A. M. Klein: Complete Poems: Part I: Original Poems 1926-1934; Part II: Original Poems 1937-1955 and Poetry Translations (Collected Works of A. M. Klein) [1 ed.] 9781442670563, 9780802058027

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COLLECTED WORKS OF A.M. KLEIN C O M P L E T E POEMS PART 1

A.M. K L E I N

Complete Poems PART 1 O R I G I N A L POEMS, 1926-1934

E D I T E D BY ZAILIG POLLOCK

U N I V E R S I T Y OF TORONTO PRESS Toronto Buffalo London

www.utppublishing.com © University of Toronto Press 1990 Toronto Buffalo London Printed in the United States of America

ISBN 0-8020-5802-7

Printed on acid-free paper

Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data Klein, A. M. (Abraham Moses), 1909-1972. Complete poems (Collected works of A.M. Klein) ISBN 0-8020-5802-7 (set) I. Pollock, Zailig. II. Title. III. Series: Klein, A. M. (Abraham Moses), 1909-1972. Collected works of A.M. Klein. ps8521.L45A17 1990 c811'.52 PR9199.3.K588A17 1990

C90-094506-0

FRONTISPIECE: Klein in the late 1920s National Archives Canada, 64037 This book has been published with the help of grants from the Canadian Federation for the Humanities, using funds provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, and from the Canada Council and the Ontario Arts Council under their block grant programs.

Contents

Introduction xi Textual Chronology xxxi Editorial Procedures xxxix Acknowledgments xlvii Biographical Chronology xlix

ORIGINAL POEMS, 1926-1934

1926 The Shechinah of Shadows 3 To Keats 4 Life and Eternity 5 A Kiss ... 5 Auto-da-fe 6 Discovery of Spring 25 Dissolution 26 Last Will and Testament [Version 1] 27 Last Will and Testament [Version 2 (1926/c. 1928)] 27 Midnight Awakening 28

Oracles of the Clock 29 Pathetic Fallacy 30 Symbols 31 Winter 32 c. 1927/1927 Five Characters 33 The Monkey 36 Epitaph Forensic 37 La Belle Dame sans Merci 37 The Lay of the Lady 39 Boredom 40 Obituary Notices 41

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1927 Threnody 43 Escape 44 Protest 62

c. 1928/1928 Autumn 63 Ballad of Signs and Wonders 64 Conjectures 67 Haunted House 68 Joseph 72 Mattathias 72 A Sequence of Songs 73 A Song That the Ships of Jaffa Did Sing in the Night 76 These Candle Lights 77 To the Jewish Poet 77

1928 Five Weapons against Death 79 Where Shall I Find Choice Words 82 Coward in Consolation 83 A Prayer against the Witnessing of Grief 83

c. 1926/c. 1928 Advice to the Young 85 Advice to Young Virgins 85 April Disappointments 86 April Fool 87 April Fulfilment 87

Arbiter Bibendi 88 Assurance 89 Astrologer 89 Autumn 90 Autumn Night 90 Bion in His Old Age 91 Blind Girl's Song 91 Bounty Royal 92 Business 93 A Coloured Gentleman 93 Composition 94 Dark Cleopatra on a Gilded Couch 94 Discord of the Crow 95 Divine Titillation 96 Elegy 96 Fable 97 February Morning 97 Figure 98 Finis 98 Fragment on the Death of Shelley 99 Frankly 99 Gargoyle 100 Histrionic Sonnet 100 Homage 101 Invitation 101 Letters to One Absent 102 Litany 103 Lothario 103 Manuscript: Thirteenth Century 104 Momus 112 Nocturne 113 October Heresy 113 An Old Dame Prates in Galilee 114 Orders 114

vii / Contents Out of a Pit of Perpendiculars 115 The Poet to the Big Business Man 117 Preface 118 Probabilities 118 Request 119 Reveille in Winter 120 Sacred Enough You Are 120 Shelley 120 Sleep Walking Scene 121 Song 122 Song before Winter 122 Soror Addita Musis 123 Spring 123 Summer 124 Sybarite Though I Be 125 Symbols 125 This Is No Myth 126 Visitation in Elul 126 What Winter Has Said, Is Said 127

c. 1929/1929 Fixity 128 Haggadah 128 Koheleth 132 Portraits of a Minyan 134 1929

Christian Poet and Hebrew Maid 140 Greeting on This Day 142 Sonnet in Time of Affliction 147

c. 1930/1930 Dance Chassidic 148 Dialogue 149 Epitaph 150 Falstaff 151 Preacher 151 The Words of Plauni-BenPlauni to Job 153

c. 1928/1931 Arabian Love Song 155 Ballad of the Dancing Bear 156 Ecclesiastes 13 167 Gestures Hebraic 168 Holy Bonds 170 Invocation to Death 174 Kalman Rhapsodizes 174 Lamed Vav: A Psalm to Utter in Memory of Great Goodness 175 Lost Fame 176 Market Song 176 Nehemiah 177 Old Maids 178 Oriental Garden 178 Plumaged Proxy 179 Portrait 179 A Psalm, Forbidden to Cohanim 180 A Psalm of Abraham, Touching the Crown with Which He Was Crowned on the Day of His Espousals 181 Reply Courteous 181

viii / Contents Soiree of Velvel Kleinburger 183 Talisman in Seven Shreds 186

c. 1931/1931 Anguish 191 Ave Atque Vale [Version 1] 191 Ave Atque Vale [Version 2 (c. 1953/c. 1955)] 193 Calvary 195 Design for Mediaeval Tapestry 195 Elijah 202 Exorcism Vain 204 Funeral in April 204 King Elimelech 205 Old Maid's Wedding 206 On the Road to Palestine 207 Out of the Pulver and the Polished Lens 208 Saturday Night 213 Scribe 213 Here They Are - All Those Sunny April Days 215 xxII Sonnets 216

c. 1932/1932 Bandit 230 Desiderata 230 Diary of Abraham Segal, Poet 231 Earthquake 239 Festival 239 Messiah 240

Philosopher's Stone 241 Rather Than Have My Brethren Bend the Knee [Version 1] 241 Against Mammon, a Murmuring [Version 2 of 'Rather Than Have My Brethren Bend the Knee' (c. 1953/1955)] 242 Reb Levi Yitschok Talks to God 243 Wood Notes Wild 245 Yossel Letz 247

c. 1933/1933 Arithmetic 249 Counting-out Rhyme 250 Into the Town of Chelm 250 Jonah 251 Legend of Lebanon 253 Mourners 264 Murals for a House of God 265 Scholar 275 Song of Exclamations 277 Song of Toys and Trinkets 278 Song to Be Sung at Dawn 279

c. 1932/1934 Baldhead Elisha 280 Ballad for Unfortunate Ones 281 Bestiary 282 Biography 283

ix / Contents Cantor 284 Captain Scuttle 285 Concerning a Strange King 290 Concerning Four Strange Sons 291 A Deed of Daring 292 Doctor Dwarf 292 Fairy Tale 294 Getzel Gelt 295 Gift 297 Heirloom 298 Jonah Katz 299 King Dalfin 300 Lullaby for a Hawker's Child 301 Madman's Song 302 Nose Aristocratic 302 Pigeons 303 A Psalm of a Mighty Hunter before the Lord 303

A Psalm of Horses and Their Riders 305 A Psalm, with Trumpets for the Months 305 Rev Owl 306 Riddle 307 Sonnet of the Starving One 307 Town Fool's Song 308 Wandering Beggar 309

c. 1934/1934 Baal Shem Tov 311 Psalm of the Fruitful Field 312 Song of Sweet Dishes 313 The Venerable Bee 314

1934 Petition For That My Father's Soul Should Enter into Heaven 315

Abbreviations 321 Textual Notes: Original Poems, 1926-1934 325 Explanatory Notes: Original Poems, 1926-1934 365 Index of Titles 415 Index of First Lines 433

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Introduction

A.M. Klein's life as a writer began with poetry and ended with poetry. The earliest dateable work by Klein is The Shechinah of Shadows,' which he wrote in March 1926, and his latest is a set of verse translations from Horace, dated 1 August 1955. However, for nearly half of the intervening thirty-odd years Klein wrote little or no poetry. Most of his poetry was written in two periods - from the mid-twenties to the early thirties, and from the late thirties to the mid-forties — and even these two periods seem to have been made up of much shorter bursts of poetic activity, each one quite distinct in style and theme. A significant contrast is presented by Klein's fiction: his earliest short stories date from about 1930, and from then on he continued to write fiction until the mid-fifties, with only one break, in the late thirties and early forties, which can be easily attributed to the unusually heavy demands of his journalism at this time. And the journalism itself provides an even more remarkable example of continuity. Klein's first journalism dates from 1927. From then on there was a gradual increase in his journalistic activity until he took over the editorship of the Canadian Jewish Chronicle in 1938. The work he produced for the Chronicle alone over the next seventeen years amounts to more than three thousand pieces, produced week after week with scarcely a break until he ceased to write altogether. If relatively little of Klein's time was spent in writing poetry, the reason seems to be that he entertained higher ambitions for his poetry than for his other writings; he found it difficult to write poetry unless he could rise to some great theme which fully engaged him. Klein's career as a poet is largely the record of a continuous inner struggle, through periods of silence as well as ones of intense productivity, to define and redefine such a theme, and to develop the means - emotional, intellec-

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tual, and artistic - to do it justice. It is a struggle which culminates in the great achievements of his maturity, and, then, in the bleak silence of his final years. The essence of Klein's theme was revealed to him early in his career: it is community, more specifically, the relationship of the creative individual to the community in which he is rooted. As 'Portrait of the Poet as Landscape' tells us, the poet who cannot 'unroll our culture from his scroll' is a crippled poet; all other ambitions are, in comparison, 'mean.' For Klein, the poet's sense of self is essentially social. The poet's primary relationship is not with God, or with a beloved, or even with his art, but with a community. The only substantial body of Klein's poetry which does not take up his central theme of community is his very earliest work, the large number of poems written between 1926 and 1928. These resolutely non-Jewish poems seem to be a declaration of independence from community, and it is perhaps significant that Klein started writing them soon after he disappointed the expectations of his orthodox parents and his religious teachers by deciding not to study for the rabbinate. The autobiographical portrait of the sceptic Pascal in 'Auto-da-fe,' one of the earliest of these poems, suggests something of both the strain and the sense of relief that such a decision must have entailed. But if Klein's decision to write poetry was a rejection of one kind of vocation, he had clearly not yet found a new vocation to take the place of the old one. The poems from this period seem to be about nothing in particular, or, perhaps, they are about too much. They generally express a vague, adolescent Weltschmerz, owing much to Keats, applied to such large 'poetic' themes as Love and Nature, themes with which the mature Klein rarely, if ever, concerned himself. In fact, the effect of these early poems is of a kind of solemn doodling, as if Klein were marking time until he could apply his developing skills to something worthy of them. Immature as they are, many of the poems of this period demonstrate a tendency which was to remain constant throughout Klein's career, a tendency perhaps best characterized through a term he was himself to use many years later - 'centrifugal.'1 That is, rather than trying to focus on a particular subject, Klein's poems tend to expand outward, and strive for the utmost variety consistent with any sense of

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unity. Characteristic of this kind of poetry are structures based on repetitions with variations and on juxtapositions; a kaleidoscopic profusion of metaphors and similes; allusiveness; and a varied vocabulary, tending towards richness rather than precision, with ample use of synonyms, wordplay, and poetic archaisms. In the best of Klein's poetry, these characteristics become a formal equivalent of his thematic concerns, but in these early poems Klein seems to be developing a technique for which he has no very clear use. The theme is conspicuously absent. A number of poems of this period express an uneasy awareness of this problem, the most interesting being a dramatic poem, 'Escape,' in which two lovers engage in a kind of poetic competition, driving each other to ever more elaborate heights of eloquence, until they are interrupted by guards who have come to return them to the lunatic asylum from which, we discover, they have escaped. It seems clear that Klein identifies his own situation as a poet with that of the lunatic lovers, trapped and isolated by their meaningless eloquence. Klein knows that he, too, is trapped. What he does not yet know is the form his escape will take. When the escape came, it was remarkably quick and complete. By 1928, Klein had begun to write poetry which, both stylistically and thematically, marked a radical new direction in his work. Specifically, it is in the poetry of this period that we see the beginnings of two developments that were to prove central to Klein's sense of himself and of his art throughout his career. The first is his discovery of modernism; the second is his decision to take up Jewish themes. Klein's discovery of modernism owed much to the group of young writers associated with the McGill Fortnightly Review, A.J.M. Smith, F.R. Scott, Leo Kennedy, and Leon Edel. His lifelong interest in Browning, Eliot, Keats, Pound, and, especially, Joyce dates from this period, and his encounter with the McGill Group helped him to move beyond the somewhat self-indulgent imitations of Romantic and Victorian models that had dominated his earlier work. Klein's sonnet 'From Beautiful Dreams I Rise; I Rise from Dreams,' with its Romantic octave and modernist sestet, cleverly recapitulates this development: From beautiful dreams I rise; I rise from dreams Of you beside me on a garden lawn

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Upon the fire-escape there stand and rot Pickles in barrels, flowers in a pot.

Stylistically, a number of poems of this period show the influence of modernism, especially of Eliot (e.g., 'Soiree of Velvel Kleinburger'), and the Imagists (e.g., 'Wood Notes Wild'), but, on the whole, the influence is relatively superficial; and in the bulk of the poems of the period - the poems on Jewish themes - there seems to be, at least initially, a reaction against modernism, both in their use of traditional forms and in their celebration of traditional community values. In 1928, Klein became head of the Zionist youth organization, Young Judaea, as well as its cultural director. Whether this had an influence on turning his mind to Jewish themes or was itself just another expression of a developing interest is impossible to say; as always with Klein's poetry, the relation between external stimulus and internal compulsion is difficult to unravel. In any case, at this time Klein began to translate Yiddish folk-songs and to write his first poems on Jewish themes. Klein's turning to Jewish themes opened a floodgate of inspiration for him, and, within a very short time, he began to produce some of his most accomplished poems. Nothing in his earlier work really prepares us for the vigour and variety of the poems he now began to write. What is particularly interesting in these Jewish poems is how quick Klein was to focus, not only on the central theme of community that was to dominate his career, but also on some of his characteristic modes of presenting this theme. In what is perhaps the very first, and certainly one of the least mature, productions of this period, the set of sonnets on the story of Purim entitled 'Five Characters,' we already have, in Mordecai and Haman, the opposition between the true hero and his deceptive, demagogic double, which recurs again and again in Klein's treatment of the relation of the poet to his community.2 Even more intriguing are two other early sonnets, 'Joseph' and 'Mattathias,' dealing with the two aspects of the ideal hero as Klein was to portray him throughout his career - the man of imagination, Joseph, who is cast out by his brothers, and the man of action, Mattathias, who returns

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to redeem his brothers, even against their will. 'Joseph' is particularly interesting in this regard, for it foreshadows Klein's last word on the poet's relation to society, in his 1953 essay The Bible's Archetypical Poet.' The keynote of the poems of this period, sounded most explicitly in the poetic manifesto 'Ave Atque Vale/ is the rich diversity of the community Klein has chosen to explore. Klein's stance is, in general, celebratory rather than critical, and a number of the poems seem sentimental and quaint, no doubt a reflection of the fact that the way of life Klein was celebrating was, at least partly, a deliberate, almost antiquarian, reconstruction of something which had ceased to exist in North America, and even in eastern Europe was passing out of existence. Certainly the contemporary world which Klein knew at first hand impinges little, if at all, on most of these poems. But the best works of this period, such as 'Portraits of a Minyan/ 'Design for Mediaeval Tapestry,' or 'Haggadah,' show Klein engaging in a successful and moving act of imaginative re-creation. These works, like many others written at this time, consist of a variety of smaller poems, carefully grouped together to imply a deeper unity. This reflects, on a formal level, Klein's ambition to identify and celebrate the underlying principles which have the power to transform the diverse elements of a community into a unified whole, to seek, as he was to say years later, 'the thing that makes them one, if one' ('The Provinces'). This ambition is most fully realized in what is Klein's greatest work of the period, his poem on Spinoza, 'Out of the Pulver and the Polished Lens.' First published in 1931, when he was only twenty-two, this poem is Klein's richest and most fully achieved statement of the Jewish themes which had dominated his poetry over the previous several years. But 'Out of the Pulver' is more than just a summing up; it moves beyond specifically Jewish themes to raise broader issues concerning the ambivalent status of the poet in the modern age, issues that were to concern Klein more and more over the years as he increasingly came to see himself as a modernist. In 'Out of the Pulver,' Klein draws on traditional poetic forms and on a historical Jewish subject, but does so in a highly original way, to explore, from a multiplicity of perspectives, the intertwining of the poet's fate with that of his community as a whole. In his presentation of Spinoza's excommunication by the Jews

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of Amsterdam, Klein establishes, for the first time, a set of characters and a basic plot to which he will return repeatedly throughout his career whenever he considers the poet's role. In 'Out of the Pulver,' Spinoza is more than just a philosopher. He represents the creative individual, the man of vision who speaks to a community ('the paunchy sons of Abraham') which is deaf to his message. In short, he is a poet. The heroic Spinoza is contrasted with two other kinds of characters who fare very differently in their relations with the community. The first is represented by Uriel da Costa, a contemporary of Spinoza, who, like Spinoza, questioned current orthodoxy but, unlike him, lacked the inner strength or vision to survive society's opprobrium, and was driven to suicide. The other is represented by Shabbathai Zvi, a false messiah who won the hearts of the Jews of eastern Europe but eventually betrayed their hopes by converting to Islam. The story told by 'Out of the Pulver' is one to which Klein returns again and again. Society, terrified by challenges to its values, attempts to destroy anyone who raises uncomfortable questions, and worships as its idol a false demagogue who exploits its worst fears. When the true hero stands up against society's pressures, he is cast out from the city, like a scapegoat into the wilderness. However, the wilderness turns out to be a garden, a garden within, where the hero can, in enforced exile from the world, turn inward and discover deeper truths about the underlying unity that binds humanity together: Think of Spinoza, rather, plucking tulips Within the garden of Mynheer, forgetting Dutchmen and Rabbins, and consumptive fretting, Plucking his tulips in the Holland sun, Remembering the thought of the Adored, Spinoza, gathering flowers for the One, The ever-unwedded lover of the Lord.

If we take 'Out of the Pulver' as a kind of credo on the part of the young Klein, it tells us that he sees his role as attempting to heal and to give purpose to a community that desperately needs his leadership. At the same time, the poem suggests that Klein is already beginning to see himself as something of an outcast, spurned by the community he wishes to serve. The tone of 'Out of the Pulver' is still essentially

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optimistic, but, even at this early stage of his career, Klein is pointing to problems that will never cease to engage him, as both a Jew and a modernist, and which he will never fully resolve. If 'Out of the Pulver' is, in fact, an oblique commentary on Klein's own relationship to his community, most specifically the Jewish community of Montreal, the question which naturally arises is why does Klein approach this issue so obliquely? Why does he feel it necessary to deal with it through the persona of a seventeenth-century philosopher, in whom, after all, he had little genuine interest?3 In fact, throughout his career, Klein almost never directly confronts his relationship with his community. The world he knew best, Jewish Montreal of the twenties, thirties, and forties, is virtually absent from his work. The bulk of his Jewish writings look elsewhere, to Jewish history and rituals, or to folk memories of eastern Europe, or to the plight of the Jews under Hitler, or to the triumphs of Zionism in Israel. Significantly, when he does take Jewish Montreal as his theme, as in 'Autobiographical,' he presents it through the eyes of a child, re-creating a mythical vision of a vanished world, glimpsed through Time's haze.' There is nothing in this, or in Klein's other Jewish poems, about what it meant to be a lawyer, a journalist, a socialist, an associate of Samuel Bronfman, let alone a poet, in Jewish Montreal. Certain unpublished prose works from the early forties suggest a more troubled relationship to his community than one would suspect from the poetry; but, as a recognized and respected spokesman for his people in a very dark period of their history, Klein seems never to have felt able to express openly his full range of feelings towards his community, a community which was essential to his sense of himself as a man and poet, but which never, in his eyes, fully understood or supported him. When Klein was writing 'Out of the Pulver,' these difficulties seem not yet to have come to a head, but they were clearly present, and, in fact, it was probably not long after completing 'Out of the Pulver' that he found himself unable to continue writing in this vein which had proven artistically so rewarding. As with all such breaks in Klein's career, the reason for this one is a matter of conjecture. His virtual abandonment, in about 1931, of the kind of poetry he had been writing for the previous three or four years may reflect his disappointment in trying to get his work published in book form. From the beginning, Klein had had little difficulty in placing his Jewish poems in Jewish

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periodicals in Canada and the United States, and in 1936 'Out of the Pulver' and 'Soiree of Velvel Kleinburger' were included in the New Provinces anthology. But Klein wanted a more substantial forum for his work - something which he would not achieve until 1940, with Hath Not a Jew ... - and in 1931, he submitted a manuscript containing his Jewish poems to the Jewish Publication Society of America. After considerable delay and internal debate, the JPS rejected his submission, with little in the way of encouragement. However, even before this discouraging episode, there is evidence that Klein had ceased to write the kind of poetry represented by the JPS manuscript. By 1934, he had accumulated enough new poems, mostly written since 1931, to make up a substantial bound volume of typescripts, Poems (1934). Most of the poems in the collection were clearly intended for children, and were produced, at least in part, to fulfil Klein's requirements as educational director of Young Judaea. Many of them were first published in the Judaean, and one might compare a number of didactic children's stories on Jewish themes which Klein published, also in the Judaean, at this period. The collection contains many witty and charming poems, such as 'Bestiary' and 'The Venerable Bee,' and at least one, 'Heirloom/ that is among the most moving Klein ever wrote, but none of them rivals in ambition such poems as 'Out of the Pulver' or 'Design for Mediaeval Tapestry' or 'Talisman in Seven Shreds.' Klein no longer seems willing or able to make the kinds of larger statements that had previously attracted him. It is as if he has recognized that his heroic, visionary role has been an illusion, and that the only use he can really make of his Jewish roots is to produce what is, in essence, entertainment for children. As far as can be determined, Klein wrote no original poetry at all in the three or four years after the composition of the poems collected in Poems (1934). In the early thirties, Klein had begun to turn his attention in a serious way to translating poetry from Yiddish and Hebrew. The largest single group of translations from this period was of lyrics by the Montreal Yiddish poet J.I. Segal, whom Klein knew well. Klein was attracted to Segal's nostalgic, elegiac reminiscences of the shtetl, perhaps finding in them a retreat from overwhelming contemporary concerns, especially the Depression and the rise of fascism, for which he was unable to find a satisfactory voice. In any case, by the mid-thirties Klein's poetic energies were taken up entirely with

xix / Introduction translations, most importantly of the poetry of Chaim Nachman Bialik, the leading poet of the Hebrew renaissance, who died in 1934. Bialik appeared to Klein as a great and original artist, who created, almost single-handedly, a new poetic language, but for whom the questions of his craft never overshadowed his social role. He was the kind of universally acknowledged spokesman for his people that Klein yearned to be, and it is perhaps not too farfetched to suggest that, in translating Bialik, Klein was searching for a surrogate voice to replace the voice he could not assume on his own. The major poem of Bialik's that Klein translated at this period was 'In the City of Slaughter,' a prophetic work of horrific realism, occasioned by the Kishinev pogrom, and credited with inspiring the Jewish people with a new spirit of self-defence. In the situation Bialik described, Klein clearly saw parallels to the worsening situation of the Jews in Europe, and The Hitleriad, written several years later, owes as much to Bialik as it does to its more obvious satiric models, Dryden and Pope.4 However, many of the poems of Bialik which Klein chose to translate at this time are personal rather than public, expressing a sense of alienation and frustration which inevitably suggests parallels with Klein's own state of mind. Although the Bialik translations are the work of a technically accomplished poet and translator, many of them suffer, along with most of Klein's poetry of the mid- to late thirties, from an uncertainty of tone - in this case a rather strained magniloquence - an uncertainty which seems to reflect a deeper uncertainty on Klein's part about his role as a poet in these dark times. Within a year of the completion of the Bialik translations, Klein published four political satires: 'Barricade Smith: His Speeches,' 'Blueprint for a Monument of War,' 'Of Castles in Spain,' and 'Of Daumiers a Portfolio.' These bear a certain resemblance to two earlier satires, 'Diary of Abraham Segal, Poet' and 'Soiree of Velvel Kleinburger,' but the resemblance is a superficial one. In the earlier satires, Klein is selfconsciously 'literary,' almost preciously so, as he adapts his Jewish material to a Prufrockian model; the note of playful self-mockery is evident (Abraham Segal; Velvel Kleinburger). In contrast, in the later satires, he is deadly serious as he deliberately chooses important social issues of general concern, and tries to deal with them in a relatively direct manner. 5 On the whole, neither Klein's imagination nor his intellect seems very fully engaged in these poems; they contain few surprises, poetic or otherwise. As he turns restlessly from one issue to

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another — unemployment, the threat of war, the rise of fascism - he seems to be floundering in a search for something to say, a position to take, a social role to play, that would genuinely answer his imaginative needs. In 1938, Klein took on the editorship of the Canadian Jewish Chronicle, a position he held until his breakdown in 1955, and, soon after, he began writing a column, in English, for the Yiddish-language daily, the Keneder Adler, which he continued for the next three years. The drain on his time and energy during these years (when he also continued to practise law and took up a new position as speechwriter and public relations adviser to Samuel Bronfman) must have been substantial. Paradoxically, however, it was precisely at this time that Klein began to enter into the most productive stage of his poetic career. In the late thirties, Klein was as aware as anyone of the terrible events which were overtaking the Jews of Europe, but his new role as editor of the Chronicle demanded of him a more intense scrutiny of these events than ever before. Thus, his journalistic responsibilities, though in some ways a burdensome distraction from his poetry, forced upon him a new approach to his theme of community, an approach for which he had searched in vain over the previous half-dozen years. They forced upon him, as well, a new and heightened sense of his responsibility as a poet. The first signs of these new developments were two long dramatic monologues, 'Childe Harold's Pilgrimage,' which appeared just as Klein took on his editorship of the Chronicle, and 'In Re Solomon Warshawer,' which dates from about a year later. In these poems Klein returns to Jewish themes, but with a difference: for the first time he confronts the contemporary situation of the Jewish people, and attempts to place it in a broader historical perspective. Of the two poems, 'In Re' is much the stronger; as well, it marks a further stage in Klein's struggle to find a stance from which to address his central concerns. The voice in 'Childe Harold' is essentially disembodied and undramatized, speaking an elevated rhetoric which seems to be intended as a kind of guarantor of the seriousness of the poet's intentions. Solomon Warshawer, in contrast, is a more vivid character than Childe Harold, both in the language he speaks and in the more fully realized dramatic context in which he is placed. Also, in paralleling the fate of a contemporary Jew at the hands of the ss with the story of the usurpation of King Solomon by the

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demon impostor Asmodeus, Klein is once more turning to the animating myth of the struggle between the hero and the demagogue which is behind so much of his finest work. This myth, now charged by history with a greater intensity than ever before, would become increasingly central to Klein in the years to come. At about the same time as he was exploring the story of King Solomon in 'In Re,' Klein was turning to other prominent figures in Jewish history as subjects for his poetry. In 1938, he began work on a series of poems based on a tale by the Chassidic rabbi Nachman Bratzlaver, whose mystical parables achieved wide currency among eastern European Jews. In 1940, he wrote his 'Psalm of Abraham, to Be Written Down and Left on the Tomb of Rashi,' on the nine-hundredth anniversary of the birth of Rabbi Solomon bar Isaac (Rashi), the most famous and best loved of biblical commentators. And, in 1941, he wrote 'Yehuda Halevi, His Pilgrimage,' on the eight-hundredth anniversary of the birth of the greatest Hebrew poet of the Middle Ages. King Solomon, Rabbi Nachman Bratzlaver, Rashi, and Yehuda Halevi would all eventually be taken up in one way or another into Klein's creation of Uncle Melech in The Second Scroll, but the more immediate effect of Klein's exploration of these figures was to provide him with precedents for his own historical situation, and for the work he now felt called upon to do: specifically, the writing of his psalms and ballads. With one exception, 'A Song of Degrees,' none of the thirty or so psalms Klein wrote at this time (around 1940-1) is psalm-like in form; and, in their dominant tone of anguish and indignation, they are more reminiscent of the prophetic books of the Bible than of the Book of Psalms. In the most successful of them, Klein effectively draws on the heightened diction and imagery of the Bible while maintaining a sense of very personal urgency in the face of the evils he saw as threatening to engulf, first the Jewish community, and then the world. Consumed by his prophetic task, he often feels that he stands alone, and he sometimes confesses to fears of madness and death. Although the psalms are, at times, marred by a note of forced rhetoric, in the best of them the immediacy of Klein's lonely confrontation with evil gives rise to a pathos and intensity that are missing in most of his earlier work. The evils of Nazism form the subject of a second group of poems, the ballads which Klein began at about the time he had completed the psalms. In choosing the popular ballad form, Klein perhaps hoped to

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reach a wider audience than he had with the more personal and more demanding psalms. He was probably influenced in this choice by the example of the Yiddish poet Itzig Manger, who had also adopted the ballad to deal with contemporary events. But, on the whole, the ballads are less successful than the psalms; the tension between their grim subject matter and their almost jaunty verse, often bordering on doggerel, is, in most cases, jarring rather than effective. Similar difficulties would arise in The Hitleriad. The Hitleriad appears to have been begun early in 1942, probably not long after Klein had completed the last of the ballads. It can be seen as a continuation of his struggle to find a public voice which is accessible yet, at the same time, adequate to the gravity of his theme. Klein took the task he set himself in The Hitleriad very seriously, but it is, without doubt, the least successful of his major works. As a satire, it is crippled by Klein's understandable inability to identify in any way with the characters he is satirizing, an inability to see them as participating in the same human community as himself. They had placed themselves so far outside the pale of humanity that Klein can present them only as grotesques — 'vegetarian blob,' 'club-footed, rat-faced, halitotic,' 'oily, obscene, fat as a hog,' etc. - contemptible but, somehow, not completely serious or real. In the end, the effect is trivializing, and the bombastic, hectoring tone of much of the poem reflects the fundamental flaw in Klein's relationship with his subject. The period immediately following the completion of The Hitleriad was a painful one for Klein. Hath Not a Jew ..., Klein's first published collection, had appeared several years earlier, in 1940, and had received a generally enthusiastic critical reception. However, as a retrospective collection, consisting almost entirely of poems which Klein had written many years earlier, it had a certain air of quaintness about it, and Klein was aware of a note of condescension in even some of the most favourable reviews. Poems (1944), in contrast, consisted mostly of recent work and was intended as a powerfully relevant contemporary statement. But Klein's publishers found many of the psalms which he had wanted to include offensive in their outspokenness, and he was forced, very much against his will, to delete some of the finest and most disturbing of them, and to make alterations to others.6 Once the volume finally did appear, Klein was disappointed by what he saw as the public's and the critics' lack of understanding of what he was trying to do. And

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The Hitleriad, published in the same year, fared even worse. These responses, no doubt, contributed to the searching reappraisal of his sense of himself and of his social role as poet which he undertook in the early forties. The experience was not a pleasant one, but it was to lead to his finest poetry. One very important factor in this reappraisal was Klein's increasing obsession with Joyce, and his adoption of Joyce as his model of the alienated modern artist. The death of Joyce in 1941 probably helped to spur Klein on in his study of Ulysses, which he had admired since being introduced to it by Leon Edel some fifteen years earlier. The first evidence in Klein's poetry of this renewed interest in Joyce is a series of experimental poems, in the early forties, influenced by Finnegans Wake, which Klein had read and annotated when it appeared in 1939. But Ulysses was the profounder influence, not so much for its language, although Klein's later poetry sometimes echoes it, as for the 'portrait of the artist' in relation to his community that it embodies. In a sense, Joyce now became for Klein the model that Bialik had been for him in the thirties, and, as the years went by, Klein identified more and more closely with Joyce, the permanent exile, tied, through bonds of kinship and history, to a community that spurned him. Another significant influence, during these years, on Klein's deepening awareness of himself as a modernist was the group of writers, mostly younger than himself, associated with Preview (Patrick Anderson, P.K. Page, F.R. Scott) and First Statement (Irving Layton, John Sutherland, Louis Dudek). These writers, through their often unsparing criticism, as well as their example, helped Klein to complete a long process that had begun years earlier, when he was first introduced to modernism by the McGill Group. If Klein was not ready, in the twenties, to fully accept what the McGill Group had to offer him, his profoundly troubling experiences in the intervening years had made him much more sympathetic to modernism as a response to historical and social crisis. By the early forties Klein had come to terms with modern poetry more fully than he had ever done before, and he had developed a more contemporary voice - tougher, more colloquial, more ironic - which was less immediately accessible than in the past, but almost entirely free of the poeticisms and overwrought rhetoric that had blunted the impact of much of his earlier verse. There was one more development at this period, which was to have

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a profound effect on the rest of Klein's career. Sometime in the early forties, Klein began to develop a keen interest in dialectical modes of thought, and to see his role as a poet, and his relationship to society, in dialectical terms. The unrelentingly negative historical events of the previous decade, which had nearly overwhelmed him as a poet, were now taken up into a dialectical vision (owing more to the Kabbalah than to Marx), in which negation, in the form of social and spiritual fragmentation, was seen as ultimately negating itself, and leading to the achievement of a higher synthesis. As is suggested by Klein's prosepoem 'Sestina on the Dialectic,' this vision probably arose more out of Klein's need to find some basis for hope, than out of any firmly held conviction: When will there be arrest? Consensus? A marriage of the antipathies, and out of the vibrant deaths and rattles the life still? O just as the racked one hopes his ransom, so I hope it, name it, image it, the together-living, the together-with, the final synthesis. A stop.

Klein's major prose statement of this vision is The Second Scroll; his major poetic statement is 'Portrait of the Poet as Landscape,' the poem to which, in retrospect, all of Klein's poetry of the early forties can be seen to have led, and out of which all of the poetry of the late forties can be seen to have proceeded.7 Klein's journey towards 'Portrait,' in the early forties, is the best documented episode of his career. Most of the relevant documents are contained in a file which Klein entitled 'Raw Material.' The file, consisting of incomplete but often highly finished work from around 1942-4, contains some of Klein's best and most innovative writing, blurring the boundaries between diary, autobiography, fiction, and poetry. In this intriguing body of work, we see Klein struggling to come to terms with a growing sense of futility and alienation. The poetry associated with 'Raw Material,' much of it unpublished in Klein's lifetime, is dark indeed. There is a pervasive sense of disgust, and several of the poems (e.g., 'Girlie Show,' 'Les Vespasiennes') are set in a sordid urban landscape which bears little resemblance to the Montreal Klein was to celebrate a few years later. It is only in 'Portrait of the Poet as Landscape,' begun at the very end of this period, that Klein was able to give form to his sense of negation, and to look beyond it, if only tentatively,

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to the dialectical vision of a 'synthesis olympic, fields where no negatives can live,' as an early version of the poem has it. In 'Portrait,' we are reintroduced to the set of characters we first met in Klein's other great statement of the poet's role, 'Out of the Pulver and the Polished Lens.' Spinoza, cast out by the 'paunchy sons of Abraham' into the 'garden of Mynheer' where he 'gather[s] flowers for the One,' has become the Poet, cast out by 'our real society' into the garden of Eden, where, the 'nth Adam/ he praises and recreates the universe, 'item by exciting item,' Uriel da Costa, tortured by an inner spiritual 'schism,' becomes the 'schizoid' false poets. And Shabbathai Zvi becomes the demagogic 'impostor,' whose triumph, though apparently complete, is only temporary. The differences between the poems, though, are at least as striking as their similarities. In 'Out of the Pulver,' Klein lays out his pattern in a highly accomplished but static manner. 'Portrait,' by contrast, enacts a process, which is essentially dialectical, as the poet tentatively works his way through to the conviction that his turning inward in response to society's rejection is, perhaps, not merely a gesture of defeat, but a necessary, though painful, stage in the education of his imagination. When and if this process reaches completion, the poet will be able to assume a function which is, in true dialectical fashion, both new and old, a function which was once the ultimate aim of the poetic craft, but which most modern poets have long since abandoned. Like the poets of old who 'unrolled our culture from [their] scroll' and 'made articulate heaven, and ... the seven-circled air,' he will give utterance to those values which are essential to the life of any true community, and which 'our real society' has denied, to its own detriment: To find a new function for the declasse craft archaic like the fletcher's; to make a new thing; to say the word that will become sixth sense; perhaps by necessity and indirection bring new forms to life, anonymously, new creeds O, somehow pay back the daily larcenies of the lung!

'Portrait' is, perhaps, a less fully achieved poem than 'Out of the Pulver/ but it is, in the end, a more impressive one because of the sense it conveys that Klein is intensely involved in the issues he is addressing,

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and is groping towards an answer whose difficulty and tentativeness he refuses to falsify. We are never allowed to dismiss the suspicion that the poet's vision, impressive as it may be, may also be a self-aggrandizing illusion: These are not mean ambitions. It is already something merely to entertain them. Meanwhile, he makes of his status as zero a rich garland, a halo of his anonymity, and lives alone, and in his secret shines like phosphorus. At the bottom of the sea.

With hindsight, we cannot help but think of the close of the poem, with the poet 'at the bottom of the sea,' as a tragic foreshadowing of the unnegateable negation that was to overtake Klein in another ten years. However, the immediate effect of 'Portrait' was undoubtedly a liberating one. Having established the poet's role as 'bring[ing] new forms to life' 'by necessity and indirection,' he then set out to fulfil this program, as completely as he was ever to fulfil it, in the poems of the next few years which went to make up The Rocking Chair and Other Poems (1948). In this collection, Klein is freed by an act of 'necessity and indirection' to explore, more profoundly than ever before, the theme which had always been at the centre of his major works. Klein's portrayal of Quebec in The Rocking Chair is an audacious act of imaginative sympathy. Some of the impetus behind this act was undoubtedly the growing rapprochement between the French and Jewish communities in Quebec, part of a broader Canadian movement towards social reconciliation after the upheaval of World War II, reflected, for example, in MacLennan's Two Solitudes (1945).8 It is also worth recalling that, at this time, Klein was deep in his study of Ulysses; the portrayal by the Catholic James Joyce of the Jew Leopold Bloom was, perhaps, an inspiration for Klein's imaginative leap in the opposite direction. Be that as it may, the treatment of community in The Rocking Chair clearly had a deep personal meaning for Klein. The Québécois inevitably recalled to him his own community: he recognized in them a similar devotion to language, family, and religion, stubbornly maintained in the face of a history of betrayal and oppression. These similarities enabled him to draw on his

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personal experience to celebrate the richness and vitality of a living community; they also enabled him to confront, with a freedom denied him in his explicitly Jewish poems, the limitations of community as he had suffered them, a crippling narrowness and fearfulness in the face of the unknown. 'Invoke, revoke' is the song of the rocking chair in the title poem of the volume, and it seems to express Klein's own ambivalent feelings, his sense that as the community gives it takes away, and that the artist who seeks to invoke the values of his community must also revoke much that is essential to his individual creativity before the community will fully accept him as one of its own: It is act and symbol, symbol of this static folk which moves in segments, and returns to base, a sunken pendulum: invoke, revoke; loosed yon, leashed hither, motion on no space. O, like some Anjou ballad, all refrain, which turns about its longing, and seems to move to make a pleasure out of repeated pain, its music moves, as if always back to a first love.

Poems like The Rocking Chair' or 'Political Meeting' rise above specifics of time and place, and stand as profoundly dialectical studies of the power of community, any community, for both good and evil. There is much in The Rocking Chair that one can trace to the influence of various modern writers, but the mixture of irony and affection, sharp observation and imaginative elaboration, that plays over Klein's images of community is peculiarly his own. The Rocking Chair was the best received of Klein's books; it was immediately recognized as his finest work, and won him the GovernorGeneral's Award, as well as enthusiastic praise in Quebec for its accuracy and sensitivity. But, surprisingly, it represented Klein's last major body of poetry. It may be that, as had happened to him before, the particular vein of poetry represented by the Rocking Chair poems had become exhausted, and that, before he could strike another vein, he became involved in a swirl of distracting activities that made the writing of poetry impossible. Soon after the publication of The Rocking Chair,

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Klein ran for the CCF in the federal riding of Cartier. After a devastating defeat, he was sent by the Canadian Jewish Congress to Israel on a factfinding tour. When he returned, he immediately began work on The Second Scroll, which drew on his experiences in Israel, and set out on an exhausting lecture tour on behalf of the United Jewish Appeal. Although, in the years that followed, Klein did not undertake any major poetic projects, he did continue to devote some of his energy to poetry, and the work that he produced in the early fifties provides ample evidence that, whatever the cause of his final silence, it was not a loss of his poetic powers. From this period date some very impressive revisions to a number of his most important poems (in particular, a substantial section added to 'In Re Solomon Warshawer/ which is one of his finest achievements) and new translations of Bialik, which are among the most moving poems he ever wrote, far superior to the translations of the thirties. However, the major projects of the period were in prose; they are Klein's final word on his relationship to his community and on his ambitions as a poet, and it is to them that we must turn for an insight into the pressures that may have contributed to the silence which was soon to follow. In Klein's last major prose works, we hear the voice of a man who feels himself not merely cut off from any genuine relationship with his community, but irremediably so. The dialectical vision of the poet and his community which Klein had developed as a response to his sense of negation no longer holds. The unnegateable negation! ... I write from its very centre and vacuum,' says Czernik in the short story 'Letter from Afar,'9 and, at times, Klein seems determined to demonstrate, once and for all, that the negation is unnegateable, as he rewrites and subverts the great statements of hope that grew out of the dialectical vision of the forties. This process is especially striking in two essays which appeared in successive issues of the Canadian Jewish Chronicle in 1953: In Praise of the Diaspora'10 and 'The Bible's Archetypical Poet.'11 The first is a kind of addendum to The Second Scroll, in which the creation of the State of Israel is no longer presented hopefully, as a negation of the Holocaust, but despairingly, as the negation of the Diaspora, the only community of which Klein had ever felt himself a part. The second recasts 'Portrait of the Poet as Landscape' in terms of an allegorical reading of the story of Joseph, retaining the basic pattern of exile and return, but significantly darkening its mood: the poet is

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now seen as the victim of a murderous conspiracy, 'a design which repeats itself down through the ages' and which no dialectic has the power, ultimately, to transform. Klein continued to work on his prose writings until about 1953, but, by then, his increasing mental instability, manifesting itself in feelings of persecution and in several suicide attempts, seems to have made sustained work impossible. However, in the summer of 1955, during a brief partial recovery, he turned once more to poetry. Towards the end of July he wrote a series of bitter epigrammatic verses and, curiously, a few days later, some lively and amusing translations of odes by Horace, a poet in whom he had never before shown any interest. On this mysterious note, Klein's life as a poet ended. Whatever the causes or significance of the silence that so tragically cut short his career, Klein created, in the course of that career, a richly varied body of work of great power and beauty, inspired, at its best, by the highest of ambitions. To 'bring new forms to life ... new creeds' few poets have set themselves such high ambitions and fewer still, as Klein well knew, have achieved them; he was fully aware that the redemptive social role that he sought to assume on behalf of his community, if it had ever really been possible for poetry, had almost certainly ceased to be so in the twentieth century. Yet, unwilling to accept anything less for the 'déclassé craft archaic like the fletcher's,' he struggled relentlessly against this awareness. It may be that the end of Klein's career was hastened by the stress of his inner struggle, but it is to this struggle, and to the ambitions that inspired it, that we owe some of the most moving poems of our time. NOTES 1 'The Poem as Circular Force,' in Literary Essays and Reviews, ed. Usher Caplan and M.W. Steinberg (Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1987), pp. 183-4 2 See Zailig Pollock, ' "Sunflower Seeds": A.M. Klein's Hero and Demagogue,' Canadian Literature 82 (Autumn 1979), 48-53. 3 In In Search of Jerusalem: Religion and Ethics in the Writings of A.M. Klein (Montreal and London: McGill-Queen's University Press 1975), pp. 35—52, G.K. Fischer claims that Spinoza's philosophy was an important influence on Klein's thought. But see Zailig

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4

5

6

7

8

9 10 11

Pollock, 'A Source for A.M. Klein's "Out of the Pulver and the Polished Lens," ' Canadian Poetry 12 (Spring/Summer 1983), 34-9. See Mark Madoff, ' "B'ir Ha-harégah" - "In the City of Slaughter": Sources of Rhetorical Tension in A.M. Klein's Hitleriad,' in Translation in Canadian Literature, ed. Camille La Bossière (Ottawa: University of Ottawa Press 1983), pp. 83—100. Miriam Waddington groups the two earlier satires with the four later ones and describes them all, misleadingly I believe, as 'radical poems.' See 'The Cloudless Day: The Radical Poems,' in A.M. Klein (Toronto: Copp Clark 1970), pp. 30-59. For an account of this episode see Usher Caplan, Like One That Dreamed: A Portrait of A.M. Klein (Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson 1982), pp. 90-1. For Klein's interest in the dialectic see Caplan, pp. 196—8. For the influence of the Kabbalah see Zailig Pollock, The Myth of Exile and Return in "Gloss Gimel," ' Studies in Canadian Literature 4 (Winter 1979), 26-42. For a discussion of relations between the Jewish and French communities in Quebec at this time see Pierre Anctil, 'A.M. Klein: du poète et de ses rapports avec le Québec français,' Journal of Canadian Studies 19 (Summer 1984), 114-31. Short Stories, ed. M.W. Steinberg (Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1983), p. 255 Beyond Sambation: Selected Essays and Editorials 1928—1955 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1982), pp. 463—77 Literary Essays and Reviews, pp. 143—8

Textual Chronology

The poems in this edition are arranged chronologically, according to their dates of composition. A partial exception has been made in the case of the translations, which are grouped, first, according to the languages of the originals, and, second, according to the authors, when the authors are known. However, within these groupings the chronological arrangement of the translations is maintained. Other organizing principles were considered, but they were rejected, because their advantages did not outweigh the disadvantages of disrupting the chronological arrangement, which makes it possible, for the first time, to trace Klein's development in detail. Specifically, it was decided that the arrangement should not distinguish between published and unpublished poems, or between those published poems which were included in Klein's collections, and those which were not. These distinctions tell us little either about Klein's intentions or about the quality of the poems themselves: a number of poems remained unpublished or uncollected in spite of Klein's intentions; and the unpublished and uncollected poems include some of Klein's best (although, admittedly, most of the best poems were included in the published collections). In any case, the distinction between published and unpublished poems will be immediately obvious to the reader through the convention used to indicate dates, which is described below; and for those readers interested in the contents and arrangements of the published collections, their tables of contents are reproduced in Appendix A. When it is not possible to determine the chronological order of poems composed at approximately the same time, they are arranged alphabetically, within the period assigned to them, with the exception of poems which Klein himself arranged in sets, for example,

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xxII Sonnets. In such cases, Klein's own arrangements have been respected. The chronological arrangement I have outlined involves an unavoidable compromise arising from the fact that, while the arrangement of the poems is based on their dates of composition, it is the latest versions (latest published versions in the case of the published poems) which have been used as copy-texts. As a result, the version printed may sometimes differ from the version which Klein actually wrote at the stage of his career suggested by the chronological arrangement. In most cases when there are differences they are slight, and the original version can be easily reconstructed from the textual notes. In the relatively few cases when the differences are substantial - too substantial to be conveniently indicated in the notes - the original and revised versions are printed together. Detailed information about dating is presented in the textual notes. In addition, the date of composition (a year or range of years) is printed at the bottom of each poem, on the left, and the year of publication of the copy-text is printed at the bottom of each published poem, on the right. Hence the distinction between published and unpublished poems is immediately obvious. When the date of composition cannot be assigned with certainty to a single year, the date is given as a range of years. In each such case one of the four following formats is followed to indicate the precise nature of the range: 1. 1945/1948 2. c. 1945/c. 1948 3. 1945/c. 1948 4. c. 1945/1948

(certainly later than (probably later than (certainly later than (probably later than

no earlier 1948) no earlier 1948) no earlier 1948) no earlier 1948)

than 1945 and certainly no than 1945 and probably no than 1945 and probably no than 1945 and certainly no

A special case of format (4) should be noted: c. 1948/1948 indicates that the date of composition is probably no earlier than 1948 and certainly no later. (In preparing this edition, I have not come across the opposite case, in which the date of composition is certainly no earlier and proba-

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bly no later than a given year.) This format is followed most often in the case of poems for which the only evidence for dating is the first periodical publication, since Klein's correspondence indicates that, as a rule, there was little delay between the composition of a poem and its periodical publication. Cases in which there is reason to assume a significant delay are discussed in the notes to individual poems. Establishing the dating for Klein's poems has been the most challenging task of this edition, since Klein rarely dated his poems, except, curiously, at the very beginning and at the very end of his career. The task was made considerably easier by the fact that Klein's poems fall into clearly defined chronological groups, each one distinct from the others, stylistically as well as thematically; there is little overlap among these groups, and, as a result, it is almost always possible to assign a date of composition within a fairly narrow range, even to those poems for which there is no other internal evidence for dating. In addition, there is a large amount of external evidence to be drawn on. This evidence is of two types. First, there is the physical evidence of handwriting, ink, paper, typewriter, formatting (especially of titles), etc., which often makes it possible to link the manuscript of an undated poem to one for which a date has already been determined. Second, there is biographical evidence: references in letters; addresses or other such information on typescripts and manuscripts; allusions to current events, etc. When necessary, the evidence is discussed in the notes to individual poems. However, in preparing this edition, I have arrived at certain general conclusions which I state here to avoid unnecessary duplication. Klein's early work presents, by far, the thorniest problem. The earliest likely date of composition for any of Klein's surviving poems is c. 1926: the earliest surviving dated manuscripts are from 1926, and, according to Klein's own testimony, he wrote his first poems (which he destroyed) for Bessie Kozlov,1 whom he met in the summer of 1925. However, few manuscripts from this period have survived: Klein appears to have destroyed all of his early manuscripts once they had been typed; the only ones which survive are for poems for which there are no typescripts. Klein gathered together most of the typescripts from this period in two sets: the first, entitled Gestures Hebraic, consists of virtually all of the poems on Jewish themes which have survived from that period, and the second, Poems, consists of the bulk of the poems on non-Jewish themes (although the distinction in Poems between

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Jewish and non-Jewish poems is not always perfectly clear-cut). He then had the two sets bound in a single untitled volume (GHP), dated 1932. At some point, a number of pages were cut out of GHP, but they can be identified from the table of contents - some have disappeared; others are to be found elsewhere in the Klein Papers. Klein also had both sets of typescripts retyped and bound separately, as Gestures Hebraic (GH) and Poems (P32), both, like GHP, dated 1932. With a few exceptions, GH and p32 contain the same poems as GHP in the same order, although they incorporate many revisions, some previously written into GHP. Unlike GH and P32, which were typed at the same time and on the same typewriter and probably by the same typist, GHP is very heterogeneous: it is typed on various kinds of paper, with at least three different typewriters; most, but not all, of the typescripts are carbon copies; they differ considerably from one another in format; some contain Klein's various addresses from the period covered by GHP; some have holes punched in their margins. GHP, therefore, provides us with the best source of physical evidence for dating most of Klein's early poems. The bulk of the non-Jewish poems in GHP are clearly earlier than the Jewish ones; with some obvious exceptions, they are much less mature than the Jewish ones from every perspective. For most of the non-Jewish poems, the internal and external evidence all points to a date of 1928 at the latest. There are also several dateable poems not included in the Poems section of GHP, but closely linked to the collection stylistically, thematically, and in physical appearance: for these, too, the evidence indicates a date of 1928 or earlier. With these arguments in mind, a date of composition of c. 1926/c. 1928 has been assigned to most of Poems. The exceptions are some poems for which it has been possible to narrow the range of dates even further, and others - in general, quite distinct stylistically from the rest of the collection - for which there is evidence of a later date, for example, the collection xxII Sonnets, which is dated 1931 in Klein's hand and has been assigned a date of composition of c. 1931/1931. Such cases are explained in notes to individual poems. None of the poems in Gestures Hebraic was published before 1928, except for 'Five Characters,' which was published in November 1927. With this exception, the poems in Gesture Hebraic have therefore been assigned an earliest date of c. 1928.

