , words measured , or words in a rhythm that preserves some

o r accurate trait of the emotive impression , of the sheer

r character of the fostering o parental emotion .

o r When this rhythm , when the vowel and consonantal melody o r s eq uence seems truly to bear the trace of emo tion which the poem (for we have come at last t o th e m s a poem) is intended to co municate , we y that this part “ ” o f s o f the work is good . And thi part the work is “ “ ” n d ow n . by tech ique That dry, dull , pe antic tech 234 APPENDIX I

nique , that all bad artists rail against . It is only a part

i s h t e th of technique , it r y hm , cad nce , and e arrange f ment o sounds . “ o o Als the prose , the w rds and their sense must be

as . e such ﬁt the emotion Or, from the other side , id as , o r fragments of ideas , the emotion and concomitant emo “ ” tions o f this Intellectual an d Emotional Complex ( f o r we have come t o the intellectual and emotional com m t plex) must be in har ony, they mus form an organism ,

o ak n n they must be an spru g from o e acorn . When y o u have words of a lament set to the rhythm “ ’ and tempo of There ll be a Hot Time in the Old Town to - night y o u have either an intentional burlesque o r ’ “ ” n y o u have rotten art . Shelley s Sensitive Plant is o e

o f of the rottenest poems ever written , at least one the

worst ascribable to a recognized author . It jiggles to “ ” the same tune as A little peach in the orchard grew . Yet Shelley recovered and wrote the ﬁfth act of the

Cenci .

It is occasionally suggested by the wise that poets

should acquire the graces o f prose . That is an exten

sion of what has been said above anent control . Prose

n o t e . does ne d emotion It may , but it need not , attempt

to port ray emotion .

- Poetry is a centaur . The thinking word arranging , clarifying facul ty must move and leap with the ener

z l i in s a c . g g, sentient , mu ic fa ulties It is precisely the difﬁculty of this amphibious existence that keeps down

the census reco rd of good poets . The accomplished “ prose author will tell you that he can only wri te poetry ” “ when he has a belly- ache and then ce h e will argu e that ’ poetry just isn t an art .

236 APPENDIX I

a s t st nd , a swiftnes , almost a violence , and cer ainly a

an d vividness . This does not mean elaboration compli cation . There is an other poignancy which I do not care to

vivi sec analyze into component parts , if , indeed , such f F tion is possible . It is not the formal phrasing o lau bert much as such fo rmality is desirable and noble . It is such phrasing as we ﬁnd in

’ Era gi a l ora che volge il disio Ai naviganti ”

Or the opening of the ballata which begins

’ Perch i o non spero d i tornar gia mai

Ballatetta, in Toscana .

“ ’ ’ ’ S n a m en t ils y fors que pour l argent , ’ ” n On e les ayme que pour l heure .

n Or, in its co text

sh e The ﬁre that stirs about her, when stirs ,

so ff or, in its di erent setting,

Ne m aeg werigm o d wy r de widh st o n dan n e se br eo h y ge helpe gef rem m an for dh on do m geo rn e dreo rign e o f t

h ra b reo st c f an in dath f a s e in y o b e t .

These things have in them that passionate Sim pli city which is beyond the precision s o f the intellect . THE SERIOUS ARTIST 237

e Truly they are perfect as ﬁne prose is perf ct , but they are in som e way diff erent from the clear statements of

are ff e the observer . They in some way di rent from that “ s o masterly ending of the Herodias : Comme elle était ” e o r m tr s lourde ils la portaient alternativement , fro ’ i n E the constatation St . Julian Hospitalier : t l idec ’ ” d e m l o e r n lui vient p y s o existence au service des autres . The p rose author has shown the triump h of his intel lect and o n e knows that such triumph i s not without its

ff s o n su erings by the way , but by the ver es e is brought upo n the passionate moment . This moment has brought w ith it nothing that violates the prose simplicities . The intellect has not found it b u t the intellect has been moved . There is little b u t folly in seeking the lines of divi d sion , yet if the two arts must be divi ed we may as well u se a In that line s any other . the verse something has

l In i n t elli come up on the inte ligence . the prose the gence has found a subject for its observations . The

- poetic fact pre exists .

