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 .