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There is evidence that most of the poems in Gestures Hebraic (as well as 'Market Song,' which was later moved to Poems) were submitted for publication in 1931 to the Jewish Publication Society of America. The poems which formed part of this submission have therefore been assigned a latest date of 1931, when evidence for an earlier date is lacking. For a detailed account of the evidence see 'Note on Gestures Hebraic' below. In 1934, Klein put together another bound set of typescripts, entitled Poems (P34), similar in format to GH and p 3 2 . Some of the poems in P34 had previously appeared in GHP, but it seems likely that most of the rest were composed after Klein had put together GHP: two of the new poems, 'Elijah' and 'On the Road to Palestine,' were published late in 1931, but none of the others which were published appeared before 1932. Poems in P34 have therefore been assigned a date of composition of c. 1932/1934 when evidence for a more precise date is lacking. In about 1940, Klein began work on a series of psalms, intending to produce fifty as a sequel to the 150 in the Bible. On 31 October 1940, he wrote, in a letter to Leo Kennedy, that he had completed more than half and was 'awaiting only the moving spirit' to complete the rest. He never did complete the sequence, however. Instead, he turned his attention to a series of ballads, probably in 1941, the earliest year of publication of any of the ballads. By the end of 1941, he had begun to put together a submission to JPS, containing these and earlier poems, which he sent off in February 1942 (and which was published, after substantial revisions, as Poems [1944]). The psalms have been assigned a date of composition of c. 1940/1941, and the ballads a date of composition of c. 1941/1941, when evidence for a more precise date is lacking. Poems published for the first time in The Rocking Chair and Other Poems (1948) have been assigned a date of composition of c. 1947/ 1947, since the manuscript was submitted on 24 October 1947. On the basis of Klein's correspondence with Poetry magazine, nine poems in The Rocking Chair - 'Air-Map,' The Break-up,'/ The Cripples,' 'For the Sisters of the Hotel Dieu,' 'Frigidaire,' 'Grain Elevator,' 'M. Bertrand/ The Snowshoers,' and The Sugaring' - have been assigned a date of composition of c. 1945/1946.2 Poems published for the first time in The Second Scroll (1951)

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have been assigned a date of composition of c. 1950/1950, since the manuscript was submitted on 20 April 1950. In the fifties, Klein began to revise many of his poems, both originals and translations. Some of these revisions were made to manuscripts and typescripts; others were written directly into one copy of Hath Not a Jew ... and two copies of Poems. The revisions probably do not date from before 1953, since it is only in that year that they began to appear in print. In 1955, Klein submitted to his editor at Knopf, Herbert Weinstock, a collection of thirty-nine poems, incorporating his revisions, entitled Selected Poems. Revisions included in Selected Poems have been assigned a date of c. 1953/1955. Other late revisions have been assigned a date of c. 1953/c. 1955, when evidence for a more precise date is lacking. For the dating of manuscripts and typescripts in general see the section on textual notes in 'Editorial Procedures.' NOTE ON GESTURES HEBRAIC

On 16 September 1931, Klein submitted a manuscript to the Jewish Publication Society of America, entitled Greeting on This Day. The manuscript was rejected. In March 1935 he submitted Gestures Hebraic, which was also rejected. Correspondence among officials of the JPS indicates that the two manuscripts were substantially the same. An examination of the Gestures Hebraic section of GHP shows that an identical pair of holes has been punched in the left upper corner of all but two of its first ninety-four pages. These holes must have formed part of a temporary binding, and there are good reasons to assume that the pages bound together in this way were originally included in the 1931 submission. All of the poems referred to in the 1931 readers' reports, with one exception, are grouped together in these pages. The exception is 'Market Song,' which Klein moved to the Poems section of GHP, perhaps in response to the comment of one reader who saw it as the manuscript's 'weakest note.' Evidence that it must originally have been part of the group now included in the Gestures Hebraic section of GHP is the pair of holes in its left upper corner which match exactly those in the other typescripts; none of the other typescripts in Poems has the same holes. Within the group as it is now arranged, only pages 68-9 lack the holes, but the poems which they contain, a set of three

xxxvii / Textual Chronology

sonnets, also entitled 'Gestures Hebraic,' certainly formed part of the original submission, since they are specifically mentioned by one of the readers; the two pages which we now have are probably a replacement for originals which were somehow lost. However, in the case of the other pages without the holes, those in the section following page 94, the probability is that they represent additions made to the manuscript when it was resubmitted in 1935, since none of the poems which they contain ('Reb Levi Yitschok Talks to God'; 'Diary of Abraham Segal, Poet'; 'Rather Than Have My Brethren Bend the Knee'; and 'Ave Atque Vale') is referred to in any of the readers' reports. NOTES 1 Samuel H. Abramson, 'Abe Klein - In Person,' Jewish Standard, Sept. 1936, p. 23 2 On 29 May 1945, Klein wrote to Poetry magazine, 'I am at present at work on a batch of Quebec poems. I expect to be finished with all the necessary caresses in about a fortnight, and shall be happy to send them on to you.' On 22 July 1946, he submitted 'eleven [unidentified] poems from my "Suite Canadienne," ' and a reader's report, dated 24 July 1946, refers to the nine poems listed above. The remaining two poems were somehow lost (letter from Klein to Poetry magazine, 24 Oct. 1947).

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Editorial Procedures

PRINCIPLES

This edition contains all of A.M. Klein's poetry, with the exception of two categories: (1) occasional verses, which Klein produced on demand for members of the Montreal Jewish community, mostly the Bronfmans, to commemorate birthdays, bar mitzvahs, weddings, retirements, etc. [MS 20405-23 in the Klein Papers], and (2) poetry fragments which are too incomplete for a coherent text to be established [MS 7391-418]. For unpublished poems, the copy-text is the version which is judged to be the latest; for published poems, it is the latest published version, even when later unpublished versions exist. As a rule, copytexts are followed in accidentals as well as substantives. However, the following categories of accidentals have been regularized in accordance with the 'house' style of the University of Toronto Press: capitalization of titles; quotation marks (single, with double quotation marks for interior quotes); ellipsis points (triple throughout); and type style for epigraphs. In addition, Arabic numerals have been used to number stanzas, and Roman numerals to number subsections. In the case of a small number of published texts, there is good reason to believe that the accidentals do not reflect Klein's intentions. For example, the poems in The Second Scroll are set in a 'house' style which is uncharacteristic of Klein, so that they differ from earlier versions in spelling, punctuation, and, most importantly, line spacing. In such cases, the accidentals in the latest previous version are followed. All authoritative texts have been collated. These consist of: (1) texts appearing in the books and pamphlets of Klein's poetry published in his lifetime (see 'Abbreviations' for a complete list); (2) texts appear-

xl / Editorial Procedures

ing in periodicals and anthologies (with the exception of simple reprintings, unless there is reason to believe that Klein submitted a manuscript); (3) all manuscript and typescript versions. In addition to the authoritative texts, three recordings of readings by Klein have been consulted: (1) a reading given at McGill, 22 November 1955, to the Canadian Authors' Association; (2) 'The Voice of the Poet,' broadcast by CBC International, September 1957; (3) Six Montreal Poets, Folkways Records 9805, 1957. Copies of the first two are in the A.M. Klein Collection of the National Film, Television and Sound Archives. Although the recordings contain some unique variants, they are all trivial slips of the tongue and have not been cited in the notes. Variants in the recordings are cited only when they also occur in one or more of the authoritative texts.1 TEXTUAL NOTES

The notes for each poem consist of: (1) a list, in chronological order, of all the texts collated for the poem, with an asterisk marking the copytext; and (2) a list of variants and emendations. Any necessary additional information is presented in a separate section following the list of texts. List of Texts In the list of texts, texts are numbered and separated by semicolons. If the abbreviations by which they are cited in the notes are not included in 'Abbreviations,' they are indicated in parentheses: for example, 1. MS 2117-8 (MS); 2. Preview 12 (Mar. 1943), 7-8 (Pr). Items from the Klein Papers in the Public Archives of Canada are identified by the numbers stamped on each page in the Papers. When two or more unpublished texts cannot be arranged chronologically with any confidence, they are grouped together as follows: 1-2. MS 1001 (MS1); MS 1002 (MS2). In the absence of evidence to the contrary, a manuscript of a poem is assumed to precede a typescript, and a typescript is assumed to precede a published version. Also, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, the manuscript and typescript are assumed to date from approximately the same period as the published

xli / Editorial Procedures

version. Evidence for the more specific dating of individual manuscripts and typescripts is presented in the notes to individual poems. Evidence for the dating of certain groups of manuscripts and typescripts is presented in 'Textual Chronology,' When it is clear that revisions were made to a previously completed text and did not form part of the initial process of composition, the revised version (indicated by the suffix 'rev') is listed as a separate text, as in the examples below. This situation arises mostly in the case of revisions to typescripts, which are virtually all fair copies - Klein appears almost never to have actually composed at the typewriter. In the case of manuscripts, it is occasionally, but not often, possible to distinguish between a completed original version and revisions added to it at a later date. The following formats are used for revised texts: In the case of two copies of a typescript, one of which is revised: 1. MS 1001, a typescript (MS1); 2. MS 1002 (MS1rev). When there is more than one revised copy, the revised texts are numbered MS1rev1, MS1rev2, etc. In the case of a revised typescript when only the revised version survives, and in the case of a revised manuscript when it is possible to distinguish between the completed original and later revisions: 1. the unrevised typescript (or manuscript) for MS1rev (MS1); 2. MS 1001 (MSirev). In the case of multiple copies of a typescript no distinction is made between ribbon copies and carbon copies, since for the purpose of determining the sequence of compositon such a distinction is irrelevant. List of Variants and Emendations The list of variants and emendations includes all substantive variants in the published texts and the ones which are judged to be most important in the manuscripts and typescripts. Variants in accidentals are not noted unless they affect the sense. When a variant occurs in several versions which differ only in accidentals, the accidentals of the latest version are listed. The option of listing all variants, accidentals as well as substantives,

xlii / Editorial Procedures

was considered, but it was rejected because it would have at least tripled the current list and would have had the effect of swamping important information in a mass of data of relatively little interest. However, for the use of any scholars who might be interested, photocopies of all collated texts and a complete record of variants have been deposited in the Public Archives of Canada. When a variant corresponds to a whole line in the text, it is preceded by the line number. When a variant corresponds to a portion of a line, it is preceded by the line number, the corresponding portion of the line, and a bracket. When a variant has no counterpart in the text, a between-line reference is used: for example, 21/22, meaning 'between lines 21 and 22.' The following formulas are used to indicate successive versions of a reading in a single text: — altered to — and, in the case of three or more successive versions, successively (a) — (b) — (c) —. No attempt has been made to describe the appearance of the page - for example, interlining, additions in the margins, overwriting, crossing-out — except in cases when such information is necessary for explaining the sequence of revisions. Scholars interested in such information should examine the photocopies deposited in the Public Archives or the originals in the Klein Papers. The following symbols are used in listing variants: { ) — deleted; [?1 - illegible; and [...] - incomplete. The last of these is used for readings which are clearly in an incomplete state. Such cases arise when Klein left a blank space for a word or phrase which he intended to fill in later, or when he began a new version of a passage without completing the previous one, or (rarely) when he abandoned a passage altogether without completing it. Emendations to the copy-text are listed along with variants, following the same format. When an emendation is not based on any of the collated texts, but is the editor's own, ed. is listed as its source. All emendations, apart from obvious corrections to typographical errors, are noted. I have emended only when the reading of the copy-text is clearly impossible, or when there is overwhelming evidence that the replacement of an earlier reading by a later one does not reflect Klein's intention. All emendations based on the latter assumption, as well as any others that require a detailed explanation, are discussed in a separate section following the list of texts.

xliii / Editorial Procedures EXPLANATORY NOTES

The primary function of the explanatory notes is to gloss obscure terms and references. The notes, however, have a further function: to establish a context for informed interpretation even in cases when the poems present no obvious difficulties. Part of this context is the literary traditions within which Klein worked. Thus, particularly significant formal features of the poems (for example, terza rima, 'hidden' sonnets, biblical parallelismus membrorum) are noted, as well as literary allusions, influences, models, etc. Relevant information concerning Klein's life and times is also provided, and parallels are drawn with his other writings, published and unpublished, in various genres. I have not glossed Klein's translations as thoroughly as his original poems; a line had to be drawn between glossing Klein and glossing the authors he is translating. Whenever possible, I identify the originals, giving their titles in the original language (or their first lines in the case of untitled works). In most cases I indicate the editions in which they can be found, either the ones that Klein is known to have used or, when this cannot be determined, standard editions. The one exception is the folk-songs. No editions are cited for these, since they are scattered throughout numerous editions, and I have been unable to identify particular ones that Klein used, if, indeed, he consulted printed texts at all for the folk-songs. I provide brief accounts of the authors whom Klein translated, drawing on Klein's own words whenever possible. My comments on Klein's treatment of his originals have been kept to a minimum. I have not attempted detailed stylistic comments, but have limited myself to such matters as pointing out when Klein has abridged or rearranged his originals, or has been unusually free in his translations. Klein's own comments are frequently cited in the explanatory notes, as are books he is known to have read or, at least, to have owned. Whenever possible, Klein's own copies of these books, which often contain his markings, have been consulted. The volumes with the most important markings have been deposited in the Public Archives of Canada by Colman and Sandor Klein. The rest of Klein's library remains in their possession. The most useful of Klein's books for the purposes of annotation is The Jewish Encyclopedia (New York and London: Funk and Wagnalls

xliv / Editorial Procedures

1906), which contains hundreds of markings - mostly in the hand of a previous owner, but many clearly in Klein's own hand - and is the source of much of the Jewish material in the poems. For this reason it is cited in preference to the more recent Encyclopedia Judaica. The King James Version is cited for all biblical quotations, since it is the version Klein himself invariably cited. For all quotations from the siddur, the Jewish daily prayerbook, the edition cited is The Prayer Book, translated and arranged by Ben Zion Bokser, rev. ed. (New York: Hebrew Publishing Co. 1967). The edition of Shakespeare cited is The Riverside Shakespeare, ed. G. Blakemore Evans et al. (Boston: Houghton Mifflin 1974), and the edition of Joyce's Ulysses cited is the one Klein himself used, the Modern Library edition (New York: Random House 1934). Both the original edition of The Second Scroll (New York: Alfred A. Knopf 1951) and the more easily available New Canadian Library reprint (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart 1961) are cited in the explanatory notes (although only the former, authoritative, edition is cited in the textual notes): thus the abbreviation ss, p. 95/76 in the explanatory notes means 'page 95 of The Second Scroll in the Knopf edition and page 76 in the NCL edition.' APPENDICES

Appendix A contains tables of contents of the three published collections, Hath Not a Jew ... (1940), Poems (1944), and The Rocking Chair and Other Poems (1948), and of the unpublished collections, Gestures Hebraic and Poems (1932), Poems (1934), the 1942 typescript of Poems (1944), and Selected Poems (1955). Appendix B contains a list of poems which Klein revised in the early fifties. Appendix C contains a list of pages which end with the last line of a stanza or verse paragraph. NOTE 1 The three recorded readings of Klein consist of the following poems: (l) McGill - BREAD, BASIC ENGLISH, FOR THE SISTERS OF THE HOTEL DIEU, A MARKET SONG, A PSALM TO TEACH HUMILITY, SOPHIST, THE ROCKING CHAIR, WOULD THAT THREE CENTURIES PAST HAD SEEN US

xlv / Editorial Procedures BORN, A PSALM OF JUSTICE, IN RE SOLOMON WARSHAWER, FRIGIDAIRE, MONTREAL, DENTIST, SESTINA ON THE DIALECTIC, GRAIN ELEVATOR; (2) CBC - THE SNOWSHOERS, DRESS MANUFACTURER: FISHERMAN, MONTREAL, AND THE MAN MOSES WAS MEEK, SWEET SINGER, BAAL SHEM TOY, GRAIN ELEVATOR; (3) Folkways - A PSALM TO TEACH HUMILITY, PLUMAGED PROXY, THE ROCKING CHAIR, POLITICAL MEETING, FOR THE SISTERS OF THE HOTEL DIEU, MONTREAL.

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Acknowledgments

I am grateful for the valuable help and advice of my fellow members of the A.M. Klein Research and Publication Committee: Dr Usher Caplan, Professor Mark Finkelstein, Professor Noreen Golfman, Colman Klein, Sandor Klein, Professor Seymour Mayne, Linda Rozmovits, Professor M.W. Steinberg, and Dr Robert Taylor. In preparing the explanatory notes, I drew on the doctoral dissertations of Professors Golfman and Finkelstein, The Poetry of A.M. Klein' (University of Western Ontario, 1986) and The Style of A.M. Klein' (University of Toronto, 1988), respectively. In addition, the many thoughtful and perceptive comments of Professor Finkelstein and Ms. Rozmovits, especially on the explanatory notes and the introduction, were particularly helpful. I am especially indebted to Dr Caplan for the unfailing generosity with which he made available his editorial expertise and his extensive knowledge of Klein's life and works; it is no exaggeration to say that his contribution is reflected on virtually every page of this edition. When this volume was in the planning stage, I received valuable advice on editorial principles from the Klein Committee's Editorial Advisory Board (Professors W.J. Keith, Henry Kreisel, T.A. Marshall, Robert Melançon, William H. New, J.M. Robson, Malcolm Ross, and Miriam Waddington), for which I am grateful. Others who provided important assistance of various kinds include: Zachary Baker, Professor Janet Bews, Harry Gutkin, Professor Mildred Gutkin, Professor Gordon Johnston, Professor Marlene Kadar, Professor Dennis Klinck, Professor Jean-Pierre Lapointe, Barb Mitchell, Professor Orm Mitchell, Professor Gordon Moyles, Professor Stuart Robson, Professor Michael Treadwell, Professor Fred Tromly, Mordecai Wasserman, Professor Ruth Wisse, and Professor Francis Zichy.

xlviii / Acknowledgments

The Public Archives of Canada was most helpful in making available the A.M. Klein collection, as well as the Lavy Becker, Rose Carlofsky, and Joseph N. Frank collections, and in providing special use of its facilities. I consulted photocopies of Klein's correspondence with his publishers in the archives of Poetry (Chicago) at the University of Chicago Library, of the Jewish Publication Society at the Philadelphia Jewish Archives Center, and of Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. at the Humanities Research Center of the University of Texas at Austin. Other institutions whose research collections were used during preparation of the manuscript include the Canadian Jewish Congress Archives, the Jewish Public Library of Montreal, the National Library of Canada, the University of Saskatchewan Library, the University of Toronto Library, the Trent University Library, and the YIVO archives. Klein's sons and heirs, Colman and Sandor, were very generous in allowing me to examine their father's books and to borrow a number of volumes (which have since been deposited in the Public Archives of Canada). These proved extremely useful in dating and glossing many of Klein's poems. The financial assistance provided to the A.M. Klein Research and Publication Committee by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada was invaluable in furthering the work of the Committee and the preparation of this edition, and is very much appreciated. Finally, my greatest debt of gratitude is to my wife, Didi, without whose advice and support the years I have devoted to this edition would have seemed much longer and lonelier.

Biographical Chronology

1909 born to Kalman and Yetta Klein, orthodox Jews, in Ratno, a small town in the Ukraine, and brought to Montreal with his family probably the following year (officially claimed to have been born in Montreal, 14 February 1909). 1915-22 attended Mt Royal School. Received Jewish education from private tutors and at Talmud Torah. 1922-6 attended Baron Byng High School. 1926-30 attended McGill University, majoring in classics and political science and economics. Active in Debating Society with close friend David Lewis. Founded literary magazine, the McGilliad, with Lewis in 1930. Associated with 'Montreal Group' of poets and writers, including A.J.M. Smith, F.R. Scott, Leo Kennedy, and Leon Edel. Began publishing poems in the Menorah Journal, the Canadian Forum, Poetry (Chicago), and elsewhere. 1928-32 served as educational director of Canadian Young Judaea, a Zionist youth organization, and edited its monthly magazine, the Judaean, in which many of his early poems and stories appeared. 1930-3 studied law at the Universite de Montreal.

1934 established law firm in partnership with Max Garmaise, and struggled to earn a living during the Depression. Served as national president of Canadian Young Judaea.

1 / Biographical Chronology

1935 married Bessie Kozlov, his high school sweetheart. 1936 active in publicity and educational work, and on speaking tours, for the Zionist Organization of Canada, and editor of its monthly, the Canadian Zionist. 1937 moved to Rouyn, a small mining town in northern Quebec, to join Garmaise in law practice there. 1938 returned to Montreal, and re-established law practice in association with Samuel Chait. Assumed editorship of the Canadian Jewish Chronicle, to which he contributed numerous editorials, essays, book reviews, poems, and stories. 1939 began his long association with Samuel Bronfman, noted distiller and philanthropist and president of the Canadian Jewish Congress, working as a speech-writer and public relations consultant. 1940 first volume of poems, Hath Not a Jew ..., published by Behrman's in New York. 1942-7 associated with the Preview group of poets - F.R. Scott, Patrick Anderson, P.K. Page, and others - and with the First Statement group, in particular Irving Lay ton. 1944 The Hitleriad published by New Directions in New York. Poems published by the Jewish Publication Society in Philadelphia. Nominated as CCF candidate in federal riding of Montreal-Cartier, but withdrew before the election of 1945. 1945-8 visiting lecturer in poetry at McGill University. 1946-7 wrote his first novel, an unpublished spy thriller, 'Comes the Revolution' (later retitled That Walks Like a Man'), based on the Igor Gouzenko affair. 1948 The Rocking Chair and Other Poems published by Ryerson in Toronto.

li / Biographical Chronology

1949 published the first of several articles on James Joyce's Ulysses. Ran unsuccessfully as CCF candidate in the federal election of June 1949. Awarded the Governor-General's Medal for The Rocking Chair. Journeyed to Israel, Europe, and North Africa in July and August, sponsored by the Canadian Jewish Congress, and published his 'Notebook of a Journey' in the Canadian Jewish Chronicle. 1949-52 travelled widely in Canada and the United States, addressing Jewish audiences, principally concerning the State of Israel. 1951 The Second Scroll published by Knopf in New York. 1952-4 increasing signs of mental illness. Hospitalized for several weeks in the summer of 1954 after a thwarted suicide attempt. 1955 resigned from editorship of the Canadian Jewish Chronicle. Ceased writing and began to withdraw from public life. 1956 resigned from law practice and became increasingly reclusive. Awarded the Lome Pierce Medal by the Royal Society of Canada. 1971 death of Bessie Klein, 26 February. 1972 died in his sleep, 20 August.

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O R I G I N A L P O E M S , 1926-1934

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1926

The Shechinah of Shadows In the fair summer-time when the ether doth quiver With music that floats on the air; When the multitude sounds in their harmony shiver And rapt soul to Paradise snare; 5 When the streamlet does murmur to bright dancing river Its strophes, like Orpheus' heir; When Nature's charmed melody hums everywhere. In chanted enchantment I roamed through a valley And met a youth riding alone. 10 He rode on a black horse, a white horse did dally And grazed 'tween each stone and each stone. I asked the good youth 'O why do you sally With white horse and none grace its throne?' He answered 'She sits there, I am not alone. 15 I'm a-weary of playing with shadows that flee Before my approaching soft tread; My yearning for shadows has made of lone me A shadow, a shade of the dead. O shadows are cruel noiseless things; apathy

4 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

20 Indifference around them they shed. No warmth do they give; shades are for the dead ../

1926

To Keats Thou wast not born to live thy life on earth E'en font baptismal was thy swan-song lake, For not life's length but dole of death didst take From lung-gnawed mother; death began in birth. 5 Thy twin-branched lungs burned red - wast drought and dearth Thy breast was thy funereal pyre - from ache A geyser of warm song upwards did break; Snatched off, Olympus recognized thy worth. Like single note that hums, - dies - ne'er forgot ... 10 Like full-song'd bird that in the clouds doth dart ... Like blood-spurt sunk in Bluebeard's key - live spot ... Like fragrance e'er remembered of dead nard Thy life was short - long life thine art begot, Thou was not born for death, immortal Bard!

1926

5 / 1926

Life and Eternity i

ii I list 10 To catch Of wrist And watch The beat. Their rhyme 15 Doth meet In time ...

IV

v Some day I fear 35 You may Not hear The throe Of vein. For lo! 40 No strain ...

This wrist Is tied With twist Of hide 5 The which Is bound My watch Around. 25 I hate Watch-tick Tis Fate's Sharp prick I love 30 Life-pulse Above All else ...

in Wrist-pulse Marks strife, Impulse 20 Of life. Watch-tick Is Time's Chronic Gasped rhymes ... VI

Death-kissed The throb Of wrist Will stop ... 45 But watch Will still Tick-scratch Its will ...

1926

A Kiss ... From crater of heart did there rise up a flame-tongue And up to my lips straight it shot; And from thine own heart did there dart a twin same-tongue That shone from thy lips, both red-hot ...

6 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

5 These tongue flames imprisoned behind our red lip-walls Like Thisbe and Pyramus both; They flared out, embracing, for lip unto lip calls In loving to seal Love's red troth ... Like god and a goddess both breathing love-fire 10 The fire that doth not consume, Theflame-tonguesout-shooting, we came nigh and nigher I breathe her mouth-incense, perfume ... We looked at each other, a look full of longing Embraced and became then as one; 15 Two lips to two lips to each other belonging Four lips, and they melted to one ...

1926

Auto-da-fe Dedication The royal wrapping of your poem embrace Each other, touching skin of purple hue, And closely hug and bind and warmly woo These leaves of love caught in their fleshly chase! ... 5 So, as flesh-cover let me be, to place My passion'd purple form, as there I grew, On yours, the twin flesh-cover, and adieu Ne'er bid, our love-leaves crush'd in our embrace! Unlock these portals of the poem, come see 10 My garden; in its heart all-centred, view My mausoleum; understandingly You'll read heart's hieroglyphics; breathe, imbrue

7 / 1926

The essenced dregs of drugs embalming me My heart lives buried here; I give it you! i And all was void; and Spring sprang in undrest, As if, disturbed by Winter, she had fled To warmer lover Summer, in wild quest ... It was a resurrection of the dead, 5 Who threw off their white palls of snow, yet spread No other capes upon their limbs ... The brook Wept, carried Winter's tears which Winter shed Upon his own demise ... No fiery look Shot from Sun's eye-lash rays which One saw fit to pluck ... 2

10

And when wind whispered in the tree-girl's ear, The tree would sigh and whistle wistfully, Would long for warmth of Summer to appear To make her a green carpet of the lea ... The birds, exiled by cool cruel breath, sadly 15 Returned, and sang words tree could only sigh ... An emptiness fill'd full the air; and He, World's God, impressed the moon, his thumb-print, high, The seal of authorship upon the scroll of sky ... 3 All was naked; trees in spring stood bare 20 Like posing models, nude, with outstretched arms, And fingers which with blossoms pink and fair Would tip; like God's modistes with crucial arms They graced, yet no green cloak hung from their palms. The birds on modistes' shoulders yearn'd in chaunt 25 As if they long'd to nestle on breast-charms Of tree-girl, hid 'neath green brassiere; lone haunt Blew everywhere; - his heart too suffer'd unknown want ...

8 / Original Poems, 1926-1934 4

For fifteen springs had waked and gone to sleep In summer's lap, yet in him ne'er arose 30 The wakeful drowsiness which seeks to creep Into a flesh-warm lap; in numb repose, His soul was dormant; now his heart held close A sucking vacuum ... For he had been taught To lie pent in the Pentateuch; to doze 35 The Talmud as his pillow, and with naught But Prophets who have passed to guide his present thought ...

5 His soul, deep-droused by pious monotone, The repetition of a sleeping-charm, Which bade him droop his eyes and not to own 40 The beauty seen when eye-lids cease salaam ... Yet even when he couch'd upon the calm Of pastures green, there sped in this sleep's dream Fleet visions of an Esther, and the balm Of her bed-chambers, and her stream 45 Of liquid perfumes, choicest bath of queenly theme ... 6 Anon his vision's magic carpet would Transport him to the harem of the old Young singer of the song of songs, who woo'd A thousand, and won more ... to there behold 50 The concubines who kingly youth extoll'd Yet stole that youth ... Shunnamite he did see Who could not warm King-Poet in the fold Of her breasts incandescent, yet did she, To him but fancied houri, warm him cap-a-pie.

55

7 Through Rahab's rooms he roam'd, on carpets thick And plushy, woven moss, which brought him belief He walked on air, whence spices narcotic Curl'd over soft divans, all pain to thieve ...

9 / 1926

60

Such house of hospitality doth leave Her doors yawn open, where love-sign she strings A scarlet ribbon, sun-wed, to conceive A bright red light ... He saw her, who, when kings Had eighteen loves, enamour'd one and thirty kings ...

8 Another dream would paint reality's 65 First page, which show'd in twilight tint the form Of lovely Lilith laying lips to please First man, burnt off'ring lips, each like a worm To warm on altar-lips of man, transform Into a vapour'd sigh ... Oft fancy went 70 To angels planning sensual sprees to warm Themselves; hence make their wing'd descent From heaven to Eve's daughters, then, on earth, content ... 9 Such sights remember'd he when he forgot Himself; these were but key-hole scenes of door 75 Which was to him by Key of Heaven shut ... He was a sceptic believing in no more Than God ... yet all the tenets and the lore Which grew on sires' graves was bound in sheaf And he was told as many were of yore 80 This is thy wheat, ripe-reap'd for thy belief This is thy bread, thy staple; body, soul's relief ...' 10 And Pascal groped with heart for unknown want ... His heart was like red sunrise-net in which He sought to tangle unseen star, his want ... 85 Yea, heart stood as a scarlet saintless niche Without a name inscribed in gilding rich ... Oft would he sense his veins swell and grow hot; He thrill'd with travail ecstasy with which The earth shoots up a poplar from grass-plot ... 90 His veins stretch'd song-strings; of their tune, theme he knew naught.

10 / Original Poems, 1926-1934 11

To what may such an heart that is brimful Of longing, empty to the sound, of that Unknown, be likened? To red flower full Of nectar ambushing a bee ... To vat 95 In Holy Land a-gaping for the pat Of pray'd-for rain ... To mortar in which move All powders save the consummating, that Makes elixir ... To someone's heart's red glove. A demigod he grew; he thought that it was love ... 12 So thus his heart in him became alike Unto red turret whence he caught the speech He could not understand; strange sounds did strike Him like the tower-babel to impeach 'The sense-castration which monk-ancients teach ... 105 He burst fanatic chain of thought; and tore The holy fringes, his heart's bonds; and each Of the phylact'ry thongs he rent; he bore Enough. He would not be ascetic any more ...'

100

*3

He took to rambling all alone; four walls no Could not contain him, nor could he contain Himself, yet wish'd to hold in heart-enthralls Another - When through leafy lover's lane He stroll'd, beheld by moon flash-light, with pain And pang of jealousy, two lovers kiss, 115 Two heads, one heart, close bodies which would fain Be one, be one and taste a double bliss Ah then, how envious all this ecstasy to miss I 14 Long summer's longing passed away in which Full many roses blush'd and many paled ...

11 / 1926

12O

In which a girl's cheek tinged with blushes rich Whene'er she saw him and was lightly paled When he was not near her, for then she mail'd Her crimson kisses, wafted with love fraught ... For Flora loved him with a love that failed 125 Him never, yet still failed ... How she burned hot In his cold careless presence! Pascal loved her not ... *5

How she would list unto the words that slid So smoothly off his tongue, would gather all The flowers which he sometimes fondly bid 130 From out his cornucopia-mouth to fall ... How she would kiss, caress them, and would call Them her forget-me-nots, her heart's own lot. He, having ne'er remember'd her at all In his heart-thoughts, he could forget her not ... 135 He worse than hated her, for Pascal loved her not ... 16 Rich autumn came and dropt her brown-back leaves Her mint's bank-notes; and pendent hung the moon, Gold coin with queenly face engraved; and sheaves Of aurate filigree in harvest strewn 140 On fields of plenty, Summer's bounteous boon ... The lake up bore reflected image of The nugget with the water-quenchless shoon; And all grew ripe and rich, mature and throve, And Flora's love gave seed - she wish'd to sow her love ...

145

*7

One Indian night, as Pascal jaunted through The city's mountain park, and watched its fount Swelling and bursting, gushing, spreading to The shape of liquid lilies whose drops mount

12 / Original Poems, 1926—1934

150

Like silver pollen one another hunt, And join in pregnancy to form again A lily spray e'er sprouting in the fount. He musing stood; girl's music heard; his brain Was soothed by the cadence of the syren strain ...

18 Each minim drop of fount fell; minim notes 155 They carried, both their own and that of song; The voices flow'd as if from fountain-throats ... He knew that one to Flora did belong; But who the other flinger of the throng Of notes which danced like fountain-spray? 160 So, fast the lyric labyrinth along He strode, saw singing Flora as she lay Upon the grass - her unknown friend caused him to stay .., 19 Tlease meet my friend; I hope that you too will Be friends ...' So Flora spoke and kissed her girl 165 Companion, called her 'Bessie, love ...' Then still Again they sing, in ripples which unfurl A golden sand, as soft they ebb and purl ... And Pascal, sphinx-like lay in eterne trance And dreaming gazed upon the moonlit girl. 170 Of all about in knowing ignorance He was, save Bessie's face. He stared in soul-seance ... 20 Not only what she sang but what she said Voiced music to his soul. Her words like gems Within his treasured chest, his heart, he spread ... 175 The fountain still shot up its argent stems Which melted, fell in round pearl diadems. Then Pascal fancied that he heard endless Perpetual youth's fount play its young anthems With water-bubbling and the voice of Bess. 180 He was more than her friend, and Flora was now less ...

13 / 1926 21

The moon shone o'er his head and on her face Or did her face shine on the moon? - Two eyes Like stars close follow'd the bright moon, her face ... Her very sight did grant him ecstasies 185 Of new creation. She did canonize Him Man. Once angels gave to women love, And he an angel loved. He felt the rise Of love, a passion play; he grew above From demigod to god. He knew that it was love ... 22

190

Her soul he loved, and soul's flesh refuge, too. So all his after-days swam as first night Of dreams. His pious church-bells rang curfew To stifle such hot flames - he fann'd the light ... Oft would he stab his pen in heart and write 195 From breast blood-well, his love, not bold, to her. His pen scorch'd paper as it burned his blight For he thought Bessie loved him not; his err ... But Flora knew; loved Bessie less, and Pascal more ... 23 Loved Bessie kept his letters, kist them, wrote 200 Her answers to them, full of love, phrase-hid; She warm'd them in her bosom, every note Like petals pressed her flower-breasts amid. And Flora's letters gleamed in hue hybrid, A passion red and jealousy bright green. 205 For Pascal opened up the crimson lid Of heart, Pandora-box, and love, straight seen By Flora, flew to Bessie; hence her green chagrin ...

210

24 Oft when his swelling thought the silence chid, The telephone was saving sanctuary horn, Through which a magic number softly slid, The open sesame of love forlorn,

14 / Original Poems, 1926—1934

Which call'd forth Bessie's voice on sound-thread borne Whilst Pascal's love electrified the wire ... Like Pyramus and Thisbe, space to scorn 215 They pierced through walls with love's consuming fire The walls had ears and mouths which heard and spoke Desire ... 25 Whene'er he heard the tingle of the bell, Sound's bursting bubbles, heralding the voice Of Bessie, it chimed as a marriage bell ... 220 But if not Bessie jingled the round noise It rang as funeral knell ... His woes and joys Spilt in in privacy, for sire spoke As Rabbins did 'False, lewd is woman's voice ...' In secret then his goddess to invoke 225 Not seen by profane eyes, his soul did sound-sieve soak ... 26 A winter vaporised as vanished breath From mouth; and Summer bow'd to her encore, Accepted from all Earth the verdant wreath Which on her trophy-trees she proudly bore ... 230 One holy morn, to knock upon the door Of Nature and be answered, they, a moot Of boys and girls flocked gladly to explore 'Mongst fields and woods, and berry-shrines to loot Of rubies. Flora, Pascal, Bessie, of the moot. 2

7 The sun scorch'd like a heated flaming ring And like hot halter chafed each neck. Near lake They watched the hazy vapour flick and cling, Like incense of sun-immolated lake, To clouds which waxed with each snow-vapour flake. 240 They rested there awhile until the sun Half-spent would be, and each would then betake Himself in search of berries; pluck anon The buttons red and clots of blood on bushes strewn ...

235

15 / 1926 28

Not only berries pick, but flowers pluck To garland girls with fillets of the hued And Joseph-coated petals, on which suck The Joseph-coated butterflies, bright brood ... And if ere they return'd, the blindfold snood Of nightly darkness bound their eyes, then each 250 Was given torch with which to burn through snood Light eyes, and with them destined tryst-place reach. In all directions all dispersed, at night, one spot to reach.

245

29 Then all dispersed in quest of curdled wine Which hung like kernel-beads on berry-trees. 255 And each did unto self a path consign And wandered hazardly their whim to please. Thus all were parted ... Watch the clouds increase! The firmament is firmly decked with gray Black clouds, where broken, peeps a sky-light piece. 260 The dusk is falling as clouds rise and stray, And Bessie, Pascal, Flora each in their woods stray ... 30 All day the sun had burned and now the soot Of night remained, with still a glowing coal, The moon: the moon round which collected moot 265 Of clouds formed eyelids round the aureole Moon-eye; such lids where rain-tears festering stole And puffed them soon upon the earth to drain ... Now Pascal saw the clouds dark pleat and fold One lid on lidded fold; and he would fain 270 Seek Bessie ere she would be sought by downpoured rain ... 3i Swift Pascal hastened through the woods and sought His Bessie, as a man would look 'midst weeds For flower rare hid in a garden plot ... He wanders everywhere, through brush proceeds

16 / Original Poems, 1926—1934

275

And races with the world which whirling speeds Towards darkness; nears a copse-wood whence A humming music comes, as when one leads A tune, and believes oneself one's audience; A sweet sweet humming, numbing every sense.

32 He oped the screening foliage; there in dell Found Bessie humming round wild-flower bed, A cirque of copse-wood cinctured her free cell. 'Twas twilight gloam when pillow-leaves are spread And blooms droop heads and sleep on flower-bed ... 285 She stood there humming flower's lullaby ... And walked amongst them with a tip-toed tread And look'd onflowered-bed- the cloud-wing'd sky Looked on the earth as if 'twould soon towards it fly ...

280

33 'Bessie ...' he softly said and softly stept 290 Up close to her soft body. 'Bessie, come, Your sylvan cicerone me accept, For waters soon will catch us. Bessie, come ...' Then Bessie ceased her solitary hum And said T had not noticed the dark sky, 295 The earth had been so much solatium; With its bright flowers so enrapt was I I looked not up to heaven. Earth gave more than sky ...' 34 'Enough that earth grants petals fair upon Fair flowers ...' Pascal said, looked on her lips ... 300 The grass beside them swayed and nodded on As in assent ... Then Pascal long'd for lips Of Bessie, fruits of tree of love; eclipse In red on teeth of white. His lips spake drouth ... Both-willed, two flames embraced, and joined the lips 305 In virgin kiss, the marriage of the mouth. They tasted skin of ripened cherry of their youth ...

I/ / 1926 35 Enarm'd, he led his Bessie through the woods And disappeared into a tapestry Of foliage, seeking the returning roads. 310 Now Flora roam'd through woods, through love, lonely And thought of Pascal 'O, were he with me ...' She chanced upon the dell, with flower dai's Erst left, when stooping for a flower, she Picked up a letter from a dewed chalice ... 315 Which Bessie dropped when on the flower she dropped a kiss ... 36 This letter had long lain on Bessie's breast Though first round Pascal's heart 'twas closely wrapt Like coverlet of white for a red nest. And Flora read it, read the thoughts so apt 320 For Bessie - each caress-word her face slapped ... Green jealousy did make his sweet white word Her green and bitter gall ... The ink seem'd sapped From Flora, given to Bessie ... Scent fresh-stirred From paper stifled Flora ... Its pen prick'd heart like sword. 37 Thus Flora's heart was hurt yet still she loved With whole hurt heart her Pascal ... but the hate For Bessie in each cleft of heart deep moved. So in her burned the triple flame of fate Green-fired envy, red-flamed love, red hate ... 330 The clouds above scowl'd dark as if they fain Would quench all fire, love, and jealous hate And life - Large drops from cloud-sieve drain And Flora's cheeks are wet but not from drops of rain ...

325

335

38 And Flora doing wrong in drinking that Which was not mix'd for her, now envy drunk Did worse to hate, when she had sipp'd of that Wined letter the inebriant ink, which sunk

i8 / Original Poems, 1926—1934

In Bessie and refreshed; in Flora, shrunk To envy - Clouds still swallow, drink up sky 340 Just as by earth they too will soon be drunk ... Now Flora seeks the high-way, tempts to fly The clouds, as drops like crystal nails, fall from the sky ... 39 As Pascal, Bessie, hurried through the rain, The storm grew louder and to them it seemed 345 That clouds like rolling casks of white champagne Colliding thundered, burst apart and streamed Forth all their contents, whilst, in snap, there gleamed Their sundered golden hoops, the lightning blast ... The first great gulp of rain from earth back steam'd 350 As if the earth were drunk ... The trees sway, cast Like drunkards, and blaspheme 'gainst thunder's loud bombast ... 40 With suppliant arms the pliant branches spread Each tree appears a beggar and its leaves Its tatters, which the wind tears off to shed 355 Along soak'd ground, whilst ripping lightning cleaves To trunk, and bark to nudeness it unweaves. To shrieking supplication of the trees The thunder rolls reply, which further grieves ... And Pascal, Bessie, drench'd proceed through seas 360 Of flooding rain, seek shelter till the storm will cease ... 4i The rain poured down upon them like some oil Which sanctified their first full-ripened kiss. They hurried through the storm's wet-fire turmoil And Bessie huddled, frightened by the hiss 365 Of wind and crash of trees in dark abyss Of water, huddled close to Pascal, pressed His hand. Her touch, her hand, how warm, what bliss To dry wet multiplying kisses pressed By rain; his arm wound round her palpitating waist ...

19 / 1926 42 They found no shelter and the storm ceased not. And now they reach a wrinkled road upon Which rain-drop midgets dance one fatal trot And topple over into streamlets, one Battalion following another one ... 375 The trees, too, weak as rain-drops, drunk-like crash, Fall dead. The storm-caught pair flee from arson Of lightning, and assault of storm - a flash Discloses to their view a house to which they dash.

37°

43 A mansion 'twas once favoured by a man, 380 An old man who loved things of old; who died And left the house upon its ancient plan As an antiquity. Into it glide The youthful lovers. At the door a hide, A rug lies couchant as it were some beast 385 Some sentinel beast who starved till naught beside Fluff skin remained. The porch is frontispieced By suits of mail; whose bodies gone of souls released ...

44 Into its hall they stepped and sunk in green Shag carpets whose grass-hair seemed grown since they 390 Were left; and Pascal's clothes drop rain on green Grass carpets. Pascal rubs forth light, and they Tiptoe on further through bestatued way, Where goddesses with dust-spread film disguise Their youth, and through close veil of white display 395 Their charms. This is a house of youth in guise Of age. Youth enters it to snatch off the disguise ...

400

45 They brush aside a sable tapestry Which pendent hangs like waves of dark girl's hair. They cross the threshold and by torch-light see A rich bed-chamber, Luxury's lounge and lair

2O / Original Poems, 1926—1934

Of loveliness ... Along the glimmering air Is carried incense wafted from a sconce Of silver, whence a blue-light flame and flare, Fed by rare perfumed oil, doth twilight trance 405 With drowsiness and sensuality enhance ... 46 A rose-wood bed, with canopy above Of glossy samite, with flesh-tint festoons Like drooping breasts ... O downy bed of love! ... O pillows soft where head whirls, body swoons 410 Away in transports on the naked noons Of night! ... O coverlets which wrap rapt form In soft soft silk like butterfly cocoons! ... Such bed they see ... How all within doth warm! Warm and soft within - Hark to the outer storm! 47 The curtains of the bed shone velvet blue, Lined in with damask whose soft blushing shade Was but the hue of those who sometimes knew Each other there ... Soft mats of silk were laid At both its sides upon which were displayed 420 In warp and weft, nude bodies, and on which Bessie and Pascal feared to step, delayed, Lest they trod on live forms, so charmed, bewitched Were they as they stood in the nuptial chamber rich ...

415

48 The walls were decked with tapestry of blue 425 Embroidered with a line of gold, which framed In flowing curves a sensual painted view Of scenes and attitudes of love unshamed. A mirror too of Venice's far-famed Gilt glass reflected every Venus scene ... 430 The storm his arrow rain-shafts sharply aimed At oaken window when the latticed screen Show'd lightning marquetry the shutter-chinks between

21 /1926

49 Then Bessie sat down on a cushion'd chair Whose fancy-work was arabesque; she gazed 435 About her on the beauty as it were Arabian night of wonder, all amazed. Then Pascal, 'Bessie, you are wet, and traced Your silver canton dress with gray rain-rings. The fire-place flame will soon by me be raised ... 440 Unrobe yourself and dry your dress which clings Like skin unto your skin; for wetness illness brings ../ 50 Reluctantly, maid-coyly she doth loose Her dress, unclasps it, whilst her form appears Enfolded by laced tissue web in whose 445 Thread nets shine pearl-drops like small glistening spheres ... And like a fountain shedding its last tears So slides the dress in pleated ripples down From lavender begartered hose, and nears And heaps on satin shoes, where rests the gown 450 In wavelets at her feet, like tide for queen back-blown ... 51

And then she doffs her silken rose chemise Which like long petals her blush-form embrace And from her mauve brassiere she doth release Her breasts ... as she doth for the mirror grace 455 Herself; her breasts from mauve brassiere of lace Peep out like doves which in the storm had hid, Wink with their pink-eyed nipples, whilst her face Smiles at the mirror which smiles back to bid To Pascal; scene like opiate eye-drops melt 'neath lid ... 460

52 There in the shimmering twilight shade of blue As Bessie rivals Bessie mirrored in The frozen upright pool of glass, burns view Of Bessie's blush-warm body. O warm skin;

22 / Original Poems, 1926—1934

465

Warm breasts of innocence exciting sin; And lips like scarlet ribbons to impress Another's; beck'ning arms upraised to pin Her hair; whilst Pascal's blood doth effervesce ... He sees his love, love mirrored, feels a double bliss ...

53 And Flora frightened fled alone, her face 470 Blood tingled with the lash of triple tail: The whipping rain, and slashing twiggen spray And flogging jealousy. The lightning-flail Thresh'd rain with thunder-clap; and many trails And paths did Flora follow, till she came 475 Upon the house whence flicker bluish pales Of light. She peered through lattice window-frame, Saw Pascal, - heard him softly breathe out Bessie's name ... 54 'Bessie, Bessie, come and sit near me Upon this bed of rose-stain'd coverlets ... 480 O let me lay my head upon your knee And press rose-ear upon the pink rosettes Of garter-band ...' She sang in sweet dulcets A lullaby for him, which chased the frets And fumes of life away, and left perfume 485 Of wakeful drowsiness which all forgets ... O midnight music in a twilight gloam! O love's sweet-odorous garden - jealousy's dark tomb! ...

490

55 He kissed her, pressed his cheeks to hers, and in Her ear he whisper'd, 'Bessie, let us taste Of love's true wine; ... nay, it is not twin-sin To love thus, and it is still pure and chaste As not to love ... my arm around your waist, O let me crush, embrace you till you are As one with me ... O let me burn and waste

23 / i92^ 495

Away, and melt in you, and you, my star In me. Closer, closer ... hush! the shutters jar ...

56 0 Bessie, let me fill your cup of bliss And so fill mine ... O open your love's door And let me enter there, and ne'er dismiss ... 500 I have lived many years this night ... Wherefore? 1 feel as if within my heart I bore My clamouring generations seeking through My love to live, and I them swallow ere They find their birth ... I cannot love subdue 505 For it doth subdue me ... O Bessie, I love you ...' 57 The lightning flashes down from sky to rip The trees and flame up fire 'Bessie, I A lightning rod am and with fire I drip, O let our flames drip, burn together, unify! ...' 510 'No, Pascal, no. I love you yet I try To curb my love; we must not, Pascal, no!' Meantime there watches them a single eye For Flora sees them, hears her heart's echo In Bessie's voice; she hates the voice, her vibrant throe ... 58 She yields at length to love as Flora too Succumbs to hatred. Bessie clasps around Her Pascal ne'er to part as if she grew To him and he to her ... O ringing swound Of love; O kisses lost on lips, and found 520 Again, O ecstasy of tight embrace, ... O breathlessness of life of bliss unbound O open worlds of love as lids embrace And shut, as transport does a madding transport chase ...

515

24 / Original Poems, 1926—1934 59

They are in flames of passion, warm within, 525 Without the lightning flashes, scorches trees; The windows of the house-wings rattle din With flapping shutters - Look! and cease Your passion flames and from embrace release, For flames of heaven burn now; house on fire! 530 Tapestries of yellow flame increase And canopy you, wrap you in your pyre! You burn, yea burn, but not only with your Desire! 60 'Now fire death doth bring, and we shall burn In dying yet undying love; the whole 535 Of life will pass into Love's urn. O fear not, Bessie, fear not, our twin-soul Shall twine in violet fumes, and roll Away and leave perfumes; how sweet it is To die in arms, your arms, and you, my soul, 540 In mine; here let us seal our life in kiss. We shall at one time know death's pang and life's last bliss. 61 'Not water but the fire has caught us, come Press close to me; this, our auto-da-fe So kiss me one last kiss and all the sum 545 Of life the adding flames will take away -' Flora from the window fled away; In flames and rain doth house evaporate; And Bessie-Pascal's life gasps out last ray ... Whence rose the flames, girl's love or lightning fate? 550 Whence sprung the fire, Flora's love or Flora's hate?

Finis.

1926

25 / 1926

Discovery of Spring

5

10

15

20

25

30

The time has come; the brooks begin to break The tight-lipped silence of a frozen vow; The grasses bathe within a broken lake Of blood of their old enemies, the snow, The earth now smells as of the sweat of gods; The sky is now the colour of a star; Perfume arises from the fresh green sods. The door of heaven is windily ajar. And on the branches of the wettened trees There hangs a line of silver buds, there hangs A set of growing jewels, and of these The knowing birds hold lyrical harangues ... Yet not of these alone, they also sing Of travels in an erst-abandoned south And show the marvel that the whole of spring May issue from a single singing mouth. Thus is their joy; but it is not all joy; There is a dusky cannibal within The sombre woods who franticly doth toy With an autumnal corpse, and with dried skin. Why cannot beauty come alone, and not Bring some escorting ghost, or even some Sad memory of beauty that is not To come again, never again to come? O would that I could breathe in all the air, Not leave a single breeze, and not a breath And have an emptiness hang everywhere Save in my heart, rejoicing unto death! Why must the roots of Spring so swell, so pry Into a brain? Why must a heart be torn Upon this delicate rack, and why Is this great season in great travail born? There is no answer but another joy

26 / Original Poems, 1926—1934

And questionings again, and once again, 35 And new bewilderments for girl and boy, There is no answer but another pain ...

1926

Dissolution Let me sink into a southern sea, The first heavy raindrop of a storm ... Let me melt into its vapour-warm Water. Let a sky weep threnody. 5 Let my life's last sanctuary be Bubbles, and the sense of chloroform ... And let phosphorescent fishes form Candles mourning of a corpse - dead Me ... What if waters kiss my lips away? ... 10 Coral will grow there where lips should be ... What if gums be loosened, cheeks decay? Oyster-shells will hide my teeth for me. And what if I be skeleton ? ... I may Be the burdened Atlas of the sea! ...

1926

27 / 1926

Last Will and Testament [Version i] Kind you may be at least when I am dead, If you will honour this my last request: (Though do not let her know of it - that's best) Snatch off my body from the mouldy dread 5 Of fattening some earth. Do this instead. Cremate my corpse and let me be the guest Of flames effusive, by them wildly kist Until my body is in ashes spread. Then grind the ghastly dust that in its place 10 Is left, and gather up its fineness whole And perfume it, then in a vanity-case Send it a gift of powder from a droll O, I will feel my face against her face And feel her breath and blush and all her soul ..

1926

Last Will and Testament [Version 2] Kind you may be at least when I am dead, If you will honour this my last request: (Let her not know of it - so is it best.) Save me from earth. Preserve me from the dread 5 Of fattening some earth. Do this instead: In the hot crucible lay me to rest. Let fire know me, and let flame attest My small bones chalk, my body, ashes spread. Then take that dust in which there once was grace, 10 That pulver through which once the warm blood stole,

28 / Original Poems, 1926—1934

And perfume it, and in a vanity case, Send it a gift of powder from a droll! O, I will feel my face against her face And I will filch my small Elysian dole! 1926/c. 1928

Midnight Awakening Soft pious whisperings are drown'd In the rain's dead airs: Old women's lips which murmur sound Of half-loud half-hushed prayers 5 Old women kneeling in a dream ... Oh I do surely see Within the darkness slowly gleam A raindrop rosary ... Unceasingly it rains ... The old And pious women pray For those that are already mould And those that will be clay ... This rain can make a living thing A thing of mouldy clay 15 For tricklings are like worms which sing That never will be day ... 10

Unceasingly it rains ... a sparse A slow and endless rain ... Darkness and tears ... Even the stars 20 Have melted into rain ... O, I am sore afraid, afraid, Almost my voice will cry

29 / 1926

Out that the rain has aught unmade. The dawn will bring no sky ...

1926

Oracles of the Clock Mon gosier de metal parle toutes les langues Eternity is caught in this dead room. Listen to it sputtering piecemeal, from confining gloom oozing from each clock-work spring ... 5 Into this gloom a madman has escaped; a madman stammering, and sick with fear of Time-forever-raped, a madman whose teeth click ... Though quietness is like a deadened pain, 10 the ticking of the clock is like earthquakes breaking in the brain, broken with a sonal spike ... Many sounds there are within this sound: a scratching as of desperate mice; 15 a noise of brains and skull-bones ground; a shaking of deliberate dice ... Craft is crouching here, and secret crime. A cricket creaking in the crypt of the clock is crunching Time, 20 crunching its apocalypt ...

30 / Original Poems, 1926—1934

Silence is a bunch of black balloons; time is a sharp needle-prick which deftly punctures them, which ruins them with unrelenting tick ... 25 O syntax fatal! O funereal rhyme! A woodpecker is tapping the wooden darkness. He is Time. Darkness is Eternity ... 30

There is a tantalizing in the ticking of the clock's dread monotone ... It is like the slow deadly trickling of warm blood on cold loud stone ...

1926

Pathetic Fallacy I said in my heart: T shall not love her more. I shall not love her any more. I shall Break with my love, and break the vows I swore, And if I swore by stars, I spurn them all!' 5 Stars wink as they had heard it once before ... Unto my heart I said: 'My loveliest Words were deception, clothed again in guile; Even my moon-oaths are to be transgressed! ...' The moon shapes wisdom in his standard smile 10 As one who knows the last word of a jest ... These were the words my heart did hear: 'Because The weariness of love is mine, and day Comes after day without a loveless pause,

31 / 1926

I throw my vows of love to wind as prey! ...' 15 A wind most disconcertingly guffaws ...

1926

Symbols I remember Summer by some symbols: Gold sunburnt bees who even work on Sundays, Pricking the secrets of the flower-thimbles ... A lazy afternoon where all is sun-daze, 5 I, in drowsy room pursuing stumbles Of random thought, catching as in a stunned haze Sharp crumbs of Time a tick-tack clock-work crumbles .. A stuffy bathing twilight air, soon followed By heavy tropic drops which drip in tumbles, 10

As if the Waggoner had dropped a star-load ... The smell of rain-born mosses in the darkling ... The stillness to the night that wood-life all owed,

Save wet leaves dropping kisses faintly sparkling ... A big fat blue fly buzzing in round circles 15 Against a glass pane, whirling in a dark cling ... A musky swamp; mosquitoes stabbing dirk-ills ... Pieces of rainbow packed into green covers And sold as watermelon and as miracles ...