In ff a di erent way , of course , the subject of the prose

- x ff pre e ists . Perhaps the di erence is undemonstrable , perhaps it is not eve n co m municable to any save those o f s i n good will . Yet I think thi orderliness the great est t r p oetic passages , this quie statement that pa takes of the nature of prose and is yet aﬂoat and tossed in th e emotional surges , is perhaps as true a test as that men

i n e G r k t o d by the ee theorician .

s es s a poésie , avec comparaisons obligées , mythologie

n e r l e e s a a que c oit pas po te , dignité de style la ’ l atti rail ses a . et Louis XIV , tout de ornements p

es au - d des pelés poétiques , t bien dessous e la prose 238 APPENDIX I

’ ’ qu il s agit de d onner une idée claire et précise des ’ da c e o n n ém eu t mouvements coeur ; or , dans genre , ” —t n h l que par la clarté . S e d a .

And that is precisely why o n e employs oneself in seeking precisely the poetry that Shall be without this “ ﬂ u m m er d l L o is XIV arci e d e y , this fustian a u . , f ” ’ c m o m e . The above critique of Stendhal s does not ap

th e_ Po em a o f ply to del Cid , nor to the parting Odysseus

- and Calypso . In the writers of the duo cento and early

- o tre cent we ﬁnd a precise psychology , embedded in a

o . now almost unintelligible j arg n , but there nevertheless

If we cannot get b ack to these things ; if the serious

s artist cannot attain this precision in ver e , then he must either take to prose or give up his claim to being a serious artist . It is precisely because of this fustian that the Parnas si ads an d epics of the eighteenth century and most o f the present - day works o f most of our contemporary versiﬁ ers are pests and abominations . As the most efﬁcient way to say nothing is to keep

hn c e quiet , and as tec ique onsists precis ly in doing the

s o u t t o f thing that one set do , in the most e ﬁcient man

sa ner, no man who takes three pages to y nothing can

x e pect to be seriously considered as a technician . To take three pages to say nothing is not style , in the seri f o u s sense o that word .

i n f There are several k ds o honest work . There is the

e ns f o rm u thing that will out . Ther is the co cientious lation , a thing of infinitely greater labour, for the first o f o f is not labour at all , th ugh the e ficient doing it may depend on a deal of labour foregoing . “ ” There is the labour foregoing, the patient testing h a o f media, the patient experiment w ich sh ll avail per

240 APPENDIX I we have Spent ou r strength in trying to pave the way — f o r a n ew sort o f poetic art it is n o t a new sort but an — o ld sort but let us know that we have tried to make it more nearly p o ssible f o r our successors to recapture this

‘ T e c arr i e art . o write a poetry that can b d as a com m n i u cati o n between intelligent men .

i n t ss e To this end i o s tu d o qu a a p o o . I have tri d to establish a clear demarcation . I h ave been challenged “ n r o my use of the phrase great a t in an earlier article . “ It is about as useless to search for a definitio n o f great ” f art as it is to search for a scientific definition o life .

n One knows fairly well what o e means . One means ’ something more o r less proportionate t o one s exp eri

n f ff ence . O e means something quite dif erent at di erent ’ periods of one s life . It is for s ome such reaso n that all cri ticism should be i professedly personal criticism . In the end the cr tic “ ” “ ” sa r o r can only y I like it , o I am moved , something o f that sort . When he has Shown us himself we are able to understand him .

an Thus , in painting , I me something or other vaguely h associated in my mind wit work labelled Durer, and

R . embrandt , and Velasquez, etc , and with the painters ’ n o f S whom I scarcely k ow , possibly T ang and ung ’ — though I dare s ay I ve got the wrong labels and with some Egyptian designs that Should probably be thought f o as sculpture . And in poetry I mean something o r o ther associ ated in my mind with the names o f a dozen or more

r write s . On closer analysis I ﬁnd that I mean so mething like ” maximum efﬁciency o f expression ; I mean that the writer h as expressed so mething interesting in such a THE SERIOUS ARTIST 241

o n e nn - sa ff 1 way that ca ot re y it more e ectively . also mean something associated with discovery . The artist — must have discovered something either o f life itself o r o f x the means of e pression . f Great art must o necessity be a part of good art . I attempted to deﬁne good art in an earlier chapter . It

b e must bear true witness . Obviously great art must an th exceptional thing . It cannot be e sort of thing any ’ o n e e can do after a few hours practic . It must be the t result of some exceptional faculty, streng h , or percep

t h a st ren h tion . It must almost be t gt of perception x

rk th e o f o r e o r wo ing with connivance fate , chanc , what o ever y u choose to call it . ? And who is to judge The critic , the reviewer , how

n . ever stupid or ignora t , must judge for himself The only really vicious criticism is the academic criticism o f e those who mak the grand abnegation , who refuse

do to say what they think, if they think , and who quote

t re ach accepted opinion ; these men are the vermin , their cry to the great work of the past is as great as that Of

n the false artists to th e present . If they do o t care

f o r enough the heritage to have a personal conviction , a then they h ve no licence to write . Every critic should give indication o f the sources and f f limits o his knowledge . The criticism o English poetry

w n o o r by men who kne language but English , who

an d - knew little but English school classics , has been a marasmus . When we know t o what extent each sort o f expres

e sa sion has b en driven , in , y , half a dozen great litera

n tures , we begi to be able to tell whether a given work f has the excess o f great art . We would not think o let ting a man judge pictures if he knew only English pic 242 APPENDIX I

o r h — r tures , music if e knew only English music o only

r French o Germ an music for that matter . The stupid or provincial judgment of art bases itself o n the belief that great art must be like the art that it has been reared to respect .

244 APPE NDIX 11

Investigate the stan dard s and the vitality o f the stand “ ” o f a s ee ards the best editori l ofﬁces, and what Spirit

o u D is an y ﬁnd there . o they believe that art , in y

o ? f o r measure, disc very Is there any care good letters , o r e ven enough care for good letters to make them in any way concerned in trying to ﬁnd o u t what consti tu t es ? and what makes for, good letters r an They have called Hen y James Europe . Yet a

ri I deal of his work is about Ame can subj ects . s a man less a citizen because h e cares enough for letters to m leave a country where the practice of the is , or at least

s - s b e seem , well nigh impos ible , in order that he may u e ath n q a heritage of good letters, even to the ation whi ch h as borne him ? It is n o t that the youn ger generation has not tried to “ x f o n e . o e ist at home It is that after years struggle ,

o f by one , they come abroad , in search good company and o r good conversation , send their manuscripts abroad f o r recogniti o n ; that they ﬁnd themselves in the pages “ ” even of the stolid and pre -Victorian Qu arterly b e “ ” fore hustling and modern America h as arrived at tolerance f o r their modernity . APPENDIX III

EZRA POUND FILE S EXCEPTIONS

30 191 6 London , Eng . , July , . ’ E ditor of R eedy s Mi rro r : IN th e interests o f accuracy

n o t I was born in Utah , it is immaterial , but still “ ” o d r I am not to be c nfuse with Ez a, the Mormon , how ever charmi ng and sympathetic o r ﬁctitious he may have “ was been . I born in Idaho , in Hailey, in the residence ” Plu h o ff h a now occupied by Mr . g (unless he s moved ) .