32 / Original Poems, 1926—1934

20

And roses which hold love of all the lovers, And moonlight that holds roses of all summers, And her, about whom rose-steep'd moonlight hovers ... These are the symbols of a July's commerce ...

1926

Winter What is this seasonal nonentity? This pale and shivering shadow? What this white, This bleached continuance of coloured light? What is this interlude of leprosy? 5 Winds from the north rush in most hurriedly Crying some terrible news, some cryptic fright; Suddenly die. And suddenly a flight Of new-born winds speed on and cry their cry ... Unto this earth will ashes always cling? 10 Will the sky always seem of sack-cloth now? Why this demurring of the days that sing? And why this loneliness upon the bough? Has earth forgotten how to stir the Spring? Give me the magic. I remember how.

1926

1932

c. 1927/1927

Five Characters I

Ahasuerus Set in the jeweled fore-part of his crown A naked innuendo cameo Of his loved empress shone in purple glow ... And when a ray of light was on it thrown, 5 It smiled as if it knew what was not known ... The king arose, and swaying to and fro Raised up his goblet, quaffed it ... Let wine flow! And then he sank upon his cushioned throne. Drink! drink, my satraps! drink my nobles! drink! 10 And let me fill again this cup of mine ... He rose again but once again to sink, And drooped his head, his whole crown making shine, And stared into the bottom of his drink, And saw his Vashti smiling from the wine ...

34 / Original Poems, 1926-1934 II

Vashti 15 The chamberlain burst on the royal feast Of Vashti, and he caught the women flushed With wine and maiden-pleasure. They all blushed ... But Vashti did not blush, not in the least. The chamberlain, as solemn as a priest, 20 Delivered the king's oracle, and hushed The hall. Then Vashti's blood boiled, rushed Into her face, but she was pale as East Before the worshippers may praise the dawn, As pale as Shushan-lilies in moonlight 25 'The king shall not see me, a naked swan ../ She faltered, weeping almost, but not quite. The chamberlain looked closer; deathly wan She was not pale. No. She was leprous, white ... Ill

Esther Queen Esther is out walking in the garden, Yet all the wise men, knowers of the seasons, Are watching for some new Star's sudden naissance, While Esther is out walking in the garden ... Hadassah is out walking in the garden, And every rose is wafting forth its reasons 35 For love of life, and the entire pleasance Is whispering the secrets of her pardon ... The king has seen his queen, alone, and facing His palace and the moonlight. He does lust her, - So beautiful and mine - His wild love racing 40 Into his lips, how Persian-hot he kissed her, Giving her his scepter, and embracing: 'What wilt thou? What is thy request, my Esther? ...' 30

35 / 0.1927/1927

IV

Mordecai He reverenced no idol, nor of gold, Nor silver, certainly not one of flesh. 45 He was not snared within the common mesh Of hero-worshipping, by being told ... Had he not justly loyally revealed The plot of Bigthana and loud Teresh? Were they not hung upon a single leash 50 From either end? Had he not thus unsealed The king's death? Was he not a king's grandson? So Mordecai was bold and cringeless proud. And now when Hainan passed, though everyone Fell prostrate in a belly-walking crowd, 55 Haman and Mordecai erect alone, No one could tell for whom the people bowed ... V

Haman How lividly he looks, obliviously! ... How eagerly he stares at endlessness, Enchanted by the accolade-caress 60 Of hempen rope swung from a gallows-tree ... Whenever breezes shake him carelessly, Dangling, he remonstrates a brief distress By clicking teeth, and gurgling to express A last thought ... Starkness stiffens cap-a-pie. 65 And that is Haman whom the king delights To honour ... He has raised him and assigned Him place amongst the high ... the raven-flights. There's his coveted horse. - Where? - Are you blind?

36 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

Do you not see him sway in startling plights, 70 Curvetting on the Charger of the Wind? c. 1927/1927

*936

The Monkey

(With apologies to Chesterton)

When fishes soared, and forests danced, Though at their feet grew corn; When moon was frozen lemon-juice Then surely was I born. 5 With half-bald pate and hairy hide, And tail-lassoo that swings; The devil's walking parody On all two-footed things. The slandered scapegrace of mankind, 10 Unwilling sire of men, Write books, deride me, I am dumb A better time I ken. Fools! for I also had my hour, When I, a celibate, 15 Had not produced a progeny That me do degraduate. c. 1927/1927

1927

37 / 0.1927/1927

Epitaph Forensic Here lies a lawyer turbulent Who fought in every case anent Prolonged unjust imprisonment Of men accused, yet innocent 5 With sole and only argument Habeas Corpus - You may have the body. And so debating life he spent With this one only sentiment And even in last testament 10 That laid him in this monument He wrote with a resigned lament Habeas Corpus - You may have my body. c. 1927/1927

1927

La Belle Dame sans Merci 'O, what can ail thee, flashy sheik, With head thus drooping downward bent? ../ 'I spent a blissful night with her, And my last cent ...' 5 'O, what can ail thee, flashy sheik, With eyes insomniously red? ...' 'The jazzing symphony has ceased I seek my bed ...'

38 / Original Poems, 1926—1934

'I see white powder on your suit, 10 Your lips bedaubed with scarlet press ...' 'A blushing witness there you have Of her caress ... I met a flapper in the hall, Full beautiful - a druggist's child ... 15 Her fingers long ... her head was light ... And I was wild ... Hers was a very floral name, Her suitors called her Marigold ... The reason she was merry was 20 That I was gold ... She had insatiable wants, I had to keep up wealthy tone ... She revelled in the silvered sound, And I made moan ... 25 She had a ready store of hints. She shrewdly could insinuate ... I took the hints, she took the rest ... We osculate ... I danced with her the whole night long 30 Apostrophised her, "Peaches ... Honey ..." And in my heart the echo came My money ... The saxophone wailed loud and long ... The pianist shook his shoulderblades ... 35 We danced ... we stamped ... we suffered our Own bastinades ... I tripped with her at quarters close, My blood within me hotly tingling ...

39 / c.i92//i927

We hugged each other to the tune, 40 Of money jingling ... I took her home in taxi-car ... In thought and otherwise was lost ... I wondered why she lived so far ... How much the cost? ... 45 Suspense was past ... at last we reached Her very distant residence. I turned the corner ... chauffeur paid Left with two pence ... I have not money left to me 50 To buy a fare on the tramway, And that is why I homeward plod My weary way ... And this is why I am so sad ... My head thus drooping downward bent ... 55 I spent a blissful night with her And my last cent ...' c. 1927/1927

The Lay of the Lady

He stuttered when he spoke, and then He toppled o'er his tongue; He gurgled hordes of broken words That to his gullet clung ...

1 2

9 7

40 / Original Poems, 1926—1934

5 He loved a lass; the brainless ass, He loved her pretty looks; At last she said, 'I will thee wed/ She loved his fat bank-books ... But he smelt that there was a rat, 10 So asked in begging tone Tell, is it me that's loved by thee Or is it what I own? ... On bended knee I ask of thee, Of thee, my fiancee; 15 Wilt thou still be betrothed to me Without my finance, say ...' So she complies and him replies With voice that hotly mocks 'Despite your stutter, sputter, mutter, 20 It is your money talks ...' c. 1927/1927

!927

Boredom Blase nihilities encompass me, And dullness is adventure of to-day ... (The gilt edge of the moon is worn away ...) And I inhale and I exhale ennui ... 5 I will disguise the drab in mystery, Kill tediousness with euphemism-play, (The full moon is a gold ambrosial tray ...) And weariness will no more weary me. I will contrive to fill days with strange words; 10 I will contrive to strangely masquerade

41 / c. 1927/1927

My fantasies in gay fantastic hordes ... But only then, when I, in coffin laid, Will listen to the clods clap on the boards, Then, only then, will I call spade a spade ... c. 1927/1927

1927

Obituary Notices Rheumatic His pillow knew all that he sigh'd; Had heard his last soul-struggling groans; Had felt his last clutch ... He had died. The wind had broken his bones ... Strabismus 5 His squinted eyes at strife,

As everyone still saith, He looked thus at his Life, And bumped right into Death ... Narcosis

10

Whenever he wanted some sleep To go to the Land of Suppose, He took some narcotics ... Quite cheap And the best was Death's free-offered Dose ...

42 / Original Poems, 1926—1934 Aphasia All he muttered was the same, He babbled in a trance; 15 Remembered but a single name And that was not a man's ...

Lunatic The moon in his head was a strain. The moon attracts the tide; And as a consequence, he died 20 With water on the brain.

Lockjaw A microbe sewed her lips, this monger Of gossip's slander spleen Even before she could die of hunger, She died of vex'd chagrin ...

Heart Failure 25 He gayly jaunted down the street, With not a thought of Death His heart did sudden stop to beat Surprise knocked out his breath! ... c. 1927/1927

1927

1927

Threnody O weep your tears, you crocodiles! the great McGilliad is dead ... is gone ... is not ... (Please punctuate this with the triple dot.) The great McGilliad is now the late ... 5 No more will it rave, rant, or wildly prate; No more will it turn many a naught to aught; And no more will it throw the deeper thought Into a student's simpletonic pate. The suicides have lately been increased: 10 This too succumbs unto the fatal fad ... So weep, O crocodiles, let be appeased The melancholy which may drive you mad ... And you, ye little worms, prepare to feast Upon the corpse of the McGilliad ...

1927

1927

44 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

Escape

Ballade of the Poet How came this spectacled, this little Jew, Whose heart seemed native to necropolis To prick upon his brain a wild tattoo Of sunset anguish and of sunrise bliss? 5 What caused his soul, a dormant chrysalis To grow a flitting coloured butterfly? What made him believe that never would he die? Or if he would, right then would be eclipse? What was it made his life a single sigh? 10 A pair of legs it was, a pair of lips ... He dared to meddle with God's first debut, To mouth that all was good and naught amiss; Smugly he commended parvenus Stars; he praised a crescent moon gratis ... 15 His tongue did never know paralysis ... He raved of nights ... 'twas he discovered sky, He vowed ... he fashioned rhymes with which to pry Into a heart ... Flowers and nectar-sips ... Swans and lagoons ... such were his words - and why? 20 A pair of legs, a pair of comely lips ... He found the beauty of the rose a clue To understand the beauty of a kiss ... He knew that mouths were not for food; he knew That lips were made for passion-emphasis ... 25 To love was life; the rest parenthesis ... And so he strutted indecorously The moon a monocle in his right eye, His cane a comet, gloves of satyr-strips ...

45 / i927 30

So struts he with his wistful sorry sigh A pair of comely legs, a pair of lips ...

Place. A wood. Time. Easter Night. Full moon. She. (singing) Christ is risen from the tomb ... Holy! holy! holy! Worms within the nether gloom Have not kissed his face with doom, 5 Dared not touch him, wholly ...

10

Risen is the spring perfume, Jesu's sacred cerement ... For his foot prints lily bloom. Christ is risen from the tomb For the sky-interment ...

He has left his last last tryst In sky-coffin-prison ... Lo! the moon is face of Christ ... Stars the worms of god-flesh - Christ 15 From the tomb is risen ... (Soliloquizes.) Not only Jesus widows his tomb on Easter; Likewise the flowers do. They feel a free stir Awake them from their winter-sepulchre. The winds' caresses make the grasses purr ... 20 The kisses of the sun know not a sober ease Will they not suck from earth the passioned strawberries? The streamlets babble out their hocus-pocus, And charm forth willow-trees, which weep and so kiss ... 25

Along a rippling twig-twined labyrinth Smelling of dead leaves and of hyacinth ... - Now budding trees are growing ... growing budless; The blood-root now grows flowers which are bloodless; And where gnarled tree-roots bathe in last-rain liqueur

46 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

30

35

40

45

The adder-tongues from autumn's steeped leaves flicker. - Oh, this is the time of May's preluding beauty, When bees and poets search for a bloom's booty ... And when, as one is listening to a linnet Eternity finds refuge in a minute ... - Now miracles and beauties are: an acorn delves Into the earth to hide an oak-tree; elves Spill perfumes into buds; and lace-dressed dews Hammock themselves in leaves with flirting ruse ... The wanton poplar-leaves lift up their dresses Can any breeze withhold his cool caresses? ... All trees, like gypsies, wave leaf-castanets Over the coffin-cradles of the violets Casting sad gladness out ... The lilac bushes Send out their heart-shaped leaves in sunset hushes To study in the coloured twilit hour What shade of mauve to paint the lilac-flower ... The fern-plants for their Easter spread the crosier ... - And though the rose of sunset grows still rosier,

Though dawn arises like a morning glory, The sunrise gleams upon the fields - white hoary ... 50 - In April love begins to blossom. I Do not wonder why ... (Sings again.) April and Night have sunk deep Deep in my rose-steeped heart, Clutching my heart to be theirs ... 55 Love on my heart doth heap Kisses ... and wildly tears ... Sweet is the pain of my heart ...

60

God is in love with the world ... Earth is his trysting place ... Spring is his trysting time - My love doth call me his world,

47 / *927 And God, like an echoing rhyme Is gloried in his face ... 65

70

75

80

85

90

95

Close to me! Love, O close! ... - Would he then have other quest? ... Close, and his lips on my lips As if we were crushing a rose, Breathing love-breath from his lips While his hand lay on my breast ... Alone! ... alone! ... am I here! Sweetheart, alone ... Do you know I wait for your love, for your kiss ... - O something detains him there, Something is there that's amiss, Amiss with my sweetheart ... Oh ... He. (at a distance, listening) This singing sets my very heart aglow And sets aglow the moon that listeneth ... For is it not my love who breathes out song? My love is made the proxy of the birds, The birds that sing not now, and of the blooms, The blooms that are asleep of their own fumes ... - This melody is perfume to the night As night is fragrance to the lips of love. It is my love who breathes out perfumed song ... - Within the sweetness of your song at night The moon is like a golden note a-tremble ... My love reads music from the scroll of sky, In which the stars are quavers quivering ... Her words are kisses on the quiet air Caresses on the face of night, and love ... Her words are dews, the buds of perfumed air: I am an urn embracing many dews; I listen, and I am a part of song ... O nightingales would surely perish now, Would perish with a rival's jealousy,

48 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

And wiser birds are feigning sleep, so that They be not taunted by comparisons ... (Calls.) My heart's desire, sweetheart, O my love! ... (Pause; echoes.) (Calls again.) 0 love, my heart's desire ... Sweetheart ... Love! (Pause; echoes.) (She is listening, but answers not.) (He sings.) 100 The echoes answer that I am their heart's desire ... The leaves do make reply, The low one tells the high One, and the high the higher ... 105 I am their sweetheart, all Cry in their sad enthral, And even from above, A voice from the moon-pyre Is calling 'Love, love' ... (Calls again.) no O sweetheart, heart's desire, O my love ... She. (answering) The sky is echo to the lower sod; And I am echo to your soul, my own ... Your soul which is the echo of my own, Our souls which echo but the voice of God ... 115

He. (approaching her) How did you compass your escape?

She.

120

1 made acquaintance with the guard An ebon-headed flesh-full swain. I spoke him poetry, disclosed Clairvoyance in the twinkling stars, The philtre in a single rose,

49 / *927 A dervish in a dancing wind And beauty dripping down in dew ... I showed him that there was a moon — He clutched his heart as if 'twas there. In short, I made him who was but A calf, I made a mooning calf ...

125 He.

You remember our first conversation With the moon As eavesdropper. I said: Give me a maid and a man and a moon And I'll give you a poet back ...

130

She. (ignoring his last remark) And finally because of both Me and April, he began 135 To see the stars and moon and dew And rose and beauty all in me. So he loved me ... Do you like that? ... He. You called him calf a minute past ...

She. Yes, and the enchanted calf Called me his own nightingale ... And everything I told him do Was music to him ... So, one night I sent him on an errand for Me. He returned ...

140

He. 145

His bird was flown ... I also made acquaintance with My guard so that I might not have Acquaintance with him ... I essayed

50 / Original Poems, 1926—1934

To squeeze some magic in his soul ... I could not do so, so I put Some magic in his head ... I knocked Him on the pate.

150

She. He saw stars then ...

He. And carries a full moon upon His head. (Approaching a bench beneath an overhanging balcony) This bench it seems was made for us ... Let's sit 155 Upon it. She. (with a mock gesture) This bench was made for us? This bench alone? The whole creation, world and all therein Was made for us ... He. So let us sit upon't ... (She laughs.) He. (thinking) 160 Her laugh is like the bursting of Spring buds ... Like the sudden growing of stars in the twilight ... Like the sound that falling dews would make, if falling dews made sound ... Her laugh is like a string of pearls dipped in crystal waters ... Like the trickling of perfume-drops on an incenseflame ... 165 Her laugh is very like-able ... (Speaks.) You laugh somewhat like me, love ... (They sit on the bench. Long silence.)

5i

/ 1927

He. I love you. She. (after long silence) I love you. A Voice on the Balcony, (declamatory) Hie ille ego - poet - I am he ... Making all beauty beautiful still more ... 170 The rival of the gods of fiat-yore The father of myself; my progeny ... My lips are blossoms on a sweet rose-tree And there my tongue, a nightingale, doth pour Unto the moon its lone confiteor: 175 I am myself a garden-entity ... — No She has ever been my love-decoy All she can be is but all beauty's proxy, For female lips to me are hoi polloi, And so are flowers, I their regnant pyxy ... 180 These sometimes change eheu into eude Sometimes - Always I love ego - Dixi ... He.

185

190

195

A body should be full of everybody; Yet he is bursting with his Self; his head Is ever in conceited pregnancy ... Always is he shaking his own hand In deep congratulation of true meed ... Within a palisade of upright I's He fortifies and garrisons himself ... He takes his hat off in soliloquies To show respect unto his audience ... His poetry is full of lyric I And every song of his is of one note Me! Me! Me! - But as for Me. I love You, not only me, and every I Of mine doth only speak for persons two.

52 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

200

205

210

215

And every one of my soliloquies Is dialogue between my heart and yours ... I love you, Love. I love you ... Can I say I love you in more words than trinity? ... / and Love and You will be three gems Which I will juggle up, confuse the stars ... With these three syllables I wildly make A million permutations of my love ... But why, my dear, should lad and lady speak In words of mouth when lips press argument? ... (He kisses her frantically. She blushes.) Oh when you blush your whole sweet face is lip And I am mad with choice of kissing-place! ... (Exultingly) Love, you are mine. I made you. Made you kiss me. Tell me, Love. Love, who taught you How to. Kiss me. I did. Did I Not?

She. (bombastically) You. Did. 220 Not. For It takes four lips Two hearts One desire Half-a-second 225 To be embraced In one kiss.

53 / 19^7

Do you like this recipe? He. 'Recipe' is the Latin for 'take' (Kisses her.)

She. Define a kiss. He. 230

Longum est iter praeceptione, brevum exemplis. (Kisses her.)

She.

235

It is the settling Of a scarlet warm butterfly Upon our scarlet warm lips ... I suck one wing Into my heart You suck one wing Into your heart And our lips tingle with wingless desire ... He. (Struck by an idea) Iwis a kiss this is abyss of bliss ... (He has his arm around her waist.)

She. (whispers) Your fingers on my breast caressingly Pluck out my very heart, and seep in bliss ... Your slightest touch is love in which there is No part of me that is not ecstasy ... (Sings) My heart is a dove 245 O Love Caught in my rib's white cage ... The feel of your finger's move Across the breasts of my cage Sets the heart of my heart's white dove 240

54 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

250

A-leap from its hermitage ... O, to be nearer, more near To you in its flutterings Do you not hear Its utterings: 255 The beat of my heart-dove's wings? ... (Silence; he fondles her; whispering) He. (dramatically) When I was inspecting the world to grant it my final seal of sanction; when I, as an image of God, went forth to see whether it was good, I passed through many countries which I never should have passed. She.

260

Why? He.

I should have remained there ... Holland I saw where one's wealth is measured in tulips . .

She.

Now don't pun on tulips.

He.

Tulips were not made to be punned upon. They were fashioned for - (Kisses her.) - To proceed. (Eloquently)France where vintage is cornucopia ... Spain in which a rose in a girl's hair and a pair of eyes gleaming in the moon-light produce lunacy of the most commendable type. - Italy where peasants hide their fortune in the sun ... Germany where one's happiness comes in bottles ... Greece which exists because of its ruins ... Persia -

265

270

She. But why this pot-pourri of races?

55 / 1927

He. (exasperated) There you have confused me. I have forgotten ... But I 275 remember there was a kiss at the end of it ...

She.

You will twist your tongue for the satisfaction of your lips ...

He.

Another kiss, my love, another kiss; Kiss me till our lips will be so numb They will not know if they are mine or yours ... Kiss me till your lips will be red wounds And I will balsam them with my one kiss ... Kiss me till your lips will be a flame You wish to smother in my lips - O kiss Me till your lips will be so dry, and parched Your heart's blood will bead slow upon your lips ... And I will kiss and I will taste your heart ... - All my secrets I will tell you, Love And with but one vocabulary - kiss ... Your lips are molten rubies - Love, your lips Are as the eighty words which Arab girls Use to make a mention of sweet honey ... The reason for creation are your lips You-

280

285

290

She. A sullen moon regards us! hush! She stares at us and seems to blush At every red-grape kiss we crush ...

295 He.

Let her go into her den; In a month be back again; - We will still be kissing then ...

56 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

She.

300

But if she no more will hove Into sight, how swear you love? Is she not your heart-oath's glove? ... He.

I will swear then by her sure Return that I, I am your Everlasting paramour ...

305

She. Now watch the very sly critiques This moon casts from her eye-obliques, Her mirth suppressed in puffed-up cheeks ... He.

310

Very soon she'll disappear For a time, and you will hear Her chucklings in the wind's career ...

A Voice on the Balcony. If ever I should love, I would not pine In metaphors as poetasters do ... And strong hyperboles I would not brew 315 Merely to tipsify a wench divine ... Must all creation be an amorous sign? Must grasses gossip of my rendez-vous? ... Must roses and must stars be privy to Affairs which are particularly mine? 320 I would not lisp in wise-and-foolish fashion. (An oxymoron is the lover's self.) I would not wrap my heart in a cocoon Of similes and trust it to an elf ... Too jealous would I be of my own passion 325 To share it with an ever-grinning rnoon ...

57 / *927

She.

330

Do not so despise the moon Nor heap her with absurds: Look well at her; your heart will soon Vanish into words ... Stare: not too inquisitive Your brain may turn mad curds ... For none can see her face and live The same man afterwards ...

He.

The moon stares at the sun - and lo! The moon is sun-burnt - Is it so? ...

335

She. No. This moon, this moon forlorn, this coldly-seeming moon Is longing in the quiet midnight hushes For passion with the sun, for passion-swoon, And longing all the night she ever blushes ... This moon, this moon forlorn, this coldly-seeming moon ...

340

She. (suddenly) Which do you like best - a full moon or a quarter? ... He.

Within the full moon, well-compressed Are four good quarter moons above, And that is why, my Love, I love The full moon best ...

345

She. And I, a crescent moon whose pale Round curve is God's own finger-nail ...

58 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

He.

The full moon is an orange whose Plumpness is enticing ruse ... I will squeeze out all its juice ...

350

She. Night is the dark hair Of a Spanish lady; And the crescent moon Is the Spanish lady's Golden comb ...

355

He. And if to pull the teeth from out A metaphor's confusing mouth Is just and fair and justly fair The stars were hair-pins in her hair ...

360

She. The moon encircled in a silver lace Of clouds, and somewhat tilted in its place Is sure a magic looking-glass, my Love, Which mirrors all the beauty of your face ... He. 365

A crescent moon's a scimitar Sharpened on a stone See the sparks fly, star on star, Flying, never flown ...

She. 370

Nectar and ambrosia Food of gods - and yet I think a full moon could be a Divine omelette ...

59 / *927

He. Yes, I am rich ... I shall not beg ... Riches I can never lose ... The full moon is a golden egg Laid for me by an unknown goose ...

375

She. Night is the wing of a peacock ... And the eyes in the wing are star-crowds ... And the eye of the sight of the peacock Is the moon with an eye-lid of clouds ...

380

He. The moon is a golden Sieve through whose Pores the months and Moonlight ooze ...

She. 385

The sapphire pebbles Are caused to fly A still lagoon By a golden sling The crescent moon, The stars, the sky ...

390

He. A yellow dandelion is the moon At midnight; but the midnight blush and bloom Vanishes at dawn, when it is blown Across the sky like dandelion down ...

She. 395

I love the pale pale moon at dawn, the moon At dawn that seems a sleepy rising sun ... And likewise do I love the setting sun The setting sun that glows - a rising moon ...

60 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

He.

For all the gold Of a setting sun Is molten and run And magically rolled In a lunar mould And finally done With a whirling spume To a ball of flame, The ball of flame Of the rising noon ...

400

405

She. 410

I do not like your similes For if the moon is like my face, And if an orange, as you please, Is as a moon, then equal case Makes an orange of my face! ... He. (kissing frantically) An orange whose sweet juice I squeeze ... (Two insane asylum guardsmen appear through the bushes. They raise their rifles ...)

415

Guardsmen, (together) There they are the lunatics, The fanatic fantastics, Who by sundry divers tricks First Guardsman. Flirtings, loves, and rhetorics Second Guardsman. Unexpected swing of sticks

420

First Guardsman. There she is who from the pyx

61 / 1927

Of a cell escaped, to fix My love, her love, on Second Guardsman. O Great Styx! Him I hold who made small nicks On my bean. (Feels his head.) O Hell! 425 Let us take him to his cell ... (They struggle with the guardsmen.) Voice on the Balcony, (singing) Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall Humpty Dumpty had a great fall, All the king's horses and all the king's men Can't put Humpty together again ... (He drops a big Easter egg.) She. (madly) 430 The moon has fallen down Pick it up! Pick it up! He.

Eat it up! Together. Eat it up! (The guards carry them off, struggling.) (Curtain). Plaudit e.

1927

62 / Original Poems, 1926—1934

Protest If ever I should love I would not pine In metaphors as poetasters do ... And strong hyperboles I would not brew Merely to tipsify a wench divine ... 5 Must all creation be an amorous sign? Must grasses gossip of my rendez-vous? Must roses and must stars be privy to Affairs which are particularly mine? ... I would not love, according to these fashions, 10 Nor lavish on my sweet such verbose pelf; Nor wrap my heart in seven fine cocoons, And with such embassy entrust an elf; Too jealous would I be of my own passions To share them with the ever-grinning moons.

1927

c. 1928/1928

Autumn Black crows are pecking at the carrion of Summer. Worms inter themselves in dead leaves. White birch branches sing the song a swan sings before its silence sings. Dull lead 5 and heaviness are heaven's sine qua non ... Sad leaves all day commit their suicides; such puny tragedies even till dawn throw little echoes in the wood ... Death hides its cross-bones in the branches ... Halcyon 10 breeds maggots in the brain ... The huddled owl doth sometimes hoot his profane requiems ... Gone is pleasure and the year has donned a cowl ... And lo! with twiggen fingers, one on one, Autumn, a pious ghost, wrapt mistily 15 in winding-sheets, stalks onwards, onwards, on ... c. 1928/1928

1928

64 / Original Poems, 1926—1934

Ballad of Signs and Wonders Every burgher is a feaster; Prague is welcoming the Easter ... And the Judengasse's overJoyed with Abib and Passover ... 5 April arm in arm with Nisan Doubles beauty of the season ... And upon the market-curbs Lilies are sold, and bitter herbs ... Prague did vaunt a lone apostate; 10 Had a Jewish soul and lost it; Saw and coveted the Christian Gold, and so he razored his chin ... Hated all his former brethren; Longed to see the fleeting Death run 15 In amongst them, with his dance Bringing his inheritance ... He, the money-hired liar, Taught the monk and priest and friar Twisted lore; they did imbibe all 20 Proving thus the text of Bible: 'From thy womb will come Jew-baiters! From thy loins thy people's haters!' ... Maledictions on his fame! May the earth forget his name! 25 She was tall and she was fair; She had long and golden hair; Lovely as the lilies are She was loveliest, by far, Of all virgins then or since; 30 She was daughter of the prince ...

65 / 0.1928/1928 And in April she did seem Verily an April-dream ... The accursed traitor lusted After her; his iron heart rusted 35 With his passion; and he sought her, Sought to steal the prince's daughter When, in struggling, flashed a dagger! Pale and blood-stained he did drag her Under cover of the dark 40 Night, into the Holy Ark ... Dawn arose like blood; 'And where is She who was preserved by fairies? Foul deed done! We will avenge! Hence! Seek the culprit! Wreak the vengeance! 45 Find him! We will screw his thumbs off! Pluck his gizzard! Tear his limbs off! Be his carcass-remnants fried!' So the wrathful burghers cried ... Spoke the nameless: "Tis the Hebrews 50 Who have need of strange bloody brews! Wring confession out with torture! Roll them in spiked barrels! Nurture Them upon their own horse-radish! Make each son of theirs a Kaddish! 55 With each Kaddish feed a hog! With me to the synagogue!' ... As the cantor strove to rival Spring-time birds, in wild arrival Rushed the angry horde and 'Slaughter!' 60 Cried they, 'or the prince's daughter!' The apostate then did pick on One of all the terror-stricken, Clenched the Rabbi's bearded hair: 'Open us the coffin there!'

66 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

65 Down he pulled the hangings, and Lo! he raised a blood-stained hand! Lo! upon the Holy Scroll Lies a body but no soul ... Lies the princess, golden-haired ... 70 (Adonai, thy flock be spared! ...) Slowly under every breath Creeps the whisperer called Death ... 'Death!' they shouted and their words Glistened on the fast drawn swords ... 75 (Hear, O Israel, God is One! ...) When behold there stood upon The stained threshold of the Ark She, the princess who did mark With her finger him the snake, 80 Jew-apostate ... Thus she spake: Tn the sweetness of my dream It was thy blade that did gleam; Thy blade it was that did rest In the sheathing of my breast ... 85 It was Spring! and life was mine ... I am dead! The deed was thine ...' Spoken; and she closed her eyes ... May she rest in Paradise ... Israel, blow the shofar; Oyez! 90 Praise the Lord with hallelujahs! Foes will ever seek to sunder Life from Judah! God is wonder! Miracles our way of living! Raise your voices in thanksgiving! 95 Let the sky and let the sod And all between now praise our God! ... c. 1928/1928

1928

6j I 0.1928/1928

Conjectures i The snow-flaked crystal stars fall fast Age of miracles not past! ... 2

These whitish flighty airy things Are feathers dipt from angels' wings? ...

3 5 These are silk remnants God casts down, Snipt from the new-made saintly gown? ... 4 A widow dies - in heaven weds Her husband - these confetti shreds? ... 5 Linnaeus is dissecting now, 10 White butterflies - The proof? White snow ... 6 Some Patriarch clips, trims his beard And these the furry hair just shear'd? ... 7 Aaron now in abstract mood Is whittling off his Blossom-rood? ... 8 15 The Shepherd Lord flings down earth's alms The fleece shorn off the Holy Lambs? ...

68 / Original Poems, 1926-1934 9

They whirl and swirl, through heavens stray White curd dropped from the Milky Way? ... 10 The snow-flaked crystal stars fall fast 20 Age of miracles not past! ...

c. 1928/1928

1928

Haunted House

5

10

15

20

Let the storm rage; No better way is there To ecstasize an autumn midnight Than lavishly to stage Fury climbing up a broken lightning stair ... Or to arrange Elemental pyrotechnics as a preconceived affair ... The window-seat in this deserted house Will frame us in still contrast to the wind's carouse; The window-seat Accords us cosy circumvision of the universe Replete With noisy mourners following a creaking hearse ... Are you not comfortable? Do you fear The thunder storm as night is borne upon a bier? Draw you then closer to me - how it storms That tempest in your heart, and how your bosom warms! See you the sky — an oriflamme tattered, A bowl of amethyst shattered, An inky hieroglyph spattered Against a parabolic wall ...

69 / 0.1928/1928

This is too strong to last; this heavy fall Will weary as a madman pounding on a cell. For since the wind goes clutching 25 At the shutters, wrenching The hinges, whistling In the attic, climbing The chimney, and pirouetting On its top, and since lightning 30 Plies its sudden stitching Of the sky, the rain drenching The weedy garden, the leaves rustling In the feeble groan of trees At each wetting, 35 It must cease ... It ceases. And lo! the clouds have passed; the moon Stares at the world, an actor who Fumbling his cue, has come too soon ... 40

Do not you fear then; the wind grows calmer, And thunder has laid down his hammer Ceasing to nail the stars in grooves invisible ... Only the poplar drips, sweating from his great struggles; Only the vine-leaves rustle, catching their quiet breath; 45 Only - but what is that sound that silence seeks to smuggle Into this room, like stealthy footsteps of a death? ... There must be someone in the upper attic, A bird-brained ghost moving with step erratic, Trying the door-knobs, pressing the wall's buttons ... 50 His slightest footstep threatens Tranquility, until he too is static. His movement ceases. Silence collects its broken pieces ... 55

It is quiet in this house; There is nothing else to do

yo / Original Poems, 1926—1934

But to listen to the mouse That is listening to you.

60

65

There is nothing else to stage But the spider in his hunger Growing fat, and growing younger In his age ... There is nothing here for thought. Silence nullifies the sane. And dust settles on the brain. Here is naught.

Nothing is here save you, my love and your Flaming companionship consoling me In this lone dust-infested house which we Have entered, pushing on a latchless door ... 70 Nothing is here, my love, except a poor, A niggard modicum of empery And four walls crumpling into meagre three, The fourth being exit. Here is nothing more. Nothing and no one save we two, my dear, 75 Watching a rain drop, thinking of a tear, And foiling sorrow with elaborate dictions, Therefore so evident, it is, so clear Life is a haunted house, haunted by fictions. But let me not change breath to breathing words, 80 Seeing that zeros transfer into nils ... Let me not be Polonius to love, Fixing a definition in a phrase, Adorning small nihilities with frills Of fancy circumlocutory praise. 85 Let me not fashion thought in tiny pills, But let me say, in one of many ways: Life is a haunted house through which two lovers Holding warm hands are bravely sallying, Ransacking cluttered bookshelves, lifting coffers,

ji / 0.1928/1928 90 Opening dusty cupboards, wandering, Through rooms uncarpeted, up stairs unsteady, Reaching at last the attic, and unclasping The attic window, showing the full sky With stars expectant of the frenzied grasping, 95 And splendour calling forth the heady Exclamation, and the single cry ... There goes the wind again, again the rain-drops Riddle the wet leaves, falling from the branches; Again is the moon torn into undistinguished 100 Leaves like the fall's; again the storm wind wrenches Trees from their sockets, and once more the wind Rides like a witch upon a broomstick, Rides like a witch upon the poplar trees ... Yet as I speak it is all over. 105 Quiet again skulks in this room; The thunder shower, a rowdy spirit, Returns unto his unknown tomb. Only thick gouts fall from the eaves Upon the loud-resounding leaves ... no And once again within the upper attic The bird-brained ghost moves with his step erratic; His slightest footstep steps upon the mind, Until he too is static. His movement ceases. 115 Silence collects its broken pieces ... c. 1928/1928

1929

72 / Original Poems, 1926—1934

Joseph 'Behold the dreamer cometh!' ... They beheld The lad, well-favoured, good to look upon Hurry towards them eagerly, as one Who feared his news might be too long withheld ... 5 'Let him no longer work his little schemes Upon us. Let him in this pit think now A star is lord, a sheaf stands upright ... Now Let scorpions interpret him his dreams ...' They stript him off his coat; and in this wise 10 They left him in the wilderness. They slew A kid and took the coat of many dyes And steeped it in its blood to make a clue ... And held before old Jacob's dimming eyes A coat of one red retribution hue ... c. 1928/1928

1928

Mattathias Of scabrous heart and of deportment sleek, And reeking like an incense superfine, The Hebrew renegade laid hold the swine And raised it as a flattery to the Greek ... 5 His dagger flashed, truly a lightning streak; The blood gushed from the swine-heart which, in fine, Did the Lord's altar all incarnadine ... In truth, there is sore vengeance now to wreak!

73 / 0.1928/1928 And Mattathias, Man of Modin, cool 10 With old age grew all warm with wrath; he threw Discretion to the winds like a false jewel, And on the instant, zeal-possessed, he slew The knave. Behold within a single pool A swine's blood and the blood of traitor Jew! ... c. 1928/1928

A Sequence of Songs Exultation My blood shouts very joyous news Into my heart; and then Hurries upon a lively cruise To come and shout again. 5 Whose is the gladness that can vie With mine? Once more, for spite, Who is so happy as am I? ... I see my love tonight! Exit The street is great festivity; 10 Snow is a royal canopy Made for a lover, made for me. This is the way that love should go: Winter an orchard-walk where blow Blossom-petals of white snow.

1928

74 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

15 Kisses of mine which lent a grace To summer, run a frozen race: Snowflake-kissing all my face. Love Call Now she awaits me at this time we made I'll ring the door-bell as my serenade. Tremblement du coeur 20 Footsteps are bringing beauty hither. She Opens the door. Why do you start, Why do you leap the stairs Ahead of me, my heart? First Sight The beauty that my love wore all the seven 25 Days I did not see her is now told Upon her face, her face which is a heaven Of beauty sevenfold. Song of Love I will make a song for you, And will sing it new. 30 I will not name any rose In my passion-throes; Nor repeat a single word Of a singing bird; Nor remember any tune 35 Which will rhyme with June.

75 / 0.1928/1928

Silence will be the words of this Song set to music of a kiss. Quarrel If so, Then I will go ... 40 (Downstairs a waiting wind is whistling for me. Behind me there is sorrow; and before me? ...)

New Version The moon is a golden hoop Whence bursts, whence bounds, Straining for the fatal swoop, 45 A pack of hounds. Doubt And yet the doubt is hither-thither cast Will the last kiss I gave her be the last? ... Home Love is become a memory, A bitter, bitter memory, 50 Love is become a memory Where did I put that key?

76 / Original Poems, 1926-1934 Finale

Love is an ache Keen and long ... Let my heart break 55 Into song. c. 1928/1928

1929

A Song That the Ships of Jaffa Did Sing in the Night The ship leaves Jaffa, treasure in its hold: Figs, coronets of sweetness; sweeter dates; Citrons, like perfume phials, packed in crates; Boxed oranges, the scented globes of gold; 5 Grape clusters, and wine bottles, dusty, old; Sweet almonds, toothsomest of delicates; Bleeding golgothas of red pomegranates, All smooth and fresh, and innocent of mould. And Torah scrolls penned by some scribe, now dead, 10 And pray'r-shawls woven in an eastern loom, And palm-leaves shipped to the Uncomforted, And candlesticks to light some Sabbath gloom. And little sacks of holy earth to spread Under a pious skull in a far tomb ... c. 1928/1928

1944

77 / 0.1928/1928

These Candle Lights Dead heroes ride the chariots of the wind; Jew-phantoms light the candles of the sky; Old war-cries echo in my memory; The ghosts of five brave brothers stalk my mind. 5 And this because my father and his kind Are lighting heirloom'd candelabra, aye, Are singing praises to the One on High, This night in which past battles are enshrined! As sweet as were the sweet songs of degrees 10 That David sang rejoicing, is this rite My sire rejoicing sings; and as the sight Of almond blooms that burst on spring-time trees Is sight of this menorah, and of these Eight blossoms breaking on a winter night! c. 1928/1928

1936

To the Jewish Poet You cherished them as ancient gems, those tears Of Jeremiah; through that night for you These only shone; these jewels of the Jew, ... With which he graced his sorrow all the years ... 5 But now forget them! Spurn them! The dawn nears! The Dawn arises, tinted white and blue, Upon a land, lean to the parvenu, Make fat that land with sweat, and not with tears ... Do purge your voice; suppress the groan; abate 10 The weepings; cleanse the whimper; choke the whine ...

78 / Original Poems, 1926—1934

You make grimaces, cast complaints on fate, And speak about a cup of bitter wine? ... That cup now has a crack, a crack as great As the whole length and breadth of Palestine ... c. 1928/1928

1928

1928

Five Weapons against Death Foreword If you are joyous now, omit These whining sonnets; pass this black Page over; overlook this writ. It will recall the song you lack. 5 Turn you this leaf, and you ensconce Yourself in graveyards, hear the dull Stroke of the spade against sheer bones, Against a once-familiar skull ... Arrow of Aloofness This last week I have shunned mortality; Advisedly eschewed the mentioned dead; Shut both my eyes to graven tombstones; fled From the small horrors of a cemetery ... Worn epitaphs this last week were to me Menacing omens ominously read; 15 This week there was no sound I did not dread, No sound was there that was not threnody ... 10

8o / Original Poems, 1926-1934

Strive as I could, I could not flee it, I Could not from Death keep utterly aloof; The least worm's turn - a threat; the slightest sigh 20 Upon the wind - a soul's last good reproof ... O, this last week, this last week - even the sky To me was like a fretted charnel roof! ... Irony of Fourteen Blades Striking the melancholy attitudes They laved his body in feigned tear-drops - O 25 These staid mechanic mourners, and their throe! They nailed his coffin with sad platitudes ... Lo, the post-mortem praiser - he exudes Stock phrases such practitioners all know; Commiseration made to order - woe 30 Delivered of manufactured moods! ... The merchants weep - they have one less to cheat; The gossips whine - they have one less to doom; Old women, for the sake of bleating, bleat; And sorrow bubbles from the eyes like spume ... 35 All have performed the sad incumbent feat — The undertaker gloats behind his gloom ... Sword of the Righteous And they have torn their garments; and have turned The portraits to the wall, and hid the bright Reflections of a mirror in a white 40 Cloth; they have stared on Sorrow and discerned Fatality; and they have truly mourned ... And ceased to mourn. On stools in stolid plight Shoeless they sit; suddenly stand upright And chant the Kaddish they have lately learned. 45 For why be desolate, and why complain Seeing that Death has always his last say?

8i / 1928 Let rather piety accept his reign. Rather let worthy unconcern allay The anguish, iterating the refrain: 50 He who has given, He has snatched away ...

Sling for Goliath Never let me behold her so again ... Where happiness should be, no happiness. Woe on her lips all rouged with bitterness, Tears on her face like acid etching pain, 55 And fingers knitted in lamented strain Inversely broken out of great distress; And weeping, weeping and sad bitterness Never let me behold her so again. Let me not think upon her father's death, 60 And certainly not think of her strong sorrow; Let me not brood upon that knavish Sleuth Contriving clever frightfulness to harrow Body and soul, and take away the breath. My hand cannot stay steady, chiseling Sorrow ...

Club of Final Pain 65 There lies a corpse upon your memory, plus A headstone heavy on the corpse - O shun Consortments with your memory of one Whose pain no longer shrills as querulous. O my beloved, do not sorrow thus. 70 The moon has lost no lustre, and the sun No sunlight; nor like you is it undone. And dawn arises still to call to us. Surely there is no difference, no change In this our love since he passed by the door 75 And kissed no worn mezuzah ... Why estrange Yourself from happiness, and why implore

82 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

And coax the heartache? Surely there is no change, Only that in your grief I love you more ... Afterword The crow upon the hawthorn bush 80 Pecks at the haws until they bleed; Or watches some red earthworm push Himself along a slimy weed; Or meditates the autumn leaf Turning to powder and to dust ... 85 He caws in arrant unbelief. 1928

*929

Where Shall I Find Choice Words Where shall I find choice words to mention Sorrow That Sorrow may not be a pain to you? That Sorrow may not jewel your eyes with teardrops Nor twist your once-resigned lips anew? 5 Where shall I find such delicate, such tender Phrases as will slide off your heart, and not Open the wound that I had said had vanished? Where shall I find that soft word, that mild thought? Such words there are not, nor such harmless phrases; 10 Even the word innocuous sometimes sears. I found the phrase, designed and well-aforethought Brought a quick memory, and lavish tears ...

1928

1933

83 / 1928

Coward in Consolation What shall I say to you in that grim hour? How shall I open my lips? How shall I dare To watch your tears? O surely I will cower Before the face that will be hidden there, 5 Before the candles weeping wax upon the pall, Before the portrait frames, their faces turned towards the wall. I shall not let my voice be audible Lest it will give the lie to what I say. I shall not be with you at all, at all. 10 In that grim hour I shall stay away ...

1928

A Prayer against the Witnessing of Grief Spare me, O Lord, if you will spare Me anything Duty I know I cannot bear Again: to bring 5 A quiet consolation unto those Who want a quiet consoling. Afflict me rather with their woes. I ask of you, I ask this grace, I who have known

84 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

10 The quivering of a weeping breast Against my own, I who have known The flow of her tears down my face.

1928

c. 1926/0. 1928

Advice to the Young Dispose of every sting with some safe gnome Accept them all with unconcerned ease: Consider them but as a horde of bees Who make your brain a pleasant honey-comb ... c. 1926/c. 1928

Advice to Young Virgins If you would snare your lover, mesh Him in the tangles of your flesh ... Encumber him with all your beauty; Have him as one weighed down by booty. 5 If you would keep him, you must dole Him out small portions of your soul ...

86 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

But though you give, still keep the essence. So that love, dead, may find renaissance ... If these things fail, then let him be 10 Shackled and chained by jealousy ... c. 1926/c. 1928

April Disappointments This is the seventh time this week That I have gone Into the quiet woods to seek Some sign upon 5 The trees to show me that the Spring Had come again; Some sign of grass, some singing thing Other than rain Some blood-root or some leafiness 10 That was not black; And now the seventh time it is That I come back With mud upon my shoes, and with The lighter part 15 Of a branch in my hand, and with An empty heart ... c. I9z6/c. 1928

87 / 0.1926/0.1928

April Fool And when he mentioned showers He could not avoid To rhyme his words with flowers Springing from a void ... 5 For he was all enamoured Of every growing thing; His very heart-beats clamoured With the joy of Spring ... He even felt buds breaking 10 In his brain; apart From that rose which was aching, Bursting in his heart ... c. 1926/c. 1928

April Fulfilment I would be happy if the Winter thawed, I would be happy if the querulous bird Came back again, and stirred The bright quicksilver in his heart; I would applaud, 5 Instead of the white snow, the thick green sod ... This in January I averred. The Winter thawed away, and where the snow Was, there the beauties of the lilies grow ... The cruel bird has come again 10 And not too soon will go ...

88 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

This April crushes my hurt heart and makes its perfume flow ... I do not know If I am happy that this thing is so ... c. 1926/0. 1928

Arbiter Bibendi You well deserve my complimental gesture My raising of the goblet to your fame ... O Caesar Borgia, yours is a name, A title for Queen Death's ironic Jester! 5 Your pranks were an apothecary's best; your Poisons had an eucharistic aim, 0 Cardinal! Your philtres ever came To make one fall in love with Dame Death. Rest sure Your scarlet presence blanched one all aghast 10 For you were somewhat of a Stygian host, Wherefore, to you who are in Hell at last Now tasting your own potions while you roast, 1 drink, sans fear that this may be my last, A relishing appreciative toast ... c. 1926/0. 1928

89 / €.1926/0.1928

Assurance Even if your heart were stone, There would be some place for me In its stoniness, because Even if your heart were stone 5 I would be its moss ... c. 1926/c. 1928

Astrologer The sun goes down, and slowly there appears the writing on the wall of the horizon; and only I can understand this blazon of banners pendant from celestial spears ... 5 I dote on the calligraphy of spheres; so with the universe have made liaison; bold-faced and fleet and eager-eyed to brazen my way among the sieges of the Peers. Behind the wall there is the unknown Clerk: 10 the stars all are his alphabetic discs; the moon marks periods; lightnings in the dark whir exclamation-points; and comet-whisks shoot dashes. Only I, the hierarch, can know the reference of the asterisks ... c. 1926/c. 1928

90 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

Autumn Autumn, you dement; you wrench from my throat Plaudits of incoherence; lo, I cry: You are an oriflamme against the sky; You are the memory of Joseph's coat; 5 Vermilion lines that Omar Khayyam wrote; A molten rainbow; Bergeracian lie; Jester in motley gibbeted on high; You are a red hand catching at my throat! One phrase erupts another. Oh, you paint 10 The dull brain gaudy as a brilliant totem; Havoc you wreak with speech. Logic you taint. Futile is praise before your splendour, Autumn. Splendour that renders my voice small and faint, Until I am left mumbling, - Autumn ... Autumn ... c. 1926/c. 1928

1932

Autumn Night All day the crows cracked sky-clefts with their caws. Their wings made blots against the sky. Night grew. Night was a big black crow which slowly flew With stars as gleaming nails within her claws ... c. 1926/c. 1928

91 / €.1926/0.1928

Bion in His Old Age Do you go to Venus, Love, There to leave The unflattering mirror of Aged grief? ... 5 (No, she is not beautiful; She is old; And her touch is very cool, Almost cold ...) 10

Since you bring your mirror near Venus' fire, To Apollo must I bear My mute lyre ...

It is dusk what once was dawn ... Leave the throng. 15 Beauty was, and now is gone ... So is song ... c. I9z6/c. 1928

Blind Girl's Song The two false coins in my copper pot Rattle a sorry melody ... The strings of their purses in a knot, Their fists in their pockets, men go by, 5 While their dry shoe-leather shuns my spot And squeaks in a small voice, stingily.

92 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

O burgesses, and burghers brave, Who walk beneath no darkened skies, Throw me a coin you will not save. 10 Only she eats her crumb, who buys ... O, I shan't ask when in my grave For pennies on my eyes ... c. 1926/c. 1928

Bounty Royal Look not askance, O Love, upon these gifts; Spurn not these offers; nor repel these few Choices my choice above all others lifts, Nothings that anyone may offer you ... 5 A golden moon that is yours for the taking, A bird-song yours for the mere hearkening; And silver dawns that are yours at your waking And in your sleeping many a jewelled thing ... O Love say not these lavishings are thrifts 10 Nor that some other could have paid them due Truly there is no worth in these poor gifts, But in that it is I who give them you ... c. I9i6/c. 1928

93 / 0.1926/0.1928

Business And for the sake of you I am become A trafficker in stars, and barter my Knapsack of constellations for some high Rare compliment for you; I am become 5 A hawker of the moon, who, never dumb, Runs through the streets and shouts his wonders; I Am certainly a magnate of the sky I lay before you all my glittering sum ... Yes, I would sell the flora of each clime 10 For price of metaphor; and I would dole Out riches for the sake of one sweet rhyme To sing its solo in a sweeter whole ... And I would buy a poem any time And gladly pay it with my only soul ... c. I9z6/c. 1928

*929

A Coloured Gentleman He jaunted down the busy shopping street in natty style, dressed sprucely spick and span. His socks peeked white above the glinting tan of half-shoes. Jacket, black over a neat white vest. In his lapel a rose, red. Teeth grinned ivory in an ebony brownish man; a butterfly of silk had spread each fan, bright5 mottled on his neck - his bow-tie pleat ... He swings his cane and winks at all the dames ... He hears a noise - and someone from the back nooses his neck, his brilliant bow-tie maims ... He dangles in the air. The

94 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

10 mob jeers back, and lights a bonfire at his feet. The flames change all his colours to a charred black ... c. 1926/c. 1928

Composition I must write my love a poem ...

5

Her lips And her eyes In the paleness of her face Are as roses And forget-me-nots Thrown in a heap of lilies ... Alas, this is free verse ... I must write my love a poem ... c. 1926/c. 1928

Dark Cleopatra on a Gilded Couch

Dark Cleopatra on a gilded couch Staring at Antony, and Antony Kneeling upon a none-too servile knee A-fingering her oriental brouch; 5 And Helen musing on her love's reproach; And Juliet lorn; and pale Penelope

95 / 0.1926/0.1928 Weaving the warp and woof of misery; These are the themes, dear, that I will not broach ... Useless it is, and most superfluous 10 That love should take dead garlands, and should bind Them on hot brows; useless it is for us To mouth of passions some have left behind. For we ourselves, ghosts pale and curious, May some night hear our names upon the wind ... c. 1926/c. 1928

Discord of the Crow Where once the butterfly was seen Await the sight of snow-flake; for Summer has frolicked off the scene, And Autumn stumbles from the door ... 5 Upon a leg ephemeral The grasshopper sojourned in this Dead field where rambling wind is all The lively motion that there is. No longer will the shrewd ant pry 10 Into a thin abandoned sheaf; The splendour of the dragon-fly Has fallen to the powdered leaf ... The languid worm lies robed in frore, His cerement; now frost is a pale 15 Immaculate enamel for The midget castle of the snail ... c. 1926/c. 1928

96 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

Divine Titillation O, what human chaff! Trying to tickle my feet With spires! ... What conceit! Indeed you make me laugh! c. I9z6/c. 1928

Elegy The sea clutches her hair in grief, Weeps almost to suicide, And batters her head on cliff and reef Some notable Fish has died ... c. 1926/c. 1928

1933

97 / 0.1926/0.1928

Fable

A fox Is whining for A much-desired grape ... Sullenly the fox regards The moon ... 5

c. 1926/0. 1928

February Morning Dawn! and I feel the light Of the sun upon my eyes; I hear birds poetize And see them flit, alight 5 Upon the window, right Before me, giving cries Of some important news Has Spring arrived last night? c. 1926/0. 1928

98 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

Figure The soul of a squirrel plus its caudal incarnation is vertically added to the undeniable unity 5 of a tree-trunk: It is an unfinished sum. It hearkens to snare in the hole of its zero An Answer 10 - the still small voice of infinity. Or the division of a nut from its branch. c. I9z6/c. 1928

Finis This, then, is over ... I will take each paper Made precious by some script I wrote you once, And curl it to a hard and slender taper And bring it near a flame-crowned candle ... Wince 5 Though I will, I will let fire gather My memories, my subtle sorrow flame. So is it better. I would have this rather Than that upon some long-forgotten paper Suddenly I should come upon your name ... c. 1926/c. 1928

99 / 0.1926/0.1928

Fragment on the Death of Shelley Oh Autumn will come all too soon this year, And trees will bud gay birds - oh nevermore ... And flowers will slowly die and disappear, And even the sun, a spent and empty core, 5 Will burn her mourning fever, and be cold ... For he is dead, who, singing, left the shore Who never could be old ... What glory is there now in being a rose? And why should sky-larks still desire to soar, 10 Singing, and he not hear, he who loved Beauty, and whom Beauty chose? ... c. 1926/c. 1928

Frankly And though I do not love you any more Your memory is scattered on the floor Of my hurt brain, where the least little wind May raise it, make it float within my mind ... 5 No bird can sing but what it stumbles on Your name. The dusk recalls you, and the dawn. Almost has Winter lost you when the Spring Discovers you amidst its blossoming. And April, on the hill, her frock aflame, 10 Franticly calls and cries to you by name: And even in the fire of September You are the last, and not the dullest ember ...

ioo / Original Poems, 1926-1934

But though your name knocks ever on the door Frankly, I do not love you any more ... c. 1926/c. 1928

Gargoyle A grotesque gargoyle on a grey Cathedral wall Enamoured of the virginal Head of Saint Mary underneath 5 The halo's ray What is the import of this breath? Why do I fiddle With these twistings of a riddle Of a fool? 10 I am not handsome; you are beautiful . c. 1926/0. 1928

Histrionic Sonnet Let me recall. What was that ancient night I found breath was a most ecstatic seizure; And life abandonment that left no leisure; And my poor self a planet's satellite? What was that hour remembered in half-light, Wherein the moon upon a breast of azure Shone like a pendent? Is there so brief measure To memory that I have lost it, quite?

ioi / 0.1926/0.1928 Be you not duped by this forgetfulness, 10 This simulated loss of one red hour; This is an actor's well-planned feigning, yes Clear as an April broken into flower I conjure up that night of loveliness When love shot up into a starry shower! c. I9z6/c. 1928

Homage A whole long week it rained; and were it not For your blue eyes, the colour of the sky Had been forgot. c. 1926/c. 1928

Invitation Do you but say the word, and I will come, Though I be where your word is foreign speech. Do you but make the gesture; lo, I am Before you who was far beyond your reach; Yea, though I be long distances from you And though there be sharp pebbles in my shoes, Do you but hint to me the wanted cue And I will come to you. c. 1926/c. 1928

102 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

Letters to One Absent I I eat; the ladle does not leave the bowl. I sleep; say that I lie upon a bed; I drink; the cup is tilted but still full, I rise and labour for my butterless bread. 5 The sun sets. I turn pages in a book. I shuffle cards. I lay them on a board. I choose a point on the wall, and look, and look, Sometimes I unclose lips and say a word. O empty, empty without you, love, a void 10 When the sun threatens to burn into ash. Already the stars are flaming cinders, buoyed By desolate winds. The world will go in a flash. Only do you return: cinders are curled To stars; the sun is sun; the world is world. II

15 If there will be a moon to-night, arise, Put on your loveliest dress, and take the road That leads to mountains pivoting the skies. Regard the moon. Though at the antipode, And I, upon these lowlands, am as far, 20 Though I be miles from you, the moon, a mirror, Silvered and framed in many an angled star, Will smile your smile, and I will know you nearer. But if the moon still lingers in Cathay Or hangs caught in the branches of some tree, 25 Or has been splintered by a comet-spray, Or lies drowned at the bottom of the sea, -

103 / 0.1926/0.1928 Why, I will choose a hill, and sit on grass, And think of fate, and sigh, Alas! Alas! ... c. 1926/0. 1928

Litany Because the Lord was good to me, and gave Me happiness that runneth from the brim Because the love of you to me he gave, I worship Him. 5 Because I am still young, because the moon Beneath my ribs has not yet known eclipse, Because with this sure youth I know my boon I worship Him upon your lips. c. 1926/0. 1928

!932

Lothario This mirror libels me, and cavils at My slim and trim and sleek and jaunty past ... Is that a face - that powdered plaster-cast, Shaven and purple, with its pendent fat? 5 And are those few thin hairs the coiffure that Set maiden-fingers itching, and that classed Me with the star in any movie-cast? Are these they? Baldness bids me don my hat. Is that another wrinkle writes its slur

104 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

io Upon my face as on a parchment-page? But that is nothing. This food-sepulchre, This rounded stomach is what makes me rage: Daily my heavy paunch grows heavier, As one that waxes, pregnant with old age ... c. 1926/c. 1928

Manuscript: Thirteenth Century i Who has not heard of Blanche the beautiful, Envied of every proud and ermined dame, Of whom the tall knight in the castle-hall, Yea, and the blond page at the chessmen's game, 5 Speak with a sigh that makes each syllable An adoration of her candid fame? Where is the youth whose banner vaunts no trace Of the high lady of the ineffable face? 2

The jongleur juggled the rhymed line in her praise; 10 The sculptor carved her in a gothic trance; The scribe illumined with some bible phrase The pale madonna of her countenance; The stained-glass window and the sunset rays Blazoned her in a tale of old romance; 15 And boys ensorceled with an ancient spell Flattered their loves with Blanche as parable ... 3 Joy was there in that southern land of sun, Where foreign knights, sojourning in their tents Dreamed of the lady, jousted for and won,

105 / 0.1926/0.1928 2O

Amid the strife of trumpeted tournaments ... Others there were of no such benison Seeing that on their shields there were no dents, Enamoured chivalry, that pale-faced came To breathe upon the rose her brief white name ...

4 25 These christened lilies after her in vain; In vain these whetted sword-points for the thrust; For journey home may each, from thrall to thane, No joust will be; the coat of mail may rust; The knight may chafe; the charger shake his mane 30 Eager to snort at blood and valiant dust; Cobwebs may grow a pennon to the lance, Fair Blanche regards these dons and lords askance ... 5 Albeit within the heart of every youth There sat a bright-hued perroquet that cried 35 Her name again and again, she showed no ruth Unto these bridegrooms suing for a bride ... Her love it was suborned, suborned in sooth By the grand gallantry, the comely pride, The manner brave and courteously bland 40 Of Roland, robber and outlaw of the land ... 6 Who fares through tenebrous forests of Boisvert Leading his horse through moonlit paths, he may Discover the couchant leopard in his lair When of a sudden, a mask will bid him stay, 45 Ordering his ducats or his prayer ... Shall he, then, lift a dagger for the fray When Roland, who dubs corpses with his sword, Utters the swift behest, the short grim word? ...

106 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

7 Roland the robber-chief! his swarthy crew! 50 Their very mention breeds a pious curse! He halts the rich-apparelled retinue And sends them home, as poor as pilgrimers ... He pries the coffers of the trembling Jew; He slits the byzants from the bishop's purse; 55 He hunts the royal deer; he laughs to scorn The surly provosts of the lords high-born ... 8 Mysterious is love; no wizards know Its secrets; no astrologers can read Its purport in the stars, of weal or woe; 60 The sages are confounded in their creed Before this matter, and before this throe The doctors of the schools are not agreed. Wherefore unriddle shall none why the pale dove Betook her to the falcon of her love ... 9 65 The arrow fleeting to the casement brought His messages to her; they met at dusk ... Only the stars can tell the trysting-spot, The wind betray it with the smell of musk; April beheld them in some garden-plot, 70 October wandering through the golden bosk Treading the booty of the pilfered year; And no December unto them was drear ... 10 When the sun pressed warm kisses on her eyes She woke for the fulfilment of a dream, 75 The whole long day the horloge of her sighs Awaited the sun's last and vanquished gleam, An oriflamme abandoning the skies. The whole long day her heart had love for theme

107 / 0.1926/0.1928 And love for memory, and love for words 80 Of song that blossomed from the throats of birds. 11 Alas, that lovers never will be loathe To fling their vows to all the winds that pass, To be oblivious to the triple oath, Perjure the largess of their love, alas! 85 Many the testaments Sire Roland quoth And many the hesperidan promises He lavished as he held her in embrace And kisses took the pallor from her face ... 12 O, that which must be, in the end will be! 90 The churl who brought fair Blanche her scarlet shame And caused a twittering at her purity And made a byword of her sullied fame Is fleeted hence, is gone forever. He Laughs with his cronies at her mentioned name 95 And by the fire in the forest den Raises guffaws among his uncouth men ... 13 Staid gossips whisper of the wedded maid; Good mothers bid their daughters have a care, Merchants some time forget their talk of trade; 100 Rude villeins glimpse her, and they stop to stare Seeing how that her loveliness did fade And how her beauty is no longer fair; For Blanche pined daily for the sight of him, His souriant face, his body tall and slim. 14 105 Daily she rises, weeping, from her bed; And steps upon the fennel-scented floor Seeking the arrow that has never fled: Ye sparrows privy to all secret lore

108 / Original Poems, 1926—1934

Some solace bring to the uncomforted, no Ease me my bosom of its bleeding core Banish my sorrow, sparrows, for love's sake. Where does he bide for whom I lie awake? *5 Surely he is not quarry to the king? O little minions of the air, tell me 115 He does not lie beneath the roots of Spring; He is not dead, he wants no threnody And no worms sew his body while they sing? Adorn this truth with all your melody; And if you cannot say this thing is so, 120 Cease you your chirping that I may not know. 16 She said: This world is very anguish; life Grows keen and bitter at its mouldy root; The moon to me is an assassin's knife; The sun hangs in the sky, an empty fruit; 125 Sorrow, alas, has taken me to wife, And all my pride is trodden underfoot! O heart, forgo, then, and forsake, forget, The petty passion and the paltry fret ... *7 Unto the Lord through cells untapestried 130 Daily she prayed in Latin monotones, Dropping each bead after each hesitant bead Punctilious of tierce, sext, prime, and nones. Devotional, her tender knees did bleed, Her hungered flesh clave to her very bones, 135 So that it was a spirit that did fix Its palms in prayer before the crucifix.

109 / 0.1926/0.1928 i8 Said Sister Agathe: She has forgotten him; She paints the azure robe of heaven's queen; Said Sister Therese: She tells of seraphim 140 Flaming through dreams. Said Sister Celestine: Most piously doth she intone the hymn. They knew not, these white nuns, the forest green That quivered before her eyes, the roses red Ensanguining the missal that she read ... 19 145 Guard your soul in your scabbard, Roland; live Vigilant as the vulture, look to yourself! The guerdon on your head retributive Breeds many a traitor titillant for pelf. Fates may be hopping through a witch's sieve; 150 Treachery may be whispered by the elf; Murder may lurk in hidden paths; and death Be borne upon justiciary breath. 20 Roland the robber-chief - he is betrayed! He contemplates his dungeon's scurrying mice. 155 Now may the castillan stay unafraid, The usurer uncheated of his price, No more will merchant-princes be waylaid, Nor mints ransacked. He will not harass twice Domains whose carpenters do now prepare 160 A pedestal for him on empty air ... 21 It is no holy hour, no holy day; The belfry clamours forth its ominous noise, Viaticum for the unsacred way That leads to sorrow deep-dyed and no joys. 165 The peers have spoken; the bishop has his say; The scaffold rises; virtue regains its poise,

no / Original Poems, 1926-1934 And while the sexton digs the profane tomb The heralds trumpet forth a festal doom ... 22

Rumbles the death-cart over the cobbled street; Sire Roland and the hangman bandy jests; The clerics prophesy the nether heat; The good wives sigh and heave their heavy breasts; The dogs bark at the prospect of dead meat; The urchins thumb their noses; all the guests 175 Attendant on this true morality, Sagely discourse the varlet and his fee.

170

2

3 The dark steed halts before the convent-gate; Such the indulgence that old sanction grants To felons doomed about to hang in state, 180 That ere the good nuns sing the godspeed chants The wine-filled goblet and the bread on plate May give an easement to his fleshly wants. Along the convent-walk the sisters go Singing the benediction of his woe ... 2 4 185 Marvel of marvels in the annals writ! It was fair Blanche who bore the proffered wine, It was her pale white hand that unsealed it And it was she who did incarnadine The goblet dulling the imbiber's wit, 190 Yea, dulling better than the hempen line. Sire Roland scarcely quaffs the tinctured cup When lo! to God he gives his spirit up ... 2

5

He lies upon the death-cart's broken boards, Uncognizant of any further dearth, 195 Forgetful of the bandit's buried hoards, Aloof from sorrow, and disdaining mirth,

111 / 0.1926/0.1928 Slain better than by headsman's two-edged swords, Awaiting only a cool bed in earth ... There is upon the mouth that open gapes 200 A potency, forsooth, not crushed from grapes ... 26 Old sisters mumble now: Fair Blanche it was Who at the midnight from the garden tore The herbs malevolent and the poisonous grass; Fair Blanche who made a dust of hellebore 205 And powdered roots against the heathen brass, Initiate in worse than devil's lore, The brain-touched Blanche who sang her screech-owl tune Plucking mandragora in the light o' the moon ... 27 Was it in wrath she mixed the baneful draught 210 For that she might wreak vengeance? Did she crave Such retribution from her pestilled craft? Hatred unlooses tongues of men to rave; Venom doth render its loud victims daft Was it through these she so despatched the knave, 215 Sending his spirit volent to atone Before the Lord, before the heavenly throne? 28 Or was it, as divining poets tell, Apothecary passion that thus brewed The potion reeling towards the bourne of hell, 220 The drink mortific? Was it love that rued To see him pendent from the fifty ell? Unpollen the rose, unheard the lion's brood; Pluck out the stars; forage the eagle's nest, Sooner do these, than search the secret breast ...

112 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

29 225 The bitter gouts have granted him reprieve; The rope is cheated by the mordant juice; The friar shuts his book; the burghers leave; The gallows creak in the wind; the swinging noose Upholds no corpse; the executioners grieve; 230 The hangman scowls at the enforced truce; Bereft of carrion for their ravenous maws The crows afflict the heavens with their caws ...

c. 1926/c. 1928

*934

Momus If I were Jove, I would gloat humouredly On victims of my retribution-pranks; My punishments would smack of some esprit I would not be like those divinest cranks 5 Who weep, chastising - O the mountebanks! The vile mouth which refused its peccavi, A halitotic curse upon it be! With which to mouth its orisons and thanks ... The eye of jettatura I would squint ... 10 The wicked palm, it would be my caprice To tantalize ... On dull heads I would print My joke of baldness, stealing the cranial fleece ... And I would laugh at him of cardiac flint, Plucking his heart out with a single sneeze ... c. 1926/c. 1928

113 / 0.1926/0.1928

Nocturne The bat beats uncouth wings on mildewed rafters, And flying, lets his recollection fly To long-departed ladies and loose laughters ... The starved mouse nibbles an old memory ... 5 And in the lily-padded pond the frog Croaks his one serenade; while from above Comes sound of owl conversing with pale fog ... Afar, the whistle of a lad in love ... c. 1926/c. 1928

October Heresy Until a wiser method entered my Perennial love-madnesses, I was Enamoured of the Spring and of new grass And mortified by any tarnished sky ... 5 But now I no more dote on April; I No longer believe that any" April has Such influence upon a certain lass As to afflict her with a certain sigh. October is the month to compass that! 10 Only October is the month to fling Bronze pennies and gold coins where lovers chat, And blow a silver flute where no birds sing. And in truth, what is Spring to marvel at When Autumn's very leaves are blossoming? c. 1926/c. 1928

1933

114 / Original Poems, 1926—1934

An Old Dame Prates in Galilee There was a youth in Nazareth, So fair that when he passed by me His very beauty made my breath, My soul fail utterly ... 5 Now that my no-more-young foot slips Into the grave, let it be known That he whose name is on all lips Had mine upon his own ... c. 1926/c. 1928

Orders Muffle the wind; Silence the clock; Muzzle the mice; Curb the small talk; 5 Cure the hinge-squeak; Banish the thunder. Let me sit silent, Let me wonder. c. I9z6/c. 1928

1940

115 / c.1926/01928

Out of a Pit of Perpendiculars I

Out of a pit of perpendiculars Into the sky I stare, and do not know That it is Spring save that the calendars Assert that it is so. 5 And here, indeed, how can the Spring be known? Birds do not sing within a dynamo, And static jungles made of mortared stone Bud not, nor break, nor grow ... Here all beautiful sounds are maimed beneath 10 The wheels of tramways; here all perfumes are Fouled by the breath that chimney-dragons breathe; Here vision is a scar. Mention the Spring to passers-by; some will Look wistfully and some will shrug two high 15 Shoulders; and some will laugh laughs horrible But all will pass you by ... These are the blazonings which now aver The purpose of a lofty business. Upon a bill-board two bars sinister 20 Against a rampant S. A labyrinth of fire-pregnant tubes Confuses me; and each sky-scraper damns Me with its endless line of tipsy cubes And parallelograms ...

116 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

25 What is the sky to me? A cobweb spread Over that space where buildings do not rise, A cobweb in which stars swing from a thread, Like ever-struggling flies. O, into what blind alley has May flown? 30 In what deserted suburb has she found Her rest? - for here at midnight grasses groan From asphalt, underground ... II

Yet there are miracles above the Spring; And wonders greater than the lambent saps, 35 And stranger marvels than a growing thing, Better than these - perhaps ... Man has created birds and now doth rise Into that loftiness where clouds are low, And sees the stars move, suddenly descries 40 The lark he did not know. And he creates himself, and fashions all His movements for a far posterity That buried, he may leave upon the wall His shadow, lastingly. 45 His shadow, and the shadow of his voice He scratches on a disc, conceitedly; And casts it forward, the discobolus Unto posterity. He now scoffs at the sun that daily sieves 50 Its paltriness between a night and night; For distant waters fall, and midnight gives Its effluence of light.

117 / 0.1926/0.1928 Who are those phantoms sweating in the hold? The liner speeds, itself a metal wave 55 Across the waves. Yea, someone has made bold With steam as galley-slave. He coils his voice within his throat; he throws Its thin lassoo across a continent. Across an ocean its loop swiftly flows 60 To catch an ear intent. Thus time is captured in a space; and space Is bounded by stone-cirque and iron ring. What need have I of a green-covered place? What need have I of Spring? c. I9i6/c. 1928

The Poet to the Big Business Man Big-bellied dewlapt grand vacuity ... You nincompoop, you totally-excess. How dare you snicker at a penniless Poet and philosopher - at me? 5 You elephantine ass who stolidly Idealize idealess success, You plutocrat of gilded emptiness, Full guts is your sole teleology ... If you won't cramp your self-complacent style 10 Of dumb impertinence, I do hereby Warn you that when irritated, I'll Prick you with my star-points, I will pry Your navel with sharp comets, grin the while Or with a moon I'll sock you in the eye ... c. 1926/c. 1928

n8 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

Preface When you will read this then-archaic rune And think me dead, who am not doomed to die, I will have set my thumb-print on the moon, And stamped my foot-print on the starry sky .. c. 1926/c. 1928

Probabilities Where now that tree is, they say, once a man Was buried; I could well suppose that he Has since these many years crept up the tree ... Perhaps what was his blood when he began 5 To bleed his life is now the sap within That chlorophyllic stalactite of sky That touches heaven, and that, on the sly Pares a corpse's toe-nails, splits its skin ... Perhaps within those leaves the unknown man's 10 Complexion is disguised, and it may be His eye is lidded in the greenery Of that full bud; if so, Death is a trance, A trance of green forever quivering ... And it is likely that that bird sits on

119 / 0.1926/0.1928 15 A part of him that was his heart, upon A time - this is no transcendental thing ... Perhaps those dry twigs swinging on the tall Bare branches were, before the fatal lapse, The bones of the incognito - perhaps 20 The man was never buried there at all ... c. 1926/c. 1928

Request Lead me to the mountain-top. Leave me there. I will lift my both hands up In the air. 5 I will grope the sky. My fingers Shall be eyes, For my eyes where darkness lingers, Lingers, cries ... 10

I will thumb the stars, and read them In each nook. They will be the dots within a Blindman's book ... c. 1926/c. 1928

12O / Original Poems, 1926-1934

Reveille in Winter Across my bed-room window pass Sparrows chirping versicles, Musical as icicles, Falling upon glass ... c. 1926/c. 1928

Sacred Enough You Are Sacred enough you are.. Why should I praise You, make you holier Than is the case? 5 One does not wear Phylacteries On Sabbath days. c. i926/c. 1928

!94o

Shelley For him to write a poem was to parse The world - to punctuate each line with stars ... He spoke; he made

121 / 0.1926/0.1928 The music of the spheres 5 A fatal cadence swooning in the ears; An assonance of pain; an un-timed time; A couplet still expectant of its rhyme. His every syllable mere counterpart: The onomatopoeia of the heart ... 10 Within a golden branched cage of words He caught the never-ending song of birds, Yet all of this was but inspired fraud: He plagiarized the very works of God ... c. i9z6/c. 1928

Sleep Walking Scene Gown'd in ghostly mistiness, she stalks ... Dreams, and murmurs snatches of her dreams. Lady Autumn in her sleeping walks ... Her eyes shine madly with remembered gleams 5 Of blood upon dead leaves ... What was that sound ? Winter's knocking at the gate, it seems ... Lady Autumn, pale, in greyness gown'd Stares at dark blood; and hears death in the air ... Lady Autumn thinks of ladies crown'd 10 With gold dead leaves ... O, what a sigh was there ... c. I9z6/c. 1928

122 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

Song The stone slabs of milady's walks Are strewn with crisp leaves, and her dead Rose gardens favour only stalks ... The statuettes lie prostrated. 5 The tree-stumps show an earthy core. The woodpecker clings to his bole. The fountain-water plays no more. The leaves rot in the fountain-bowl ... c. 1926/c. 1928

Song before Winter The nozzle of the earthworm meets Hard earth; the cold snails cozen The warmth a curled dry leaf secretes. The sun is frozen ... 5 The ant is in his windless nest, The butterfly lies crumpled; The birds who heard a far behest Left this wood, humbled ... My voice is a sharp icicle 10 Within my throat. Sorrow Utters a frosted syllable, Which falls and flakes to snow. c. I9z6/c. 1928

123 / 0.1926/0.1928

Soror Addita Musis The The The The

blue sea laps the Lesbian rock; sky is lapis lazuli. sparrow twitters in his tree, full rose curves its scented stalk ...

5 Holding a potsherd in the sun, Scanning the writ of cryptic shape, Purblind and bald-pate doctors scrape The ruins of her parthenon. They grovel in the dusty hoards 10 Where Time has buried his rich theft: They seek a verse that Sappho left, Papyrus burning with her words. Grammarians seek an epitaph. The sky is lapis lazuli. 15 Within the lapping of the sea Is heard the spectre of her laugh ... c. I9z6/c. 1928

Spring The thin and delicate etching of Jack Frost Is blurred upon the pane; his fingernail Is broken from the eaves; his argent mail Is vanished so it is not even dust ... 5 Preserve the heavy tuque in cedar; thrust The mittens in the chest; forget the tale

124 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

Heard by the pine-wood fire; all these fail When April makes the woods a holocaust ... Before the cabin-door the robins gobble 10 Worms from the wet soil; sparrows go and come Rifling dead leaves, and twigs, and barren rubble. The maple buds are red, and thick with gum. And barefoot boys display from last year's stubble The three-leafed and three-petalled trillium. c. 1926/c. 1928

1932

Summer The ants repair to cooler galleries; The crickets ply their plaints against the sun; From grass to weed, from weed to tree-trunk run Grasshoppers vaulting into shaded ease. 5 The wayfarer is lowered to his knees. Even the heat-mad sparrows, one by one, Seeking the jaundiced leaf, have flown and gone. Most lazily thick bovine tails chase fleas ... The wind ignores this slow, this solar slaughter, 10 And takes his siesta in the hammock hung Nowhere. The thought of heat makes heat grow hotter. While mind is bent on dreams of crystal water, While fevered Sirius droops his parched tongue, Merely to breathe now is to scorch the lung ... c. 1926/c. 1928

1932

125 / 0.1926/0.1928

Sybarite Though I Be Sybarite though I be, I shall not rest Soft adjectives upon your splendid skin; I shall not conjure up the verbal jinn Showing you perfect at my sharp behest; 5 Nor shall I fit your each impeccable breast In a brassiere of language lewdly thin Not that I have compunctive dread of sin But that I fear, and this through envy, lest Some stranger may come groping on this script, 10 Old and impotent, feel himself grow stronger And reading may find strange and nondescript Anguish assail him, as it would one younger, Anguish assail him in his private crypt, And in that heart lust after you, and hunger ... c. 1926/c. 1928

Symbols Magic and strife and crapulence The trident of concupiscence ... Thus Hermes seeks to hoodwink us And calls his wand Caduceus. 5 L'Epee de Joi de Charlemagne Can that fool aphrodisiac man?

126 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

Thus Bacchus on a drunken spree Shakes his Thyrsus, meaningly ... All euphemisms of desire, 10 Celestial with pregnant fire ... c. 1926/c. 1928

This Is No Myth O what is Helen, what is Guinevere Or Cleopatra or the Shulamite To me who hold you loveliest, most dear? These are but names, or making it more true, 5 Not even names these are, but only slight And fragile adjectives for you ... c. 1926/c. 1928

Visitation in Elul And after I have slept for many a year A quiet sleep within a quiet grave, Disturbed at times by mattock loud and near Digging that fatal welcome none do crave, 5 Some morning in the Spring when wave on wave Of daffodils, like coffin-candles peer Over tall grass, and in the leafy nave Sparrows sing cheerful requiems, I fear I may awake, and find myself in gloom,

127 / 0.1926/0.1928 io And cry, and gasp for air, and smell the dead Smell of my body, mixed with mouldy loam, And feel the weight of earth and tomb-stone stead, And struggle to arise from out my tomb, And perhaps hear you weeping overhead ... c. 1926/0. 1928

What Winter Has Said, Is Said Winter has said what it has said: The green shoot slowly now unwinds its coil; The small beaks of the sparrow blossom red; The hyacinths make odorous the soil ... 5 The wind has laid him down, and is not here; Within the clouds, the snow lies overhead ... The tulips light the coffin of last year ... What winter has said, is said ... c. 1926/0. 1928

c. 1929/1929

Fixity

Amber opaque are autumn skies And autumn trees and autumn men Are as so many captured weeds And as so many fossiled flies ... c. 1929/1929

1929

Haggadah Etching The sky is dotted like th' unleavened bread, The moon a golden platter in the sky. Old midget Jews, with meditated tread, Hands clasped behind, and body stooped ahead, 5 Creep from the synagogue and stare on high Upon a golden platter in a dotted sky.

129 / 0.1929/1929 Once in a Year Once in a year this comes to pass: My father is a king in a black skull cap, My mother is a queen in a brown perruque, 10 A princess my sister, a lovely lass, My brother a prince, and I a duke. Silver and plate, and fine cut-glass Brought from the cupboards that hid them till now Banquet King David's true lineage here. 15 Once in a year this comes to pass, Once in a long unroyal year. Black Decalogue Compute the plagues; your little finger dip In spittle of the grape, and at each pest Shake off the drop with the vindictive zest: 20 Thus first: The Nile - a gash; then frogs that skip Upon the princess' coverlet; the rip Made'by dark nails that seek the itching guest; The plague of murrained carcasses; the pest; Full boils that stud the Ethiop, leg to lip. 25 The guerdon of hot hail, the fists of God; The swarm of locusts nibbling Egypt clean; Thick darkness oozing from out Moses' rod; And first-born slain, the mighty and the mean; Compute these plagues that fell on Egypt's sod, 30 Then add: In Goshen these were never seen. The Bitter Dish This is the bread of our affliction, this The symbol of the clay that built Rameses, And that horseradish - root of bitterness,

130 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

And you, my brethren, yea, 35 You are the afflicted, the embittered, and the clay. Song Fill the silver goblet; Make open the door-way; Let there be no sob; let Elijah come our way. 40 And let him come singing, Announcing as nigh a Redemption, and drinking The health of Messiah! Chad Gadyah This is a curious plot 45 Devised for eager riddling: My father had a kidling For two good zuzim bought. Graymalkin ate it; and A dog munched sleek Graymalkin, 50 Whereat a Rod did stalk in Beating his reprimand Upon the Dog's spine. Came Red Fire, and did sputter His wrath on Rod; came Water 55 And sizzling, quenched the flame. And down a bovine throat Went Water, which throat, tickled By pious Shochet, trickled Red blood upon his coat.

131 / 0.1929/1929 6o The Angel of Death flew And smote the Shochet; whereat The Lord gave him his merit The Lord the Angel slew. In that strange portal whence 65 All things come, they re-enter; Of all things God is centre, God is circumference. This is a curious plot Devised for eager riddling: 70 My father had a kidling For two good zuzim bought. The Still Small Voice The candles splutter; and the kettle hums; The heirloomed clock enumerates the tribes; Upon the wine-stained table-cloth lie crumbs 75 Of matzoh whose wide scattering describes Jews driven in far lands upon this earth. The kettle hums; the candles splutter; and Winds whispering from shutters tell re-birth Of beauty rising in an eastern land, 80 Of paschal sheep driven in cloudy droves; Of almond-blossoms colouring the breeze; Of vineyards upon verdant terraces; Of golden globes in orient orange-groves. And those assembled at the table dream 85 Of small schemes that an April wind doth scheme, And cry from out the sleep assailing them: Jerusalem, next year! Next year, Jerusalem! c. 1929/1929

194°

132 / Original Poems, 1926—1934

Koheleth Koheleth, on his damasked throne, lets weary exhalation follow The weary inhalation. He finds breath a toil of no reward. As hollow as the rotted gourd is the heart of the monarch hollow ... His weakened voice drops weariness, that slowly falls, word after word: 5 Take your black quill, O Scribe, and write in wormwood and with gall That I am but erected dust that flutters to a roofless tomb; That even on the loveliest the unparticular worm will crawl; And that this sun, this splendid sun, is nothing more than whitened gloom ...' Death is a tall, a stripped and oil-anointed negro chamberlain 10 Standing behind the lion-guarded throne and rustling leaves of palm Over the royal crown to cause cool ripples in the royal brain ... Death is an oil-anointed slave, exuding an inebriant balm ... Take your black quill, O Scribe, and write in wormwood and with gall, That I who have known the speech of birds, the love of the fair Shunamite, 15 The import of the thorn-pierced rose, that I do spurn them all... My days are cawing crows, O Scribe, yea, cawing crows in darkened flight ... Speak of the pleasures of the wise, verily I have known these once; The glories of the goblet, yea, these, too, have been a part of me,

133 / 0.1929/1929 The ecstasies of damosels, these also have been Solomon's, 20 Who waking and who sleeping cries: These things are wind and vanity ... Many the provinces I rule, but weariness rules over me; Strong are my gem-crammed coffers, yet compared to coffins weak, infirm ... A thousand concubines are mine - a thousand reasons for ennui ... There is nought new beneath the sun; beneath the earth the ancient worm! 25 In wormwood and with gall, O Scribe, write these embittered words, to wit: King Solomon on boredom sups, and on satiety he dines; His nights are poisoned cups; his days are blossoms bruised; his life is but A throne built out of coffin boards, and tapestried with deathdesigns ../ Death is a tall, a stripped and oil-anointed negro chamberlain 30 Standing behind the throne; he makes grimaces underneath his palm; Behind the royal back he scoffs; his gestures they are more than plain ... Koheleth turns his head, and lo, Death stands most dignified and calm. c. 1929/1929

1929

134 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

Portraits of a Minyan Landlord He is a learned man, adept At softening the rigid. Purblind, he scans the rashi script, His very nose is digit. 5 He justifies his point of view With verses pedagogic; His thumb is double-jointed through Stressing a doubtful logic. 10

He quotes the Commentaries, yea, To Tau from Aleph, But none the less, his tenants pay, Or meet the bailiff. Pintele Yid

Agnostic, he would never tire To cauterize the orthodox; 15 But he is here, by paradox, To say the Kaddish for his sire. Reb Abraham Reb Abraham, the jolly, Avowed the gloomy face Unpardonable folly, 20 Unworthy of his race.

135 / 0.1929/1929 When God is served in revel By all his joyous Jews, (He says) the surly devil Stands gloomy at the news. 25 Reb Abraham loved Torah, If followed by a feast: A milah-banquet, or a Schnapps to drink, at least. On Sabbath-nights, declaring 30 God's praises, who did cram The onion and the herring? Fat-cheeked Reb Abraham. On Ninth of Ab, who aided The youngsters in their game 35 Of throwing burrs, as they did, In wailing beards? The same. And who on Purim came in To help the urchins, when They rattled at foul Haman? 40 Reb Abraham again. On all feasts of rejoicing Reb Abraham's thick soles Stamped pious metres, voicing Laudation of the scrolls. 45 Averring that in heaven One more Jew had been crowned, Reb Abraham drank even On cemetery-ground. And at Messiah's greeting, 50 Reb Abraham's set plan

136 / Original Poems, 1926—1934

Is to make goodly eating Of roast leviathan. When God is served in revel By all His joyous Jews, 55 (He says) the surly devil Stands gloomy at the news. Shadchan Cupid in a caftan Slowly scrutinizes Virgins and rich widows, 60 And other lesser prizes. Cupid strokes his chin, and Values legs at so much, So much for straight noses, Cupid pays love homage. 65 What's a squinted eye, or What's a halting stutter, When her father offers More than bread and butter? 70

Cupid whets his arrows Golden, golden rocket! Aims, not at the bosom, Aims them at the pocket.

Cupid in a caftan Disregards the flowery 75 Speech of moon-mad lovers. Cupid talks of dowry.

137 / 0.1929/1929 Sophist When will there be another such brain? Never; unless he rise again, Unless Reb Simcha rise once more 80 To juggle syllogistic lore. One placed a pin upon a page Of Talmud print, whereat the sage Declared what holy word was writ Two hundred pages under it! 85 That skull replete with pilpul tricks Has long returned to its matrix, Where worms split hair, where Death confutes The hope the all-too-hopeful moots. But I think that in Paradise 90 Reb Simcha, with his twinkling eyes, Interprets, in some song-spared nook, To God the meaning of His book. Reader of the Scroll Divinely he sang the scriptured note; He twisted sound, intoned the symbol, 95 Made music sally, slow or nimble, From out his heart and through his throat. For in a single breath to hiss The ten outrageous names of those Who on the Persian gallows rose 100 Oh, this was pleasure, joyance this!

138 / Original Poems, 1926-1934 Sweet Singer O what would David say, Young David in the fields, Singing in Bethlehem, Were he to hear this day 105 Old Mendel slowly hum His sweetest songs, Old Mendel, who being poor, Cannot through charity Atone his wrongs, no And being ignorant, Cannot in learned wise Win Paradise, Old Mendel who begs Heaven as his alms By iterating and re-iterating psalms?

Junk-Dealer 115 All week his figure mottles The city lanes, Hawking his rags and bottles In quaint refrains. But on the High, the Holy 120 Days, he is lord; And being lord, earth wholly, Gladly is abhorred. While litanies are clamored, His loud voice brags 125 A Hebrew most ungrammared. He sells God rags.

139 / 0.1929/1929 His Was an Open Heart His was an open heart, a lavish hand, His table ever set for any guest: A rabbi passing from a foreign land, 130 A holy man, a beggar, all found rest Beneath his roof; even a Gentile saw A welcome at the door, a face that smiled. The chillest heart beneath his warmth would thaw. And for these deeds, God blessed him that he saw 135 The cradle never emptied of its child. And the Man Moses Was Meek This little Jew Homunculus Found four ells too Capacious. 140 He never spoke, Save in his prayer; He bore his yoke As it were air. He knew not sin. 145 He even blessed The spider in His corner-nest. The meek may trust That in his tomb 150 He will turn dust To save some room. c. 1929/1929

1940

1929

Christian Poet and Hebrew Maid The nightingale proclaims no creed; The urgent thrush reiterates No catechism: and the freed Canary holds no dark debates. 5 These sing; their exhalations cede The homage that the sky awaits. The rose is pollened by no themes Spiritual; the lily pales Before the import of her dreams. 10 The lilac blossoms, and then fails. They spread their fragrance: the Lord deems Such cups so many hallowed grails ... And roars no litany the pard; The elephant trips lustily; 15 The antics of the ape are marred By no meek genuflexions; the Beasts of the field inflame no nard; And still the good Lord lets them be.

141 / 1929

20

The ant reviles the dantine threat; The snail supports no gothic roof; The larva and the cherub met In no cocoon's fine warp and woof; The moth adores no altar; yet From these the Lord is not aloof ...

25 Even as does the turtle-dove, And even as the skylark's tongue Praises the permanence above, So can you pour from your full lung Your vassalage to him of love, 30 Your worship to the throne in song. Blow ram's horns; make a joyful noise; Acquaint the seven-throated wind Two hearts are set in perfect poise, In perfect poise the double mind; 35 And these assail their private Troys. On nectar they have both been wined. The cross and double-triangle Are morticed; rosary and thin Pendule are twined; the shield weds ball; 40 The vulgate and the scroll are twin; The spire and dome advance their call; Mary and Miriam are kin. Blast trumpets, therefore; let doom crack; Heralds, announce, and make it known 45 That one has watched a comet's track And seen it brighter than a sun, And he has spied in the Zodiac Virgo and Leo fade in one ...

1929

1930

142 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

Greeting on This Day I

Lest grief clean out the sockets of your eyes, Lest anguish purge your heart of happiness, Lest you go shaking fists at passive skies, And mouthing blasphemies in your distress, 5 Be silent. Sorrow is a leper; shun The presence of his frosted phantom. Plant Small stones for eyes so that no tears may run; And underneath your ribs set adamant. II

O Chronicler, pull down the heavy tome; 10 Open a blank page; fashion a pen from bone; Dip it in skulls where blood is ink; inscribe The welcome Jews received on coming home. Omit your adjectives, sad Jeremiah, Spare you your adverbs; let your phrases house 15 No too-protesting tenant of despair; And if the meager tale brings no Messiah, Messiah is a short conspiracy Of throat and air.

III

Why do I weight my words with things irrelevant? 20 O Safed, Safed, Though never have I left my northern snows,

143 / 1929

25

30

35

40

Nor ever boarded ship for Palestine, Your memory anoints my brain a shrine, Your white roofs poetize my prose, Your halidom is mine. Your streets, terraced and curved and narrow, I climbed in my youth, attending on your sages, I sat at the feet of Rabbi Joseph Caro, I turned the musty and snuff-tinctured pages Of mystic books bewildering my little pate, And with Reb Isaac Luria, surnamed the Pard, Who rose on Friday twilights to become God's ward I ate, and blessed the single plate. I followed them, I loved them, sage and saint, Graybeard in caftan, juggling the when and why, Ascetic rubbing a microscopic taint, Scholar on whose neat earlocks piety ascended In spiral to the sky I followed them, for better or for worse, Even as now I follow this impromptu hearse. IV

The ghosts of Hebron lift their coffinlids And throw the shards from off their eyes. Spectres of Talpioth arise. The cemetery sighs. 45 Even as unrest scurries in these skulls, So are there those tonight Who toss upon a bed where terror falls, Where falls the rodent fright, Who rise from off their couches, try the door, 50 Stare out of windows, see the moon drip gore, Light up a candle, set it near the bed, Mumble a Moslem prayer, lie up all night, And wait, recumbent, for the ceiling to grow white.

144 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

V

The white doves flutter 55 From the roofs Where stones did utter Dark reproofs. That these pale pigeons Be alarmed 60 Guerilla legions Have been armed. Effendi, Mufti, Holy ones They are not thrifty 65 With their stones. This is the manner Doves take flight: The sky a banner Blue and white. VI

70 O who is this, rising from the Sharon, bearing a basket of grapes, vaunting the golden apples? And who is he, that other one, following behind a plough, breaking the soil, as hard as the heart of Pharaoh? If this be a Jew, indeed, where is the crook of his spine; and 75 the quiver of lip, where? Behold his knees are not callous through kneeling; he is proud, he is erect. There is in his eyes no fear, in his mind no memory of faggots. And these are not words wherewith one tells a Jew.

145 / 1929

8o Truly this is such an one; he has left his hump in Ashkinaz; in Sphorad his maimed limb; beyond the seas his terror he has abandoned. He has said to the sun, Thou art my father that gives me strength; and to the cloud, Thou art my mother suckling 85 me thy milk. The sign of his father is on his brow, and the breath of his mother renders him fragrant. No legion affrights him, no flame in the dark, no sword in the sun. For a thousand shall come upon him, and a thousand be carried away. 90 A son has returned to her that bare him; at her hearth he grows comely; he is goodly to behold. Behind the bony cage there beats the bird of joy; within the golden cup is wine that overflows. VII

We are a people of peace. Shall I then say, 95 Showing the whites of my eyes upraised to you, 'Forgive them, Lord, they know not what they do'? Not so, not so; no peace can be until Sleek Syrian landlord and fanatic priest, The greater and the lesser lice have creased 100 Their paunches to a pellicle. No peace to them - the bandits battening on blood! No peace! Rather the dagger to the hilt, The bullet to the heart, 105 The gallows built, And the ignoble cart!

146 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

VIII To them no peace, but unto you, O fellaheen, 0 workers in the smithy of the sun, Dupes of ventriloquists who belch the Unseen, no Good men deluded by the Evil One: I, the son of a worker, and a worker myself, I, who have known the sweat that salts the lip, The blister on the palm, the aching hip, 1 offer you companionship, 115 Saying: IX

Accursed he who mouths a scarlet threat! Who lets new blood before the old congeals, Who makes of carcasses his festal meals, And who declares that he will not forget! 120 The muezzin upon the minaret Announces dawn once more; the Moslem kneels; Elation lifts the Jew from off his heels; Izak and Ishmael are cousins met. No desert cries encircle Omar's dome, 125 No tear erodes the Wall of ancient pain; Once more may brothers dwell in peace at home; Though blood was spattered, it has left no stain; The greeting on this day is loud Shalom! The white doves settle on the roofs again.

1929

194°

147 / *929

Sonnet in Time of Affliction The word of grace is flung from foreign thrones And strangers lord it in the ruling-hall; The shield of David rusts upon the wall; The lion of Judah seeks to roar, and groans ... 5 Where are the brave, the mighty? They are bones. Bar Cochba's star has suffered its last fall. On holy places profane spiders crawl; The jackal leaves foul marks on temple-stones. Ah, woe, to us, that we, the sons of peace, 10 Must turn our sharpened scythes to scimitars, Must lift the hammer of the Maccabees, Blood soak the land, make mockery of stars ... And woe to me, who am not one of these, Who languish here beneath these northern stars ...

1929

194°

c. 1930/1930

Dance Chassidic

Twist each side-curl; form the symbol Of a quaver; comb the beard; Let the prayer make all toes nimble ... The Lord loved and the Lord feared 5 In your attitude, the pendules dangled Ecstatically, defiantly the fingers snapped, In such wise is cursed Satan to be wrangled, In such the Chassid to be rapt. Let the Rebbe take the mantled Scroll; 10 You, Chassidim, lift your caftans, dance; Circle the Torah and rejoice the soul, Look God-wards and He will not look askance. Let this be humility; Back bent in the pious reel, 15 Head inclined imploringly, And palms upward in appeal. And let this be pride; Beard pointed upward, eyes aflame like yahrzeit lamps, And right hand stretched as if it held God's left hand in it,

149 / c.i93°/193° 20 Marching as into Paradise, while each foot stamps, Crushing Eternity into a dusty minute ... Thus let the soul be cast from pride, gesticulating Into humility, and from humility Into the pride divine, so alternating 25 Until pride and humility be one, Until above the Jews, above the Scroll, above the Cherubim, There broods the Immanence of Him ... c. 1930/1930

194°

Dialogue The two shawl-covered grannies, buying fish, Discuss the spices of the Sabbath dish. They laud old-country dainties; each one bans The heathen foods the moderns eat from cans. 5 They get to talking of the golden land, Each phrase of theirs couching a reprimand ... Says one: I hate these lofty buildings, I Long for a piece of unencircled sky ... I do not know the tramway system, so 10 I walk and curse the traffic as I go. I chaffer English, and I nearly choke, O for the talk of simple Russian folk!

150 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

The other says: A lonesomeness impels Me hence; I miss the gossip at the wells ... 15 I yearn for even Ratno's muds; I long For the delightfully heart-rending song Of Reb Yecheskel Chazan, song that tore The heart so clean it did not ask for more ... They sigh; they shake their heads; they both conspire 20 To doom Columbus to eternal fire. c. 1930/1930

1932

Epitaph The coffin-board has now been planed; The spade has bit the bitter earth; The worm has spanned my meagre girth; My hollow home has been attained. 5 And you, O traveller, may laugh Seeing what is the end of me; You may revile my threnody And you may scorn my epitaph ... But I beneath this fertile sod 10 Will surely find a peaceful lapse, Yea, I may lay my head, perhaps, Upon the very knees of God ... c. 1930/1930

1930

151 / 0.1930/193°

Falstaff In these prosaic days when lovers ask Permission for their suit from ministers, It is to Falstaff, loosest of bachelors, That I lift up this ischiadic flask, 5 Regretting only that I have no cask Wherefrom replenishment might further course: 'Here was warm flesh, and much of it, my Sirs, Here was a wight in whom a wench might bask!' Who left his fire and sack and went to woo 10 Gay wives innumerable? Who, one dark Night for the sake of Venus did endue Himself with buck's horns in old Windsor Park? Falstaff it was, none other; Falstaff, who, For love's sake, raised a ditch's watermark! c. 1930/1930

Preacher He quoted midrash and the psalms; He fancied parables; He wept; he smote his anguished palms; He hushed his voice in spells; 5 He urged the rich to lavish alms To save them from their hells.

193°

152 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

His eyes were pellets set between The sling of bare cheek-bones; His index-finger, long and lean, 10 Shook to accusing tones; His Adam's apple could be seen Gulping down godly groans. Who froze the eager blood to curds? Who melted adamant? 15 Who wrought up tears? Who conjured words Wherewith to cavil cant? Who called his audiences herds? Who phrased the subtle taunt? 20

And at his speech the old Jews wept; With prayer-shawls they dried Their tears; the women overleapt Decorum, and they cried; And every little urchin kept Near to his father's side ...

25 They wept, and they repented while Gehenna crackled from His lips, and Satan spread his guile, And scourges made a hum; They wept, and they repented while 30 His terrors struck them dumb. c. 1930/1930

194°

153 / c.i93°/193°

The Words of Plauni-Ben-Plauni to Job i Thou dost not know thy deeds, O Job, when thou Dost call on Death as one who calls upon A maiden in the Spring at early dawn ... Thou dost not know thine heart, O Man of Uz 5 When thou dost waste thy days with perjured use Of darling names for Death and for his crew Of slimy mariners that eat and spue ... 2 Has bitterness plucked out thy brain, that thou Dost knock upon the doors of sepulchres 10 Crying, that thou canst not regard a hearse But thou must mind thyself of royal steeds? Has pain so scabbed thy heart that thou must needs Be gladdened at the sight of the black hue? Is this Job jubilant that once I knew?

3 15 O Job, bethink thyself; it is not good To look upon the flowers of the field As sown and grown and nourished but to yield Sweet strewings on the grave, it is not right To hold the moon as but a lamp to light 20 Half-shadowed pits in which a ghost doth brood, And it is false to think the sod a shroud ... 4 Surely thou dost not believe that spices were Ordained for the embalmer, and for him Alone; surely it is no futile whim 25 That eyes are bright and skies are brighter still? We are not born, we are not born to fill

154 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

A banquet-board for glutton maggots, nor Are navels cut to make death easier ... 5 Forsake the stars; forget the moon; forego 30 The beauty of a sky; - consort with worms! Behold two boards are thy horizons; germs Thy concubines; and nails in coffin-head Serve as thy constellations - thou art dead! Is this the end of thy desire: O 35 Is this thy longing? Wilt thou have it so? 6 There is no spring there, but the roots do clutch, The fingers of the new roots clutch the hair With twist and turn; there is no summer there; Only strange stirrings in the earth; there is 40 No autumn save in heavy raininess That trickles through the rot with clammy touch; There is no winter; there is naught of such ... 7 Bethink thyself again, O Job, again Consider and give over all these sighs, 45 These beckonings to catch the Angels' eyes ... Put thine imaginings within the grave, Emptied of all its charmed enticements, save Its emptiness, and then, Job, think again That in the tomb there is not even pain ...

c. 1930/1930

193°

c. 1928/1931

Arabian Love Song

Brown are your eyes, as brown as the gazelle's, And black your eye-lashes, as thin and black As the curved lines with which the scribe casts spells Over illumined script; your eyebrows track 5 The paths of serpents in tall asphodels ... For colour of asphodel is on your brow, And on your cheeks rose-petals pink and white ... Yea, even as cool plums in moonlight show Passing of paleness with the least wind's flight, 10 So does your skin in beauty, even so ... Your lips are rubies rendered flesh; your smile Is pearl made quick; your laughter has the sound Of gems dropped slowly in a glittering pile ... The beauties of your small full mouth confound 15 Me utterly, and for no little while ... Your lovely breasts are cream upon which float The petals of the jasmine ... Small and smooth Is the round compass of your waist ... Your throat Is marble, and your marble thighs make youth 20 Return to those who drivel and who dote ...

156 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

Four are the beauty spots upon your face Like black seeds in the luscious melon; four The beauty spots and one the dimpled place, Oh, loved one, I am curious for more, 25 I hunger to give others their soft praise ... c. 1928/1931

Ballad of the Dancing Bear I Fat grows Stanislaus, Pan, whose Hamlets teem with busy Jews, Arguing about one topic: Thrift of rouble, thrift of kopek; 5 Tailors, sitting on their shins, Cutting cloth, and spitting pins; Bakers kneading their thumbs callous, Fashioning gigantic chalos; Butchers cutting kosher meat; 10 Millers raising ghosts of wheat; Cobbler, praying for bad weather, Spitting on his polished leather; Pieman selling children sweets; Potters hawking in the streets;

1932

157 I 0.1928/1931 15 Gossips vending Sabbath candles, Wrapped in paper and in scandals; Binders gluing holy books, Liturgies and pentateuchs; Merchants, or in Slav or jargon, 20 Driving each his petty bargain. II

They were rich then, were they not, With such commerce polygot? If full moons are yellow cheeses, If blessed herbs can cure diseases, 25 If Pan Stanislaus is lean, Or sheep crafty, or swine clean, If good words can come from witches, They, assuredly, had riches! Ill

Poor they were, a town of paupers: 30 Ants rewarded like grasshoppers; Huts, whose windows storm-abused, Let in hunger to its roost; Walls where spider webs were swinging To the tune of strong winds singing;

158 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

35 Roofs with dried and meagre thatch, Doors without a knob or latch; Stool and bed and table broken, Witness misery outspoken; And bare pantries where the mice, 40 Every day starved at least thrice. IV

For, as all their commerce waxes, Lo, it wanes beneath hard taxes, Tax on birth and tax on death, Tax on gone and coming breath, 45 Filling Pan Stanislaus' coffers With the wealth the impost offers, Keeping him in meats and wines, Not to speak of concubines, For the music of gold roubles, 50 Tintinnabulates his troubles. Thus, Pan Stanislaus grows fat, Swilling strong ale from a vat. V

At the sight of churlish Jew Thaddeus priest retched forth his spew.

159 / 0.1928/1931 55 He abhorred the tribe of Moses; Barbs in his heart were their hooked noses. So he rummaged the whole Bible, Seeking some new spicy libel. Telling beads, he mouthed curses 60 That the Lord increase their hearses. Oh, to sprinkle holy water On their foul skins - or to slaughter, Sweep them out like filthy maggots, Make them crackle on dry faggots, 65 And as finis to his work, Ease their whines with fat of pork. VI

Filaments of evil slip From the holy spiderlip. Pan Stanislaus guzzling beer, 70 Piously inclines his ear: In our midst there is a people That thumbs noses at our steeple, That, though seeming poor, has riches, Hid in cracks and profane niches, 75 Stuffed with feathers in their cushions, Polish coins and German groschens,

160 / Original Poems, 1926—1934

And old deeds from peasant-debtors, Pressed among their sacred letters. Railing ever at Christ-Jesus, 80 Every Jew as rich as Croesus, Sire, their purses are too heavy; May your Lordship please to levy Taxes on the Hebrew scoffers To replenish Caesar's coffers. 85 Tax the cradle, tax the coffin; Jews are never taxed too often. Therefore, let them be beholden To their Lord with many a gulden. Let the folk whose life besmirches 90 Us, erect our ruined churches. So, while each Jew weeps his dirge, he Helps to feed God's favourite clergy. Be it that they will not pay, Let them further on their way, 95 Bearing on unbaptized legs, All their holy thingumjigs. Pan Stanislaus yawned, and drank, Drank and yawned, his vile mouth stank; Ho, he said, and hum, he said, 100 Scratched his fumed and dizzying head,

161 / 0.1928/1931

Wiped back each mustachio, And then hiccupped: Be it so. VII

When the crier cried the news To the hamletful of Jews, 105 They were nibbling each his crumb, They were smitten dumb. But they donned no sackcloth, for Sackcloth were the clothes they wore. They poured ashes on their heads; no Fasted; they ate Sorrow's breads. And to live through these grim threats, They bribed God with epithets. VIII In the castle-tower, she Sings her sorrow wistfully, 115 Paulinka, the princess, sings Valiant but uncouth things: Giants slain by manikins; Beanstalks climbed by crippled shins; Orgres discomfited by maimed 120 Knights that in an hour are famed;

162 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

Lions bearded in their dens By an outcast pauper-prince; Hunchback troubadours who wed Princesses of royal blood; 125 Kingdoms in remote lands won By a disinherited son; Imps in pandemonium Cowering before Tom Thumb. In the tower alone, she sings 130 Of God's ill unfavoured things. Paulinka forgets her maim Singing; she, alas, is lame. From her couch she sadly watches Days that amble by on crutches. 135 Old wives say it was a witch, Sired of demon, dam'd of bitch, Cursed her with an evil spell, (May she shrivel up in hell). Pan Stanislaus sent for sages; 140 Tartar quacks and eastern mages, Doctors bearing bitter potions, Broths and brews and mystic lotions; Monk and priest and sorcerer, All came kneeling unto her.