Is so as . There , far I know, no memorial tablet

h e f I am not t head o the vorticist movement . I said qui te clearly in my memoir o f Gaudier- Brzeska that the vorticist movement implied no series of personal subordinations . The pleasure o f the vorticist movement

ﬁn o s i n t was to d neself at la t er p ares . Mr . Wyndham s o s Lewis is a man of marked a geniu , of such swift and profound intuitions that it would b e ridiculous to speak “ of anyone else as. being his head I cannot picture either Brzeska o r Etchells considering hims elf as any ’ n r i - an o e s elbow o sh n bone . As active and informal ass ociation it might be said that Lewis supplied the volcanic force , Brzeska the animal energy , and perhaps that I had contributed a certain Confucian calm and 245 246 APPE NDIX III

reserve . There would have been no movement without

Lewis .

are At any rate, if you irrevocably wedded to the “ ” a o f phr se , head the movement , you would be more correct in applying the title to Lewis than to anyone else .

’ Let u s come to your remarks about Gaudier -B rzesk a s sculpture in your issue f o r July 1 4 :

You say it see ms to you a new language known only ” to the sculptor . Has any new light ever come in th e arts o r i n the

at rst sciences save through a new Speech known , ﬁ , only to the artist o r the inventor ? There was a language known only to abstract mathe m ati c i ans ( I believe to the men wh o experimented in This language gradually became

n s o u k own to physicist , or to a physicist , and y have now “ i s in the very popular wireless telegraph , which still ” f comprehensible to a very great number o people . The intelligent man will learn as much as he can rather than pretend to be more ignorant than he is .

” You ask : What is forml ess form ? And then you “ ” m u tu all a reed u o s m b o ls rus h on to talk about y g p n y . “ I have n o t talked about formless form But try to follow me for a mo ment . A circle or a trian gle h as just as much form as the

i s b e : Albert Memorial . Its form Simpler, to sure

248 APPE NDIX III

all As Ultimately sculpture is judged by its form . music is judged by its sound . If scul ptur e were judged by the closeness with which

- x s it copies pre e isting material obj ect , the plaster cast o r mould o f th e object would be th e apex o f th e achieve ment . Yo u do not demand that the musician copy natural

n e t sou ds . You p rmit him o start with a simple melodic

u o r form and develop his fug e , his harmony , whatever he chooses . ’ a o f G au di er s an ou o In the e se D cer, y ﬁnd y ur ” themes given you with the utmost clarity and dis

i n n h t ct ess . You have the circle o n t e breast and the

o n . w r triangle the face These t o fo ms become animate ,

o r an d m ve , inte play , an increasing suggestion of power

ri movement in their va ous positions , distortions , culmi

th e o f nating in the great sweep of shoulders , the back the statue , the arm thrown over the head . It seem s to me foolish to talk of thi s as th e power ” nn f fully cr ude suggestions of the begi ing o sculpture .

If, however , it did not suggest even to you the adverb “ ” o powerfully , I Should think it failed thr ugh being

- o - c vi i n k over intellectual , ver i lized its concept , lac ing in the emotional energy o f great art . There is in this work nothing of the Rodi n impres ” n f sio o emergence theory .

W n o f Wh en you write ithout interpositio symbol ,

n ar e . n o u without or ament , you right Whe y add “ ”

o r o u . without proportion form , y are in error ’ No c an B rzesk a s statues have form . material obj ect

o escape it . My contenti n is that they have very inter

i s n n esting an d express ive form s . It o t ecessary that EZRA POUND FILE S EXCEPTIONS 249 one should as sociate their form o r forms with the form s f hi o anyt ng else . It is for the spectator to decide whether the forms of this s culpture are i n th em s elves

e o f i o f delightful . Ther is no need referr ng the form the statue to the form of something extraneous . As to proportion “ The Boy with a Coney has ” m s . s cale Perhaps I had better deﬁne that la t ter .

f s a Scale is a very skillful sort o proportion . We y that “ ” a statue o r a painting has. scale when i ts proport ions are so ﬁnely arranged th at it mi ght be reproduced i n f various sizes without the destruction o its beauty . This

i x n o process is not inﬁnite . It s t necessary that every f l work o art shou d possess it .