163 / c. 1928/1931 145 Vain the prayers; frustrate the brews; The incantation of small use; Fickle the astrolabe; the wise Mutter, yet she can not rise. Upon her couch she sits and sings 150 Of the Lord's unfavoured things. IX

Lustier was the village dog Than the Jews in the synagogue. All were sore perplexed, save Motka, Blithe as if he had drunk vodka, 155 And not carried on his shoulders Water-pails as large as boulders. His eyes were like dots of flame, The iotas of God's name. Flourishes on holy script: 160 Hairs with which his chin was tipped. On his brow the tfillin set Seemed a Hebrew coronet. Tzizith danced against his legs, Jubilant with caftan-rags. 165 It was rumoured he was one For whom God preserved the sun.

164 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

Thus in some way, rather subtle, It was manifest to Mottel That the Lord could not reject, 170 Nay, nor scorn His Hebrew sect. X

Jews do now prepare to wend Their long way to the world's end. Hope grows great, like three-day yeast, In the heart of Thaddeus priest. 175 Motka peddles joy; no worries Come to mar his witty stories. In the castle-tower, the Princess sings most wistfully. Stanislaus the baron nuzzles 180 Foaming beer-mugs; as he guzzles A thought pierces through his skull, A thought torturesomely droll: 'Bring me to my banquet-table, Come this night, a Hebrew able 185 To hop sprightly, to amuse Stanislaus well rid of Jews.'

165 / 0.1928/1931 XI

Jews, cease lamentation; throttle Sorrow; I will dance, says Mottel. Lords and barons, dukes and pans, 190 Seated on their silk divans, At the banquet-feast prepare To see Motka dance in air. Barons slap their Christian thighs As they see tall Motka rise, 195 Dancing, waving paws in air, A pathetic Hebrew bear, Flaunting his ungrizzly beard, Ignorant of knaves who jeered. A huge moujik cracks his whip 200 Loudly to make Mottel skip. The bear leaps, he hops, he prances, Tzizith flutter as he dances. Drummers, drum! and fiddlers, fiddle! Make a music for the Zhid'l! 205 Happy as a bloated louse, The fat baron Stanislaus Swills his beer, and munches pork While he keeps time with his fork. Motka leaps, he pirouettes, 210 Gasps and gambols, Motka sweats.

166 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

With God's praises on his lips Motka capersomely skips. Barons pat their shaking paunches, Motka rises on his haunches, 215 Leaps and dances; when behold! By his rhythms so cajoled, Even servants drop their plates, Drop the ducal delicates; Guardian-varlets leave their stances 220 And leap into Mottel's dances. Yea, the butler breaks his bottle As he strives to out-do Mottel. Lo! the Pan, sucking a bone, Suddenly forsakes his throne, 225 With him in the circle hop All the lords; they cannot stop. Drummers, drum! and fiddlers, fiddle! Make a music for the Zhid'l! For from off her couch she rises, 230 Paulinka the princess, rises, No more a bed-ridden cripple, Tall, her lovely limbs most supple, Rises, trips toward him, halts, And takes Motka for a waltz!

167 / 0.1928/1931 XII

23e hamlet busy Jews Ply their trades in wonted use. Thaddeus priest now tells his beads, While his stone heart bleeds, and bleeds. Paulinka the princess sings 240 Of God's unforsaken things. In Pan Stanislaus's throat Overbrimming bumpers float. Motka sells his crystal waters, Earning dowries for his daughters. 245 And God in His heaven hums, Twiddling His contented thumbs. c. 1928/1931

1940

Ecclesiastes 13 The worm doth make the earth a labyrinth Full of small chambers and cool passages; The bee doth buzz his nectared business, Thinking the sky a bell of hyacinth ... 5 Around some cobwebbed long-deserted plinth The spider dwells in his thin loveliness; The caterpillar in his furry dress With hundred feet doth clasp the terebinth ... And with a lordly calculated tread 10 The snail moves, moves his marble spiral room

i68 / Original Poems, 1926—1934

Thus are the meanest vermin often bred In riches it is not theirs to assume; Yea, maggots batten even in the head Of some great monarch in a gilded tomb. c. 1928/1931

1932

Gestures Hebraic Heroic Avaunt the nightingale! Perish the rose! Superfluous the moon, that gilded fraud! Vanish the ermined ladies, satin-shod! Deafen the rhymes and the poetic prose! 5 Let musick have no aphrodisiac throes, And let no elves beat sandals on the sod! Who seeks these subtle scene-shiftings of God, Fashioned for pining belles and perfumed beaux? For me and for my love, these bearded Jews 10 Praising the moon, are goblins now grown old; The cats, being lyrical, brew no abuse; Music the shrillness of a Jewish scold ... O love casts roses beneath broken shoes, And paves this ghetto street with burnished gold! c. 1928/1931

1932

Now We Will Suffer Loss of Memory [Version i] Now we will suffer loss of memory; We will forget the tongue our mothers knew;

169 / 0.1928/1931 We will munch ham, and guzzle milk thereto, And this on hallowed fast-days, purposely ... 5 Abe will elude his base-nativity. The kike will be a phantom; we will rue Our bearded ancestry, my nasal cue, And like the gentiles we will strive to be. Our recompense - emancipation-day. 10 We will have friend where once we had a foe. Impugning epithets will glance astray. To gentile parties we will proudly go; And Christians, anecdoting us, will say: 'Mr. and Mrs. Klein - the Jews, you know ...' c. 1928/1931

1

94°

Now We Will Suffer Loss of Memory [Version 2] Now we will suffer loss of memory: We will forget the things we must eschew. We will eat ham, despite our tribe's tabu, Ham buttered ... and on fast-days ... publicly ... 5 Null, then, and void, the kike nativity. Our family albums we will hide from view. Ourselves, we'll do what all pretenders do, And like the ethnics mightily strive to be. Our recompense? ... Emancipation-day! 10 We will find friend where once we found but foe. Impugning epithets will glance astray. To gentile parties we will proudly go; And Christians, anecdoting us, will say: 'Mr. and Mrs. Klein - the Jews, you know ...' c. 1953/1955

1955

170 / Original Poems, 1926-1934 Sentimental How will you phrase regret when I depart, When I am laved upon a naked plank, Made clean for worms, most clean and deathly dank, And trundled in an ostentatious cart? 5 What acid word, what sentence wryly tart Will leave your lips before your world goes blank? If it does that. In what terms will you thank The Lord before the sombre horses start? For when it will occur which must occur, 10 It matters not what wailing load the wind But now I query while I yet do stir: Will you weep, dear, when sextons grow unkind? And will your weeping be the bitterer, Knowing I leave no Kaddish-voice behind? ... c. 1928/1931

1932

Holy Bonds I To the Chief Scribe, a Psalm of Abraham, in the Day of the Gladness of His Heart Prepare the inks, the red, the green, the black; Thicken the paints, the purple and the gold; Make smooth the goatskin; fatten each wry crack; Wash out the clotted brush, and shape some old 5 And many-flourished symbol in its track.

171 / c. 1928/1931 Take hold your quill, meticulously cleanse Its point, and thinly trace the guiding line; Affix to your left eye the perfect lens, Then write in the square letter, black and fine, 10 To wit: That love will never wander hence. And unto this last final verse, Add my name, and add hers. c. 1928/1931

*944

II

For the Bridegroom Coming Out of His Chamber, a Song The young men with the sparse beards laud the bride; 'She puts no rouges to her lips; no small Black beauty spots upon her cheeks; no pall Of perfumed dust upon her neck; no dyed 5 Resplendence on her lovely head; no pride Of henna on her finger-nails at all; Yet is she very beautiful withal, Most beautiful and yet not beautified/ The long-haired virgins musically doff 10 Their silence, and around the bridegroom wheel, Singing his bride and all the seven days' love That will be hers anon, the nuptial weal That he will serve; in evidence whereof He breaks the wineglass underneath his heel. c. 1928/1931

*944

172 / Original Poems, 1926—1934

III

For the Bride, a Song, to Be Sung by Virgins She has laved her body in living water. She Has touched no food all day. She is most pale. Her face is white. That she lives one can see Only by the quivering of her veil. 5 The vile tongue falters; it can bear no tale. Speak of the dove, if you will speak of her. She is a flower. She is flower-frail. Regard her. She is virgin. She is pure. c. 1928/1931

!944

IV

A Benediction O bridegroom eager for the bride, O white-veiled bride, May love be on your pillow; may The quiet turtledove preside 5 Your sweet consortments night and day; May the months be fat for you; bask In the sun; love in the moon; let bread Be never wanting from your table, Wine from your cask, 10 Warmth from your bed. O let the almond flourish on your tree, O let the grape grow big, and full of juice And of the perfect shape: Let nine months grow diffuse, and wax and grow diffuse, 15 And let the first-born be. c. 1928/1931

*944

173 / 0.1928/1931 V

A Psalm of Abraham, Which He Made at the Feast Bring on the rich, the golden-dotted soup; Set down the viands, odorous of spice; Let the plate steam with capons; fetch the pies; Add tender chicken to this fragrant group. 5 Forget not, prithee, the replenished fish Smacking of sea and land and heaven; fill Each plate to a most toothsome pinnacle; Make a small Lebanon of every dish. The pickled tongue must find its place; the roast, 10 Sending enticements to the nostrils, must Show promise of soft meat and tasty crust; O cooks, belittle not the bridegroom-host! Unseal the bottles of grandfather's day; And empty them into the goblets; then 15 Empty the goblets to be filled again; Let wine say what dry tongues can never say. When clean bones and dry flasks will be the trace, The only trace that here has been a feast, Then let each voice find its own strength increased 20 To laud the Lord with a well-chanted grace! c. 1928/1931

*944

1/4 / Original Poems, 1926—1934

Invocation to Death O think, my Love, of what we two will be In two score years from now, and how we will Offer our prayers together. List to me: Better it were to be beneath the hill. 5 Think of thyself in pious gray perruque, Through rims beholding little with much praise, Staring upon an heirloom prayer book: The saddest weeper on high holidays ... And think of me, a graybeard Jew, and cold, 10 Reading the psalms all day, a shivering ghost; Kissing with fingers that will soon be mould The worn mezuzahs on each Jew's door-post ... O let us die before we will be old ... c. 1928/1931

1932

Kalman Rhapsodizes I

The old Jews greet the moon With triple elevation of the heel ... They stand before the synagogue; they croon They laud the gold round shield of David. 5 From their beards their muted praises steal ... Their words are Hebrew characters which fly

175 / c-1928/1931 To take their places with the other stars, That are as annotations in the sky, As annotations to the Cabbalistic wheel ... 10 But we, my love, we praise the moon sufficiently; We gild it with an alchemistic stuff. In that we let its splendours be A mirror to our kisses, we Flatter it enough ... II

15 Reb Kalman contemplates the good and evil ... And weighs God in the small palm of the hand, And in the other balances the Devil ... He finds the burden of the Lord as light as sand And that of Satan heavy as wet sod ... 20 For simple reason that in weighing God He has forgotten the Angelic Band ... c. 1928/1931

1933

Lamed Vav: A Psalm to Utter in Memory of Great Goodness Under a humble name he came to us; Died; and left his wife executrix Of tears, and a name for which the saints would fuss. I believe that he was one of the Thirty-six ... c. 1928/1931

*944

176 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

Lost Fame Ah, Solomon, you sage who knew the language Of all the birds, I have a certain quarrel With you - why did you not compile me A lexicon of all their feathered notes ? ... For then, with every melody they sang which 5 I'd interpret, I would win me laurel Upon laurel, all the world would style me (Mere translator) poet of all poets! ... c. 1928/1931

Market Song Plump pigeons, who will buy? Plump pigeons, and fat doves? Come, gossips, hurry nigh; Shake purses, hearty loves, 5 And buy my doves. Oh, cheap at any price, A most delicious morsel, Made ready in a trice! Take home a feathered parcel, 10 A dainty morsel. Wives, do you love your men? Set love upon a plate. A good bird is worth ten Grown bony in a crate. 15 Wives, do not wait!

177 / 0.1928/1931

Go feel them, look at them Their breasts, their bright pink eyes! You buy the like of them Elsewhere, and at my price, 20 My petty price? Unknot your kerchiefs, then, Shake out your coins, my loves, Buy now, you know not when You will catch such fat doves, 25 Such doves again. c. 1928/1931

1

94°

Nehemiah The The The The

incense, rising, curls the nostrils with its scent: musick leaps in mountains and in valleys: monarch on his purple dais sits intent damsels dance and show their wanton bellies ...

5 Standing beside the Royal One, apparelled royally, He hears no musick; and he sees no dance ... He only pours the wine into its goblet. Silent, he, This cup-bearer of the gloomy countenance ... He dreams he sees dead streets and yawning jackals roam 10 Through the lone city, hears the lonely whine ... There is a sepulchre where once there was his home. The king will drink a tear-drop in his wine ... c. 1928/1931

1932

178 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

Old Maids The old maids think of couches cold i' the moon; The world is full of beds with single pillows, And midnight is as virtuous as noon. With the year's change, changes the skin's dead yellows. 5 In sleep they are harassed by lecherous elves; In waking by the lusty marriage-tune. The old maids bless the bride. They pity themselves. c. 1928/1931

Oriental Garden Twilight is about to come. One can hear it in the hum Of the day-and-night duet. Upon the slender minaret 5 Of the poplar tree, a bird Climbs, and suddenly is heard Calling all his kith and kin, He, their sacred muezzin ... Suddenly a breeze doth phrase 10 Epithets for Allah's praise ... And as the turret songster sings of God, The flowers bow; their gorgeous turbans nod ... c. 1928/1931

1/9 / 0.1928/1931

Plumaged Proxy

5

10

15

20

O rooster, circled over my brother's head, If you had foresight you would see a beard Pluck little feathers from your neck, a blade Slit open your alarum, and a thumb Press down your gullet, rendering it dumb. My brother sends you to a land of shade, Hebraically curses your new home, And sets his sins upon your ruddy comb, Atonement for the gifts of Satan's trade. O rooster in a vortex of repentance, Proxy of my little brother's soul, You speed into a land where death pays toll; Where no sun rises to evoke a crow You go. Be you not lonesome. I will send you thither Each year a new companion for each year My brother lets his peccadilloes wither. Be you intrepid, therefore; do not fear. May six score roosters in the course of time Be cooped with you upon your nether stage. And may my brother live to a ripe age. c. 1928/1931

1940

Portrait

The badge of yellow scorn upon his chest, And in his heart a plentitude of sorrow, He walks the ghetto-lanes of Prague, a thorough Incarnation of a papal jest ...

180 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

5 His face is as an ancient palimpsest Where tears have blurred the versions of a sorrow, Have blurred the varied versions of a sorrow, And blurring, made it all more manifest ... This Jew homunculus seems very pent 10 In the four ells of his; he walks as he Knew God made earth, but not the firmament, His heart so heavy he goes stoopingly ... Beneath an unseen load he shuffles, bent As one who carried Christ from Calvary ... c. 1928/1931

A Psalm, Forbidden to Cohanim Who coming from the synagogue On Sabbath eves to always find The sacred Sabbath triple sign The burnished candle on the cloth, 5 The white bread still unbroken, and The beaker full of hallowed wine, Now on this Friday evening waits For no such signs. His voice is stilled. There is no soft tread at the door. 10 The bread is baked, unbroken, and The beaker is not even filled. The candles flicker on the floor. c. 1928/1931

1944

181 / 0.1928/1931

A Psalm of Abraham, Touching the Crown with Which He Was Crowned on the Day of His Espousals This is the man who brought to me The thumb-print of the Deity; Who hung upon my hairless chest The fringed talismanic vest; 5 This is the Jew who once did hem My heart with old Jerusalem; Who solved each letter's mystic hook Upon the parchment Pentateuch, And poured me out the kiddush-wine, 10 Sparkling with all the clandestine Eye-winks of angels; this is he Who made my youth worth memory. Most fitting is it, then, that this Old Rabbi, Eden-bent, should now 15 Sanctify our marriage-vow. c. 1928/1931

X

944

Reply Courteous City of Toulouse, reign of King Philip: Jews at the church-door, gathered together, Sextons surveying the city-square fill up As Jewry hastens, meek as a wether.

182 / Original Poems, 1926-1934 5 Bugles the herald; cries the town-crier; Rumble the wheels of the princely coaches; Singing of hymnals by the pale choir; Wafting of incense: the bishop approaches!

10

Up goes the bearded, the yellow-badged Dayon, Syndic of Jew-town, nears the good bishop (Lamb, says the prophet, shall dwell with the lion!) Faces the prelate. The big burghers hush up.

A box on the ear (ad gloriam Dei) Flattens the side-curls of the Christ-killer. 15 (Palm of the bishop certes can weigh; he Knows his sanct belly, gives it its filler.) Tears in the Jew-beard. Princes guffawing, Cleric-boys grinning, bailiff-paunch shaking; Wenches and trollops loudly haw-hawing; 20 City-square full of a good joke's quaking! Cease you this laughter; burghers look right here; Bless you Son Jesus, the Virgin, the Father! Bishop has smacked him full on his right ear Blush not - the syndic has turned him the other! c. 1928/1931

183 / 0.1928/1931

Soiree of Velvel Kleinburger In back-room dens of delicatessen stores, In curtained parlours of garrulous barber-shops, While the rest of the world most comfortably snores On mattresses, or on more fleshly props, 5 My brother Velvel vigils in the night, Not as he did last night with two French whores, But with a deck of cards that once were white. He sees three wan ghosts, as the thick smoke fades Dealing him clubs, and diamonds, hearts and spades. 10 His fingers, pricked with a tailor's needle, draw The well-thumbed cards; while Hope weighs down his jaw.

15

O for the ten spade in its proper place, Followed by knave in linen lace, The queen with her gaunt face, The king and mace, The ace!

Alas, that Velvel's sigh makes eddies in the smoke. For what's the use? While the pale faces grin, his brow is hot; 20 He grasps a deuce ... A nicotined hand beyond the smoke sweeps off the pot. O good my brother, should one come to you And knock upon the door at mid of night And show you, writ in scripture, black on white, 25 That this is no way for a man to do? What a pale laughter from these ghosts, and 'Who Are you, my saint, to show us what is right?

184 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

Make a fifth hand, and we will be contrite; Shuffle the cards, be sociable, Reb Jew/ 30 Then Velvel adds a foot-note to his hoax: I will not have your wherefores and your buts; For I am for the Joker and his jokes; I laugh at your alases and tut-tuts, My days, they vanish into circular smokes, 35 My life lies on a tray of cigarette-butts. For it is easy to send pulpit wind From bellies sumptuously lined; Easy to praise the sleep of the righteous, when The righteous sleep on cushions ten, 40 And having risen from a well-fed wife Easy it is to give advice on life. But you who upon sated palates clack a moral, And pick a sermon from between your teeth, Tell me with what bay, tell me with what laurel 45 Shall I entwine the heaven-praising wreath, I, with whom Deity sets out to quarrel? But, prithee, wherefore these thumbed cards? 0 do not make a pack of cards your thesis And frame no lesson on a house of cards 50 Where diamonds go lustreless, and hearts go broken And clubs do batter the skull to little shards, And where, because the spade is trump One must perforce kiss Satan's rump. For I have heard these things from teachers 55 With dirty beards and hungry features. Now, after days in dusty factories, Among machines that manufacture madness 1 have no stomach for these subtleties About rewards and everlasting gladness;

185 / c. 1928/1931

60 And having met your over-rated dawns, Together with milkmen watering their milk, And having trickled sweat, according to a scale of wages, Sewing buttons to warm the navels of your business sages, I have brought home at dusk, 65 My several bones, my much-flailed husk. My meals are grand, When supper comes I feed on canned Aquariums. 70

75

The salmon dies. The evening waits As I catch flies From unwashed plates. And my true love, She combs and combs, The lice from off My children's domes ...

Such is the idyll of my life. But I will yet achieve 80 An easier living and less scrawny wife And not forever will the foreman have The aces up his sleeve, But some day I will place the lucky bet. (Ho! Ho! the social revolutions on a table of roulette!) 85 My His His His

90

brother's gesture snaps: / spoke. cheeks seek refuge in his mouth. nostrils puff superior smoke. lips are brown with drouth. Hum a hymn of sixpence, A tableful of cards Fingers slowly shuffling

i86 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

95

Ambiguous rewards. When the deck is opened The pauper once more gave His foes the kings and aces And took himself the knave.

Once more he cuts the cards, and dreams his dream: A Rolls-Royce hums within his brain; Before it stands a chauffeur, tipping his hat, 100 'You say that it will rain, Sir; it will rain!' Upon his fingers diamonds gleam, His wife wears gowns of ultra-Paris fashion, And she boasts jewels as large as wondrous eyes The eyes of Og, the giant-king of Bashan. 105 So Velvel dreams; dreaming, he rises, and Buttons his coat, coughs in his raised lapel, Gropes his way home; he rings a raucous bell. c. 1928/1931

1936

Talisman in Seven Shreds Syllogism If golem is the effigy of man, and man the simulacrum of the Lord, the sequitur - I blanch to mouth the word, the blasphemous equation framed to span 5 chasm between the Lord and Caliban! Such is the logic that befouls the bird, bemires the stars, reduces to the absurd the godhead on the heavenly Divan. Kismet, Ananke, Golem, these are one:

187 / €.1928/1931

10 implacable automata no mortal swerves from their single purpose in the sun, driving the human through a mouldy portal. Implore the golem to undo the done; the golem will emit an idiot's chortle. Embryo of Dusts 15 Geographers may mark Prague on the map as a right Christian city: friars may seek to bring Hebrews to unhallowed clay, or suckle them upon a Catholic pap; Johann Silvester in his scarlet cap, 20 and aproned Havlicek, the butcher, may, whether it is a Jew or swine they flay, convince themselves Jehovah takes a nap. In vain: He sleeps not, neither does He drowse, Custodian of Israel; He entrusts 25 unto a guided nit-wit his chief house; therefore Reb Jacob Loew essays to rouse the name ineffable, maieutically thrusts the golem from his embryo of dusts. Tetragrammaton What scrofulous ashes upon sack-cloth, what 30 gaunt fasts, what scourges, yea, what Zohar's spark, what candles nibbling se'en wounds in the dark, have filched the logos from the polyglot? Phylactery on brow in lieu of thought, rabbi, communing with the hierarch, 35 unto what portents have you gasped, hark! hark! and added at the last th' ineffable jot? On parchment in the mouth of golem, it, the tetragrammaton was placed, his ward! A golem held the Lord's name, even as spit.

i88 / Original Poems, 1926-1934 40 And now it is gone, O rabbi, it is marred, (upon what margin shall I find it writ?) it is fled, and remains the golem's shard.

Fons Vitae Mud and mire of Moldau, that was the sperm that nurtured him, while rabbi and sextons three 45 beheld that which before was not, to be life sanguine behind scabrous epiderm. Ibn Gabirol, some say, did once affirm the font of life; Maimonides fed a wee homunculus in a jar, a dwarf which he 50 created. These, then, knew the pristine germ. Sanctum sanctorum! how can I ever pry behind the mystic chromosome? Grasp you, even as Tycho Brahe, by raking the sky? Can you be fashioned from the alembic's spue? 55 Can grace after meat in terms of x and y suggest the dark formula, the vital cue?

Enigma Solve me this riddle: Rumours are bruited the Jews spit venom on the holy rood; leagued with the devil and his horned brood 60 they prick the wafer, and pollute the bread. Pestilence on the waters do they spread, and Christian infants are their drink and food; the rumours being such, so grows the feud even the palest Slovene blood boils red. 65 How, then, and wherefore, despite barbaric wrath, does Jacob swallow sword and fire-brand to outlive every Judeophobic froth? It is the finger of the Lord's right hand?

189 / c.1928/1931

Or is the golem saviour, this rude goth 70 whose earthy paw is like a magic wand? Guide to the Perplexed The paleface mutters: Lord God is a myth; do you your genuflexions to the Rose. Be merry, eat and drink, the large paunch crows, the worms adore a man of guts and pith. 75 Voices: He is the Anvil and the Smith. He is comminglement of yeas and noes. He died, and then trisected He arose. The Rock of Ages is a monolith. The kennels of the hounds of God are full 80 Aye, what a baying at the moon is there! What, then, is good and true and beautiful? The tongue is bitter when it must declare: matter is chaos, mind is chasm, fool, the work of golems stalking in nightmare ... Immortal Yearnings 85 To sleep, perchance to dream. Where there is smoke there is fire. Death does not end the act. With these neat phrases leap a cataract? With similar bywords to unyoke the yoke? There is no witch of En-dor to invoke 90 asking dead spirits to pronounce the fact. No subtleties, no flattery, no tact, can make the virgin doff her triple cloak. Ask the golem? O, he will answer yes, it suits the golem to disclose it so. 95 But I will take a prong in hand, and go over old graves and test their hollowness:

190 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

be it the spirit or the dust I hoe only at doomsday's sunrise will I know. c. 1928/1931

194°

c. 1931/1931

Anguish The moon Is sudden grief Across a star-pricked sky ... It is an interjection crying 0 5 !... c. 1931/1931

1933

Ave Atque Vale [Version i] Launcelot: If thou comest with me to an alehouse, so. If not thou art an Hebrew and a Jew, and not worthy the name of Christian. - Two Gentlemen of Verona

No churl am I to carp at the goodly feres In the Mermaid Tavern, quaffing the lusty toast; Myself twanged Hebrew to right English cheers, Though now I do bid farewell to mine host;

192 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

5 And not, in sooth, for that I am a wight Of sober mien and melancholy way, Drinking my water in sips, in life's despite Changing heigh-nonny-no to lack-a-day, But that that parfait jolly company 10 That roistered in my salad days, calls me O sages of Sura, Pumbeditha's wise, Drawers of elephants through needles' eyes! To you I turn, and eke to Jabna-town, Which brave ben-Zakkai, rising from a coffin, 15 Saved from the claws of Titus, when Titus' heart did soften Towards the town of scholars, towards the lean Reb Zadoc, Swallowing his fig that tumbled down His throat, transparent and ascetic. Not merely rabbins of the whetted brain, 20 Not solely jousters of the supple thumb, But brawny men, who featly did maintain The Talmud a pie, and argument a plum: Abbaya and Rabba, most obstreperous twins, In dialectic spittle washing away their sins; 25 The smiling Kahana; Shammai in a mope; Hillel instructing an obtuse Ethiop; Finding for vermin dietetic uses, Reb Meir and his se'en score ten excuses; Ambiguous Resh Lakish, gladiator, 30 A hearty glutton, and a staunch debater; Obese Reb Paupa, whose belly so did wax It sheltered a camel, hump, and load of flax; That consummate apocalyptic liar, Bar Huna, more mendacious than a friar; 35 Uncouth Akiva; cobbler Jochanan; Achair who quoted Greek; that witty man Yitschok who most hilariously conjectured What Adam wrought alone before God lectured;

193 / c. 1931/193* And Abba Saul, plying his adamant trade, 40 Murmuring jests at each throw of the spade. Howbeit I do not scorn the gloomier sages, The fasters, mortifiers of the flesh, Who wept for the sins of past and future ages, And being skinny, slid through Satan's mesh: 45 Reb Judah, undefiled, who did disdain Anatomy below the brain, Or he who even in his sleep Taught his penitence to weep, Howbeit I love these men at distances 50 And choose sodality with the sprightlier few, When he forsakes you, Shakespeare, for a space, Or you Kit Marlowe of the four good lines, Or Jonson, you, your sack, your muscadine, your wines, This Jew 55 Betakes him to no pharisaic crew ... c. 1931/1931

1

94°

Ave Atque Vale [Version 2] Launcelot: If thou comest with me to an alehouse, so. If not thou art an Hebrew and a Jew, and not worthy the name of Christian. - Two Gentlemen of Verona No Melchizedek Parchment-Parched am I To snuffle down The Mermaid's loud compeers Pouring canary on their song and wit! No austere Simon Sober! Why, 5 Myself did sometime fuddle my despairs; Trolled, in my cups, Elizabethan airs; Even lain, defunct and preterit, At the foot of mine host's stairs ...

194 / Original Poems, 1926—1934

But for a pause I now would call it quit ... 10 Though filled the bowl, and though flap-dragon flare, I will not have, I'll not have any of it. And not, in sooth, for that I am a wight, Either of queasy stomach or pure heart, Who'd ding him hallelujahs through the night 15 Until the moon gave conscience a new start ... But that that lusty puissant company That roistered in my salad days calls me O sages of Sura, Pumbeditha's wise Drawers of elephants through needles' eyes 20 Mountain-uprooters! Hammers of the law! Pulverizers [...] To you I turn, and turn to Jabna-town Which brave ben-Zakkai, rising from a coffin Saved from the claws of Titus, when Titus' heart did soften 25 Towards that town of scholars, towards its lean Reb Zadoc Swallowing his fig that nimbly tumbled down A second Adam's apple in a throat ascetic. Not merely rabbins of the whetstone brain, Not solely jousters of the supple thumb, 30 But witty men, and playful men, who forth and back again Swung the great Talmud's Babylonian pendulum. c. 1953/c. 1955

195 / 0.1931/1931

Calvary Upon these trees was Autumn crucified ... Do you not see the thorns, the ready bier Of leaves, the stains of blood? ... Do you not hear His Eli Eli echo? ... It has died. c. 1931/1931

1931

Design for Mediaeval Tapestry Somewhere a hungry muzzle rooted. The frogs among the sedges croaked. Into the night a screech-owl hooted. A clawed mouse squeaked and struggled, choked. 5 The wind pushed antlers through the bushes. Terror stalked through the forest, cloaked. Was it a robber broke the hushes? Was it a knight in armoured thews, Walking in mud, and bending rushes? 10 Was it a provost seeking Jews? The Hebrews shivered; their teeth rattled; Their beards glittered with gelid dews. Gulped they their groans, for silence tattled; They crushed their sighs, for quiet heard; 15 They had their thoughts on Israel battled

196 / Original Poems, 1926—1934

By pagan and by Christian horde. They moved their lips in pious anguish. They made no sound. They never stirred. Reb Zadoc Has Memories. Reb Zadoc's brain is a German town: 20 Hermits come from lonely grottos Preaching the right for Jews to drown; Soldiers who vaunt their holy mottos Stroking the cross that is a sword; Barons plotting in cabal sottos; 25 A lady spitting on the abhorred. The market-place and faggot-fire A hangman burning God's true word; A clean-shaved traitor-Jew; a friar Dropping his beads upon his paunch; 30 The heavens speared by a Gothic spire; The Judengasse and its stench Rising from dark and guarded alleys Where Jew is neighboured to harlot-wench Perforce ecclesiastic malice; 35 The exile-booths of Jacob where Fat burghers come to pawn a chalice While whistling a Jew-hating air; Peasants regarding Jews and seeking The hooves, the tail, the horn-crowned hair; 40 And target for a muddy streaking, The yellow badge upon the breast, The vengeance of a papal wreaking;

197 / c.i931/1931 The imposts paid for this fine crest; Gay bailiffs serving writs of seizure; 45 Even the town fool and his jest Stroking his beard with slowly leisure, A beard that was but merely down, Rubbing his palms with gloating pleasure, Counting fictitious crown after crown. 50 Reb Zadoc's brain is a torture-dungeon; Reb Zadoc's brain is a German town. Reb Daniel Shochet Reflects. The toad seeks out its mud; the mouse discovers The nibbled hole; the sparrow owns its nest; About the blind mole earthy shelter hovers. 55 The louse avows the head where it is guest; Even the roach calls some dark fent his dwelling. But Israel owns a sepulchre, at best. Nahum-this-also-is-for-the-good Ponders. The wrath of God is just. His punishment Is most desirable. The flesh of Jacob 60 Implores the scourge. For this was Israel meant. Below we have no life. But we will wake up Beyond, where popes will lave our feet, where princes Will heed our insignificantest hiccup. The sins of Israel only blood-shed rinses. 65 We teach endurance. Lo, we are not spent. We die, we live; at once we are three tenses.

198 / Original Poems, 1926—1934

Our skeletons are bibles; flesh is rent Only to prove a thesis, stamp a moral. The rack prepared: for this was Israel meant. Isaiah Epicure Avers. 70 Seek reasons; rifle your theology; Philosophize; expend your dialectic; Decipher and translate God's diary; Discover causes, primal and eclectic; I cannot; all I know is this: 75 That pain doth render flesh most sore and hectic; That lance-points prick; that scorched bones hiss; That thumbscrews agonize, and that a martyr Is mad if he considers these things bliss. Job Reviles. God is grown ancient. He no longer hears. 80 He has been deafened by his perfect thunders. With clouds for cotton he has stopped his ears. The Lord is purblind; and his heaven sunders Him from the peccadillos of this earth. He meditates his youth; he dreams; he wonders. 85 His cherubs have acquired beards and girth. They cannot move to do his bidding. Even The angels yawn. Satan preserves his mirth. How long, O Lord, will Israel's heart be riven? How long will we cry to a dotard God 90 To let us keep the breath that He has given? How long will you sit on your throne, and nod?

199 / c.i931/1931 Judith Makes Comparisons. Judith had heard a troubadour Singing beneath a castle-turret Of truth, chivalry, and honour, 95 Of virtue, and of gallant merit, Judith had heard a troubadour Lauding the parfait knightly spirit, Singing beneath the ivied wall. The cross-marked varlet Judith wrestled 100 Was not like these at all, at all ... Ezekiel the Simple Opines. If we will fast for forty days; if we Will read the psalms thrice over; if we offer To God some blossom-bursting litany, And to the poor a portion of the coffer; 105 If we don sack-cloth, and let ashes rain Upon our heads, despite the boor and scoffer, Certes, these things will never be again. Solomon Talmudi Considers His Life. Rather that these blood-thirsty pious vandals, Bearing sable in heart, and gules on arm, no Had made me ready for the cerement-candles, Than that they should have taken my one charm Against mortality, my exegesis: The script that gave the maggot the alarm.

2oo / Original Poems, 1926—1934

Jews would have crumpled Rashi's simple thesis 115 On reading this, and Ibn Ezra's version; Maimonides they would have torn to pieces. For here, in black and white, by God's conversion, I had plucked secrets from the pentateuch, And gathered strange arcana from dispersion, 120 The essence and quintessence of the book! Green immortality smiled out its promise I hung my gaberdine on heaven's hook. Refuting Duns, and aquinatic Thomas, Confounding Moslems, proving the one creed 125 A simple sentence broken by no commas, I thought to win myself eternal meed, I thought to move the soul with sacred lever And lift the heart to God in very deed. Ah, woe is me, and to my own endeavour, 130 That on that day they burned my manuscript, And lost my name, for certain, and for ever! Simeon Takes Hints from His Environs. Heaven is God's grimace at us on high. This land is a cathedral; speech, its sermon. The moon is a rude gargoyle in the sky. 135 The leaves rustle. Come, who will now determine Whether this be the wind, or priestly robes. The frogs croak out ecclesiastic German, Whereby our slavish ears have punctured lobes. The stars are mass-lamps on a lofty altar; 140 Even the angels are Judaeophobes.

201 / c.i931/1931 There is one path; in it I shall not falter. Let me rush to the bosom of the state And church, grasp lawyer-code and monkish psalter, And being Christianus Simeon, late 145 Of Jewry, have much comfort and salvation Salvation in this life, at any rate.

Esther Hears Echoes of His Voice. How sweetly did he sing grace after meals! He now is silent. He has fed on sorrow. He lies where he is spurned by faithless heels. 150 His voice was honey. Lovers well might borrow Warmth from his words. His words were musical, Making the night so sweet, so sweet the morrow! Can I forget the tremors of his call? Can kiddush benediction be forgotten? 155 His blood is spilled like wine. The earth is sharp with gall. As soothing as the promises begotten Of penitence and love; as lovely as The turtle-dove; as soft as snow in cotton, Whether he lulled a child or crooned the laws, 160 And sacred as the eighteen prayers, so even His voice. His voice was so. His voice that was ...

The burgher sleeps beside his wife, and dreams Of human venery, and Hebrew quarry. His sleep contrives him many little schemes.

2O2 / Original Poems, 1926—1934

165 There will be Jews, dead, moribund and gory; There will be booty; there will be dark maids, And there will be a right good spicy story ... The moon has left her vigil. Lucifer fades. Whither shall we betake ourselves, O Father? 170 Whither to flee? And where to find our aids? The wrath of people is like foam and lather, Risen against us. Wherefore, Lord, and why? The winds assemble; the cold and hot winds gather To scatter us. They do not heed our cry. 175 The sun rises and leaps the red horizon, And like a bloodhound swoops across the sky. c. 1931/1931

Elijah Elijah in a long beard With a little staff Hobbles through the market And makes the children laugh. 5 He crows like a rooster, He dances like a bear, While the long-faced rabbis Drop their jaws to stare. He tosses his skullcap 10 To urchin and tot,

1947

2C»3 / c.i931/I931 And catches it neatly Right on his bald spot. And he can tell stories Of lovers who elope; 15 And terrible adventures With cardinal and pope. Without a single pinch, and Without a blow or cuff, We learned from him the Aleph, 20 We learned from him the Tauph. Between the benedictions We would play leapfrog O, this was a wonderful Synagogue! 25 He can make a whistle From a gander's quill; He can make a mountain Out of a molehill. Oh, he is a great man! 30 Wished he, he could whoop The moon down from heaven, And roll it like a hoop; Wished he, he could gather The stars from the skies, 35 And juggle them like marbles Before our very eyes. c. 1931/1931

1940

204 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

Exorcism Vain The tongue has faltered. Hence, revoked the demons, Scattered the essence, th'incantation futile, The ghouls return to fructify their lemans; And pandemonium again is motile ... 5 The circle broken; bird-feet traced but slightly Within the dust upon the book-shelves; magic On hallowed midnights murmured eruditely Wholly discomfited; the terror tragic, The mispronouncement of the syllable 10 Conclusive renders the good deed undone Alas, the hesitancy in the call, The stutter in the tetragrammaton ... c. 1931/1931

1931

Funeral in April His voice may tear the sky to shreds, His requiem cause worms to creep, His wail may shake a hundred heads, And make a hundred mourners weep ... 5 But we, my love, will heed no knell, No crow-frocked cantor and his caw, For all we care, he may, as well, Sing fiddle-dee and tra-la-la ... c. 1931/1931

1931

205 / 0.1931/1931

King Elimelech King Elimelech — A dent in his crown, A twist in his sceptre Limps through the town. 5 He hawks little trinkets, He cries his small wares; He gets him a table At all the town fairs. 'Ho, goodman, will you buy 10 A patched purple robe, Aristocrat garters, My last wizard's globe? 'Farthings buy medals; A penny will buy 15 My most potent signet, My bright heraldry. 'Yea, I will barter This throne whence I rule For a much more cosy 20 Artisan's stool.' The pedigreed peddler Flaunts his strange goods, But yokel and bumpkin Chaffer for foods. 25 Such gauds are costly The peasant folk say -

206 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

With straws and pebbles Let children play. Alas, these are hard times, 30 When even a crowned head Can not get his daily Butter and bread. If kings will not hunger, Then let them all fast! 35 So said King EliMelech the Last. c. 1931/1931

1940

Old Maid's Wedding Autumn Is an old bride. She wears a veil of mist. Upon her are thrown confetti 5 Dead leaves ... c. 1931/1931

1931

207 / 0.1931/1931

On the Road to Palestine Upon the road to Palestine I met a little Jew, A pomegranate in his hand He sometimes stopped to chew, 5 And sometimes stopped to praise the Lord, Whereat I said, Baruch Hu! Where do you come from, little Jew? I come from Palestine. The land is full of clover-fields, 10 The fields are full of kine; And babes drink milk from flowercups, And old men vats of wine. O, there are blossoms everywhere, Swinging with tongueless bells; 15 And when the land is not in bloom Tis that the fruitage swells: Oranges drop from orange-trees, And almonds from their shells. 20

O, why do you leave this Palestine? Then quoth the little Jew: I come this way from Palestine To find and welcome you To come to old Jerusalem, And Palestine the new. c. 1931/1931

1931

2o8 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

Out of the Pulver and the Polished Lens I The paunchy sons of Abraham Spit on the maculate streets of Amsterdam, Showing Spinoza, Baruch alias Benedict, He and his God are under interdict. 5 Ah, what theology there is in spatted spittle, And in anathema what sacred prose Winnowing the fact from the suppose! Indeed, what better than these two things can whittle The scabrous heresies of Yahweh's foes, 10 Informing the breast where Satan gloats and crows That saving it leave false doctrine, jot and tittle, No vigilant thumb will leave its orthodox nose? What better than ram's horn blown, And candles blown out by maledictory breath, 15 Can bring the wanderer back to his very own, The infidel back to his faith? Nothing, unless it be that from the ghetto A soldier of God advance to teach the creed, Using as rod the irrefutable stiletto. II

20 Uriel da Costa Flightily ranted Heresies one day, Next day recanted.

209 / c.i931/1931 Rabbi and bishop 25 Each vies to smuggle Soul of da Costa Out of its struggle. Confessional hears his Glib paternoster; 30 Synagogue sees his Penitent posture. What is the end of This catechism? Bullet brings dogma 35 That suffers no schism.

Ill Malevolent scorpions befoul thy chambers, O my heart; they scurry across its floor, Leaving the slimy vestiges of doubt. Banish memento of the vermin; let 40 No scripture on the wall affright you; no Ghost of da Costa; no, nor any threat. Ignore, O heart, even as didst ignore The bribe of florins jingling in the purse.

IV Jehovah is factotum of the rabbis; 45 And Christ endures diurnal Calvary; Polyglot God is exiled to the churches; Synods tell God to be or not to be.

2io / Original Poems, 1926-1934 The Lord within his vacuum of heaven Discourses his domestic policies, 50 With angels who break off their loud hosannas To help him phrase infallible decrees. Soul of Spinoza, Baruch Spinoza bids you Forsake the god suspended in mid-air, Seek you that other Law, and let Jehovah 55 Play his game of celestial solitaire.

V Reducing providence to theorems, the horrible atheist compiled such lore that proved, like proving two and two make four, that in the crown of God we all are gems. From glass and dust of glass he brought to light, out of the 60 pulver and the polished lens, the prism and the flying mote; and hence the infinitesimal and infinite. Is it a marvel, then, that he forsook the abracadabra of the synagogue, and holding with timelessness a duologue, deciphered a new scripture in the book? Is it a marvel that 65 he left old fraud for passion intellectual of God?

VI Unto the crown of bone cry Suzerain! Do genuflect before the jewelled brain! Lavish the homage of the vassal; let The blood grow heady with strong epithet; 70 O cirque of the Cabbalist! O proud skull! Of alchemy O crucible! Sanctum sanctorum; grottoed hermitage Where sits the bearded sage! O golden bowl of Koheleth! and of fate 75 O hourglass within the pate! Circling, O planet in the occiput! O Macrocosm, sinew-shut!

211 / c.i931/1931 Yea, and having uttered this loud Te Deum Ye have been singularly dumb. VII

80 I am weak before the wind; before the sun I faint; I lose my strength; I am utterly vanquished by a star; I go to my knees, at length 85

Before the song of a bird; before The breath of spring or fall I am lost; before these miracles I am nothing at all. VIII

90

95

100

105

Lord, accept my hallelujahs; look not askance at these my petty words; unto perfection a fragment makes its prayer. For thou art the world, and I am part thereof; thou art the blossom and I its fluttering petal. I behold thee in all things, and in all things: lo, it is myself; I look into the pupil of thine eye, it is my very countenance I see. Thy glory fills the earth; it is the earth; the noise of the deep, the moving of many waters, is it not thy voice aloud, O Lord, aloud that all may hear? The wind through the almond-trees spreads the fragrance of thy robes; the turtle-dove twittering utters diminutives of thy love; at the rising of the sun I behold thy countenance. Yea, and in the crescent moon, thy little finger's finger-nail. If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there; If I make my bed in hell, behold thou art there. Thou art everywhere; a pillar to thy sanctuary is every blade of grass.

212 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

Wherefore I said to the wicked, Go to the ant, thou sluggard, seek thou an audience with God. On the swift wings of a star, even on the numb legs of a snail, thou dost move, O Lord. no A babe in swaddling clothes laughs at the sunbeams on the door's lintel; the sucklings play with thee; with thee Kopernik holds communion through a lens. I am thy son, O Lord, and brother to all that lives am I. The flowers of the field, they are kith and kin to me; the lily 115 my sister, the rose is my blood and flesh. Even as the stars in the firmament move, so does my inward heart, and even as the moon draws the tides in the bay, so does it the blood in my veins. For thou art the world, and I am part thereof; 120 Howbeit, even in dust I am resurrected; and even in decay I live again. IX

Think of Spinoza, then, not as you think Of Shabbathai Zvi who for a time of life Took to himself the Torah for a wife, 125 And underneath the silken canopy Made public: Thou art hallowed unto me. Think of Spinoza, rather, plucking tulips Within the garden of Mynheer, forgetting Dutchmen and Rabbins, and consumptive fretting, 130 Plucking his tulips in the Holland sun, Remembering the thought of the Adored, Spinoza, gathering flowers for the One, The ever-unwedded lover of the Lord. c. 1931/1931

194°

213 / 0.1931/1931

Saturday Night It being no longer Sabbath, angels scrawl The stars upon the sky; and Main Street thrives. The butcher-shops are as so many hives, And full is every delicatessen stall. 5 Obese Jewesses, wheeling triplets, crawl Along the gibbering thoroughfare. Fat wives Lead little husbands, while their progeny dives Among this corpulence in shouting frisky sprawl. The whole street quivers with a million hums. 10 Hebraic arms tell jokes that are not funny. Upon the corner stand the pool-room bums. Most valiantly girl-taggers smile for money. From out a radio loud-speaker comes: O, Eli, E/z, lama zabachthani! c. 1931/1931

Scribe I

5

The black phylacteries about his arm Impress the first initial of God's name Upon the skin, encircled by this charm. The Sheen of Shaddai intricately drawn Into the flesh sets bone and blood aflame. The heart beats out the tetragrammaton.

1931

214 / Original Poems, 1926-1934 II

Let heathenesse seek refuge in its steel; Let pagandom invest its coat of mail; This prayer-shawl is armour to this Jew! 10 Satan endures its pendules as a flail; Demons are frighted by its white and blue; And Lilith knows a hauberk she can not undo. Ill

His eyes are two black blots of ink. The thin hairs of his beard 15 Are symbols of the script revered; His broad brow is the margin of a parchment page, Clean for the commentaries of age. IV

Having shaped a chapter of the Holy Writ, Having reached the name of God, 20 Let no hair fallen from his beard unhallow it. Let no imp alcoved in a finger nail Play his unsacred fraud. Therefore let living water wash his right hand clean, Drowning the satans on his palm, unseen and seen. V

25 And after three score years and ten, He will have raised three pentateuchs Aloft to be the praise of men; His eyes will then be water, his bones hooks. His fingers will not write again.

215 / c.i931/1931 VI

30 He will descend unto that other ark Which has no curtains save an empty shroud. And there the slimy exegetes will mark Exegesis upon the parchment-browed. VII

But the true essence, joyous as a lark, 35 Will settle on God's wrist, devoutly proud! c. 1931/1931

194°

Here They Are - All Those Sunny April Days Here they are - all those sunny April days! The sticky buds upon the maple-trees; The dawns; the dewdrops juggling the sun's rays; The robins prim, and the swashbuckling bees. 5 And more than that. Here June, and dogroses Do you recall the bush we plucked ours from? The tall grass bent where lovers hid to kiss; Unchristened field flies, and their heathen hum. I cannot bring a forest on my back; 10 Nor pull the lining of my pockets out, Dropping a sun or moon; nor can I crack A whip, and have trees leap and mountains shout. But what I can do, failing such magic bright, Is bring these, as I do, in black and white.

1931

216 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

xxii Sonnets I

Why Do You Love Me, As You Say You Do Why do you love me, as you say you do, Me above all? Surely you see I am No handsome Greek nor even wealthy Jew, But only a poor scribbling Abraham. 5 Behold this brow is not smooth stone; this nose Well, smaller noses grow on bigger men; These eyes are not forgot-me-nots; no rose This mouth, and I as plain as nine of ten. Now riches - hold me, princess, as an heir 10 My father at a green old age, on boards — To the debts, only, of a millionaire. Mistake me not; these are no scarecrow words To fright the raven, or alarm the dove. But know, since you do love me, whom you love. c. 1931/1931

II

The Prince to the Princess in the fairy-Tale The prince to the princess in the fairy-tale, And eke the scullion to the chimneysweep, All mouth these three brief words, once rare and frail, But withered now, and stiff, and bargain-cheap 5 Mellifluous 'I love you!' phrase with which Incest ensanguines the too-perfumed sheets,

2i/ / c.i931/1931 The virgin gives her to the dotard rich, And the seducer paws his trollop's teats. Shall I, too, have these three knaves in my pay? 10 O, find me some Etruscan speech unknown, Some tongue Phoenician of another day, That I may take it as our very own! Else, rather than spue out this mildewed crumb, This stale locution, I stay sagely dumb. c. 1931/1931

III

Think Not, My Dear, Because 1 Do Not Call Think not, my dear, because I do not call You darling names over the tea and cakes, Nor sigh, nor stroke your fingers, nor speak small, Nor pout to show the parlour my heart aches, 5 Think not I love you less. Not I the man To wait until the sewing-circle hoves In sight, to love according to a plan, And set the gossips talking of two doves. Too much the mine to show it to the mob, 10 Or tattoo it upon my arm, or wear It dangling public from my watch's fob Your pet name which is ours, and not to share. It is enough the sparrow on your sill Already knows our love, as others will.

1931

218 / Original Poems, 1926—1934 IV

Seventy Regal Moons, with Clouds as Train Seventy regal moons, with clouds as train, Have climbed the marble staircase of the sky, Since we in homage first cried 'Suzerain, Accept thy lieges.' Time has fluttered by. 5 Since we have touched our lips, since quarrelled, and Have said again the sweet repentant word, Many a rose is dust on barren land; And open-beaked silence many a bird. Never was night so fragrant as our night; 10 Fragrant with clover, fresh with new-mown hay, When we let kisses measure time aright And bid the sun to tarry in Cathay. If this will be again, here cries a loon: Stars, be ye pages; rise, O regnant moon! c. 1931/1931

V

This Is Too Terrible a Season! Worms This is too terrible a season! Worms Upon the garden-walks, and in dark branches eyes, Sinister eyes of crows, crows cawing terms To Autumn bleeding beneath iron skies! 5 The wind guffawing gusts of vandal song; The golden poplars spoiled by noisy thieves; The moon a withered bloom, and all night long Brown leaves falling, and rain on dark brown leaves O, but these leave me with a turbulent mind, 10 And much disturbed, and marked with leafless whips, And driven back to you, my dear, to find

219 / c. 1931/193 * Warmth only in the August of your lips, Calm in the Spring-tide of your arms, and rest Upon the April of your blossoming breast ... c. 1931/1931

VI Would That Three Centuries Past Had Seen Us Born [Version i] Would that three centuries past had seen us born! When gallants brought a continent on a chart To turreted ladies waiting their return. Then had my gifts in truth declared my heart! 5 From foreign coasts, over tempestuous seas, I would have brought a gold-caged parrakeet; Gems from some painted tribe; the Sultan's keys; Bright coronets; and placed them at your feet. Yea, on the high seas raised a sombre flag, 10 And singed unwelcome beards, and made for shore With precious stones, and coins in many a bag To proffer you. These deeds accomplished, or I would have been a humble thin-voiced Jew Hawking old clo'es in ghetto lanes, for you. c. 1931/1931

^94°

Would That Three Centuries Past Had Seen Us Born [Version 2] Would that three centuries past had seen us born! When youngest sons, with mappemounde for chart, Sought them golcondas at its farthest bourn, -

22O / Original Poems, 1926—1934

Then had my gifts indeed declared my heart! 5 From foreign coasts, in the teeth of piracies, Elixirs and gems to you I would have brought! Small tokens: mystic mirror ... magic keys ... A parrot praising you in polyglot ... - Myself had hoisted up the skull-and-bones, 10 And boarded corsairs, cutlass'd aft and fore, Battened down booty, ingots, silks, rare stones, Tribute of love ... Such deeds my daring! ... or I would have been a humble thin-voiced Jew Hawking old clo'es, in ghetto lanes, for you. c. i953/*955

1955

VII

Betray Me Not. Treat Me As Scurvily Betray me not. Treat me as scurvily As you may please. Tie my heart in a knot. Make me a spaniel fawning at your knee. Hold me meaner than ashes. But betray me not. 5 For I am an Othello, I fear guile; Stand jealous of the flower in your hair; You sigh, and I suspect a swain; you smile And I look north and south for someone there. Betray me not, but if you do, I use 10 No sombre cape to play the tragic part: I shall not leap a bridge, or fit a noose, And leave a will explicit of my heart. Not that; but in some paper you may meet A note of one run over in a street. c. 1931/1931

221 / c.i931/1931 VIII Speak Me No Deaths. Prevent That Word from Me Speak me no deaths. Prevent that word from me. From such discourse can come no earthly good. I like it not. Time, and enough, will be To pluck up courage, lift the falcon's hood, 5 And stare upon the very eyes of Death, Mine enemy, politic, cunning, arch; But for the nonce, I stay deaf to hot breath Whispering from a mask my ides of March. For mention death, and I am dead, almost, 10 Only alive to ponder and be stung That to your lover you may soothe my ghost: 'Departed and so pitiably young!' Your hand is on my lips? My dear, my dear, These things have happened, and may happen here. c. 1931/1931

IX

Age Draws His Fingernail across My Brow Age draws his fingernail across my brow. Not yet, but soon, the silver hair will climb Among my hair, still dark, proclaiming how The young neck bends before the headsman Time. 5 For soon, so very soon, the voice will be Cracked, if not dumb; the gesture limp; the ear Deaf to the music in the golden tree; Frocked coats will follow me, and grief, and fear. Consider, love, the oak when it is sere, 10 Consider, too, the lily withered soon; And while the impetuous blood still scorns the bier

222 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

And hot lips damn the maggot a poltroon, Let us avow the cup was drained, before The moon turned blot, the sun a leper's sore. c. 1931/1931

X

'Tis Very Well to Parrot the Nightingale Tis very well to parrot the nightingale, To weave the weather in our love; to plot, Unpetalling the lily, veil by veil, Whether she loves me or she loves me not. 5 But there are things, alas, ungilded, too, From which no Romeo can stand aloof: Bread on the board, raiment, and tea for two And over connubial heads a sheltering roof. For after courtship come the joy-flung rice, 10 And after rice, the ledger and accounts. Even the kissable lipstick has a price. Lovers must live; the cost of living mounts. But pardon this my most prosaic way: I should not mention these on your birth-day. c. 1931/1931

XI

Not from a Hermit's Grotto, nor Monk's Cell Not from a hermit's grotto, nor monk's cell Do I come tip-toeing towards your door. I have known other girls, and known them well,

223 / c.i931/1931 And having known them, seek to know no more. 5 Sweet girls, with wide forever-marvelling eyes And cherry-lips near cherry-blossom skin, And breasts uplifted, and mysterious thighs. If sin it is, I do confess my sin. Do not account me faithless, therefore; they 10 Were never more than dolls in a doll-show Whom, once appraised, I left and went my way. Nevertheless I come to you, avow My soul unmortgaged, and declare no lien Upon my heart. I come unsullied, clean. c. 1931/1931

XII

These Northern Stars Are Scarabs in My Eyes These northern stars are scarabs in my eyes. Not any longer can I suffer them. I will to Palestine. We will arise And seek the towers of Jerusalem. 5 Make ready to board ship. Say farewells. Con Your Hebrew primer; supple be your tongue To speak the crisp words baked beneath the sun, The sinuous phrases by the sweet-singer sung. At last, my bride, in our estate you'll wear 10 Sweet orange-blossoms in an orange grove. There will be white doves fluttering in the air, And in the meadows our contented drove, Sheep on the hills, and in the trees, my love, There will be sparrows twittering Mazel Tov. c. 1931/1931

194°

224 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

XIII Loosen the Drawbridge, Men! I Am Pursued Loosen the drawbridge, men! I am pursued! They are upon my heels! Unbar the door! I met four ruffians in a darkened wood, And heard the halloo-cry of many more. 5 Wherefore I fled, their breath upon my nape, Craft crying Murder! Hate in hot pursuit, Jealousy, waddling like a long-armed ape, Greed with his claws already grasping loot. Over this castle raise the ensign: Love. 10 From this our refuge my defiance comes. I pace the ramparts, halloo from above While buglers blow, and drummers drum their drums. Now bring your catapults and your battering-ram. I lift my visor. Know me who I am. c. 1931/1931

XIV

Upon a Time There Lived a Dwarf, a Jew Upon a time there lived a dwarf, a Jew. His shelter was a thatch, a beard his clothes. He loved God, and feared women. When he knew A girl was at his hut, he thumbed his nose. 5 One night the moon turned Shadchan. In its glow The dwarf beheld a girl, a maid, a lass ... He had no name for her. He said, Oh. Oh. He knelt and kissed her toes upon the grass. The dowry that she gave him were the stars, 10 Only he must go get these stars himself. The bridegroom took a flower - gold was scarce —

225 / c.i93I/1931 And made a ring. The cantor was an elf. O, there were nectar-cups, and there was laughter! The dwarf and wife lived happily ever after ... c. 1931/1931

1

94°

XV

Within My Iron Days, My Nights of Stone Within my iron days, my nights of stone, Whose only redolent dew is gasoline, Before my time-clock Sun, my trade-mark Moon, Symbolic of the cycle of machine, 5 The thought of you is as an April breeze, Evocative of beauties casually Adventured; flowers in blossom; budding trees; The athlete grasshopper, the brigand bee; The bright gendarmerie of tulips; brooks 10 Loquacious; shy birds chirping from wet eaves; Hyacinths bursting from smooth pebbly nooks; Sheep in the sheep-cotes; in the pastures beeves. So do these memories grow, then grow forlorn, Hearing the factory hound, the factory horn ... c. 1931/1931

XVI

Without Your Love, without Your Love for Me Without your love, without your love for me, The flame's not worth the candle; and the fruit Unworthy of the ladder at the tree.

226 / Original Poems, 1926—1934

Water is poison; bread is poisonous soot; 5 Fumes in the nostrils, air. Your love being cold, Ambition is a paunchy hollow cask, Fortune a counterfeit, and friendship gold Of gold teeth grinning from behind a mask. Nothing I do, is done; nor utter, said 10 If your love is a single kiss less warm. I might as well have stayed among the dead. Fame is a gnat's sneeze in a thunderstorm. Love me: the brightest constellation bends Before me; they are mine — fame, fortune, friends. c. 1931/1931

XVII Consider, Then, the Miracle You Wrought Consider, then, the miracle you wrought. My father is a man who twists no words. Bullocks are hide to him, and feathers birds, A spade's a spade, and seven stars are not 5 A dipper. His is an uncoated tongue. The moon, he says, is moon, no more, no less. A sparrow is a bird that pecks at dung. The throat was made for truth, not fine excess. Sprung from such loins, by such a father sired, 10 Behold his son, whom you have so inflamed His speech betrays the constellations, hired To phrase his heart, the beauteous wild things tamed So to bespeak him, tethered to his thought ... Consider this the miracle you wrought. c. 1931/1931

227 / c.i931/1931 XVIII Let Them Pronounce Me Sentimental Let them pronounce me sentimental. I Confess my love for little children, boys Who dangle on your knees and ask you why And when and how, and make your features toys; 5 And little girls who take you by the hand And dub you father in their own doll's house. Boys who will plot against a robber-band; Youngsters inquisitive about milch-cows ... Young Robin Hoods, philosophers in fun, 10 For whom the moon is certain, the stars sure, Whose speech is bright, a shower in the sun, And innocent their minds, and crystal-pure. Wherefore I say: Blessed be the nurseries: A sonnet is sufficient to the wise. c. 1931/1931

XIX From Beautiful Dreams I Rise; I Rise from Dreams From beautiful dreams I rise; I rise from dreams Of you beside me on a garden lawn, And pace my floor to where the sunrise gleams And lift my windows to invoke the dawn: 5 Now shall I hear the aube of jubilant birds, Now see the upraised banner of the sun, Envoy and flourish to the dream's soft words: I lift my window, and invoke the dawn: The gawky night-clothes dance upon the line; 10 A cat pursues a bird upon the roof, The old man next door, waking, scratches his spine;

228 / Original Poems, 1926-1934 Two gossips bandy insult for reproof; Upon the fire-escape there stand and rot Pickles in barrels, flowers in a pot. c. 1931/1931

XX

My Literati friends in Restaurants My literati friends in restaurants Platos exhaling smoke from cigarettes Assail the virtue in their maiden aunts; Annul the Jew with paragraphs from Graetz; 5 Between slow smoke-puffs fumigate a seer, Settle a war in spitting olive-pips; Snap at nobility, at honour sneer; Damn the apostles in twelve coffee-sips. I toy with a blank menu and a pen: 10 L'amor che muove il sol e I'altre stelle Where I did come by this, or how, or when Only our love can say. Here it sounds silly, Now that my friends call one another asses, In shouting their love for the working-classes. c. 1931/1931

1932

XXI

/ Shall Not Bear Much Burden When I Cross I shall not bear much burden when I cross My father's threshold to our common door; Only some odds I would not count as loss,

229 / c.i931/1931 Only some ends old days can not ignore: 5 The prayer-shawl my mother cast upon My shoulders, blessing Israel with a man; Phylacteries my father gave his son; The Bible over which my young eyes ran; And Talmud huge, once shield from heathen stones. 10 I bring these as mementos; also, verse Scribbled in rhymes their honesty condones; And a capacious though still empty purse. For your old age I keep a psalter-book From which to read on Sabbaths, in perruque. c. 1931/1931

1955

XXII Were I to Talk until the Crack o' Doom Were I to talk until the crack o' doom, Impeccably maintain you in debate The loveliest guise that beauty can assume; Were I to split my heart, a pomegranate, 5 Showing the unambiguous blood; were I To scour the se'en seas, scale the mountainous moon, Forage the archipelago of the sky, Hoping to bring some eloquent gems as boon, Still would my largess shame the worth of you, 10 My mighty words still turn to paltriness. I shall but say: Your eyes, though grey, seem blue; Your laugh is joy in blossom; your caress Sweet to the touch; your lips are soft. In fine, You are my heart's desire. You are mine. c. 1931/1931

1932

c. 1932/1932

Bandit

There was a Jewish bandit who lived in a wood, He never did much evil, nor ever did much good, For he would halt a merchant, quivering to his toes, And in a gruff voice whisper: You'll pay through the nose. 5 And then he'd search his person, having bid him pray, And snatch his broken snuff-box, and sneeze himself away. c. 1932/1932

1

94°

Desiderata Three things I long to see: A lustrous moth Torment with envy bulky behemoth ... An elf and ant 5 Conspire to affright an elephant ... A manikin Murder the superman of his own kin ... c. 1932/1932

1932

231 / 0.1932/1932

Diary of Abraham Segal, Poet 7:15. - He Rises. No cock rings matins of the dawn for me; No morn, in russet mantle clad, Reddens my window-pane; no melodye Maken the smalle fowles nigh my bed. 5 The lark at heaven's gate may sing, may sing, And Phoebus may arise; And little birds make a sweet jargoning; And shepherds pipe their pastoral minstrelsies; All these things well may be; my slug-a-bed ears 10 Hear them not; nor see them my bronze eyes. No triple braggadocio of the cock, But the alarum of a dollar clock, Ten sonorous riveters at heaven's gate; Steel udders rattled by milkmen; horns 15 Cheerily rouse me on my Monday morns. Is it a wonder then, that in my dreams, My five o'clock dreams, my boon-companions are Ogres in planes, ranunculi in ships, Thin witches mounting escalators, imps 20 Hopping from telephones, and negresses Lipping spirituals into radios? Is it a wonder that these cauchemars stamp With elves on girders i' the light of the moon, Or with wild worshippers before a mazda lamp? 25 So have They clipped the wings Of fiery seraphim, And made of them, - ye angels, weep! Dusters ...

232 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

8:15. - He Travels on the Street-Car, and Reads over a Neighbour's Shoulder. 30 Communists ask for more bank holidays. A broken heart is glued by so much. ExChampion scores k.o. on his wife. No sex Appeal, say critics of two bankrupt plays. Actress weds crown-prince. Zulu bob new craze. 35 Bootleg kills ten. Tenor smokes only Rex. Girl dances hula robed in cancelled cheques. Convicted murderess weeps: The woman pays. Champagne bath brings eczema. New gang wars Disturb police. Explorer still alive. 40 XY declares YX controls chain stores. Screen star makes seventh matrimonial dive. Upholster Spanish throne. Man seeks divorce Because his wife (continued on page five). 8:45. - He Considers the Factory Hands. What a piece of work is man! the paragon 45 Of animals! the beauty of the world! So Dr. Aesculapius Pavlov Dissects cadavers, and reports as follows: Fats in this human paragon, enough For so much soap; for so much writing, lead; 50 Two thousand match-heads from his phosphorus; A nail from his iron, medium-sized head; Magnesium - one full-sized powder, plus; Whitewash enough for one coop, board and crack; Sufficient arsenic to leave them dead,

233 / c.i932/i932 55 The fleas upon a bitch's front and back; In fine, each worth a dollar, dames or gents, In U.S. money, eighty-seven cents. 9:05. - He Yawns; and Regards the Slogans on the Office Walls. Blessed the men this day, Whether at death or birth, 60 Who own good sites, for they Shall inherit the earth. The Lord in silence works Towards mysterious ends. The same omniscience lurks 65 In dividends. Open, ye gates, before The man who gets or gives! Open, thrice-padlocked door, Executives! 70 Scorn not the profiteer, Minor or major; priest, Bard, speculative seer, Moneytheist. Initiative - this was, 75 Is, and will be our foil. Consider the bloom which does Not spin, nor toil.

234 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

In sacred stocks, O Lord, Impound us; bind our wounds 80 For sweet sake of Thy word, In hallowed bonds! 11:30. - He Receives a Visitor.

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90

95

100

105

Milady Schwartz, beloved of the boss, Married with documents, parturitive, Into the office waddles, makes a pause To note the pimply girls, her choice, still live; Then sweetly coos to hubby dearest, pats The proud oasis of his glabrous head, And with her pendulous chins, and gold teeth, smiles Amorously at the giver of her bread. He is too busy signing cheques, post-dated. Milady Schwartz, (oh, no, she is no snob) Speaks to the staff: The season is belated. Her husband works too hard. You'd never think So fine a soul would take to cloaks and suits, Competing with such thieves as Levy, Inc. But she does not complain. We all must suffer For these the higher things life has to offer. Does Mr. Abram Segal still write verses? It must be wonderful. She envies him. She wishes she could make up rhymes. She nurses Feelings unuttered, smitten by lockjaw. (Moi, j'ai Apollon sur les bouts de mes dix doigts ...) Of course she just loves art. She goes to lectures. But yesterday she heard a recitation About the patter of a babe's pink toes. He should have heard it, should the poet Abe. Also, she is a member of a club Occasionally addressed by local bards. (A teaspoonful of art, before and after cards.)

235 / c.i932/1932 no Milady Schwartz, aware she is confiding Beyond the limits of her dignity; She must not talk so much about herself. Are we all happy at our several jobs? Wages are low, but hope eternal bobs 115 Upwards; and money, after all, is pelf. Moreover, so many poor people go Looking for work, tramping their both legs lame, It is a pity, a disgrace, a shame! Why only last week she was overjoyed 120 To go to the Grand Ball, Chez Madame Lloyd, And dance all night for the poor unemployed. Milady Schwartz utters her shrill goodbyes, Lets love domestic issue from her eyes, And from her plump hand, jewelled with costly warts, 125 Wafts kisses. Exit Lady Schwartz. 12:20. - He Worships at the North-Eastern. In one-armed restaurants where Cretan floors Mosaically crawl towards Alpine walls, The human soul, like a brave leopard, roars, Like a young lion, de profundis, calls: 130 Waiter, a plate of beans. Waiter, some coffee and toast. Waiter, inform the Lord, our Host. Snappy, I says what I means! From behind the marble lichen 135 Providence thunders: Clean the kitchen ... The customer pays the pale cashier. The Angel punches the register: A soul ate here.

236 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

12.-20-12 -.45. - He Reads His Pocket-Edition of Shakespeare; and Luxuriously Thinks. Beneath this fretted roof, the knave, swag-bellied, 140 Struts him before his calibans i' the sun, Gloats o'er his shillings, byzants, ducats, smiles At gaunt clerks, their nockandros flat on stools, With borrowed quills in hired tomes accounting His profit, his sweet profit, sweet sweet profit. 145 The villain smiles: if fools be fools, why, let them, If sweat on their lips is nectar, here's a health! They wake to toil? They sleep to dream of toiling? Be their days long upon this earth. Aye, but these have immortal yearnings. So. 150 The brimstone brabble of divines looks to't, Granting the widow her fond spouse in heaven, The maimed celestial wings, the dumb a harp, The starved, ethereal guts ... But mark, these dudgeons, Even these blocks, these stones, these honoured men, 155 Quick at such pleasures metaphysical, Seeking the grosser lust, the grander passion, They clink their canakins in pot-houses, And swollen with wine, they mouth brave oaths, and cry, Out with your fee-fi-fum of ichor blood! 160 A fico for your flibbertigibbet god! Then staggering in dark lanes, their bodkins raised, They hail a perfumed placket, and drool, 'Chuck, Let me lie in thy lap, Ophelia/ 6:}o. - He Eats at the family-Board. Because to Him in prayershawl, he prays, 165 My father's God absolves his cares and carks; My wedded sister likes no empty phrase, Her spaniel brings her cash, not learned barks.

237 / c.i932/1932 My brother in his bed-room den displays The dark capacious beard of Herr Karl Marx; 170 My uncle scorns them all; my uncle says Herzl will turn the Jews, now moles, to larks; My cousin, amiable, believes them both, Serving a beard of Herzlian-Marxian growth. And as for me, unlike the ancient bards, 175 My idols have been shattered into shards. 7:15. - He Contemplates His Contemporaries.

180

185

190

195

200

La chair est triste, helas, et j'ai lu tous les livres. An octopus of many tentacles, Boredom, enjoins the slow heart, the dead pulse, With north as drab as south, and south as dull As the gray east, the west unbeautiful, Where shall I go? What pathway shall I choose? Where shall I point the nozzles of my shoes? Around the corner is a cinema, Where heroines squeak, 'Oh/ and knaves gasp 'Ah ...' Where paupers get their feet numb, buttocks callous, Watching wealth serve a grand vicarious phallus. Therefore, my soul, not there! A pool-room? No. A dance-hall? No. A lecturer? No! no! My friends? My bitter friends, at loggerheads, The blackshirts, the bluestockings, and the reds, Evoke from me the vast abysmal yawn: The poet, with the unmowed cranial lawn (And Shakespeare, he was bald! ...) the theolog Anent the sure uncleanliness of hog; The dandy, boasting of his latest moll; The lawyer, and his case; the radical Pounding upon an unprovisioned table Rendering it, not Canada, unstable All, in the end, despite their savage feuds, Italic voices uttering platitudes.

238 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

So Segal, undernourished, surfeited, Wearied but sleepless, sick at heart, abashed, Giving his anguish voice, cries: Life is dead Echo, and letters - macaronics washed 205 From distant shores upon a rocky bed ... 9:00. - He Communes with Nature. Within the meadow on the mountain-top Abe Segal and his sweetheart, lie. Lover, Sweet is the comradeship of grass, the crop Being mown, the hay dry, dry the clover; 210 And sweet the fiddling of the crickets, dear The bird-song for a prothalamium. They see again, his eyes which once were blear. His heart gets speech, and is no longer dumb. Before the glass o' the moon, no longer high, 215 Abe Segal nattily adjusts his tie. Gone the insistence of inveterate clocks; The heart at last can flutter from its bars. Upon the mountain top, Abe Segal walks, Hums old-time songs, of old-time poets talks, 220 Brilliant his shoes with dew, his hair with stars ... c. 1932/1932

1932

239 / 0.1932/1932

Earthquake 'I think I hear a trumpet overhead. A thumping on the lid - a white ass ride ...' The corpses murmured, stirred, 'We are not dead!' And turned and slept upon their other side ... c. 1932/1932

1932

Festival Ho, maskers, fix your noses, strike a posture, Squeak out your ditties in a thin falsetto, Flutter your torn hermaphroditic vesture, And dance the dances of the vinous ghetto. 5 If you are thirsty, lift your masks with caution, And drink this adloyada wine; if hungry, Here are the cakes, and here the haman-taschen; Guzzle and glut, or leave your host most angry. To-night God loves his Jews a trifle tipsy; 10 He looks upon the sober with displeasure; Trundle your bones in joyful epilepsy, Carol the catches of a lusty measure ... Tell us, Ahasuerus, anent your harem, What does a maid to make her royal booty? 15 How many in a bed-room is a quorum? Wherefore did Vashti Queen refuse her duty?

240 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

Zeresh, mimic your consort's antic bellows The time you crowned him with the pot mephitic? Mimic him, too, upon the lofty gallows, 20 Gallows designed for Mordecai, Semitic. Rattle, you rattlers, at the name of Haman, Ordure to be expelled with sonal senna; The young men curse him, and the old cry Amen, And he becomes a whisper in Gehenna. c. 1932/1932

Messiah

5

10

15

20

Aleph, Bais, Son of my race, Gimmel, Dalid, With lean face pallid, Hai, Vav, My scholar-dove, Zain, Chess, Your words will bless Tess, Yud, The heathen brood, Caf, Lamed, The sons of Mohammed, Mem, Nun, And your holy rune, Samech, Eyon, Will glow from Zion ... Pai, Phai, Angels will play Zaddik, Koof, On your golden roof;

195°

241 / c.1932/1932

Raish, Shein, And God will lean, Toff,Sauf, From His throne above, 25 Patach, Tzaira, While you will wear a Kometz, Segal, Crown viceregal. c. 1932/1932

1933

Philosopher's Stone 'So have I spent a life-time in my search To make, as it is said, Noble from base. Life left me in the lurch, And dropt me with the dead; 5 And now I find it, buried in the church: It stands right overhead ...' c. 1932/1932

1932

Rather Than Have My Brethren Bend the Knee [Version i] Rather than have my brethren bend the knee To images engraved on silver coins, Rather than have them mouth a litany In synagogal mints and pillared marts, 5 To gods arisen out of metal loins, Rather than have them spend their better parts

242 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

Adoring testicles of golden calves, I would be glad to see them on high places Kneeling in worship that is nude and heathen 10 I would be glad to see them bow their faces Into the dust before a solar wrath, Behold them dance, hurling their wanton phrases, Unto the horned moon of Ashtaroth. c. 1932/1932

Against Mammon, a Murmuring [Version 2 of 'Rather Than Have My Brethren Bend the Knee'] Rather than have my brethren bend the knee To images engraven upon coins, Rather than have them chant their liturgy In consecrated mints and pillar'd marts 5 To gods arisen out of metal loins, Rather than have them spend their better parts In homage of the Golden Behemoth, I would be glad to see them on high places, I would be glad to see them bow their faces, 10 Kneeling in worship that is nude and heathen, Placating the sun's wrath, Yes, and that self-same midnight would exult to see them Against the tides upon the beaches dancing, Hurling their wanton phrases 15 In paean of her phases Unto the horned moon of Ashtaroth! c. 1953/1955

243 / 0.1932/1932

Reb Levi Yitschok Talks to God Reb Levi Yitschok, crony of the Lord, Familiar of heaven, broods these days. His heart erupts in sighs. He will have a word At last, with Him of the mysterious ways. 5 He will go to the synagogue of Berditchev, And there sieve out his plaints in a dolorous sieve. Rebono shel Olam - he begins Who helps you count our little sins? Whosoever it be, saving your grace, 10 I would declare before his face, He knows no ethics, No, nor arithmetics. For if from punishments we judge the sins, Thy midget Hebrews, even when they snore, 15 Are most malefic djinns, And wicked to the core of their heart's core; Not so didst thou consider them, Thy favourite sons of yore. How long wilt thou ordain it, Lord, how long 20 Will Satan fill his mickle-mouth with mirth, Beholding him free, the knave who earned the thong, And Israel made the buttocks of the earth? The moon grinned from the window-pane; a cat Standing upon a gable, humped and spat; 25 Somewhere a loud mouse nibbled at a board; A spider wove a niche in the House of the Lord.

244 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

Reb Levi Yitschok talking to himself, Addressed his infant arguments to God: Why hast thou scattered him like biblic dust, 30 To make a union with unhallowed sod, Building him temples underneath a mound, Compatriot of the worm in rain-soaked ground? The lion of Judah! no such parable Is on my lips; no lion, nor lion's whelp, 35 But a poor bag'o'bones goat which seeks thy help, A scrawny goat, its rebel horns both broken, Its beard uncouthly plucked, its tongue so dumbly lolling Even its melancholy ma-a- remains unspoken. The candles flicker, 40 And peeping through the windows, the winds snicker. The mice digest some holy rune, And gossip of the cheeses of the moon ... Where is the trumpeted Messiah? Where The wine long-soured into vinegar? 45 Have cobwebs stifled his mighty shofar? Have Chilblains weakened his ass's one good hoof? So all night long Reb Levi Yitschok talked, Preparing words on which the Lord might brood. How long did even angels guard a feud? 50 When would malign Satanas be unfrocked? Why were the tortured by their echoes mocked? Who put Death in his ever-ravenous mood? Good men groaned: Hunger; bad men belched of food; Wherefore? And why? Reb Levi Yitschok talked ... 55 Vociferous was he in his monologue. He raged, he wept. He suddenly went mild Begging the Lord to lead him through the fog; Reb Levi Yitschok, an ever-querulous child,

245 / c.i932/1932 Sitting on God's knees in the synagogue, 60 Unanswered even when the sunrise smiled. c. 1932/1932

Wood Notes Wild Indictment I said: Autumn Is an unfortunate hyperbole, An exaggeration in chrome; A wench too rouged, 5 Or a clown too motley ... Autumn, I said, is Summer Carried to its reductio ad absurdum ... Style This last July a crazy caterpillar Displayed a miniature raccoon-coat; and 10 This late October I discovered him Frigidly lying on a bed of state, Attired in ermine. Aesthetic Curiosity Does an owl appreciate The colour of leaves 15 As they fall about him In the staggering nights of Autumn?

194°

246 / Original Poems, 1926-1934 Mute Heraldry An ant shouldering a light straw; A squirrel nibbling a chestnut And even a housefly, solitary on a ceiling 20 These are the heralds proclaiming The tread of white midgets In a distant sky ...

Pride before Fall Summer had raised herself To the top-most tree-tops 25 And had scoffed at rainbows Now is she fallen To the roots, To the stubble, To the black wet earth ...

Image Celestial 30 Autumn Is an insane Japanese In a gorgeous but torn kimono Threatening to commit Hari-Kari at my door.

Heaven at Last 35 I have seen a lark Swallow a worm, soar, and disappear In a blue oblivion. Wherefore I consoled myself, saying: It is not too terrible to die 40 To be eaten by worms,

247 / c.i932/!932 Provided Considerate skylarks bear the worms aloft And lay them at the Upper Gates ... c. 1932/1932

Yossel Letz His mother's bribes, His father's threats Could breed no manners In Yossel Letz. 5 He twiddled his thumbs; He turned up his toes; He ate with his fingers; He drank with his nose. Seated at table 10 In spite of guests, This Yossel made Uncouth requests. A fork, a spoon, A knife - were toys 15 With which a boy Might make a noise. But on Passover When he ate Horseradishes 20 From off a plate,

1932

248 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

Or wrapped the matzo Round the moror, No person screamed, None shouted: Horror! 25 And when this Yossel Asked four queries And got as answers Twenty theories, Or when he dipped 30 His fingers in The wine, at Pharaoh's Every sin, Or when he sprawled On cushions, and 35 Stretched each wild leg, Each frivolous hand, His mother glowed, His father shone; A Hebrew prince! 40 A royal son! c. 1932/1932

1933

c. 1933/1933

Arithmetic The leper counts his sores; The emperor his flags; The hunchback weighs his hunch; The beggar tells his rags; 5 By candlelight the miser drops His worn coins into bags. A wise man on a knoll Numbers the stars on high; He names the lowest star, 10 Then climbs up the sky; And if he does not fall asleep, He ends with a long sigh. For he cannot compute The stars before the dawn 15 Comes poking from the east A mischievous sun, Proving in his arithmetic Totality is One ... c. 1933/^933

*934

250 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

Counting-out Rhyme Orange, citron, fig and date, While the fruit buds, we stand and wait; Flower on branch, and grape on vine, One of us soon will leave the line. 5 Blossoms burst, the fruit will swell, Who it will be, one can not tell. Almond, raisin, olive, plum, The word is hush, the sign is mum. Oh, the sun shone, Oh, the wind blew, 10 The apple fell to this little Jew. c. 1933/1933

1

94°

Into the Town of Chelm On a little brown pony, a little boy rides Over cobblestone roads through strange countrysides; He rides to and fro, and he rides up and down, Asks milkmaids and blacksmiths how far 'tis to town, 5 To topsy-turvy town ... His grandfather told him that would he be wise He must see the fool's town with his very own eyes, See Jews catch the moon in a bucket for cheese, And find the next night that moon stuck in the trees 10 That moon stuck in the trees.

25i / c.1933/1933 See the simpleton settling high matters of state; The rabbi a-scratching his dubious pate, Watch the baker knead rolls out of dough made of lime, Since it never turned sour, and kept a long time, 15 Because it kept a long time. And hear the philosopher in the town-hall Drone nothing is nothing and that is all. And also the poet who bawled out a song Which proved that the heat stretched the summer day long, 20 Did stretch the summer day long ... So into the hamlet the little boy rides O even his pony is holding its sides! The little boy smiles to the Jews of the realm, Nods right and nods left to the burghers of Chelm, 25 The simple burghers of Chelm. c. i933/*933

Jonah Within the whale's belly Good Jonah at home Ate fish made of jelly And drank frothy foam. 5 O, all the whale swallowed Stood him in good stead, From coral he hollowed A table and bed.

*946

252 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

The lobsters which wandered 10 Beneath the whale's nose Beheld pincers sundered To hang Jonah's clothes. A mermaiden chatted With Jonah, who found 15 Her rushes she matted For slippery ground. On the heart of the whale, he Carefully stuck The round leaf of lily 20 And made him a clock. O Jonah, the wizard, O Jonah, the free'd, Did drape the whale's gizzard With fragrant seaweed. 25 A pearl from an oyster Brought light out of shade. O how they did roister, Did Jonah and maid! Until the Lord wished him 30 Back to his host, And whale-gullet dished him Upon a rough coast. c. 1933/1933

*933

253 / c-i933/*933

Legend of Lebanon 1

Nigh Lebanon, nigh lofty Lebanon, The perfumes of the apple-blossom yield Their fragrance to the wind, which comes as one In garlands odorous, in beauty veiled, 5 A bride within the garden of the dawn. And unto this white fragrance of the field Do virgins, treading unbent grasses, list ... As though a song were made of petalled mist ... 2

Full is the land of songsters, and of song; Branches of trees are budding musick; and Even the mountain-streams, that, featly, throng Down from the rocks, raising the silver band Of their laced skirts, light-hearted sing their song. And in this airy joyance of the land 15 Golden noises of bells are heard, as though An unseen priest were moving to and fro. 10

3 And in the garden pools the lilies grow Pale with the spring, swoon utterly away And rest their cheeks upon the water-flow, 20 As in a dream of neither night nor day ... And in the garden plots the roses blow, And with remembrance of some sweetheart fay Blush, and think of hot lips pressing hot, A year agone upon this very spot ...

254 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

4 25 O comely are the girls of Galilee Awaking in the earliness of morn; And in the heat of noon-time, wearily Sighing away lone thoughts as they are born; And damsels at the wells are verily 30 Most fair to look upon when they adorn A shoulder with the erst-filled water-jar Wherein there glistens now the evening-star. 5 What are the yearnings which the young men nurse? Why do the smooth-faced youths find spring an ache? 35 And why do shepherd lads chant wistful verse Upon the hill-side? Why, and for whose sake? Why are the young men such brave warriors? For that those maidens who do oft-times make A welcoming for them with timbrel'd dance, 40 Are beautiful, and past all excellence! 6 Yea, they are lovely, but far lovelier, Even the loveliest in all the vale Is tall Shoshannah of the jet-black hair, Which falls upon her throat - O jasmine pale 45 Like shadow of a raven's wing in air: Shoshannah at whose mention breathings fail, Shoshannah at whose passing many hearts Hasten and languish in uncounted starts ... 7 'Tis noon; no person walks abroad, for full 50 Upon the brow of heaven fever beams. But in the chamber of the wall, the cool High latticed chamber of the wall, she dreams, Couched upon silk, most calm and beautiful, Her face caressed by amorous sunbeams:

255 / c.i933/!933 55 A maid ensorceled by a witch's wand, A lily sleeping in a darkened pond.

8 Flutter of voice, and doves beneath the eaves Ruffle the air, and brush upon her sleep And she is wakened from the dream she weaves: 60 Its queen is left in empty hall to weep, Its king lies headless, his meek spaniel grieves; And frogs about his upturned footstool leap ... Alas, that she will never rede this dream Unto its ultimate light, its final gleam. 9 65 Now, like a dream of her own dreams she doth Arise, and scarcely do her white feet tread The couchant carpet-woofed behemoth, Ere nigh unto the algum-casemented Window she doth hover, seeming loth 70 To sense the sun heap kisses on her head; There in the sun-motes she is even as An incense-pillar of faint fragrances ... 10 Lo! from the east, a caravanserai! From rich Damascus lazily it moves. 75 The camels, treasure-humped against the sky, Nodding their jewelled halters, raise their hooves. What pleasant freight is this that now comes nigh The spice whereof flows out, as though fresh groves Of aloes and of spikenard and of myrrh 80 Hither were conjured by yon voyager? 11 Reclining in his gilded chariot, Upon soft cushions of a gorgeous dye, Arrayed in gem-clasped purple, he is caught, The prince is caught in distant reverie,

256 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

85 Thinking on the bounties he has brought From lands where earth is mingled with the sky, Musing on the givers and the gift, The while the slave-held palm-leaves fall and lift ... 12 And in the covered chariots there were 90 The concubines, the royal princesses, Glad in their hearts and odorous of myrrh, Loved in the farthest of the provinces ... And there was many a valiant warrior Guarding the prince and all this loveliness; 95 And there were peacocks vaunting heavens on Their wings, and birds whose plumage was a dawn ... *3 These marvels pass the ancient orchard wall From which the drooping blossom branches smile, When suddenly the prince is made a thrall 100 Of a faint vision seen a fleeting while Through the high lattice of the vine-clad wall. He felt it like a shadow on the dial Of his own heart, and as he looked above The maid found favor in his eyes, and love ... *4 105 Though she did flit away and was no more, Still in his heart he bore the memories Of two full lips as red as is the core Of ripe pomegranates, and of two great eyes That shone like precious stones both fashioned for noAn Ashtaroth, and of the round surprise Of pearl-white ear-rings winking from dark hair, And of a shadow that was standing there.

257 / c. 1933/1933 15 What guest is there within Shoshannah's heart That there is in it drunkenness of wine? 115 And musick playing with a cunning art? And dancing of a body serpentine? What are these fancies that so often start From out her soul, like echoes from a shrine? ... And why, amidst her troubled fantasies, 120 Doth she hold converse with herself in sighs? ... 16 A moon had pined and dwindled, and a moon Had waxed anew with plumper loveliness, And now saw the bright pride of lyar strewn Upon that vale, and saw the winds caress 125 The curtained tents on which was spilt its shoon Like honey spilt in generous excess, The curtained tents wherein the prince sojourned Whilst he did woo that one for whom he yearned. *7 Lo! in her sleep a midnight moon doth walk 130 Across the sky; now doth the screech-owl sit Upon some branch and weirdly doth mock The silence; from some quiet lake, moon-lit, The mountain-pard laps water; demons stalk And cast a shadow and do follow it ... 135 But brave of heart the prince doth mount his horse And unto sweet Shoshannah speeds his course. 18 Clasping the moonlight and the climbing vine He lithesomely climbs up the trellis'd wall. There is a goblet-moon of marriage-wine 140 That hangs aloft; there is a beautiful Maiden who sleeps within yon upper shrine ... Can flesh stay upon earth, and earth not pall?

258 / Original Poems, 1926—1934

Can hearts still rest within the ribbed mew? He rises aloft, his sandals gemmed with dew ... 19 145 'Shoshannah, sweet Shoshannah, lovely one, Twin of my heart, and secret of my soul, O fairest daughter of fair Lebanon, Awake, arise, and let us both console The weariness that love has cast upon 150 Us, let us with soft blandishments cajole Some beauty out of night, some unknown bliss Out of the night in one unbroken kiss ...' 20 And he beheld the hangings on the wall To flutter near the cushioned carven head 155 Of her soft couch, as if good Uriel And Gabriel were moving near her bed ... And he beheld long fingers, long and pale, The fingers of the moon caress her head, The while she breathed at the frail moon-beams 160 A breathing laden with a thousand dreams ... 21 The dew falls from the lips of God, and lifts The petalled eye-lids of the blooms; the sun Uncovers preciousness in sudden rifts, So did his honeyed whispers fall upon 165 Her, even so did her eyes fill with gifts Of glad surprise and speechless benison, When she beheld him and did hear his voice: 'O come with me, my dearest, come, rejoice! 22

The night is full of incense of the moon; 170 The night is laid before us even as A royal carpet nuptially strewn With stars; the night has beauty and it has

259 / c.i933/!933 Silence and loveliness of lovers ... Soon The dawn will break upon our words, and pass 175 Across the shadow of our eyes, and take Love from our hearts and leave an empty ache ... 23 For soon the cock will crow against the night, And will begin his worship of the sun ... Sweetheart, the stars slide down the sky, and light 180 The heavens; soon a waking but a drowsy one Will from a corner watch the sunlit sight, But now, thou lovely and thou only one, The breeze beside me, and the whispers of The leaves do woo thee, and do speak thee love ...' 24 185 She felt her soul possessed; she felt her breath Falter and fail upon her lips; she felt Her heart move in her as it would at death ... (O Love and Death the same word doubly spelt!) And love-bewildered, not a word she saith, 190 But raising a pale finger which did melt In moonlight, put it to her lips, as though A tapered arrow to its scarlet bow ... 25 He sighed as if to waft away the moon And in an instant at her couch he stood; 195 The whole long night have I craved for the boon Of love, and longed to hide thy kiss, red-hued, Within my lips, and yearned to hear the tune Of thy heart's beat on mine in amorous feud; And I have long desired to caress 200 The doves that hide beneath this laciness ...

260 / Original Poems, 1926—1934 26

My father in whose beard there was no gray Is gathered to his fathers; may his bones Forever rest in peacefulness, and may His name be numbered with the holy ones ... 205 'Tis I, his youngest, was made king to-day, Chosen over all his other sons, And I must haste to the anointment scene; Arise, my fair one, thou shalt be my queen! ... 27 And on the morrow when the dawn will fill 210 The erst-awakened heart with thanksgiving, The sky with splendor of a miracle, And dew-touched mouths of birds with songs to sing, O, sweetheart, then assuredly they will, Birds will make musical our marrying ... 215 For we will vow away this night alone Within my tent, before we seek the throne ...' 28 Lo! over the hills, and then across the plain A white steed races with the moon, and snorts Scorn to his rival, while his flickering mane 220 Flames a white fire as it wildly sports ... O proud is he! a king doth grasp his rein, And she who will be queen within the Courts Of Solomon, doth sit upon his back! His fleeting whiteness leaves a whitened track ... 29 225 He took her to his tent and set for her Sweetness of figs and dates, and toothsomeness Of almonds, and that palate-flatterer, The raisin-treasuring honey-cake's caress, And soothing dainties all devised for 230 A princess' gum, and wine his sire did bless

261 / 0.1933/1933 When unto him was born his youngest prince, Wine sealed in draughty cellars ever since ... 30 And mandrakes did he give to her which stir Up love and tender passion, mandrakes torn 235 In moonlight to a murmuring of prayer ... Ah, what sweet words upon their tongues were born, And what forgetfulness of every care, Yea, even of a father gravewards borne. For he was wise who sang with tuneful skill 240 That Death is strong, and Love is stronger still ... 3i 'With purple and with gold of Ophir, with Rare ointment and with choicest ornament Wilt thou be placed above all others, sith Our stars have met within the firmament ... 245 Our love will be a summer's midnight myth With which all love-talk will be redolent, And thy name, O Shoshannah, be a charm To make the blood of young men run more warm ... 32 Thy smile is like the whiteness of the tusk 250 Of ivory, my darling one, and thy Sweet breath is as a waft of powdered musk Within a garden when a wind doth sigh ... Thy hair is like the coolness of the dusk, And all thy beauty is a way to vie 255 With beauty of the spring and make it seem A mockery, a vanity, a dream ...'

33 What need is there of singing of their bliss? Or telling of true love and of its throe? For he who is a lover knoweth this, 260 And he who is none certes can not know ...

262 / Original Poems, 1926—1934

Each star in heaven choired to every kiss And even the moon grew pale and wan and low, A yellow candle melting to white dawn, When to the city crept a caravan. 34 265 Tower and turret and dome, and fluttering Of flags they see; and already they hear Triumph and trumpet and loud wassailing And chant of priests anointing one to bear A crown, and then a shout: 'Long live the king!' 270 And sudden from the gates flash sword and spear, And warriors cry, 'He, the eldest son, Is king! and thou -' They mock a headless one ... 35 Yea, there was much of slaughter on that day, As it is writ upon the old scribe's page, 275 For though some few did safely fly away, Young warriors found death an hermitage, And concubines were found a lusty prey ... And on the spire for the ossifrage There grinned a princely skull. Shoshannah fled 280 Among the pilgrims, never turned her head. 36 Ah, woe to fair Shoshannah, woe is her, And sorrow hers, and weeping without end; Her heart it is a very sepulchre, And she is weary (may the Lord forfend) 285 Yea, weary unto death ... Singer, no more Tune thou thine harp save thou thine heart wilt rend, But do thou hang it on the willow tree Which weeps and let the wind lament for thee ...

263 / c.i933/1933 37 And none know whither she has gone; none know 290 Where sad Shoshannah found her resting place; Phylacteried and bearded men avow They turned askance at some strange woman's face Nigh to the crossroads; shepherd lads tell how They saw a shadow move in weary pace 295 Within the vale; and watchers of the night Speak of a phantom seen in full moonlight ...

38 None know her death. Inquire of the sky If thou wouldst seek to find the how and where; Make question of the knowing birds who fly 300 Singing their secrets into hidden air; Or ask it of the rose's guilty dye; Or pluck it from the spotted leopard's lair; Or from a brook's dull brooding monotone, For these may make an answer, these alone ... 39 305 Yea, even to this day, the singing tongue Takes up the parable in Galilee, And tells to listening lovers how the young Shoshannah, she who was a princess, she Who had been queen had not the wicked wrung 310 Her dearest one from her, how lonesomely Her spirit wanders in the valley, and Calls blessings on the lovers of the land ... 40 And the enamoured ones who walk in cool And fragrant orchards which are Paradise, 315 Praising the midnight, and the beautiful Things of the midnight, oft-times hear faint cries, Echoes of wailing, plaintive and most cruel, Drop down from the high mountains and the skies,

264 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

And find themselves still staring, even at dawn, 320 Upon a white moon on white Lebanon ... c. 1933/^933

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Mourners O, when they laved my uncle's limbs My aunt wept bitter and long: Who will now show my little son The right from the wrong? 5 And who will sing for my delight The holy Sabbath's song? O, when they dug my uncle's grave, My little cousins cried: Who will now tell us tales about 10 A princess and her pride? And who will give us pennies to Save for a lovely bride? Even the sparrows on the roof Twittered their sorrow, too: 15 Oh, never will be thrown to us The breadcrumbs soaked in dew; For men have nailed him in a box, That good little jew. c. 1933/1933

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265 /c.iQ33/1933

Murals for a House of God I Scatterbrain Singeth a Song On bane big-bellied mothers feed; Poison is suckled at the paps; Hatred is roted with the creed; And swilled at mine host's taps. 5 The moon is pricked, and it will bleed; The sky will flame like an evil screed; Demons wear feathers in their caps. The world is daft. Shrewd Satan walks Unknown, his tail between his legs. 10 At the gate a bleeding knuckle knocks, A poor man begs. A poor man, fie! In his golden crocks Are gems; and deeds in his wife's socks; And coins in his kegs ... II

At the Sign of the Spigot 15 Emmerich, Count, of the stentorious voice Rattles his bellicose glaive, and makes such din His breath befuddles even the tapster-boys And sets a-quivering the red bush of the inn: 'Sirrah, quit counting of thine apron-stains! 20 Bestir thy stumps! A flagon! a keg! a cask! Bring hither a brimming tun! And here's for thy pains!

266 / Original Poems, 1926-1934 Empty thy cellar, if needs be, on ten wains! Go to, ere I render thy whey-face a red mask! Dost gape! Dost thou read a rune on my nose? Ho, ho, 25 Tis the state of my purse that pops thy rat's eyes so! This wallet holds ducats and marks enough to buy Thyself, thy master, and all such varlet fry ... Save the Jews, the Hebrews ... these maggots in Holstein cheese, These spiders in Rhenish wine, these frogs who croak 30 In our lilied ponds, these bats who are at ease In mansions edified of stone and oak ... For thirty pieces of gold they sold Him. Now On usury thereof they have become a folk Of the golden fist and of the brazen brow 35 The while we wights get gangrened 'neath their yoke. Here are the deeds: to Aaron of Mayence, such; To Isaac of Worms a like sum; to Abraham A similar warrant for a similar touch: What maws their coffers have, and how they cram! 40 Instance thyself; dost pawn thy silver and plate, The Jew smiles into his beard; thou art his thrall, Thence to the tavern to forget thy fate Anon, thy wealth is water on a wall. Holla, the wine! My throat is burnt to a cinder! 45 Let every heart upon a red sea sail! Quaff it, my hearties, wine is the soul's tinder! With groschen left, we will still guzzle ale. Our purses lined with merest shreds; our debts Advancing minatory cap-a-pie, 50 I know how we can thwart the bailiff's threats: The Hebrew chests will open to a key!

267 / c.i933/1933 A lustrous key, a golden key, a bright Opener of locks, a key of burnished fame, Defying gates, bars, locks of triple might, 55 Climbing up ramparts, bursting walls - a flame! So raise your tankards, let us have a toast O let us toast the Hebrews a good brown Ho, they will crackle, they will fritter, they will roast, And with them their vile bills - Heigho, a toast!' Ill

From the Chronicles 60

Wherefore, upon the twenty-seventh May, ten hundred ninety-six years since our Lord, a mob, in venery of heathen prey, and purposing to put Jews to the sword, burst on Mayence. The town was all agog. Some Jews were slain. Some knelt at the blessed font. Books, writ by Talmud, were 65 burnt in the synagogue. In sooth, Christ's soldiers made all Jewry their loud haunt. The Archbishop, soft-hearted beyond belief, opened his palace to the Jews, to which they did repair, midst roaring of their grief. Moreover at the gate before the ditch some well 70 accoutred swains as guards were set. Ask not: Quis custodes custodiet^. IV

Johannus, Dei Monachus, Loquitur No pulpit talk in ale-houses; no sermons Over one's cups; no anthems at the board. This is mere infant's lore, not fit for Germans. 75 I, faring here to wet the tip o' my tongue Must now perforce enounce the Holy Word.

268 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

Well-spoken, Count, well-spoken of Jew-dung This scab upon the body politic, This pestilence, this threat to Christian quick. 80 These infidels within the Christian state, Like lice inhabiting a tonsured pate Must be outrooted and in fire flung. In vain your genuflections in your pews, In vain your wafers, masses, churches, altars, 85 In vain; in vain; they are befouled by Jews, By Hebrews working such unhallowed filth A thousand purgat'ries can not redeem you; no, Nor prayers mumbled from a thousand psalters. Christian, indeed, this state, a state for scoffers 90 To laugh in their sleeves beholding Jews who keep The Christian hostages within their coffers. Sir, you are faring to Jerusalem To chase unfaithful toes from Christ's footsteps, And set your candles on the sacred tomb; 95 So do you pluck the thorn and leave the stem; Abort the child, and spare the fruitful womb. Your spires balance the clouds, but Hebrew homes Support the silver roofing of the sun. The Holy Ghost is borne thorough our streets 100 Over hooked noses Jew-eyes look thereon. And while I pace my cloister, telling my beads, Bargaining jargons interrupt my creeds. Before you cast the beam from Palestine Pick out the mote from Mainz; perish the Jews! 105 Burn them in fat of pork; stop up their whine With lard; feed them to flame; disperse their ash Unto the seven winds; let us be rid Of these bats clutching at a praying throat, And of these frogs, croaking from a Teuton's moat ...

269 / c.1933/1933 V

Ballad of the Hebrew Bride no 'Why do you set the candlesticks, Six on this side, on this side six?' Tor that it is my wedding-day, My lover gallops on the highway.' 'O sister, you are lily-pale, 115 And yet you don white robe and veil!' 'Not in my mother's bed tonight Shall I lie down, so slim, so white.' 'O where is the ring your lover true, On your betrothal gave to you?' 120 'Upon my finger, it did not fit; In the deep earth, he buried it.' 'Who are the guests at your marriage-feast?' 'Three hundred soldiers, and a priest!' 'Where are the fiddlers that will play 125 A ditty on your wedding day?' 'There will be only a sad song. Church-bells will sob: Ding-dong! Ding-dong!' 'O who is your lover, that you fear His bed as if it were a bier?' 130 'He has a quiet step; he comes With legions bearing muffled drums.

2/o / Original Poems, 1926—1934

His lips are red; blood-red his lips And there is blood on his finger-tips.' 'When he will clasp you to his side 135 With what name shall you hail him, Bride?' 'O, I shall run, and have no breath, I shall not even whisper: Death! ...' VI

An Elder Counsels Self-killing Unsheathe the blade; transgress your nail Across its thin edge; be it keen. 140 This day it cries a soft wassail To many a throat; this day makes clean Of its red contents many a grail. This day blood stains the gaberdine. O grind your necklaces to dust, 145 Matrons; O ancients, meet the blade With the beard combed and pointed. Must, Must I teach you, pale-throated maid, You too, how cold steel breeds warm rust, And sucklings, you, the slaughterer's trade? 150 Before this gleam there quailed good fowl, The barnyard feared this flash of woe. Now that Death comes beneath a cowl, Let this heft hail him, bid him go. To-morrow he may justly howl, 155 And the blithe cock may crow ...

2/1 / c.i933/1933 VII

A Young Man Moans Alarm before the Kiss of Death Spit spittle on the rose? fling gravel at The splendour of the sun? prevent the moon? Acclaim the dark dominion of the bat? Embrace the cypress? perish at high noon? 160 Depart while yet the shadow is still tall? Ah, bitterer than gall upon the tongue, More bitter than the bitterest of gall, So to inhale into the jubilant lung The poison powdered on the rose, and so to fall ... 165 Oh heart, consider not how from her tears April now smiles, and how on every branch The song-birds bud; consider rather how he leers, Death on the Juvenal cheeks that pale and blanch. Are these the stalwart words that I must say? 170 Is this the stoic sentence I must mouth? My tongue cannot utter it; its phrases stay Choked in my throat; my lips are dumb with drouth; And me only tempestuous syllables can allay. There is a price upon our beards. Sleek fell 175 Of cub, gaunt wolf's head gets no more. Death hawks His Hebrew wares. His voice is a church-bell. Cradles are tombs a Jewish mother rocks. Beneath disastrous stars we live. And yet The Lord Omnipotent, Omniscient, He 180 Blasphemy! Blasphemy! Let me choke it! Let No sacrilege foam at my mouth, no plea Assault the sky, assail the heavens no vain threat! Forgive me, Lord, for that I am too much Enamoured of thy world; too much in love 185 With sight, smell, hearing, taste and touch, These to forego; forgive me from above.

272 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

Yea, though Thou loudly bid me, saying: Draw The purple line across the pale white throat, For My sake perish, and for the one Law, 190 Humble I am; before Thee, less than a mote Yet find it not in me to kiss the funest claw. VIII Rabbi Yom-Tob Harangues His God I am no brazen face to hale the Lord By both His horns of glory into court, Nor in the talon of the hawk to fix 195 Subpoenas to assign the heavenly horde; I am no bailiff at a debtor's door; I bear no writs against the angels; I Come not to seize the moveables of the sky. What the Lord gives, He owes; He owes no more. 200 Humble I stand before Thy gates, A beggar in sackcloth, with suppliant palms, Soliciting Thy alms. Let them not boot me away, the keepers of Thy gates. Let them not beat me with Thy lightning-rods. 205 Let them not stone me with Thy thunder-weights. Humble I stand before Thy gates. Only in the voice of an earthworm, do I cry: Descend from Thy tall towers in the sky; Forsake Thy lonely hermitage; O Lord, 210 Grant me the largess of a single word. Before Thy feet I spread my prayer-shawl; The traces of Thy footsteps I wear out With kisses; my phylacteries are kin, Yea, to Thy sandal-strings. Grant but Thy grace, 215 Alight upon these battlements for a space, And in Thy talk of this and that, make clear,

2/3 / c. 1933/1933 Before the sun splinters to stars upon the sky, The how and when, the wherefore and the why ... Let there be light 220 In the two agonies that are my eyes, And in the dungeon of my heart, a door Unbarred. Descend, O Lord, and speak.

225

Then will I say: Let cravens fear The sword. I know it to be straw. Let cowards quail before the spear. To me Death is a toothless jaw.

There is no sign upon the skies, No witness in the heavens; no Marvel to which to raise the eyes. 230 Where the crow flew, there flies the crow. (He hears not. He is busied. He Parses the Latin of some monkish homily.)

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245

Not so, oblivious brain, forgetting all. Blaspheming mouth, not so. Know what the pious know: Who hails the cloud for lore, must heed Only the taciturn cloud in speed Who climbs upon the golden stair Of the sun, goes blinded by the glare; Who counts the stars, will ever find More stars in the sky than in his mind; And who addresses him to stone Upon the high places, is alone. Not in levin, not in thunder Shall I behold the sign and wonder But in the still small voice, Let me rejoice.

274 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

Wherefore Thy will is manifest, O Lord, Thy will be done. 250 Be he who yields to baptism, abhorred; Shunned as a leper be that one. And unto you, virgins in Israel, be it known No heathenish paw shall clutch you living. Aye, Before the starved hound, eager for the bone 255 Shall burst the door, lolling a fevered tongue, Sweet bodies shall smile blithely to the sky. Blessed this day; this day on which we shall Make glorious His name. Blessed the sun Accepting the Kiddush of the wine-filled skull. 260 Blessed this cellar floor, this silent stone, And benedictions on this hallowed knife Which pries the door to the eternal life. IX

The Chronicler Continues Now that the guards, in homage to our Lord, unbarred the gates, the soldiery, full-armed, into the palace of the bishop 265 swarmed, raising a pious shouting and the sword. Alas, the Jews had taken their own lives! They lay there, making moan, calling the devil. Two only, spurning their old heresies and evil, asked for baptismal grace, they and their wives. 270 Howbeit, these treacherous knaves, no sooner ducked, but to the synagogue they hastened, and beating their breasts, scampering like chicks half-plucked, put fire to the synagogue with a brand. While the loud flames still scurried up and down Count Emmerich and his soldiers left the town.

2/5 / c.i933/1933 X

Scatterbrairis Last Song 275 Heigh-nonny-no! The wind will blow The flames through the town And burn it down. While post turns taper 280 And plinth turns cinder The flames will caper On good hot tinder. The flames will dance On the roof of each manse; 285 The flames will browse On the beams of each house. So will they run From the synagogue Until the town 290 Will be one log, And the town's folk A scrawny dog ... c. i933/:t933

Scholar A goat a scholar, A goat a sage, That ate gemara From a grassy page!