S s o f six till , when a novelist say by way praise that a “ ” “ line poem has the form o f a novel o r that it is like ” ” o r a good novel contains a novel , he is making an ’ interesting criticism o f the poet s sens e o f proportion “ and balance and form (if one be perm itted to u se the word as it were metaphorically) . When a statue o n e foot high could be reproduced at l forty times that size and stil remain ﬁnely proportioned, this pos sibility is an interestin g com mentary on the ’ “ ” s ns o f culptor s se e proportion .

’ So let us leave Hamlet s clouds which were so like

r r something o othe . The musician Eric Satie once wrote “ a prelude whic h he called Prelude in the shape o f a ”

. as pear It served a designation .

AS for understan ding an d mutually agreed upon ” “ ” o an d th e symb ls general intelligibility, I open a 250 APPE NDIX 111 wee kly abomination and ﬁnd a reproduction o f a piece “ F R ” of sculpture labeled, igure epresenting Aspiration .

It displays a plump , lolling female and an infant de

ﬁ c i en nk t in the sp a abl e parts . One can go down to the ” Tate in peace time and see messy pictures by the W “ ” “ ” late Mr . atts called Hope , Love , etc These ” s see work do not please me . I never why Hope ’ mightn t just as well be something else . And as for the

a ﬁgure representing Aspir tion . Does it represent ” Aspiration ? I never s aw aspiration looking like

s o h that . But I have seen paghetti piled a plate and “ r a r e the fo m was decidedly similar . A great de l of

i n o rm presentational sculpture is , f , not unlike plates f o spaghetti .

In conclusion , I would advise the patient to look care ” at G au di r-B rze k fully the illustrations to the e s a . I would then advise him to get th e local art gallery t o pro ’ “ vide him with Wyndham Lewis Timon portfolio . I would then ask him to go forth again into the world and see what he can see where before he saw little o r nothing . The great mass of mank ind are ignorant of th e Shape

f ee o r o nearly everyt hing that they s handle .

o f o f h i The artisan knows the shape some s tools .

n - You k ow the shape of your pen handle , but hardly the o f shape o f your typewriter . The store forms in the ’ averag e man s head is smaller than his meager verbal vocabulary .

Yours , Z A OUND E R P .

252 APPENDIX IV

Or to put it another way : Painting makes use of colour arranged o n a surface ; Sculpture o f masses deﬁned by n pla es .

vo rt o ra h In g p y colour is practically excluded . There can be suggestion of colours . There can be a variety In the colour o f the paper on which the vo rt o grap h is n pri ted . But the medium o f the vo rt o grap h er is prae tically limited to form (Shapes o n a surface ) and to a light an d shade ; to the pec uliar varieties in lightness and darkn ess which belong to the technique o f the camera .

THE CAMERA IS FREE D FROM REALITY

A natural object o r objects may perhaps be retained

th e vo rt o ra h er realistically by g p if he chooses , and the vo rt o grap h containing such an obj ect o r obj ects will not be in jured if the obj ect o r obj ects contribute interest to

sa an the pattern , that is to y , if they form integral and f formal part o the whole .

The vo rto scOp e is useless t o a man wh o cannot recogn ise

' b eau tif u l arr an em en t o n h is a g of forms a surface , when

r n vo t o sco p e has brought them to focus . His selectio ’ may be alm o st as creative as a painter s composition .

His photographic technique must be assume d . It does

o f e not form a part this discussion , though it is xtremely

t n o f impor a t , and all , or most , of the qualities the black

o f . and white , light and dark, will depend upon it

These things , however, can be discussed by any intel

li n s h . ge t photographer, a suming that suc persons exist There is no need of any special foreword about this part f o the technique . V ORTOGRAPHS 253

c m o u r o f r Vorti is has reawakened sense fo m , a sense long dead in occidental artists . Any person or animal unable to tak e pleasure in an arrangement of forms as he o r sh e takes pleasure in an arrangement o f musical notes , is thereby the poorer . People are sometimes

- - e tone deaf and colour blind . Other peopl , perhaps more

- S numerous , are form blind . ome ears cannot recognise the correct pitch of a note , and some eyes get no pleas ure

o f from a beautiful or expressive arrangement forms .

U en o d i ctu res ntil recently people j y e p chieﬂy, and often x exclusively because the painting reminded them o f

e i something els . Numerous contemporar es have passed that state o f development .

r r h 3 n vo t o a . The moder will enj oy g p No , not because o f o n it reminds him a shell bursting a hillside , but an o f because the arr gement forms pleases him , as a phrase o f Chopin might pleas e him . He will enj oy

r r h 8 h im o f vo t o a . g p No , not because it reminds a s falling Zeppelin , but because he like the shape and

o f i ts f arrangement blocks o dark and light .

Obviously vo rt ograp h s will lack cert ain interes ts that are to b e found in vorticist paintings . They bear the same relation to vorticist painting that academic photog r ap h y bears to academy painting . Almost any fool can paint an academy picture , and any imbecile can shoot ff o a K odak .

Certain deﬁnite problems in the ae sthetics o f form may

r possibly be worked out with th e vo t escOp e . When these problems are solved vorticism will have entered that phase o f morbidity into which representative paint 254 APPENDIX IV ing descended after the Renaissance painters had de cided upon all the correct proportions o f the human f . . . o body , etc , etc , etc That date decline is still afar ff o .

V o rt o gr ap hy stands below the other vorticist arts in that

o f it is an art the eye , not of the eye and hand to

v r gether . It stands above photography in that t h e o t o ra h er m i ll g p combines his for s at w . He selects just

e . s what actually he wish s, he excludes the rest He choose s what forms , lights , masse , he desires , he arranges them t l a wi l o n his screen . He can make summer of Lon

re n ff don October . The ae e and submarine e ects are got

vo rt o ra h s i n . two in his study . All these g p were done

- v rt o or three rooms . The dull bit of window frame ( o 1 6 ” . s o r graph No ) produce a ﬁne Picasso , if not a “ ” ” Picasso a Coburn . It is an excellent arrange

o f o f ment shapes , and more interesting than most the _ f works of the bad imitators o Lewis .

h as Art photography been stuck for twenty years . During that time practically n o new effects have been

r achieved . Art photog aphy is stale and Suburban . It

V r o r h has never had any part in aesthetics . o t g ap y may

have , however, very much the same place in the coming ae sthetic that th e anatomical studies o f the Renaissance a f had in the esthetics o the academic school . It is at

s i lea t a subj ect which a ser ous man may consider . It is not for me to decide whether there can be a mathematical m harmony of for , angles , proportions , etc . , arranged as “ ” we have had a mathematical harmony arranged f o r

us in music .

I am n o t concerned with deciding whether such a mathe

o r en ﬁ n m ati c al schedule is desirable would be b e ce t .

APPENDIX V

ARNOLD D OLMET SCH 1

IT was better to dig up the bas - reliefs o f Assur ’ b an ip al s hunting than to have done an equal amount

o f R oyal Academy sculpture . There are times when

a r arch eology is almost equal to creation , or when a resu rection is e qually creative o r even more creative than

Fe invention . w contemporary composers have given ’ - more to to day s music than has Arnold Dolmetsch . His ﬁrs t realization was that music made for the