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276 / Original Poems, 1926—1934

5 Hot for wisdom His dry mouth lipped The small green mosses, His rashi script. For higher lore 10 He chewed red clover; He conned his Torah Over and over. And when his throat Went dry on this book, 15 He ran and drank from A garrulous brook. Then up on his two Hind legs stood he And scratched his horns 20 Against a tree. And crooned a mishna In a voice most weird, And nodded his wise pate, And shook his beard. 25 Upon my word, A learned one! A scholar out of Babylon! c. 1933/1933

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277/c.i933/1933

Song of Exclamations May the sun wash your eyes; may you Rise to the crow of cu-cu-ru. Let piety and Chassidim Teach your small voice the bam-bim-bim. 5 May cantors, singing the Lord's law, Rejoice you with their tra-la-la. Never let my glad Yankele Wearily utter eh-beh-meh! May pity sit in your heart, and note 10 Even the maa of the gloomy goat. In days to come may ecstasy Dance on your lips its ai-ai-ai. But never, never let sorrow say Its doleful 01, its whimpering weh. c. 1933/1933

1940

278 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

Song or Toys and Trinkets What toys shall I buy my little lad? No urchin's bauble, and no waif's doodad; No little brass cannon; no sorcerer's dress; Not these shall I buy my blessedness. 5 He shall not play at run-sheep-run, At leapfrog, or with badge and gun, But he shall have his daily sport Fearless, - with them of the evil sort. So shall he whip with pendules eight 10 Imps that for small boys lie in wait. His grager shall make terrible sound The name of Haman to confound. He shall don tallis; Satan's host Shall flee his footsteps, crying: Ghost! 15 No ball and bat, but palmleaf and Citron will grace his pious hand. Phylacteries shall be the reins With which he'll ride through God's sweet lanes. A little zaddik! men will say, 20 Seeing my little boy at play. c. i933/*933

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279 / c.i933/1933

Song to Be Sung at Dawn Heigh ho! the rooster crows! The rooster crows upon the thatch; A dog leaps up to pull at a latch; The dew is on the rose. 5 The daisies open: they shine like money; The bees are busy gathering honey; The pigeons hop on their toes. The birds chirp underneath the eaves; They sing from their nests among the leaves; 10 The sun is in the skies! The barn is bright; the meadow sunny; The sun smiles into every cranny. A little boy rubs his eyes, A little boy rubs his eyes and nose, 15 And says his Modeh Ani. c. 1933/1933

1940

c. 1932/1934

Baldhead Elisha

Baldhead! Baldhead! The little children mocked As surly Elisha Through the town stalked. 5 Baldhead! Cleancrown! Smoothpate! Noodlenude! The little children twittered The little children mewed. The prophet Elisha 10 He turned in his wrath And cursed the urchins With a terrible oath. Whereupon there sallied Bears from their grots 15 Who tore to giblets Forty-two tots! Such was the horrible Vengeance that bears

281 / 0.1932/1934

Wreaked for the honour 20 Of forty-two hairs! c. 1932/1934

1935

Ballad for Unfortunate Ones The benison of health will yet be theirs! The pale wan creatures crawling in the sun Toward heaven upon much bespatted stairs, And at the door left shamed, abashed, undone, 5 Will yet be without blemish, everyone. Then will the stars sing sweet songs of degrees, And the moon drum a measure, and the seas Beat psalms, and birds make music in the air; O, then will beast and man go to their knees 10 Before Messiah on his dappled mare. The blind man will know whither his foot fares, His eyes will hail the gold coin of the moon; The hunchback will stand poplar-straight; the heirs Of beggars will go shod in velvet shoon. 15 The poor men will know bounty; the ill, boon. Thieves will make end to thefts; the dumb will cease Their gesturing; the mad, their fantasies. What now is foul, will then be turned to fair. The lame will hang their crutches upon trees, 20 And run towards Messiah on his mare. Do saints hawk miracles, like bargain-wares? Do men, possessed, no longer foam, and swoon? Do sorrows crawl back to their lizard lairs? The ram's horn jubilant will trumpet soon. 25 For when the deafmen can return a tune,

282 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

And journeymen can sing their mysteries, And healing come to leper's sores, - when these Wonders and signs proclaim all men's welfare, Then will be heard a neighing on the breeze: 30 For the Messiah rides his dappled mare. Pauper, and man unfortunate, know this: When at each hearth there is a meed of bliss, When mighty man grants mean man brother's care, When the full pot doth boil, the kettle hiss, 35 Then only will Messiah ride his mare. c. 1932/1934

Bestiary God breathe a blessing on His small bones, every one! The little boy, who stalks The Bible's plains and rocks 5 To hunt in grammar'd woods Strange litters and wild broods; The little boy who seeks Beast-muzzles and bird-beaks In cave and den and crypt, 10 In copse of holy script; The little boy who looks For quarry in holy books. Before his eyes is born The elusive unicorn; 15 There, scampering, arrive The golden mice, the five; Also in antic shape,

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283 / 0.1932/1934 Gay peacock and glum ape. He hears a snort of wrath: 20 The fiery behemoth! And then on biblic breeze The crocodile's sneeze ... He sees the lion eat Green stalks ... At tigress-teat, 25 As if of the same ilk, The young lamb sucking milk. Hard by, as fleet as wind, They pass, the roe and hind. Bravely, and with no risk, 30 He halts the basilisk, Pygarg and cockatrice. And there, most forest-wise Among the bestiaries, The little hunter eyes 35 Him crawling at his leisure: The beast Nebuchadnezzar. c. 1932/1934

1955

Biography A little Jew lived in a little straw hut; There was thatch on his roof; on his floors there was not; There was smoke in his chimney, and sun on his cot; But 5 There was nothing in his pot. So, hungry and little in a world that was wide, He tried to get used to not eating; he tried

284 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

The first day, the second. 'A habit!' he cried. Then sighed. 10 And thus the little Jew died. c. 1932/1934

Cantor They quacked and they cackled, The geese and the hens, As they laid their eggs in Their coops and their pens. 5 Now eggs, half-a-dozen Lie smoothly in A grandma's basket, Fresh from the bin. She wheezes, she cackles, 10 She shuffles her legs: In a hamlet of paupers Not one soul eats eggs. O what will she do? Put Her teeth on a shelf? 15 The eggs will grow stale, save She eat them herself. With portly belly A cantor comes; Through musical nostrils 20 He sweetly hums.

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285 / c.i932/1934 Towards the good grandma He goes and he picks The eggs in the sunlight. He buys all six. 25 And the jubilant grandma When she sold these eggs, Juggled her sixpence And tossed her legs! O what an eggnog 30 That cantor swilled, And O how sweetly He carolled and trilled! The hen, too, seeing Her eggs well-used, 35 Cackled a kdusha From her Mizrach roost. c. 1932/1934

Captain Scuttle Scars carved crescents In his cheeks; And tattooed pheasants Dug their bright beaks 5 Into his arm, and Ear-rings dangled From ear-lobes carmined To collar spangled. His face was swarthy; 10 His smile was candid;

1940

286 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

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His tongue was worthy The oaths he bandied. Tanned, bowlegged, His knotty knuckles Hitched his ragged Trousers to buckles ... O, many harbours Had seen his ship: Bagdad barbers Had shaved his lip; Turkish eunuchs Had washed his body; Slavs sold him tunics That soon grew shoddy; Constantinople Khalifs judging Him brought staple Food and lodging. Jamaican rum had Furnished excuses, While Cherbourg pomade Had covered the bruises ... His eighteen karat Diamond? Congo. His heathen parrot? Chinese Kiang-Ho. Black Madagascars This year he saw, And Orleans maskers Next Mardi Gras. He had made faces At Ottoman firmans, Russian ukases, Lutheran sermons. His boots did bear a Chunk of Java, Sand of Sahara Naples' lava.

287 / 0.1932/1934 His chanty rang high 50 From the South Seas Unto far Shanghai And Hebrides ... With dagger and pistol Beside him, he'd play 55 Cards in Bristol, Dice in Marseilles. If he'd let his glass go Before he'd known his Whiskey in Glasgow, 60 Wine in Tunis, It would be to heave a Sigh, and begin his Gin of Geneva, Crown stout of Guinness. 65 O, he'd seen the lost auk Off Cape Town, And near Vladivostok A full moon drown. Was it a wonder 70 That in his chest, he Held treasures under Belts that were rusty, When one remembered His tough behaviour: 75 For pearls dismembered A Ceylon diver, Near Tartar Azov Snatched the Khan's bridle; Prodded the eyes of 80 A Persian idol; Fakir in cross-limbs He'd rendered tipsy, Robbed him, his Moslems; He'd gypped a gypsy. 85 With rye and soda He'd storm a cathedral,

288 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

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A Chinese pagoda, A shrine polyhedral. Therefore below his Strongbox were thrown Relics from Noah's Time to our own: Though he'd dissemble, Cheat, deceive, He was so simple, So naive, He'd toy with bullets He'd scorn police, He'd sever gullets For gauds like these: The hidden pebble On which the princess, As goes the fable, Sleeps and winces; Skin of majestic Indian cobra; A slip of mystic Abracadabra; An ancient relic Of some old abbey; Of philatelic Ali Babi; A witch's kettle; Bluebeard's comb; Woodcut of Gretel's Forest home; An ogre's defiant Teeth; the beanstalk Of small Jack's giant; He had them in stock. A piece of leather Of the wise Puss's boot; Chanticleer's feather; Such was his loot.

289 / c.i932/1934 125 And Cinderella's Slipper, the glass of A glass-made palace; Goliath's massive Helmet; Aladdin's 130 Lamp; the brave eagles Of the paladins; Eulenspiegel's Cap; horns, a symptom Of the devil. 135 The shoes of Tom Thumb; Joseph's bevel; The sword that ousted A wicked prince; The egg of the goose that 140 Filled golden bins; The hood of little Red Riding Hood; A phial of spittle; Some goblin food ... 145 Scoffing embargoes, By cruisers harried, Such were the cargoes He ever carried. So, over his bottle 150 He ages and wizens, Does Captain Scuttle Of the far horizons ... c. 1932/1934

290 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

Concerning a Strange King There was a mad monarch With kindness insane, Whose realm knew no hunger Throughout his good reign. 5 He coddled his subjects; He pampered his slaves; Men lived in rich hovels, And died in fine graves. His beggars demanded 10 Small slices of bread. Give them cake; give them pastry, He royally said. For his paupers he issued An edict which read 15 That none could drink water, But brandy instead. The wearing of tatters, He also forbade; Henceforward in purple 20 All were to be clad. A sorry tale it is. The poor had their fill, For from such rich living They soon went ill. 25 Their heads went dizzy, Their eyelids burned,

291 / c.i932/1934 Their legs rheumatic, Their stomachs turned. Is there really a monarch 30 With so wide a heart? Then show me his country, And chart me its chart. Alas and alack, The truth must out: 35 His land is there only Where paupers have gout .. c. 1932/1934

Concerning Four Strange Sons Concerning four strange sons, the Torah wrote: The sage, the simpleton, the knavish lout, And the poor yokel whence no speech will out. He is the wise one, who, most curious, 5 Queries his sire: Why these laws for us? Answer him therefore so and such and thus. What is the yokel's query and demand? Merely, what is this? Make him understand The miracles that lit the Egyptian land. 10 What does the wicked son, the Rasha, want? An answer for his every profane taunt? Make his speech dull, and render his teeth blunt!

292 / Original Poems, 1926—1934

And as for the meek dolt, the narrow brow, Untroubled by questions, - begin, then, thou 15 And make it clear to him, the when and how. c. 1932/1934

1939

A Deed of Daring This is a tale of a deed of daring: How Samson got the rabbi a herring, The rabbi who ate for his Sabbath supper A herring's parts, lower, middle, and upper. 5 So Samson the brave, his pennies sparing, Into the market went wayfaring, And bought, and got, and brought the herring: This is a tale of a deed of daring. c. 1932/1934

Doctor Dwarf Into his beard he laughs at the Musty apothecaries; A doctor, and no quack is he, He learns his lore from fairies. 5 And if there is an ill for which He knows no herb himself,

1

94°

293 / c. 1932/1934 He goes not to the broomstick witch, He hies him to the elf. Is there a little boy who's ill? 10 A little lad who's hurt? He gives him an almond for a pill, A raisin for dessert. He takes the blindman from his hut To see the moon i' the sky. 15 'A ladder!' the blind man cries, 'to cut Two slices of that pie!' A lover pined away for love, He could not dine nor sup; Until the wise man poured for him 20 Dew from a buttercup. There was a hunchback in our town, He was so hunched, was he, That when he looked up he still looked down. Now he's as straight as me. 25 With a pine needle and some hay He sewed my cousin's stitches; Oh, it was such a sunny day When he broke my brother's crutches! He lived on the hill; and in his time 30 One never moaned in pain For longer than it takes to climb The hill, and down again. c. 1932/1934

194°

294 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

Fairy Tale

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Once upon a time, in a land far far away, a marvellous happening came to pass. This far country is chartered on no map, but the tale of it was heard in a thunderclap, or as others please, from the silly honk of geese. Be that as it may, one day, a little boy went out to play in the fields. He was plucking daisies and dandelions, and four-leaved clover. He was not afraid of the bees, for whenever these desired to tease honey out of the chalices of the flowers, they would buzz: Please, Please, Please. Nor did he fear the browsing cows in the meadow. They knew him well. When they saw him they greeted him with a shake of the bell. They even called him by name, such was his fame. His father called him Moses, but cows, as cows do, called him Moo. Now this little boy, towards the end of day, wandered away from his friends in the meadow, adventure-bent. Into the woods he went, alone. Soon night fell, softly like dew on the stones of a well. The owls hooted from the branches where they looted, and the frogs croaked from the ditches in which they soaked. And suddenly the little man was aware, that there, there in front of him and with no space to spare, stood a bear! A big bear with a snivelling nozzle and a snorting muzzle and gruesome claws and grim paws. Alas, little Moo was not afraid; he had no time to be afraid. For in a trice, a second to be precise, body and limb did pass, and in the bear's belly he was, alas! Now his little sister went looking for him. Up hill, down dale, she ran, and then weeping, found she was exactly where she began. So into the woods she hied, and hard-by on the heath, came upon a bear picking his teeth. 'Come here, little bear,' she said. The bear lifted his head. T look for a little boy Moo, because - ' The bear raised his paws. 'Moo?' asked the bear. Gruffly he answered Boo. 'I have a cube of sugar for you, a very good tidbit, and

295 / c-i932/1934 sweet too. It will please your tooth.' The bear opened his 35 mouth and grunted: It will do. And so they played, the bear and the maid. Whereupon the little girl took a grass-blade, and tickled the bear until tears trickled from his eyes, fountain-wise. He laughed; he went daft; he rolled over with a pain in his side; and his 40 muzzle opened wide. But the blade of grass still titillated his arm-pits and his throat, causing his gruff guffaws to float on the air, now here, now there. The bear loosened his bellybutton from its buckle, but still there came his chuckle; he rolled, he gambolled, he did a hop, step and wriggle, but still 45 there came the giggle, until there burst a gust of laughter, and the little boy came tumbling after. So they ran home, did the little girl and the little boy. And all the way, they could hear, now far, now near, a sound of laughter. But they ran. Said the little boy to the little 50 girl, 'Now we will live happily ever after/ c. 1932/1934

Getzel Gelt A tradesman Getzel Gelt would be. He went into the field With barrow and with scissors, and He clipped the flowers; he wheeled 5 The barrow to his father's barn; He shook the barnyard bell. Cried he: A farthing for a whiff A penny for a smell.

296 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

Now every youngster in the town 10 Turned up a hungry nose For scent of daisy, dandelion, Cowslip and dogrose. In vain their famished nostrils sniffed The unperfumed air; 15 For every little smell they paid The small coins they could spare, To Getzel Gelt who watched the door And let no youngster pass Within his flowery barn, unpaid. 20 The poor, they could smell grass. But Kalman, with the big nose says: I have a right to smell. The flowers belong to heaven, and Our Getzel - shakes a bell. 25 We will not pay for what is God's, For every flower that blows, No youngster shall so filch from me The pleasures of my nose. He planned a plan; then every boy 30 Went out and caught a bee And brought it to this Getzel's barn; They buzzed most joyously. They settled on the flowers; they Hummed songs of paradise; 35 They sucked the honey from the cups And tears from Getzel's eyes. He wants no flowers; he wants no coins; He wants no stinging bees.

297 / c.i932/1934 Our Getzel only wants to be 40 Left in penniless peace. So sing the song of victory; Shake Getzel's barnyard bell For those who fought, and stingingly Won liberty of smell. c. 1932/1934

1935

Gift I will make him a little red sack For treasure untold, With a velvet front and a satin back, And braided with gold, 5 His tfillin to hold. I will stitch it with letters of flame, With square characters: His name, and his father's name; And beneath it some terse 10 Scriptural verse. Yea, singing the sweet liturgy, He'll snare its gold cord, Remembering me, even me, In the breath of his word, 15 In the sight of the Lord. c. 1932/1934

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298 / Original Poems, 1926—1934

Heirloom My father bequeathed me no wide estates; No keys and ledgers were my heritage; Only some holy books with yahrzeit dates Writ mournfully upon a blank front page 5 Books of the Baal Shem Tov, and of his wonders; Pamphlets upon the devil and his crew; Prayers against road demons, witches, thunders; And sundry other tomes for a good Jew. Beautiful: though no pictures on them, save 10 The scorpion crawling on a printed track; The Virgin floating on a scriptural wave, Square letters twinkling in the Zodiac. The snuff left on this page, now brown and old, The tallow stains of midnight liturgy 15 These are my coat of arms, and these unfold My noble lineage, my proud ancestry! And my tears, too, have stained this heirloomed ground, When reading in these treatises some weird Miracle, I turned a leaf and found 20 A white hair fallen from my father's beard. c. 1932/1934

1943

299 / 0.1932/1934

Jonah Katz Jonah Katz Was quaint and queer; Some called him bard, Some called him seer. 5 His phrases mad, His speech absurd, Who will explain Me his occult word? For he did speak 10 Strangely of these: Bears with berets, Goats with goatees, Apes in aprons, In cowslips cows, 15 Foxes in foxgloves, In samite sows. Why did he dress In robes the rabbit? Why did his beasts 20 Don bystic habit? Jonah Katz: Was he a seer? A poet? Sage? Or only queer? c. 1932/1934

1940

300 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

King Dalfin King Dalfin sat on his throne, the size of a thimble, And waved a hairpin, his wand. The guardsmen about him clashed cymbal on sounding cymbal. Music: was the King's command. 5 Then suddenly swift between two notes, the midget Emperor vanished, was gone; Quoth his chamberlain, wisely, though somewhat in a fidget: He will be back anon. 10

Anon! Anon! There was no king returning. The chamberlain was shot For not deserving the hire that he was earning. The vizier then was brought

Into the court, and on a charge of treason He was dispatched. 15 Ten egg-shaped skulls were then lopped ere their season For the dread plot they hatched. Then, high and low, the sages with their glasses Looked for their little king. Failing, they were, for the crime of being asses, 20 All hung from one big string. Throughout the realm, fleet couriers sought the tiny Rex Imperator; in vain. 'Twas said that a vulture fly had dropped him in the briny Sea, off the coast of Spain. 25 Now, where was the King? He turned up a week later; He could not catch the gale

301 / c. 1932/1934 Of the cymbal-music, so hid him in the crater Of the cymbalist's fingernail. P.S. The cymbalist was hanged for a knave and traitor.

c. 1932/1934

Lullaby for a Hawker's Child Sleep, hungry child, within your crib. Father will bring you a silken bib And he will set upon your cradle A golden plate and a silver ladle 5 And darling waking in his bed Will find sweet cakes and raisined bread. And son will traffic in the town Wearing his father's cap as crown His father's purse upon his throat 10 And ride on our caparisoned goat Crying, Cold Ale! and loaves red hot! Sleep, hungry child, sleep, weary tot! c. 1932/1934

1940

302 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

Madman's Song The mole can burrow through the brain, The rat can make its manger there; But in my head, a weathervane The cock is picking through my hair. 5 Soon it will put beak to my scalp, And soar into the heavens soon, To climb upon a lunar alp And hang my wig on the head of the moon. c. 1932/1934

Nose Aristocratic Prince Shlemozzle Had a long nozzle He held way up in the air, Until a vulture 5 Gave it sepulture And made him a Commoner! c. 1932/1934

303 / c. 1932/1934

Pigeons The pigeons coo among the eaves, And fly about the weathercock, And soar into a rainbowed sky To seek a golden crock. 5 Proudly they settle on a fence; They preen their bright transparent throats, Now purple and now green, as though They'd pecked at rainbows, seeking oats. c. 1932/1934

A Psalm of a Mighty Hunter before the Lord O, not for furs, And not for feathers, Did Chatzkel the hunter Weather all weathers! 5 Neither the crow, Nor the shy sparrow Had fear of his bow And rotted arrow. A hunter he was, 10 Who bore no rifle Whose snare did not kill, Nor lariat stifle.

304 / Original Poems, 1926—1934

A dearth in the land: Beasts die of famine 15 Chatzkel the hunter Leaves his backgammon Traps him some wild beasts, Keeps them in cages, Until the hot sun will 20 Have spent its rages. Meanwhile the tiger Eats tiger-lilies, And milk is fed to The wild colt's fillies. 25 Upon his wrist-bone The robin settles; While Chatzkel crams her With lilac petals. And then, in the Spring-time 30 Chatzkel sets free Beast and bird under The greenwood tree. O, what was Nimrod Who used strength, not skill, 35 To quell the forest, Compared to Chatzkel, Chatzkel who whistled To catch a bird; Who hallooed, and found him 40 In midst of a herd? c. 1932/1934

1944

305 / c.i932/1934

A Psalm of Horses and Their Riders Chivalric more than knight on charger black; More gallant than stiff lancer on groomed steed; Than the proud emir on the camel's back, Kinglier; wiser than mage on mule knock-kneed; 5 Fleeter than he who lashed the horse that stalked Out of the stables of King Solomon; Nobler than Hindoo in his howdah rocked; Stranger than centaur mounted by a faun, Or wizard clutching hippogriffin throat, 10 Is this blithe waif who canters through the town, His both feet stirruped in goat's beard, fists on horns, Saddled upon the nape of his tamed goat! c. 1932/1934

1947

A Psalm, with Trumpets for the Months Behold the months each in their season: Showers and blossoms perfume Nissan. The tree a sage, the flower a seer Make holy gestures in the month of lyar. 5 Forget not too, the days of Sivan When thunder and To rah came from heaven; Nor the sky polished as with pumice Radiant with the sun of Tammuz. Howbeit in the month of Av 10 Consider no flowers, but think of Messiah somewhere in a cell, ill; Then be consoled by clovered Ellul.

306 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

The wet wind rushes with a swish, raw Upon the leaves of autumn's Tishri. 15 Haybarrow, harvest-wain and thresh-van Stalk slowly through the month of Heshvan. Through barn and granary the whistle of The last fall wind sings loud in Kislev. But oak log and warm hearth will save us 20 From the keen blasts of wintry Taivus. At long last, bloodroot, tongue-of-adder, Peer from the thawing snow of Adar. c. 1932/1934

Rev Owl Erudite, solemn, The pious bird Sits on a tree, His shtreimel furred. 5 The owl, chief rabbi Of the woods, In moonlight ponders Worldly goods. With many a legal 10 To who? To wit? He nightly parses Holy writ. And then tears gizzards Of captured fowl

1947

307 / 0.1932/1934 15 To find them kosher For an owl. c. 1932/1934

1940

Riddle It is an enchanted palace With its empty hall Barred by portcullis Where a nimble thrall 5 Waves a silk sword Whereat from the palace A singing princess is heard. This is a riddle. The answer: A fiddle. c. 1932/1934

Sonnet of the Starving One The famished one lies down to sleep, and dreams He treads the unhungry paths of paradise: Beside him ripple rivers of fresh creams, Before him mountains of old cheeses rise. 5 The wide leaves flutter, pancakes to his eyes. The lake of borsht within the sunlight gleams Wherein the marinated herring teems. The tree-bark tastes like crusty kugeled pies.

308 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

The famished one so dreams he blithely treads 10 Meadows of food, forests of banqueting Where from the branches hang the curlicued breads And on them wondrously the roast fowl sing, Until he views, like ever-dropping silk The heavenly waterfall of buttermilk. c. 1932/1934

Town Poors Song The town fool sat on the top o' the roof, And a hazel branch he skinned. He twittered a song of strange reproof In a voice now gruff, now thinned: 5 / hear the thud of a horse's hoof I hear a horn on the wind. The madmen in the cobbled lanes The nitwits in the street Scurry and grub, and for their pains 10 A crust of bread, and meat, But I sit over their windowpanes And dangle unweary feet. I cast away the hazel bark, I whittle a good clean rod, 15 A switch to hasten from his park The horse that strays abroad, Messiah's spavined mare - but hark! The thud of a hoof on sod. c. 1932/1934

309 / c.i932/1934

Wandering Beggar Who envies not this beggar, who Sits in the sunny market place, Shaking the pebbles from his shoe, Knotting again his torn shoe-lace? 5 From daisied path, from dusty road, From cobbled ways, and country lanes Hither he hops from his abode In gypsy wagons and huckster wains. Come, children of the town, and hear 10 What tales this jolly traveller brings, What coloured tiding he doth bear, What foreign-sounding songs he sings. Though it be true that in his purse A small green penny sleeps alone, 15 And in his sack, two crusty loaves, One mouldy, and one hard as stone, Consider but the towns he saw, The curious hamlets, the queer inns! The road his realm, a song his law 20 And he an incognito prince! Who wants for burgher's clothes? Do not This beggar's tatters sweetly smell Of sleeping in a grassy spot, Of lazing in a fragrant dell? 25 And what the sight of gold coin to One who has lately gazed upon

310 / Original Poems, 1926—1934

The kingdom of the small red Jew, The turbulent Sambation? c. 1932/1934

!94Q

C. 1934/1934

Baal Shem Tov

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Be his memory forever green and rich, Like moss upon a stone at a brook's edge, That rabbi of infants, man of children's love, Greybeard and leader of tots, the Baal Shem Tov! Who hearing a child's song float on sunlit air Heard far more piety than in a prayer That issued from ten synagogal throats; Who seeing an urchin bring a starved mare oats, Beheld that godliness which can break bars Of heaven padlocked with its studded stars; The Baal Shem Tov, who better than liturgy Loved speech with teamsters and with gypsies! Be His memory ever splendid like a jewel, His, who bore children on his back to school And with a trick to silence their small grief Crossed many a stream upon a handkerchief. Oh, be there ever pure minds and bright eyes, Homage of children ever, eulogies Of little folk so that the humble fame Of the Baal Shem, the Master of the Name,

312 / Original Poems, 1926—1934

May be forever green and fresh and rich Like moss upon a stone at a brook's edge. c. 1934/1934

1940

Psalm of the Fruitful Field

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A field in sunshine is a field On which God's signature is sealed; When clouds above the meadows go, The heart knows peace; the birds fly low. O field at dusk! O field at dawn! O golden hay in the golden sun! O field of golden fireflies Bringing to earth the starry skies! You touch the mind with many a gem; Dewdrops upon the sun's laced hem; Young dandelions with coronets; Old ones with beards; pale violets Sleeping on moss, like princesses; Sweet clover, purple, odorous; Fat bees that drowse themselves to sleep In honey-pots that daisies keep; Birds in the hedge; and in the ditch Strawberries growing plump and rich. Who clamours for a witch's brew Potioned from hellebore and rue; Or pagan imps of fairy band, When merely field and meadowland Can teach a lad that there are things That set on his shoulderblades two wings? Even a cow that lolls its tongue Over a buttercup, swells song In any but a devil's lung.

313 / c.i934/1934 Even a sheep which rolls in grass Is happier than lad or lass, 30 Who treads on stones in streets of brass. Who does not love a field lacks wit, And he were better under it! And as for me let paradise Set me in fields with sunny skies. 35 And grant my soul in after days In clovered meadowlands to graze. c. 1934/1934

1944

Song of Sweet Dishes Pharaoh was plagued with lice and frogs, Pests visited upon his head. His death makes bright the synagogues Wherefore we eat unleavened bread. 5 Foul Haman swung from a gallows-tree, May all such end in similar fashion. Therefore, in Israel, jubilee: We munch our Haman-taschen. Now what shall we eat, what shall we gobble, 10 What toothsome dish shall we prepare, When Adolph wretchedly will hobble From scaffolding upon the air? c. 1934/1934

1940

314 / Original Poems, 1926-1934

The Venerable Bee The shamash of the glade, The venerable bee, In caftan bright arrayed, Hums honeyed liturgy. 5 He brushes off the dust From sacred leaves; he frees With but a single thrust The arks of chalices. The convoluted rose 10 Is torah scroll to him: He reads, with index-nose, Of bee-like seraphim. Tendril and bud he sees To signify God's yoke 15 In green phylacteries For all his kindred folk. Gay fields and flowered walks, His many-coloured home, Will scent his besomim box, 20 His fragrant honeycomb. Blessed is that happy one, Who from a sylvan pew Attends his kiddush on A flowercup of dew. c. 1934/1934

1940

1934

Petition For That My Father's Soul Should Enter into Heaven I Unworthy even to utter His slightest name, Before Him meaner than a beggar's shoe, A breaker of Sabbaths, a man of dubious fame, A knave-defender, crony of the unholy crew, 5 A withered limb upon a sacred tree, I, my own self, durst not advance to sue Before the heavenly throne, nor ease my heart Of that which so perturbs, so troubles me. Therefore have I, temeritous and rash, 10 The youngest son of Kalman, now deceased, Inscribed in my uneasy hand, my plaint: Injunction for the worms contemplative of feast, Plea lest my father's soul endure attaint. Writ in an ink no bitter tears can wash 15 And sealed with gall upon a quivering lip, Take hold on it, and wear it in your wings, Angels and Heavenly Ministers, and slip It underneath the door most sacrosanct, For my sake, and before the King of Kings.

316 / Original Poems, 1926-1934 II

20 Rebono shel Olam Since my poor father sank into his grave, Since the cold clods beat on his coffin-boards Three winter moons, like still unburied souls Have stalked across the gravestone-covered swards 25 Since the cold clods have beat upon the boards A terrible sound it was. And even now Sometimes I wake at night to hear that thud, Remembering fallen flesh of my flesh, and parched blood of my blood. My mother bids me con my holy books, 30 For the good grace of him, that in such wise Trumpet of Hebrew, drum of Aramaic May sound his entry into Paradise. How can I read that script with profane tongue, With sceptic eyes, with lips incredulous, 35 How can I mouth them, the good verse, the pious song? For I have gone a long and crooked path Since the bright innocence of Aleph-bais, A long and tortuous way, a bitter road Since I first conned them, the square letter, the 40 Strange vowel, the crackling word, the sacred ode, Conning them while the father from whose loins I sprang, threw upon my book's cleft ridge As though it were the benison of God Largess of silver and of copper coins. 45 Hence for me now to speak such words were sacrilege. My brothers, too, bereaved, go visiting The makers of tombstones. They appraise good marble In charactery sepulchral expert, they Wish a good legend, and fine chiselling, 50 They know what is the right and proper thing. Thus, they do honour, I among them, to

317 / 1934

The name of my father among living men: Let them all see, let every blessed Jew Behold on those sad sunny mornings when 55 They pluck the grass from cemetery ground The pious stone erected upon that sacred mound. Then do my brothers to their work return, To tending of cattle and the making of clothes. And as your ministers have ordered, Lord, 60 Thrice daily they will seek thy sacred prose And place before thine ark the required word. And I will be with them Intone the formal hymn But their devout simplicity 65 Will not be part of me. For they are the heirs of my father's simple faith Accepting gladly what is writ upon the page And I have long since wasted that heritage. I know a man who all my father's life 70 Garnered in valued casks my father's sweat He drew my father's blood, using no knife And axeless broke my father's spirit, yet My father nightly coming to his home His board and bed, 75 Still praised his God, and blessed his bread. [...] *934

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ABBREVIATIONS TEXTUAL NOTES EXPLANATORY NOTES INDEX OF TITLES INDEX OF FIRST LINES

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Abbreviations

The following abbreviations in the textual and explanatory notes conform to Usher Caplan's 'Bibliography and Index to Manuscripts/ in The A.M. Klein Symposium, ed. Seymour Mayne (Ottawa: University of Ottawa Press 1975), p. 89, with some additions. WORKS BY KLEIN

Books and Pamphlets H HNJ HPC p PFC RC ss SVP

The Hitleriad. New York: New Directions 1944 Hath Not a Jew .... New York: Behrman's Jewish Book House 1940 Huit poemes canadiens (en anglais). Montreal: [Canadian Jewish Congress 1948] Poems. Philadephia: The Jewish Publication Society of America 1944 Poems of French Canada. [Montreal: Canadian Jewish Congress

1947] The Rocking Chair and Other Poems. Toronto: The Ryerson Press 1948 The Second Scroll. New York: Alfred A. Knopf 1951 Seven Poems. [Montreal: Canadian Jewish Congress 1948]

Volumes in the Collected Works BS

LER

Beyond Sambation: Selected Essays and Editorials 1928—1955. Ed. M.W. Steinberg and Usher Caplan. Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1982 Literary Essays and Reviews. Ed. Usher Caplan and M.W. Steinberg. Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1987

322 / Abbreviations Stories

Short Stories. Ed. M.W. Steinberg. Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1983

Published Volumes Containing Klein's Handwritten Revisions HN/rev previ preva

revised copy of Hath Not a ]cw ... [MS 2744] revised copy of Poems [MS 2745] revised copy of Poems [MS 2746]

Bound Typescript Volumes 22S GH GHP P32 P34 SP

xxn Sonnets (1931) [MS 1464-89] Gestures Hebraic (1932) [MS 1490-1592] Gestures Hebraic and Poems (1932) [MS 1733-1953] Poems (1932) [MS 1593-1732] Poems (1934) [MS 1954-2040] Selected Poems (1955) [MS 2041-116]

Periodicals CF c)c MJ

Canadian Forum Canadian Jewish Chronicle Menorah journal

Anthologies Efrosrael Isaac Efros. Selected Poems of H.N. Bialik. New York: Histadruth Ivrith of America 1948 Klinck and Carl F. Klinck and R.E. Watters. Canadian Anthology. Toronto: WattersGage Press 1955 LeftwichJoseph Leftwich.The Golden Peacock.Cambridge, Mass.: Sci-art Publishers 1939 Schwarz Leo W. Schwarz. A Golden Treasury of Jewish Literature. New York: Farrar and Rinehart Inc. 1937 Smith A.J.M. Smith. The Book of Canadian Poetry. Chicago: University of Chicago Press 1943 REFERENCE WORKS

Caplan

Usher Caplan. 'A.M. Klein: An Introduction.' Dissertation. State University of New York at Stony Brook 1976

323 / Abbreviations JE LOTD OED s

The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York and London: Funk and Wagnalls Co. 1906 Usher Caplan. Like One That Dreamed: A Portrait of A.M. Klein. Toronto: McGraw Hill Ryerson Ltd. 1982 The Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford: Oxford University Press 1928. Solomon Spiro. Tapestry for Designs: Judaic Allusions in 'The Second Scroll' and 'The Collected Poems of A.M. Klein.' Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press 1984

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Textual Notes

O R I G I N A L POEMS, 1926-1934 THE SHECHINAH OF SHADOWS. MS 2635-6.

Inscribed To Bessie Kozlov' and dated 'March 6, 1926'; followed by a postscript: '-i. Excuse the writing. / 2. Excuse the poem. / 3. Excuse me.' TO KEATS. Manuscript in the Jewish Public Library of Montreal, also containing LIFE AND ETERNITY (MS).

Dated and signed 'April, 1926. / Abraham M. Klein.' MS was kept by John Astbury, Klein's high school teacher, and was donated to the JPL by his heirs. Astbury sent a typescript copy of MS [MS 2672] in a letter to Klein, 3 Apr. 1953. LIFE AND ETERNITY. Manuscript in the Jewish Public Library of Montreal. For the date of composition see note to TO KEATS. A KISS ... MS 2362-3.

Inscribed To / Bessie Kozlov' and dated and signed 'May 30 1926 / Abraham M. Klein.' AUTO-DA-FE, i. MS in the possession of Sophie Lewis (MSI); 2. MS 1304-66 (MS2)*. MSI is in a school exercise book. It is untitled and undated and lacks the dedicatory sonnet. There is a photocopy of it in the Klein Papers, vol. 35. The dedicatory sonnet in MS2 is dated 'August 30, 1926'; and the poem proper is preceded by an inscription: To / Bessie Kozlov / With Love ... / From / Abraham M. Klein / Anniversary. 1925-26.' 9 Shot] Came MSI 34 lie] be MSI 36 have] MSI; has MS2 37 pious] learning's MSI

326 / Textual Notes pp 8-24 39 droop] drop MSI 42 sped] flew MSI 43 visions] vision MSI 52 King-Poet] King David MSI 63 loves] wives MSI -j\ hence] so MSI 72 then, on earth,] their MSI 105 fanatic] tribe pious MSI 163 Please meet] Here is MSI 168 eterne] staring MSI 184 did grant him] him granted MSI 186 gave to women] did a woman MSI 221 knell] bell MSI 230 holy] pious MSI 234 of] in MSI 246 on] near MSI 251 with] by MSI 255 unto self] unto each MSI 286 a tip-toed] light-hallowed MSI 296 enrapt] enwrapt MSI 304 Both-willed, two flames embraced] How they embraced, both-willed MSI 306 They tasted skin] And tasted some MSI 311 O, were he with me ...] Where could he now be? MSI 315 on] on altered to o'er MSI 332 And] E'en MSI 336 when] since MSI 342 clouds ... the] falling clouds, as drops fall like nails from loose MSI 345 like] were MSI 385 Some] A MSI 386 remained] was left MSI 387 gone of] left their MSI 391 rubs forth] strikes a MSI 398 hangs] ed.; hang MSI, MS2 448 lavender] lavendered MSI 450 back] full MSI 459 To Pascal. MSI 473 and] as MSI 480 my] mine MSI 504 cannot love] love cannot MSI 529 house] room's MSI 540 life] love MSI 545/46 line space in MSI

327 / Textual Notes pp 24-7 546 fled away] has gone her way altered to fled away MSI 547 And flames of blue the mansion luminate altered to In flames and rain doth house evaporate MSI 548 gasps out last ray] goes out in flame altered to gasps out last ray MSI 549 Whence rose the flames] Who laid the fire altered to Whence rose the flames MSI 550 Whence sprung] Who laid MSI DISCOVERY OF SPRING, i. the unrevised typescript for c (MS); 2. Carlofsky papers (c); 3. GHP 1904-5; 4. the unrevised typescript for ?32rev (P32); 5. pj,2 1678-9 (P32rev)*. MS, along with the typescripts of a number of other poems, was included in a letter from Klein to Rose Carlofsky, now in the Public Archives of Canada. The letter is dated 22 Dec. 1928, and the poems are referred to as 'some records of my poetical novitiate written some two years ago.' 5 as of] of P}2 7-8 A breeze, excited, flutters, ever lauds / the earth and sky, confides it everywhere ... MS, c 9 wettened] trickling MS, c 16 mouth.] ed.; mouth ... MS, c; mouth, GHP, P}2, P}2rev 16/17 And early blooms shoot up their sudden heads / inquiring of the sudden revelry / the author, and a boasting sun there sheds / its far-resplendent ego 'It is I! ...' MS, c 17 their] there MS, c 19 sombre woods] woods MS; quiet woods c 25 the] this MS, c 28 death!] ed.; death ... MS, c; death? GHP, P}2, P}2rev 29 swell, so] swell and MS, c 31 why] tortured? Why MS, c 35 for girl and boy] which never cloy MS, c DISSOLUTION, i. Carlofsky papers (c); 2. GHP 1938; 3. ?32 1716*. For the date of composition see note to DISCOVERY OF SPRING. Heading 'Sonnet' c 7-8 And ... of] Fishes phosphorescently will swarm / Mourning candles round c 12 Oyster] Oysters c LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT, i. the unrevised typescript for c (MS); 2. Carlofsky papers (c)* [version i]; 3. the unrevised typescript for GHPrev (GHP); 4. P32 1656* [version 2]; 5. GHP 1885 (cnprev). The texts can be divided into two distinct groups: (i) MS, c; (2) GHP, P32, GHPrev.

328 / Textual Notes pp 27—32 ?32 has been chosen as copy-text for version 2 because GHPrev is incompletely revised and does not provide a coherent text, c is signed 'Abraham M. Klein.' For the date of composition see note to DISCOVERY OF SPRING. Version i 10 gather up] take c Version 2 Heading 'Instruction to the Executor' GHPrev MIDNIGHT AWAKENING. Carlofsky papers. For the date of composition see note to DISCOVERY OF SPRING. ORACLES OF THE CLOCK, i. the unrevised typescript for GHPrev (GHP); 2. GHP 1947-8 (GHPrev); 3. p$2 1725-6*. GHP was typed on the same typewriter as the typescripts in the Carlofsky Papers [1926] (see note to DISCOVERY OF SPRING). It is also very close thematically to LIFE AND ETERNITY [1926]; hence the assigned date of composition 1926. Heading 'Clock Oracles' GHP Mon ... langues] not in GHP 5 gloom] dark GHP, GHPrev 23 deftly punctures them,] coolly bursts them, and GHP, GHPrev 25 List! that is a dreadful chosen rhyme. GHP 28 Darkness] The Darkness GHP PATHETIC FALLACY. 1. GHP 1874; 2. P$2 ^643*.

GHP was typed on the same typewriter as the typescripts in the Carlofsky Papers [1926] (see note to DISCOVERY OF SPRING) and is close to them thematically and stylistically. SYMBOLS. Carlofsky papers. For the date of composition see note to DISCOVERY OF SPRING. WINTER, i. the unrevised typescript for c (MS); 2. Carlofsky papers (c); 3. GHP 1887-8; 4. ?32 1661; 5. Dalhousie Review 12, 2 (July 1932), 210 (DR)*. For the date of composition see note to DISCOVERY OF SPRING. Part of a set - along with SPRING, SUMMER, and AUTUMN [c. 1926/c. 1928] - entitled 'Words in Their Season' in GHP and p$2, and 'Seasons' in DR. Marked for deletion in GHP. Heading 'Hibernation' MS, c 2 shivering] shimmering MS, c 13 earth ... the] God forgotten how to make a MS, c

329 / Textual Notes pp 33-44 FIVE CHARACTERS. 1. MJ 13, 5 (Nov. 1927), 497~8; 2. CJC, 2 Dec. 1927, p. 4;

3. Judaean 3, 6 (Mar. 1930), 7 ['Mordecai'] (ji); 4. Judaean 9, 6 (Mar. 1936),

45 to*.

10 mine] M/, c/c; wine 72 12 shine] sign M/, c/c 16 women] M/, c/c; woman /2 24 moonlight -] M/, c/c; moonlight /2 38 does] MJ, c/c; does not /2 THE MONKEY. McGill Daily, 5 Nov. 1927, p. 2 (MD). Signed 'MAK' (an anagram for 'AMK'). For the emendation to i compare the line which Klein is parodying: 'When fishes flew and forests walked' [G.K. Chesterton, 'The Donkey/ i]. i soared] ed.; soaped MD EPITAPH FORENSIC. McGill Daily, 12 Nov. 1927, p. 2. LA BELLE DAME SANS MERCI. McGill Daily, 19 Nov. 1927, p. 2.

THE LAY OF THE LADY. McGill Daily, 3 Dec. 1927, p. 2. Signed 'Mak' (an anagram for 'AMK'). BOREDOM, i. McGill Daily, 10 Dec. 1927, p. 2 (MD)*; 2. GHP 1933; 3. ?32 1711. 6 play,] GHP, P}2; play. MD 9 strange] bright GHP, pj2 11 fantasies ... hordes] woes in motley carnival affords GHP, Pj2 12 in coffin laid] become most staid GHP, pj2 OBITUARY NOTICES. McGill Daily, 17 Dec. 1927, p. 8. THRENODY. McGill Daily, 17 Dec. 1927, p. 8. For the date of composition see explanatory note. ESCAPE, i. MS 1372-1401 (MSI); 2. MS 1367-71 (MS2); 3. MS 1402-63 (MS3)*. MSI is a heavily revised draft. MS2 contains copies of passages and notes on passages from MSI. The readings in MS2 differ, in a number of instances, from those in MSI, and almost all of the readings in MS2 are incorporated into MS3, a fair copy with a few light revisions. MSI and MS3 differ considerably in accidentals, less so in substantives. The most important substantive differences, apart from the ones indicated in the list of variants, are: (i) MSI is untitled. (2) Stage directions are fuller in MS3- (3) MS3 contains more dedicatory material:

330 / Textual Notes pp 44—56 in both MSI and MS3 'Ballade of the Poet' is preceded by 'Dedicated to her who is dedicated to me/ but in MS3 this is preceded, on the previous page, by 'To / Bessie Kozlov. / from / Abraham M. Klein. / With Love,' and ESCAPE proper is preceded by 'Abbie to his Bessie / November 28, 1927.' Ballade of the Poet 6 grow] be MSI 26 strutted] struts most altered to strutted MSI ESCAPE 39 breeze] wind altered to breeze MSI 44 twilit] twilight MSI 46 the crosier] their crosier MSI 81 of] in MSI 99 Sweetheart ... Love!] sweetheart MSI 130 I said:] not in MSI 132 And I'll] I MSI 139 the] this MSI 140 his own] his MSI 143 an errand] errand MSI 151 Him on] On MSI 152-3 Yes, and he carries a full moon on his head. MSI 159 upon't] upon it MSI 163 waters] water MSI 181 Always] ever altered to always MSI 195 only speak] speak MSI; speak altered to only speak MS} 227 Then all is eternity ... altered to Do you like this recipe? MSI 257-8 to see whether] ed.; to see that altered to to see whether MSI; to whether MS}

259 I never should] never should I MSI 264 not] never MSI 268 moon-light] moon MSI 270 fortune] fortunes MSI 274 There] Now MSI But I] I MSI 275 it] it, though MSI 284 will ... parched] are parched and dry, so dry MSI 286 I will taste] will taste MSI 294 Hush! A sullen moon regards us! altered to A sullen moon regards us! hush MSI 300 no more will] will no more MSI; no more altered to no more will MS} 301 Into ... you] In sight, by what will you swear MSI 304 I, I] only I MSI

331 / Textual Notes pp 56-66 305 Everlasting] Eternal altered to Everlasting MSI 306 Now watch] Look altered to Watch MSI; Watch altered to Now watch MS} 307 This] The MSI 311 chucklings] laughter altered to chuckling MSI 330 successively (a) Yet do not stare [...] (b) Stare: yet not too inquisitive (c) Stare: not too inquisitive MSI 342 Which] What moon MSI 358 metaphor's] simile's altered to metaphor's MSI 359 and fair] and right MSI 363 sure] added in MSI 373 Yes, I] I MSI 374 can never] can't altered to can never MSI 378 star-crowds] successively (a) called stars (b) star-clouds (c) star-crowds MSI 384 Moonlight] Months, years altered to Moonlight MSI 387 Across the la[...] altered to the dark lagoon MSI 390 The stars, the] And stars and altered to The stars the MSI PROTEST. 1. MS 1395 (MSl); 2. MS 1450 (MS2J; 3. GHP 1926; 4. P}2 1704*.

MSI and MS2 consist of 312-25 of the two versions of ESCAPE, respectively. 9—12 love ... entrust] lisp in wise-and-foolish fashion, / (An oxymoron is the lover's self.) / I would not wrap my heart in a cocoon / Of similes and trust it tO MSI,

MS2

13 passions] passion MSI, MS2 14 them] it MSI, MS2 the ever-grinning moons] an ever-grinning moon MSI, MS2 AUTUMN, i. Harp 4, 3 (Sept.-Oct. 1928), 16*; 2. GHP 1892; 3. the unrevised typescript for P32rev (?32); 4. P32 1664 (P32rev). 4 its ... sings] sings silence pjzrev Dull lead] A head altered to Gibbeted P}2rev 5 the moon hangs in the sky, gaunt, gaping, wan. altered to the sun hangs in the sky, gaunt, gaping, wan. P}2rev BALLAD OF SIGNS AND WONDERS, i. cjc, 13 Apr. 1928, p. 9*; 2. MS 2160, a revised tearsheet of cjc (c/crev); 3. the unrevised typescript for cuprev (GHP); 4. GHP 1789-92 (GHPrev); 5. GH 1548-51. 3 over-] ed.; over - all versions 16 his] him GHPTCV, GH 50 have ... bloody] for Passover decree altered to for ritual decree cjcrev; for ritual decree GHP, cnprev, GH 96 And] Let GHPrev, GH

332 / Textual Notes pp 67-77 CONJECTURES. Poetry Yearbook 1927-8 (Canadian Authors Association), pp. 21-2 (PY).

4 angels'] ed.; angel's PY 16 Lambs? ...] ed.; Lambs .... PY HAUNTED HOUSE, i. Canadian Mercury i, 2 (Jan. 1929), 35 (CM)*; 2. the unrevised typescript for ?32rev (P32); 3. p^2 1644-8 (?32rev); 4. the unrevised typescript for GHPrev (GHP); 5. GHP 1875-8 (GHPrev). Line spacing follows GHPrev rather than CM, which is erratic. The one exception is the quatrains in 54-65, which in GHPrev are set as couplets. 34 not in cnrrev 40 not you] you not all other versions 68 infested] infected P}2, P}2rev, GHP 75 thinking] P}2rev, GHP, cnprev; think CM, P}2 99 undistinguished] P}2rev, GHP, GHPrev; indistinguished CM, P}2 JOSEPH, i. Judaean i, 9 (June 1928), i*; 2. GHP 1819; 3. GH 1578. 9 off] of GHP, GH MATTATHIAS. C/C, 14 Dec. 1928, p. 22. A SEQUENCE OF SONGS. 1. Poetry 35 (Oct. 1929), 22-4*; 2. GHP 1869-71; 3. P32 1637-40.

In a letter to Poetry, 13 May 1928, Klein agrees to unspecified changes to a previously submitted typescript, which no longer exists. A SONG THAT THE SHIPS OF JAFFA DID SING IN THE NIGHT. 1. ]udaean 2, 4 (Jan. 1929),

8 (/); 2. c/c, i Feb. 1929, p. 19; 3. GH 1580; 4. MS 2643, a typescript (MS); 5- P, P- 4°*Cut OUt of GHP.

Heading 'Cargo' /, c/c, GH; preceded by 'Psalm XLV' in MS, and by 'Psalm xxxn' in P 3 like] full /, c/c 4 Boxed oranges, the] And oranges, boxed /, c/c 7 pomegranates,] /, c/c, GH; pomegranates; MS, P 10 an] some /, c/c 14 a far] some far /, c/c THESE CANDLE LIGHTS, i. ]udaean 2, 3 (Dec. 1928), 8 (/); 2. c/c, 14 Dec. 1928, p. 22; 3. the unrevised typescript for GHPrev (GHP); 4. GH 1577; 5. Canadian Zionist 3, 6 (Nov. 1936), 40*; 6. MS 2670, a revised sheet cut out of the GHP volume.

333 / Textual Notes pp 77-89 The heading in / and c/c is hanerot halalu (in Hebrew letters). See explanatory notes. TO THE JEWISH POET. C/C, 6 July 1928, p. 21.

FIVE WEAPONS AGAINST DEATH, i. MJ 16, i (Jan. 1929), 49-51*; 2. the typescript for GHPrev (GHP); 3. ?32 1629-32; 4. GHP 1862-5 (cnprev). FIVE WEAPONS AGAINST DEATH, WHERE SHALL I FIND CHOICE WORDS, COWARD IN CONSOLATION, and A PRAYER AGAINST THE WITNESSING OF GRIEF were all

occasioned by the death of Bessie Kozlov's father in Sept. 1928. They are grouped together in GHP and P}2. WHERE SHALL I FIND CHOICE WORDS. 1. GHP 1866; 2. P32 1633; 3. Opinion 3, /

(May 1933), 22 (o)*. For the date of composition see note to FIVE WEAPONS AGAINST DEATH. 4 resigned] GHP, P}2; resigned o COWARD IN CONSOLATION. 1. GHP 1867; 2. P32 1634*.

For the date of composition see note to FIVE WEAPONS AGAINST DEATH. A PRAYER AGAINST THE WITNESSING OF GRIEF. 1. P32 1635; 2. MS 2565, 3 typescript (MS)*.

For the date of composition see note to FIVE WEAPONS AGAINST DEATH. Heading 'Prayer' P}2; preceded by 'Psalm xx' in MS ADVICE TO THE YOUNG. 1. GHP 1940; 2. P32 l/lS*. ADVICE TO YOUNG VIRGINS. 1. GHP 1882; 2. P32 1652*.

APRIL DISAPPOINTMENTS, i. the unrevised typescript for GHPrev (GHP); 2. GHP 1902 (GHPrev); 3. P32 1676*. APRIL FOOL. 1. GHP 1901; 2. PJ2 16/5*. APRIL FULFILMENT. 1. GHP 1903; 2. PJ2 1677*. ARBITER BIBENDI. 1. GHP 1953; 2. P}2 1732*. ASSURANCE. 1. GHP 1879; 2. P}2 1649*.

ASTROLOGER. 1. GHP 1949; 2. PJ,2 1727*.

334 / Textual Notes pp 90—8 AUTUMN, i. GHP 1887; 2. P}2 1660; 3. Dalhousie Review 12, 2 (July 1932), 210 (M)'.

Part of a set - along with SPRING, SUMMER, and WINTER - entitled 'Words in Their Season' in GHP and P}2, and 'Seasons' in DR. 2 incoherence;] GHP, P}2; incoherence, DR 10 brilliant] vivid GHP, P}2 14 mumbling, -] GHP, P}2; mumbling DR AUTUMN NIGHT. 1. GHP 1892; 2. P}2 1664*. BION IN HIS OLD AGE. 1. GHP 1945; 2. P$2 1723*. BLIND GIRL'S SONG. 1. GHP 1937; 2. P32 1715*. BOUNTY ROYAL. 1. GHP l868; 2. GH 1517; 3. P32 1636*.

10 them due -] them, too; GHP, GH BUSINESS, i. CF 9 (Aug. 1929), 379*; 2. GHP 1858; 3. P}2 1625. 8 my] its GHP, P}2 A COLOURED GENTLEMAN. 1. GHP 1944; 2. P32 1722*. COMPOSITION.