Old instruments could not be rendered o n the piano . Y This proposition is exceedingly Simple . o u may play

n o n o r the notes of a violi solo a piano a banjo , but it th m Y e c . o will not be sa e musi u may play. the notes n an d o n writte for clavichord harpsichord the piano ,

o r a . the pianola, but you will not m ke the same music

s o n e The ﬁrst neces ity, if were to hear the Old sounds ,

o f was a reconstruction instruments , a multiplication o f ns n reconstructio ; and this , as every educated perso m h ff n . well knows , Ar old Dol etsc has e ected The next step was th e removal of general m i su n der l ‘ n f o . sta dings o the d musical notation This Mr . Dol metsch has also triumphantly done in his Interpretation o f the Music o f the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Cen ”

o . New turies (Novello , L ndon , and H W . Gray Co . ,

York ) . Not only this , but he has opened the way for ‘ ” a reconciliation between musicians and the intelligent .

1 E 1 1 o i . 9 g st 7 . ARNOLD DOLMET SCH 257

This last act is extremely important ; the reconstruction o f o ld an music is activity which might end in itself . A possible re - fusion of intelligence with that other curious thing commonly known as “ musical intelligence ” con tain s many possibilities for the future ; for the imme

o f n diate future , the part it chieﬂy concer ing u s and o u r mort al enjoyments .

All people have terms of abuse . Among artists and ’ li terati it is customary to excuse a man s stupidity by “ ” saying He is a musician . Among musicians they “ ” sa s o f y Oh , that is a singer, implying depth ignorance in conceivable to all but musicians . Dolmetsch strikes at the root o f the trouble by show

h as e ing how music been written , mor and more , for the stupid ; h o w the n o t at o rs have gradually ceased to trust

o r o n r to , to expect , intelligence the part of inte preters ; s with the result that the whole major tructure of music , o f o f c a piece music , is obscured ; the in idental elements , th e detail show on the score equally with the cardinal contentions of the composer .

t o n e o n e i s The neophyte is taugh notes by , taught th e s cales . In the Old way he would have been given main structural points, he would have played the bare m f l for o the piece , and gradua ly have ﬁlled in with the details . ’ s S 14 o n There is more in Dolmet ch s ection , Divi ” sions , than in a long course of practice and exercises ; more I mean for the intelligent person to whom the mysteries of music have always seemed rather a jum bl e o f - , a sort pseudo psychism practised by, and prae f i ab l e w . t c for, people other ise mentally ine ﬁcient

n I c annot demons trate all this o a page . If Dol hi metsch would write a s lling manual , simply dogma, leaving ou t his proofs and his explanations, and if 258 APPENDIX V

o n o n s people would use it children and themselve , we might have an almost immediate improvement , for a

f ew big book travels slowly , and have the patience to understand anything , though many will Obey a com mand .

n The tech ical points I can scarcely go into , but they ’ are there in Dolmetsch s book for musicians , and for e thos who have unsatisﬁed curiosities about music .

The general reﬂections stirred by his writing I may, however, set down .

FI S : t o R T It seems me that in music , as in the other arts (beginning in the eighteenth century , and grow

m e ing a poison fro which we are not yet free ) , gr ater rigidity in matters of minutiae h as forced a break-u p of the large forms ; has destroyed the sense o f main form . Compare academi c detail in one school of paint ing, and minute particularization about light and colour in another .

ar i s m Any work of t a compound of freedo and order . It is p erfec tly obvious that art hangs between chaos on o n e s in side and mechanic on the other . A pedantic “ ” o n sistence detail tends to drive out major form . A

m o f ﬁrm hold on major for makes for a freedom detail . In painting men intent on minutiae gradually lost the

- sense of fo rm and form combination . An attempt to r e “ ” store this s ense is branded as revolution . It is revo hi f lu ti o n in the p lological sense o the term .

c i The old way of musi , teach ng a man that a piece

f was o music a structure , certain main forms ﬁlled in

h c c wit certain de orations , stimulated his intelligen e , ’ spurred o n his constructive faculty . 5 You might play

- e o u the same lut e piece as many oth rs , but y thought i f ff . e . about playing it di erently ( with dif erent notes ) ,

n r o f o f p lay i g i t bette . In a sense that is true any per

260 APPENDIX V s th e cores , for the most brilliant , most apparently

c an sudden , great artist is always a plodder . He alone

f - a ford to wait . The singer o f late nineteenth century ballads must get through with his j ob at onc e : ditto f o r

c . the actor, for the su cessful s ociety portraitist In nothing h as invention been Slower than in the notation o f music ; it took centuries to ﬁnd even a No t ’ A zz T - d re o . o ker, a Gui day the man who desires to comprehend ﬁrst and make his noise afterward co mes

n s o f upo the idiotic mes unexplained, unexplainable

- n r scale playing . The days when a co s o t arranged itself ’ while y o u waited your turn at the barber s appear purely

ar e s e legendary . Our ears pas ive b fore the onslaught of gramophones an d pian olas . By persuading ourselves

r - d that we do not hea two thirds of their abominable grin , we persuade ourselves that we take pleasure in the r e m ain der o f what they narrate . We feign a deafness

ad o f u r which we have not , inste developing o faculty for the ﬁner perception o f soun d . We pride ourselves on having exact transcripts o f Arabi c and Japanese and Zul u and Malay music ; we take a sentimental pleasure in being reminded (in Spite o f z o f i the drone and whee e , in spite shr ek and squeak) , h li in that we once heard the voice of C a ap e . And as for the structure of music !

We turn to the printed page ; the eye is confused by the multitude of ornamental notes and trappings ; lost in the maze ; each note is written as importantly “ ” as z any other . And Modern music is so much a fu z ,

o f an d f — a thing blobs o splotches sometimes beautiful , and probably the best of it is more beautiful t o those who know exactly what ﬁxed lines it avoids . “ But th e stru cture o f music ? Technicalities “ ’ Artists don t enjoy their art as much as people ARNOLD DOLMETSCH 261

who just enjoy it without trying to understand . That last quotation is o n e o f the prize pieces o f buncombe that the last generation indulged in . There is no com parison between the artist ’ s enjoyment and the enjoy

m . t ment o f the lay an Only the ar ist can know this , for

n he is an artist in his o w art and layman in all the rest , f n thus he can get some s ense o proportion . He k ows the difference between enthusiasm with vague half- com prehension , and enthusiasm plus an exact understand 95 o f ing . If the expert rej ects per cent all examples f o an art presented to him , he has more pleasure in the remainder than the layman can get from the lot with vague and omnivorous liking . What we k now of an y art i s mostly what some mas h W as . e n ter taught us may not k ow him in the ﬂesh , w but the master ork , and only the masterwork , discon

u s w o r o u r tents ith mediocrity , rather , it clariﬁes dis contentment ; we may have suspected that something was i wrong, been uninterested , worr ed, found the thing dull ; the masterwork diagnoses it .

h o Dolmetsc has als made a ﬁne diagnosis . He has 1 - o n h a incidentally thrown a Side light metric , he s said ’ si len ce d arti cu lati o n suggestive things about , about the o f ld u o . s a freedoms the m sic When I y suggestive , I do not mean that we are to get a j argon out o f these

t o u se things , in artistic controversy ; but there is enough ’ t o e r o r in them pr vent fools from interfe ing with , carp

m h i s o wn ing at , rhyth s achieved by the artist in way . Art is a departure from ﬁxed positions ; felicitous de parture from a norm . It is a ﬁght agains t mechanics . In mus ic the trouble may well have begun with an at tempt to wr ite music f o r the insensitive and the block head .

1 Vi e n o t e n ers Li r n D lm et s h d o V b e a d o c . 262 P'PENDIX V

o r e o f If we are to regain a thematic sense , a s nse

o f r u thematic invention or st cture , if we are to have

1 o r th e o ld new mus c , to have music beautifully played ; if we are to have a clearer comprehension o f what we do hear , we may owe a good deal to Mr . Dolmetsch .