1. GHP 1927; 2. ?32 1705*.

DARK CLEOPATRA ON A GILDED COUCH. 1. GHP 1860; 2. P}2 1627*.

DISCORD OF THE CROW. i. GHP 1893; 2. the unrevised typescript for P32rev (?32); 3. P32 1665 (P32rev)*. 14 now] and GHP, P}2 DIVINE TITILLATION. 1. GHP 1934; 2. P32 1712; 3. CF 13 (June 1933), 33**ELEGY. 1. GHP 1934; 2. P32 1712*. FABLE. 1. GHP 1891; 2. ?32 1663*. FEBRUARY MORNING. 1. GHP 1900; 2. ?32 1673*. FIGURE. 1. GHP 1891; 2. P32 1663*. FINIS. 1. GHP 1873; 2. P32 1642*.

335 / Textual Notes pp 99—108 FRAGMENT ON THE DEATH OF SHELLEY. 1. GHP 1943; 2. P$2 1/21*.

FRANKLY, i. the unrcvised typescript for GHPrev (GHP); 2. GHP 1853 (cnprev); 3. P32 1641*. 8 amidst] among GHP, GHPrev 13 But] And GHP GARGOYLE. 1. GHP 1857; 2. ?32 1624*. HISTRIONIC SONNET. 1. GHP 1859; 2. P32 1626*. HOMAGE. 1. GHP 1856; 2. P32 1623*.

INVITATION, i. the unrevised typescript for GHPrev (GHP); 2. ?32 1655*; 3. GHP 1884 (GHPrev). GHPrev is incompletely revised and does not provide a coherent text. 3 lo,] and GHPYCV 7 the wanted cue] the wanted cues, GHP; deleted in GHPrev, but deletion queried LETTERS TO ONE ABSENT. 1. GHP 1883; 2. P32 1653-4*.

LITANY, i. GHP 1855; 2-3. GH 1514; P32 1622; 4. Opinion 2, 17-18 (26 Sept. 1932),

12 (or.

6 eclipse,] GH; eclipse GHP, P}2, o LOTHARIO. 1. GHP 1930; 2. P$2 1708*.

14 waxes, pregnant] waxes pregnant GHP MANUSCRIPT: THIRTEENTH CENTURY, i. the unrevised typescript for GHPrev (GHP); 2. the unrevised typescript for P32rev (?32); 3. P32 1681-95 (P32rev); 4. MS 2412-21, a typescript (MS); 5. CF 14 (Sept. 1934), 474-6*; 6. GHP 1906-19 (GHPrev). In 213, the reading 'loud' in GHPrev has been followed, rather than 'dread' in the copy-text. 'Loud' appears to have been the reading in the original manuscript, which no longer exists. It was mistranscribed in GHP as 'bred,' the two words being easily confused in Klein's handwriting. This reading, which makes no sense, was miscorrected in P32 to 'dread,' which is scarcely better, and the miscorrection was perpetuated in the later texts deriving from P32, until Klein restored the original reading in GHPrev. No heading in MS 83 oblivious to] oblivious of GHP, GHPrev 112 whom] all versions except CF; when CF

336 / Textual Notes pp 108-20 120/21 O, if he lingers beyond farthest Thule / Or dallies in the land of bacchanals, / I will discover him, my darling cruel, / And unto me he never will be false, / But true will be as signet to its jewel. / The cruel sparrows sang their madrigals / And Echo mimicries of love did waft; / Silently she wept, - then madly laughed ... GHP 157 princes] prince GHP, Pj2 158 Nor] No GHP, pj2, Pj2rev, MS 161 is no] all versions except CF; is not CF 176 Deduce the dogma from the death-decree ... GHP, GHPrev 189 imbiber's] imbibers' GHP, P}2, pjzrev, GHPrev 199 the mouth] mouth GHP; his mouth GHPrev 213 loud] GHPrev; bred GHP; dread all other versions 222 brood;] GHPrev; brood all other versions 224 than] ed.; then all versions 230 enforced] all versions except CF; enforced cf 231 their] the all other versions MOMUS. 1. GHP 1928; 2. ?32 1706*. NOCTURNE. 1. GHP 1889; 2. P32 1662*.

OCTOBER HERESY, i. GHP 1894; 2. P}2 1.666; 3. Alarm Clock 2, i (Nov. 1933), 3*. AN OLD DAME PRATES IN GALILEE. 1. GHP 1936; 2. P32 1714*.

ORDERS, i. McGilliad i, i (Mar. 1930), 7; 2. GHP 1924; 3. ?32 1701; 4. ?34 2028; 5. HNJ, p. 116*. OUT OF A PIT OF PERPENDICULARS. 1. GHP 1950-2; 2. P32 1728-31*. THE POET TO THE BIG BUSINESS MAN. 1. GHP 1932; 2. P}2 T.J1Q*. PREFACE. 1. GHP 1920; 2. PJ2 1697*.

PROBABILITIES, i. GHP 1935; 2 - P32 1713*REQUEST. 1. GHP 1946; 2. ?32 1724*.

6 Shall] Will GHP REVEILLE IN WINTER. 1. GHP 1899; 2. P32 1673*. SACRED ENOUGH YOU ARE. 1. GHP 1843; 2 - P32 ^599' 3-

HN

J> P- 67*.

337 / Textual Notes pp 120—8 SHELLEY, i. GHP 1942; 2. the unrevised typescript for P32rev (P32); 3. P32 1720 (P32rev)*. 3-4 spoke ... / The] spoke; / He made the GHP; spoke; he / Made the P}2 8 mere] was a mere P}2 SLEEP WALKING SCENE. 1. GHP 1897; 2. P32 1670*. SONG. 1. GHP 1898; 2. P32 1672*. SONG BEFORE WINTER. 1. GHP 1898; 2. P}2 1671*. SOROR ADDITA MUSIS. 1. GHP 1929; 2. P32 1707*.

SPRING, i. the unrevised typescript for cnprev (GHP); 2. ?32 1658; 3. Dalhousie Review 12, 2 (July 1932), 209 (DR)*; 4. GHP 1886 (GHprev). Part of a set - along with SUMMER, AUTUMN [c. 1926/c. 1928], and WINTER - entitled 'Words in Their Season' in GHP and ?32, and 'Seasons' in DR. 4 vanished so] vanished, and GHprev 12 red,] all versions except DR; red DR SUMMER, i. the unrevised typescript for GHprev (GHP); 2. ?32 1659; 3. Dalhousie Review 12, 2 (July 1932), 209 (DR)*; 4. GHP 1886-7 (cnprev). Part of a set - along with SPRING, AUTUMN [c. 1926^. 1928], and WINTER - entitled 'Words in Their Season' in GHP and P32, and 'Seasons' in DR. 13 parched] all versions except DR; parched DR SYBARITE THOUGH I BE. 1. GHP l86l; 2. fj,2 1628*. SYMBOLS. 1. GHP 1931; 2. P}2 1709*. THIS IS NO MYTH. 1 GHP 1856; 2. P32 1623*.

VISITATION IN ELUL. 1-2. the unrevised typescript for GHParev (cnpa); GHP 1939 (GHpb); 3-4. P32 1651 (?32a); ?32 1717 (?32b); 5. GHP 1881 (GHParev)*. Heading 'Ressurection' [sic] all other versions 10 gasp] grasp pjzb WHAT WINTER HAS SAID, IS SAID. 1. GHP 1899; 2. P}2 1674*.

FIXITY, i. Canadian Mercury i, 5-6 (Apr.-May 1929), no*; 2. GHP 1897; 3. P32 1669.

338 / Textual Notes pp 128—32 HAGGADAH. 1-2. c/c, 24 Apr. 1929, p. 18 (c/ci); Judaean 2, 7 (Apr. 1929), 5 ['Chad Gadyah'] (ji); 3. Jewish Standard, 27 Mar. 1931, p. 341 ['Etching/ 'Once in a Year/ 'The Still Small Voice'] (js); 4. GHP 1805-9; 5- GH ^5^-6; 6. Judaean 6, 7 (Apr. 1933), 55 ['Etching/ 'Once in a Year/ The Still Small Voice'] (72); 7. Canadian Zionist i, 2 (Apr. 1934), 12 (cz); 8. Schwarz, pp. 649-51 (s); 9. c/c, 7 Apr. 1939, p. 4 (c/C2); 10. HN/, pp. 52-6*. No heading for first section in cjci 6/7 in a] a c/C2 15 not in cjcz 25 guerdon] visitation all other versions 26 swarm] swarms c/C2 27 oozing] coming c/C2 28 first-born] first-borns cjci 29 sod, -] GHP, GH, cz, s; sod, cjci, HNJ; sod; - C/C2 33 horseradish - root] c/ci; horseradish root GHP, GH, cz, cjC2; horseradish-root s, HNJ 44 a curious] curious C/C2 45 riddling:] all versions except HNJ; riddling; HNJ 53 Red Fire] Fire 71 54 His wrath] Wrath ji 60 The] An c/C2 68 a curious] curious c/C2 69 riddling:] all versions except HNJ; riddling; HNJ 72 splutter] sputter cjci, 72; splutter typed over sputter in GHP 73 tribes;] all versions except HNJ; tribes, HNJ 75 matzoh] matzoth cz 77 splutter] sputter c/cr 85 an April] a Nissan cz 87 next year! Next year,] next year, js, 72 KOHELETH. i. ]udaean 2, 8 (May 1929), 7*; 2. the unrevised typescript for GHPrevi and GHPrev2 (GHP); 3. the first revision of GHP (GHPrevi); 4. GH 1554-5; 5. GHP 1795-7, the second revision of GHP (GHPrev2). GHP appears to have been revised on two separate occasions. On the first occasion, one revision was made, in pencil, to 22; this revision was incorporated into GH. On the second occasion, other revisions were added in pen, and the original revision was traced over and then altered. 4 weakened] chordless cmrev2 6 that ... roofless] on furlough from a waiting GHPrev2 15 import ... pierced] twenty foldings of the cnprev2 16 yea ... darkened] yea, cawing crows in sable GHP, cnprevi, GH; I sit beneath their shadowing GHprev2

339 / Textual Notes pp 133-42 21 but ... me] successively (a) but I am satrap [...] (b) but still not mine the sovereignty (c) the satrap of mortality CHPYCVZ 22 yet ... infirm] - O the coffin is more strong, more firm GHPrevi, GH; - O the coffin is stronger and more firm GHPrevz PORTRAITS OF A MiNYAN. i. MJ i/, i (Oct. 1929) 86-8; 2. the unrevised typescript for GHPrev (GHP); 3. GHP 1766-73 (GHPrev); 4. GH 1528-33 (GH); 5. HNJ, pp. 14-21*; 6. HNjrev; 7. MS 7394 [85-8] (MSI); 8. MS 2651, a typescript ['Sophist'] (MS2); 9. SP 2057, a revised copy of MS2. Only two sections, 'Sophist' and 'And the Man Moses Was Meek,' are revised in HNjrev. 49 at Messiah's] when Messiah MJ, GHP 52 Of] With all other versions 62 at] as MJ 64 What if wives don't know much! MJ, GHP 85 That] The HNjrev, MSI, MSZ pilpul] logic's SP, McGill reading 86 Is long returned to that matrix HNjrev, MSI, MSZ, McGill reading 87-8 successively (a) Where it's the worm that splits the hairs / As the last fallacy he bares, (b) Where it's the worm that splits the hair / As the last fallacy's made bare. HNjrev; same as (b) in MSI, MS2, McGill reading 140 never] seldom HNjrev, CBC reading 141 Save] Except HNjrev, CBC reading 144-7 His crust was brought. / He ate; did bless. / Indulged, and thought / This gross excess. // He lived as though / All acts of his / Done here below / Were trespasses. HNjrev, CBC reading CHRISTIAN POET AND HEBREW MAID. i. a typescript in the possession of Leo Kennedy (LK); 2. McGilliad 2, 2 (Dec. 1930), 13*; 3. GHP 1921-2; 4. the unrevised typescript for ?32rev (?32); 5. P32 1698-9 (P32rev). LK was written in celebration of the marriage of Leo Kennedy and Miriam Carpin in 1929. It contains a dedication, 'To L.K. & M.C.,' and is signed. Heading Trothalamium' LK 11 They] These GHP, P}2rev 12 Such] Their LK 39 twined] turned LK GREETING ON THIS DAY. 1. MJ l8, 1 (Jan. 1930), 1-4; 2. GHP 1739-44;

3. GH 1495-501; 4. HNJ, pp. 22-8*; 5. Opinion (July 1948), 7 (o); 6. HNjrev; -j. the unrevised typescript for Msrev (MS); 8. MS 2301-2 (Msrev); 9. Klinck and Watters, p. 382 (KW).

340 / Textual Notes pp 142-51 o, MS, Msrev, and KW consist of only section vi, and the revisions in HNJTGV are to this section. Occasioned by the Arab riots on 15 Aug. 1929 in Palestine. 10 page;] MJ, GHP, GH; page, HNJ 44/45 line space in MJ; page break in GHP; no line space in GH, HNJ 72 one] not in HNjrev, MS, Msrev, KW following behind a] following the o; hand on his HNjrev, MS, Msrev, KW 73 as hard] hard HNjrev, MS, Msrev, KW 74 indeed] not in o, HNjrev, MS, Msrev, KW 79-80 And ... one;] not in o 79 wherewith one tells] to parable HNjrev, MS, Msrev, KW 80 Truly] But truly HNjrev, MS, Msrev, KW he ... hump] His hump he has left o 82 he has abandoned] not in HNjrev, MS, Msrev, KW 85 thy] my Msrev, KW 90 bare] bore o 96 do'?] MJ, GHP, GH; do?' HNJ SONNET IN TIME OF AFFLICTION, i. Judaean 3, i (Oct. 1929), 6 (/); 2. Avukah Annual 1925-1930, p. 103 (A); 3. MS 2646, a revised tearsheet o f / ; 4. HNJ, p. 29*. Occasioned by the Arab riots on 15 Aug. 1929 in Palestine. The revision to 12 was probably in response to Ludwig Lewisohn's objections to the rhyme 'ours/stars' [letter to Klein, 3 Aug. 1936]. 12 And render fat the land with blood of ours ... /, A DANCE CHASSIDIC. i. Jewish Standard, 10 Oct. 1930, p. 442; 2. GHP 1810-11; 3. GH 1567-8; 4. HNJ, pp. 61-2*; 5. HNjrev. 18 upward] upwards GH 24 Into] Up to HNjrev DIALOGUE, i. YMHA Beacon 5, 14 (18 Apr. 1930), 7 (y); 2. the unrevised typescript for GHPrev (GHP); 3. GH 1552; 4. GHP 1793 (GHprev); 5. Opinion 2, 12 (22 Aug. 1932), 12*. 6 couching] couches all other versions 15 Ratno's] ed.; Ratnos' all versions 18 clean] clear y EPITAPH. yMHA Beacon 5, 14 (18 Apr. 1930), 18. FALSTAFF. i. McGilliad i, i (Mar. 1930), 7*; 2. GHP 1923; 3. p^2 1700.

341 / Textual Notes pp 151-62 PREACHER, i. YMHA Beacon 5, 14 (18 Apr. 1930), 2 (y); 2. the unrevised typescript for GHPrev (GHP); 3. GH 1538-9; 4. GHP 1779-80 (GHPrev); 5. Reconstructionist 2, 12 (16 Oct. 1936), 13 (R); 6. HJV/, pp. 63-4*; 7. HNJTGV. 9 lean,] y; lean a// other versions 15 wrought] brought a// of/zer versions 16 cavil cant] wring a want Y, GHP, GH 18 Who phrased the] And who phrased HNjrev 24 Near] CloseHNjrev 25-30 They wept, and they repented as / Gehenna sparked and fumed / From each and every word of his / And thought they saw illumed / The burning bush that burned but was, / By fire not consumed. HNjrev THE WORDS OF PLAUNi-BEN-PLAUNi TO JOB. i. the unrevised typescript for GHPrev (GHP); 2. GH 1558-9; 3. Jewish Tribune, 7 Feb. 1930, p. 9 (/r)*; 4. GHP 1800-2 (GHPrev). 6-14 crew / ... knew?] crew. / Not thou, Job jubilant, that once I knew. GHPrev 12 needs] all versions except /r; need JT 17 sown ... nourished] breaking into blossom GH, GHPrev 19 To deem the moon but so much candle-light GHPrev 20-1 (The too-substantial ghosts to that dark place / Where body fades to bone, and flesh falls from the face.) cnprev ARABIAN LOVE SONG. 1. GHP 1752; 2. GH 1513;

3- Opinion 2, 9 (l Aug. 1932), 8*.

BALLAD OF THE DANCING BEAR. i. GHP 1781-8; 2. GH 1540-7; 3. Centennial Jubilee Edition of the Jewish Daily Eagle, 8 July 1932, pp. 43-4 (IDE); 4. ?34 2029-40; 5. HNJ, pp. 88-101*. i Stanislaus, Pan,] Pan Stanislaus all other versions 5-6 Tailors with their legs beneath / Drawing thread from hungry teeth; all other versions 11 Cobbler] Cobblers JDE 12 his] their JDE 13 children] children's all other versions 42 Lo,] So JDE 49 For] With JDE 50 Tintinnabulates his] Tintinnabulate his GHP, GH; Banishing his irks and JDE 59 beads] bead GHP, GH, pj4 68 holy] Jesuit all other versions 72 thumbs] thumb GHP, GH 91 So,] Thus JDE 133 sadly] glumly all other versions 137 spell,] all versions except HNJ; spell. HNJ

342 / Textual Notes pp 162—70 138 she] he GHP, GH 179 nuzzles] nozzles all other versions 192/93 section break in JDE 211 praises] praise JDE

ECCLESIASTES 13. i. Opinion 2, 17-18 (26 Sept. 1932), 12*; 2-3. the unrevised typescript for GHPirev (GHPI); GHP 1941 (cnpa); 4-5. GH 1579; P32 1719; 6. GHP 1820 (GHPirev). HEROIC, i. the unrevised typescript for cnprev (GHP); 2. GH 1560; 3.Opinion i, 19 (11 Apr. 1932), 14 (o)*; 4. GHP 1803 (GHPrev). 4 Deafen] Annul GHPrev 5 musick] GHP, GHPrev; musik GH; music o NOW WE WILL SUFFER LOSS OF MEMORY. 1. GHP 1803-4; 2. GH 1561;3. Opinion 1,

19 (11 Apr. 1932), 14 (o); 4. HNJ, pp. 70-1* [version i]; 5. HNjrev; 6. MS 2492 (MS); 7. Klinck and Waiters, p. 383 (KW)* [version 2]. The texts can be divided into two distinct groups: (i) GHP, GH, o, and HNJ; and (2) HN/rev, MS, and KW. The notes that follow list variants from HNJ in the first group of texts, and from KW in the second. Heading supplied by ed.; 'Satirical' GHP, GH, o Version i 1 we will] let uso 8 gentiles] all versions except HNJ; Gentiles HNJ Version 2 2 things ... eschew.] tongue our mothers knew; HNjrev 3 despite our tribe's] defying that altered to despite our tribe's HNjrev 5 Null ... the] Void, then, and null, ourHNjrev 6 Our fathers' photos will moult their beards from view, altered to Our family albums we will hide from view.HNjrev 7 Ourselves will bend to our ambience, congrue, HNjrev 10 found but] found aHNjrev 11 All earlier contumely will fade away.HNjrev SENTIMENTAL, i. GHP 1804; 2. GH 1562; 3. Opinion i, 19 (n Apr. 1932), 14*. TO THE CHIEF SCRIBE, A PSALM OF ABRAHAM, IN THE DAY OF THE GLADNESS OF HIS

HEART, i. GH 1502; 2. Opinion i, 5 (4 Jan. 1932), 14 (o); 3. p, p. 21*. Cut OUt of GHP.

Heading 'Direction to the Scribe' GH, o

HK FOR THE BRIDEGROOM COMING OUT OF HIS CHAMBER, A SONG. 1. GH 1502-3;

2. Opinion i, 5 (4 Jan. 1932), 14 (o); 3. P, p. 22*. Heading preceded by 'Psalm XVH' in P; 'Song for Canopies' GH, o 7 is she] she is GH, o FOR THE BRIDE, A SONG, TO BE SUNG BY VIRGINS. 1. GH 1503; 2. Opinion 1, 8

(25 Jan. 1932), 13 (o); 3. P, p. 23*. Heading preceded by Tsalm xvin' in P; 'With Clean Lips' GH; 'The Bride' o A BENEDICTION, i. the unrevised typescript for GHprev (GHP); 2. GH 1503-4; 3. Opinion i, 5 (4 Jan. 1932), 14 (o); 4. MS 2231, a revised sheet cut out of the GHP volume (cnprev); 5. P, p. 24*; 6. MS 2232, a typescript (MS); 7. SP 2059, a revised copy of MS (SP). Heading preceded by Tsalm' in cnprev, and by 'Psalm xix' in P; no heading in GHP; 'Benediction' GH, o; 'Benediction' altered to 'A Benediction' GHPrev 14 wax] wane GHP, GH, o, GHPrev A PSALM OF ABRAHAM, WHICH HE MADE AT THE FEAST. 1. Opinion 1, 8 (25 Jan. 1932),

13 (o); 2. GH 1504-5; 3. Hershel of Ostropol (cjc, 13 Sept. 1939), p. 19 [1-12,17-20] (HO); 4. P, p. 25*. Cut OUt of GHP.

The poem is incorporated into the dialogue of Klein's verse play, Hershel of Ostropol. Heading The Wedding Feast' o; no heading in GH, HO; heading preceded by 'Psalm xx' in P 6 replaced by 10 in HO 19 let] will HO INVOCATION TO DEATH, i. the unrevised typescript for GHPrev (GHP); 2. GHP 1754-5 (GHPrev); 3. GH 1518; 4. Opinion 2, i (6 June 1932), 16*. 6 In spectacles that double tear-stained haze GHP KALMAN RHAPSODIZES, i. the unrevised typescript for GHPrev (GHP); 2. the unrevised typescript for cnrev (GH); 3. Opinion 3, 4 (Feb. 1933), 29*; 4. GHP 1756 (GHPrev); 5. GH 1519 (cnrev); 6. MS 2601 [15-21] (MS). In GHPrev the heading is deleted and sections i and n are retitled as separate poems; in GHrev only section n is revised and it, too, is retitled as a separate poem. Section i 'Benediction of the New Moon' GHPrev Section n The Heavenly Scales' GHPrev; 'A Psalm of the Heavenly Minister' GHrev; 'Psalm xxxvm / A Psalm of the Heavenly Minister' MS 15 the] both GHPrev 16 And] He GHPrev

344 / Textual Notes pp 175-80 20 For ... that] O blessed Kalman who GHPrev; Alas, for Kalman cnrev, MS 21 He has] Has clean GHPrev LAMED VAV: A PSALM TO UTTER IN MEMORY OF GREAT GOODNESS. 1. GH 1576;

2. Reconstructionist 2, 12 (16 Oct. 1936), 13 (R); 3. p, p. 14*. Cut OUt of GHP.

Heading 'Incognito' GH, R; preceded by 'Psalm x' in P LOST FAME. 1. GHP 1753; 2. GH 1516*.

MARKET SONG. i. McGilliad 2, 4 (Feb.-Mar. 1931), 64; 2. GHP 1925; 3. ?32 1702-3; 4. P34 1996; 5. fflv/, pp. 74-5*; 6. mv/rev; 7-8. SP 2055; MS 2422, a carbon copy of SP. 3 gossips] womenHNjrev 4 hearty] my dearHNjrev NEHEMIAH. i. GHP 1816; 2. GH 1572; 3. Opinion 2, 3 (20 June 1932), 11*. In 2 and 6 the spelling 'musick' has been adopted from GHP and GH. OLD MAIDS, i. the unrevised typescript for GHPrev (GHP); 2. MS 2503, a revised sheet cut out of the GHP volume (GHPrev); 3. GH 1505*. No heading in GHP 1 i'] in GHP ORIENTAL GARDEN. 1. GHP 1815; 2. GH 1571*.

4 Upon] Up GHP PLUMAGED PROXY, i. GHP 1812; 2. GH 1569; 3. Opinion i, 23 (9 May 1932), 11 (o); 4. HNJ, p. 60*; 5. HNjrev; 6. MS 2533 (MS); 7. SP 2054. Submitted to Poetry 19 Apr. 1931. 2 would] could o 5 rendering it dumb] your last sunrise come HNjrev, MS, SP 8 sets] setting HNjrev, MS, SP ruddy] sunset HNjrev, MS, SP 9 successively (a) Sees his atonement made, (b) Knows his atonement made. HNjrev; same as (b) in MS, SP 19 six] seven GHP, GH, o 20 your] the MS, SP PORTRAIT. 1. GHP 1817; 2. GH 1574*.

A PSALM, FORBIDDEN TO COHANIM. i. the unrevised typescript for GHPrev2 (GHP);

345 / Textual Notes pp 180-3 2. GH 1553 (GH); 3. Opinion 2, 10 (8 Aug. 1932), 8 (o); 4. GHP 1794 (GHPrevi); 5. MS 2357, a revised sheet cut out of the GHP volume (GHPrev2); 6. P, p. 41*. Klein began to revise GHP directly on the typescript but, after copying out the first line and a half, he crossed them out and wrote out a revised version of the first eight lines on the facing page (GHPrevi). He then copied the revised lines back onto the typescript (GHPreva), which also contains revisions to the title and to the remaining four lines. An arrow in GHprev2 pointed to GHPrevi before GHPrev2 was cut out of the GHP volume. In GHP, GH, and o the poem is set in two sestets. Heading 'Kaddish' GHP, GH, o, GHPrevi; 'Psalm 47: A Psalm, Forbidden the Levites' altered to 'Psalm 47' GHprevz 1-3 Returning from the synagogue / On Sabbath eves, he ever planned / To find the sacred triple sign: - GHP, GH, o 4 candle] candles GHPrevi 7 Now] And GHP, GH, o 7-8 waits ... signs] he / Lies quietly GHP, GH, o; lies in wait / For no such signs altered to waits / For no such signs GHPrevi A PSALM OF ABRAHAM, TOUCHING THE CROWN WITH WHICH HE WAS CROWNED ON

THE DAY OF HIS ESPOUSALS, i. Opinion i, 5 (Jan. 1932), 14 (o); 2. GH 1515; 3. Reconstructionist 2, 12 (16 Oct. 1936), 13 (R); 4. P, p. 20*. Cut OUt of GHP.

Heading 'Prothalamium' o, GH, R; preceded by 'Psalm xv' in P 14 Rabbi, Eden-bent,] Jew and tottering o REPLY COURTEOUS, i. GH 1570; 2. the unrevised typescript for GHPrev (GHP); 3. GHP 1813 (GHPrev)*. 4 Jewry] each Jew GHP, GH 14 Flattens] Falls near GHP, GH SOIREE OF VELVEL KLEiNBURGER. i. the unrevised typescript for GHPrev (GHP); 2. GHP 1821-5 (GHPrev); 3. GH 1581-5; 4. CF 12 (Aug. 1932), 424-5; 5. New Provinces (1936), pp. 35-8 (NP)*; 6. MS 2740-3, a revised version of NP (NPTCV). NP differs from all earlier versions in one major respect: 17-29 ('Alas, that Velvel's sigh ... Reb Jew.'), which precede Velvel's speech of self-justification (30-84) in all earlier versions, follow the speech in NP. The earlier arrangement has been restored for the following reasons: (i) The passage in question is linked to the immediately preceding lines, since it completes the poker hand begun in those lines. (2) The passage is linked to the immediately following lines, since it contains the criticism of Velvel, by his brother, to which Velvel's speech is a direct response ('Alas ...' / 'I laugh at your alases ...'). (3) With the

346 / Textual Notes pp 183-7 passage restored to its original position, the end of Velvet's speech is marked by the line which immediately follows it: 'My brother's gesture snaps: / spoke' (85); in NP this line is separated from the end of Velvet's speech by thirteen lines, in which he does not speak. Heading 'Economics of Velvel Bourgeois' GHP 5 vigils in] spends NPrev 6 he ... French] last night with two NPrev 8 three wan ghosts] the dealer NPrev 10 a ... draw] his tailor's needle, flip NPrev 11 cards ... jaw] cards. His cigarette droops from his lips. NPrev 26 What a pale] What pale GH 27/28 line space in NP, NPrev 29 Reb] all versions except NP, NPrev; Reb. NP, NPrev 34 smokes] smoke GHP, GHPrev 36 For] O, NPrev 46 Deity] duty GHP 47 But] And GHP, GHPrev 48 thesis] theses GHP, GHPrev 56 dusty] dusty typed over dirty GHP, GHPrev 85 snaps:] all versions except NP, NPrev; snaps; NP, NPrev 97 dream:] all versions except NP, NPrev; dream; NP, NPTCV 105-8 So Velvel dreams he takes the ultimate prize; / He is a second Korah to arise; / The world proclaims him handsome, good, and wise. GHP, GHPrev 105 rises, and] rises, GH 107 Finds that he has no carfare, so he walks / And to himself the long way homewards talks. NPrev home; he] home, and GH TALISMAN IN SEVEN SHREDS, i. the unrevised typescript for GHPrev (GHP); 2. MJ 20, 8 (Summer 1932), 148-50; 3. GHP 1774-8 (GHPrev); 4. GH 1534-7; 5. HNJ, pp. 37-41*; 6-7. MS 2665-7, a revised tearsheet of MJ [only 'Syllogism' revised] (M/rev); HN/rev; 8. MS 2661-4 ['Syllogism,' 'Embryo of Dusts,' 'Tetragrammaton,' Tons Vitae'] (MS); 9. SP 2060-1 ['Tetragrammaton,' 'Syllogism']. 3 blanch to mouth] blench to say HNjrev, MS; blanch to say SP 6 the logic ... the] a logic that clips the winged Mjrev; a logic clips the winged MS, SP 7 absurd] HNjrev, MS, SP; absurd, all other versions 9-14 one: / ... chortle] one / automaton, implacable, of chance, - / a stone-blind alias that lumbers on / over men falling and fallen circumstance. / Implore the golem to undo the done: / Golem stalks on in deaf, fixed, purblind trance. MS, SP

347 / Textual Notes pp 187—91 10 automata] automaton CHP, MJ 11 single] dazzled HNjrev 24 Custodian] all versions except HNJ, HNjrev; custodian HNJ, HNjrev 25 nit-wit] marplot altered to proxy MS 26—8 a marplot whom Reb Jacob Low must rouse / with name ineffable and maieutic thrusts, / mongoloid golem, from his caul of dusts. MS 34 master of sanct obstetrics, hierarch, MS, SP 36-42 and then writ down the Name's initial jot / mystic to shape the tetragrammaton? / And, shaped, to fold it under the golem's tongue? / The Lord's name — Golem's lexicon! / Rabbi, that name and sigil is now long / lost, and in our midst is only known / as once a golem's guttural diphthong. MS, SP

41 upon] on GHP 46 behind] under HNjrev, MS 47 Ibn] Wise Ibn GHP, MJ, cuprev, GH 48-50 Maimonides ... the] the great ben-Maimon, he, / he, too, did master that lost mystery, / fashioned homunculus from MS 54 fashioned] conjured MS 55-6 not in MS 59 horned] all versions except HNJ, HNjrev; horned HNJ, HNjrev 61 the waters] waters GHP, GHPrev, GH 68 It is] Is it GHP, MJ, GHPrev, GH 71 mutters:] all versions except HNJ, HNjrev; mutters; HNJ, HNjrev 80 Aye] Ah all versions except HNJ, HNjrev 87 a cataract] the cataractHNjrev 94 it] MJ; It all other versions 98 sunrise] sunset GHP, MJ ANGUISH, iMcGilliad ,5 (Apr. 1931), 102; 2. GHP 1890; 3P}62; 4F 13 (Apr. 1933), 257*. AVE ATQUE VALE. 1. GHP 1840-2; 2. GH 1590-2; 3. MJ 23, 1 (Spring 1935), 44~5;

4. HNJ, pp. 3-5* [version 1]; 5. HNjrev; 6. MS 2145-7 (MS1) ; 7- MS 2152-4 (MS2)* [version 2, 26-31]; 8. MS 2148-50 (M$3)* [version 2, 19-25]; 9. MS 2155 (MS4)* [version 2, 1-18]. Submitted to Poetry, 19 Apr. 1931. MS1-MS4 follow the revisions in HNjrev. MSI consists of rough notes. MS2 is a heavily revised draft; revisions to MS2 are incorporated into MS3 and MS4Of the two later drafts, MS3 is the closer one to MS2. MS1-MS4 correspond to the following lines in HNJ: MSI - 19-35; MS2 - 1-22; MS3 - 1-16; MS4 1-11. The notes that follow list variants from HNJ.

348 / Textual Notes pp 191—202 Heading 'Heirlooms' MJ 9 that parfait] the parfait MJ 12 needles'] M/; needle's all other versions 21-2 But playful men who did maintain / Both yea and nay, the Talmud's pendulum MSI 23 most obstreperous] disputatious HNjrev 24 Juggling their[?] Talmud all its outs[?] and ins HNjrev 27-8 reversed in HNjrev 33-4 marked for deletion in HNjrev 37-8 marked for deletion in HNjrev 42 The] These HNjrev 45 did disdain] never felt GHP, GH, MJ 46 The anatomy below his belt; GHP, GH, MJ; All of anatomy below the brain, HNjrev 46/47 The sage who daily went to meet / God on the corner of the street; MJ 52 marked for deletion in HNjrev CALVARY. Cf 12 (Nov. 1931), 58.

DESIGN FOR MEDIAEVAL TAPESTRY, i. American Caravan 4 (1931), 351-7 (AC); 2. the unrevised typescript for GHrrev (GHP); 3. GHP 1757-65 (GHPrev); 4. GH 1520-7; 5. HNJ, pp. 42-51; 6. cjc, 7 Nov. 1947, pp. 8-9*; 7. HNjrev. Heading Design] Designs AC, GHP, GHPrev, GH 7 hushes] AC, GHP, GHPrev, GH; bushes HNJ, cjc, HNjrev 18 They ... They] And made no sound. And HNjrev 21 Preaching ... Jews] To baptize Hebrews, or HNjrev 39 crowned] crowning GHP 42 not in HNjrev 52-7 marked for possible deletion in HNjrev 75 That injury inflames the body hecticHNjrev 81 for] as AC 83 peccadillos] malefactions HNjrev 90 He has] has been HNjrev 100 Was not like one of these at all.AC 101-7 not in AC 129 Ah] Oh AC, GHP, GHPrev, GH 168-70 The moon, that yellow badge ... fades from the sky. / Day and pursuit are here. O heavenly Father / Where is deliverance? Where is sanctuary? HNjrev ELIJAH, i. Judaean 5, i (Oct. 1931), 8 (71); 2. Judaean 5, 3 (Dec. 1931), 16 (72);

349 / Textual Notes pp 202-8 3. the unrevised typescript for P34rev (P34); 4. ?34 1988-9 (P34rev); 5. Opinion 5, 4 (Feb. 1935), 17 (o); 6. HN/, pp. 109-10*. 4 the children] children 72, PJ^, pjqrev, o 8 jaws to] jaws, and 71 13 And he] He ji, 72 20 We] And 71; And we 72 35 juggle] dribble 71 EXORCISM VAIN. i. McGilliad 2, 5 (Apr. 1931), 98-9*; 2. the unrevised typescript for GHprev (GHP); 3. GH 1573; 4. MS 2578, a revised sheet cut out of the GHP volume (GHprev); 5. the unrevised typescript for Msrev (MS); 6. MS 2579 (Msrev). Heading 'A Psalm for Them That Utter Dark Sayings' GHPrev; 'Psalm XLVI. A Psalm for Them That Utter Dark Sayings' MS, Msrev i Hence] Wherefore Msrev FUNERAL IN APRIL, i. YMHA Beacon, Apr. 1931 [unverified, but identified in Klein's scrapbook of clippings]*; 2. GHP 1880; 3. ?32 1650. KING ELIMELECH. i. an unidentified tearsheet (r); 2. the unrevised typescript for ?34rev (?34); 3. P34 2016-7 (P34rev); 4. Opinion 5, 7 (May 1935), 25; 5. Judaean 4, 12 (Sept. 1931), 174-5 (/)/ 6. HNJ, pp. 103-4*. r, in Klein's scrapbook of clippings, is mislabelled 'The Judaean, September, 1931'; Klein has confused it with 7. 11 Aristocrat] Aristocratic PJ^ 18 whence] where r

21-4 not in T OLD MAID'S WEDDING. 1. GHP 1890; 2. CF 12 (Nov. 1931), 58*; 3. P32 1663.

4 are] is GHP

ON THE ROAD TO PALESTINE, i. Judaean 5, 3 (Dec. 1931), 6*; 2. ?34 1995. OUT OF THE PULVER AND THE POLISHED LENS. i. the unrevised typescript for GHPrev (GHP); 2. CF 11 (Sept. 1931), 453-4; 3- New Provinces (1936), pp. 29-34 (NP); 4. MS 24637-8, revised tearsheets of CF (crrev); 5. GH 1506-12; 6. GHP 1746-51 (GHPrev); 7. Opinion 3, i (Nov. 1932), 16-17 (o); 8. HJV7, pp. 30-6*; 9. HNjrev; 10. MS 2703 [section vi] (MSI); 11. MS 2653, a typescript [section v, 'Spinoza: More Geometrico Demonstratae'] (MS2). NP, although published later than o, derives directly from the earlier CF. Two revisions in HNJTGV are extensive enough to be noted separately, (i) Section vii is replaced entirely. In SP and the McGill reading Klein presents the new version as a separate poem, SPINOZA: ON MAN, ON THE RAINBOW, and in this edition it is

350 / Textual Notes pp 208-13 printed separately under that title. (2) The nine sections of the poem are titled, as follows: i. Theologico-Political; n. 'Devotion is love toward an object which astonishes us'; in. 'A free man thinks of nothing less than of death'; iv. The multitude pays homage to the Book of the Bible rather than to the Word of God'; v. More Geometrico Demonstratae; vi. (Tractatus) de Intellectus Emendatione; vn. On Man, on the Rainbow; vm. Deus sive Natura; ix. Opera quae Supersunt [Scholium in margin]. 16 back to] to GHP, CF, crrev, NP, GH 19 rod] pointer HNjrev 24 bishop] all versions except HNJ, HNjrev; bishop, HNJ, HNjrev 25 vies] vied CF, NP, CFrev 33-5 Such catechism? / The bullet's dogma, / Immune to schism. HNjrev 37 floor] floors CF, NP, CFrev 52 you] all versions except HNJ, HNjrev; you, HNJ, HNjrev 53-5 Beyond the mirrors of the modes to look / And see the true Makom, Locus that is God, / God in the world that is His open book. HNjrev. Makom (Heb. for 'place') is written into the margin of HNjrev in Hebrew letters. 54 let] leave all versions except HNJ, HNjrev 66 cry Suzerain]] and regnant brain MSI 67 Do genuflect, acknowledging high suzerain altered to Bring homage, hailing highest suzerain! MSI

68-9 not in MSI 70-1 O ... crucible!] Crucible / of alchemy! O ever-parturient skull! MSI 71 Of alchemy] GHP, GH, cuprev; O alchemy, CF, NP, CFrev; O alchemy o; Of alchemy. HNJ, HNjrev 73 sits the bearded] dwells the invisible MSI 75 within the pate] slowly [?] altered to constrict in its own debate! MSI 77 Macrocosm] microcosm CF, NP, CFrev 78-9 marked for deletion in HNjrev; not in MSI 83 length] length, GHP, GH; length. CF, NP, CFrev; length; GHprev, o 84 bird;] bird, all versions except HNJ, HNjrev 86 miracles] little miracles GHP 87 I am one with them all. altered to I am all in all. HNjrev 88 Lord] O Lord GHP hallelujahs] halleluhah GHP; halleluhahs GH 93 it] and it NP 100/01 line space in HNJ, HNjrev 119/20 he who does violence to me, verily sins against the light of day; he is made a deicide. CF, NP; marked for deletion in CFrev SATURDAY NIGHT, i. Haboneh, Dec. 1931 [unverified, but identified in Klein's scrapbook of clippings]*; 2. the unrevised typescript for GHprev (GHP);

351 / Textual Notes pp 213-19 3. GH 1575; 4. GHP 1818 (GHPrev); 5. MS 3391 (MS). MS forms part of the typescript of the short story 'A Myriad-Minded Man.' No heading in MS 6 gibbering] crowded all other versions 8 Between fat legs in a ubiquitous sprawl ... all other versions 10 Hebraic] And Jewish all other versions 11 corner] corners all other versions 13 radio] gramaphone all other versions SCRIBE, i. GHP 1798—9; 2. GH 1556-7; 3. ]ewish Standard, 30 Oct. 1931, p. 360 (js); 4. HNJ, pp. 65-6*. 27 to be] to js 32 there] then all other versions HERE THEY ARE - ALL THOSE SUNNY APRIL DAYS. Handwritten in gift copy to Bessie Kozlov of Poems, by Edna St Vincent Millay; in Klein's personal library, owned by his heirs. Preceded by 'To Bessie:' and signed 'Abbie. / Oct. 1931.' Heading supplied by ed. WHY DO YOU LOVE ME, AS YOU SAY YOU DO. 1. 22S 1468; 2. GHP 1844; 3. P}2 l6oO; 4. MS 2707*.

No heading in zzs, GHP, P}2 THE PRINCE TO THE PRINCESS IN THE FAIRY-TALE. 1. 22S 1469; 2. GHP 1844-5; 3. PJ2 1601*.

THINK NOT, MY DEAR, BECAUSE i DO NOT CALL. i. handwritten in gift copy to Bessie Kozlov of Poems, by Edna St Vincent Millay, inscribed by Klein Oct. 1931; in Klein's personal library, owned by his heirs (MS); 2. 225 1470; 3. GHP 1845; 4. ?32 1602; 5. MS 2671, a typescript*. No heading in MS, 225, GHP, P}2 7 to love] then love MS SEVENTY REGAL MOONS, WITH CLOUDS AS TRAIN. 1. 22S 1471; 2. GHP 1845-6; 3. P32

1603 *.

Heading supplied by ed. THIS IS TOO TERRIBLE A SEASON! WORMS. 1. 22S 1472; 2. GHP 1846; 3. PJ2 1604*.

Heading supplied by ed. WOULD THAT THREE CENTURIES PAST HAD SEEN US BORN. 1. 22S 1473; 2. GHP 1846;

352 / Textual Notes pp 219-22 3. the unrevised typescript for P32rev (?32); 4. P],2 1605 (P32rev); 5. HNJ, p. 68* [version i]; 6. MS 2709, a typescript (MSI); 7. HN/rev; 8-9. the unrevised typescript for MS2rev (MS2); the unrevised typescript for srrev (SP); 10. MS 2710 (MS2rev); 11. Klinck and Watters, p. 383 (KW)* [version 2]; 12. SP 2058 (sprev). No heading in all versions except MSI The two sets of notes that follow list variants from HNJ in 225, GHP, P32, ?32rev, MSI, and HNjrev; and from KW in MS2, SP, MS2rev, and sprev. Version i 4 had ... declared] would my gifts to you declare 225, P}2, MSI; had my gifts to you declared GHP, P}2 8 Bright coronets] Strange elixirs HNjrev 9-12 Have pressed a crew under the skull-and-bones / Scoured the seas for doubloons and moidors, / Then, rich myself, though richer Davy Jones, / Returned to you ... Such deeds accomplished ... or HNjrev Version 2 3 its] earth's sprev, McGill reading 7 Small] And MS2, SP, MS2rev 10 boarded] all versions (including McGill reading) except KW; bearded KW BETRAY ME NOT. TREAT ME AS SCURVILY. i. 22S 1474; 2. the unrevised typescript for GHPrev (GHP); 3. P32 1606; 4. GHP 1847 (GHprev)*. Heading supplied by ed. SPEAK ME NO DEATHS. PREVENT THAT WORD FROM ME. 1. 22S 1475; 2. GHP 1487; 3. ?32 1607; 4. MS 2652 (MS)*. No heading in 225, GHP, P}2 9 mention] GHP, P}2; mention, 225, MS 11 ghost:] GHP, P}2; ghost. 225, MS AGE DRAWS HIS FINGERNAIL ACROSS MY BROW.

1. 22S 1476; 2. GHP 1848; 3. P}2

1608; 4. MS 2125, a typescript*. No heading in 225, GHP, p}2 'TIS VERY WELL TO PARROT THE NIGHTINGALE. 1. 22S 1477; 2. GHP 1848; 3. PJ2 1609*.

Heading supplied by ed. NOT FROM A HERMIT'S GROTTO, NOR MONK'S CELL. 1. 22S 1478; 2. GHP 1849; 3. P32 l6lO*.

Heading supplied by ed.

353 / Textual Notes pp 223-8 THESE NORTHERN STARS ARE SCARABS IN MY EYES. 1. 22S 14/9; 2. GHP 1849; 3. PJ2 l6ll; 4. HNJ, pp. 68-9*.

Heading supplied by ed. LOOSEN THE DRAWBRIDGE, MEN! I AM PURSUED. 1. 22S 1480; 2. the typescript for

GHPrev (GHP); 3. the typescript for P32rev (P32); 4-5. GHP 1850 (GHprev); ?32 1612 (P32rev)*. Heading supplied by ed. 11 halloo from above] spit down from above 225, P}2; not in GHP UPON A TIME THERE LIVED A DWARF, A JEW. 1. 22S 1481; 2. GHP 1850; 3. P^2 1613;

4. Opinion 2, 8 (25 July 1932), 16; 5. HNJ, p. 69*. Heading, supplied by ed. 5 its] his all other versions WITHIN MY IRON DAYS, MY NIGHTS OF STONE. 1. 22S 1482; 2. GHP 1851; 3. P$2 1614*.

Heading supplied by ed. WITHOUT YOUR LOVE, WITHOUT YOUR LOVE FOR ME. 1. 22S 1483; 2. GHP 1851;

3. P32 1615; 4. MS 2708, a typescript*. No heading in 225, GHP, P}2 CONSIDER, THEN, THE MIRACLE YOU WROUGHT. 1. 22S 1484; 2. GHP 1852; 3. P$2 l6l6*.

Heading supplied by ed. LET THEM PRONOUNCE ME SENTIMENTAL.

1. 22S 1485; 2. GHP 1852; 3. ?32 1617*.

Heading supplied by ed. FROM BEAUTIFUL DREAMS I RISE; I RISE FROM DREAMS. 1. 22S 1486; 2. GHP 1853; 3. P32 l6l8*.

Heading supplied by ed. 8 my] the 225 MY LITERATI FRIENDS IN RESTAURANTS, i. the unrevised typescript for 22srev (225); 2. the unrevised typescript for GHPrev (GHP); 3. P32 1619; 4. Opinion 2, 8 (25 July 1932), 16 (o); 5-7. 22S 1487 (22srev); GHP 1853 (cnprev); MS 24649, a revised tearsheet of o (orev)*. orev has been chosen as copy-text because it contains Klein's corrections to the

354 / Textual Notes pp 228-36 Italian in 10. Heading supplied by ed. I SHALL NOT BEAR MUCH BURDEN WHEN I CROSS. 1. 22S 1488; 2. GHP 1854; 3. PJ2

1620; 4. Opinion z, 8 (25 July 1932), 16 (o); 5. HNJ, p. 70; 6. HNjrev; 7. MS 2356; 8. Klinck and Walters, p. 383*. Heading supplied by ed. II their honesty] that memory 225, GHP, P}2, o, HNJ WERE i TO TALK UNTIL THE CRACK O' DOOM. i. the unrevised typescript for 22srev (225); 2. 22S 1489 (22srev); 3. GHP 1854; 4. P32 1621; 5. Opinion 2, 8 (25 July 1932), 16*. Heading supplied by ed. 10 still] would 225 BANDIT, i. Judaean 6, 3 (Dec. 1932), 22 (/); 2. ?34 1983; 3. HNJ, pp. 84-5*; 4. cjc, 12 Dec. 1952, p. 4. HJV/ has been chosen as copy-text because cjc contains a number of obvious typographical errors, mostly in punctuation. Heading 'A Jewish Bandit' /; no heading in cjc DESIDERATA.

1. GHP 1934; 2. YJ2 T.JT.2; 3. CF 12 (Sept. 1932), 459*.

DIARY OF ABRAHAM SEGAL, POET. i. GHP [see note below]; 2. CF 12 (May 1932), 297-300*; 3. GHP 1829-38 (GHPrev). The typescript of GHP omits 44-65, perhaps because Klein's typist was misled by the phrase which concludes 43 - '(continued on page five)' - and coincides with the bottom of GHP 1830. The missing lines are replaced, in Klein's hand, on the verso of GHP 1830 (GHP 1831). Line spacing follows GHP rather than CF, which is erratic. 14 milkmen] GHP, GHPrev; Milkmen CF 25-9 not in GHPrev 43/44 Hands] Hand GHP, GHPrev 97 these] GHP, GHPrev; those CF 103 just loves] GHP, GHPrev; loves CF 106 poet] GHP, GHPrev; poet, CF no aware] GHP, GHPrev; aware, CF 126-38 not in GHPrev 130 added to GHP before deletion of 126-38 136 customer pays] customers pay GHP 144 His profit] GHP, GHPrev; His profits CF 156 passion,] GHP, GHPrev; passion. CF

355 / Textual Notes pp 236-41 165 God] ed.; God, all versions 186 phallus.] ed.; phallus, all versions 188 lecturer] lecture GHP EARTHQUAKE. CF 12 (Feb. 1932), 173.

FESTIVAL, i. Opinion i, 16 (21 Mar. 1932), 11 (o); 2. MS 2288 (MSI); 3. cjc, 3 Mar. 1950, p. 7*; 4. MS 2289-90 (MS2). Lines 21-4 are missing from MSI. They may have been on a second sheet which has been lost. 4 the vinous] a vinous altered to the vinous MS2 5-8 Here is the wine, and here the haman-taschen, / And this your sacerdotalsecular forum. / Lift, then, your masks, but lift them with due caution, / Guzzle and glut - to-night that makes decorum. MSZ 6 adloyada] red exultant o 7 taschen;] o, MSI; taschen c/c 8 leave ... most] else your host is o 10 He] altered to And MSZ 11 bones] limbs o, MSZ 13 anent] about MSZ harem,] o, MSZ; harem? MSI, c/c 14 What does a maid to make her] Expatiate upon your MSZ 15 is] make MSZ 16 Wherefore did Vashti Queen refuse her beauty ... o; And why did Vashti seek to hoard her beauty? MSZ 17 antic] guttural MSZ 20 Mordecai,] carrion o, MSZ 23 men] o, MSZ; man c/c MESSIAH, i. Judaean 5, 8 (May 1932), 7; 2. Opinion 3, 6 (Apr. 1933), 23*; 3. ?34 1990-1. PHILOSOPHER'S STONE. CF 12 (Feb. 1932), 173. RATHER THAN HAVE MY BRETHREN BEND THE KNEE. 1. the Unrevised typescript for

GHPrev (GHP)* [version i]; 2. GH 1589; 3. GHP 1839 (cnprev); 4. MS 2580, a typescript (MSI); 5. the unrevised typescript for MS2rev (MS2); 6. MS 2581 (MS2rev); 7. MS 2584, a typescript (MS3); 8. MS 2585 (MS3rev); 9. the unrevised typescript for MS4revi and MS4rev2 (MS4); 10. MS 2583 (MS4revi); 11. MS 2582 (MS4rev2); 12. MS 2124 (MS5); 13. SP 2062* [version 2]. The texts can be divided into 3 distinct chronological groups: (i) GHP and GH, dating from c. 1932/1932; (2) GHPrev, MSI, MS2, MS2rev, MS3, MS3rev, MS4, dating

356 / Textual Notes pp 241—5 from c. 1940/1940, since MS2 was submitted to Jewish Frontier, 4 Dec. 1940 [MS 118]; (3) MS4revi, MS4rev2, MS5, SP, dating from c. 1953/1955. The notes for version i list variants from GHP in all texts except MS5 and SP; for version 2 variants from SP in MS5 are listed. Version i Heading 'A Psalm for the Sons of Korah' all versions except GHP, GH, MS4rev2; preceded by 'Psalm 156' in GHprev, MSI, by 'Psalm 164' in MS2, by 'Psalm XLVII' in MS}, Msjrev, and by 'Psalm xv' in MS4, Msqrevi; 'Hear, O Israel:' MS4rev2 i brethren] brothers us^.rev2 3 a litany] their litany MS^revi 4 synagogal mints] queried in Ms^revz 7 Adoring testicles] queried, in MS^revz 11 dust] all versions except GHP, GH; dusk GHP, GH 12 Behold] And see us^revi their] the MSjrev, us^revz Version 2 Heading Murmuring] Muttering altered to Murmuring MSJT 12 would exult] watch altered to would exult MSJ REB LEVI YITSCHOK TALKS TO GOD. 1. Opinion 1, 1O (Feb. 1932), l6 (o); 2. GHP

1826—8; 3. GH 1586-8; 4. program of the Ninth National Judaean Convention (1932) (;c); 5. ]udaean 9, 9 (June 1936), 70 (/); 6. cjc, 3 Feb. 1939, p. 3 [19-22]; 7. HNJ, pp. 57-9*; 8. HN/rev. 5-6 reversed in j; Time: Dead of night / Place: Synagogue of Berditchev / Theme: Sin and punishment ... wrong and right. HNjrev 5 of] at jc 9 your] o, GHP, GH; Your all other versions 13 punishments] punishment o 20 Will Satan eat the manna of his mirth, altered to Will Satan chew the manna of his mirth, HNjrev 25 board;] o, /c, /; board GHP, GH; board, HNJ, HNjrev 29 him] us o; him typed over them GHP; them GH, HNjrev 30-2 Who were to be as many, though as small, / As sands withstanding the great battering sea? / As stars fixed firm in thine astronomy, / Who like the shards of fallen stars now rust? HNjrev 31 him] us o 35 which] who all other versions except HNjrev 40-2 It is as though the consciences of seven seraphim / Blue-flickered there. HNjrev 58—9 reversed in jc

357 / Textual Notes pp 245-53 59 not in j WOOD NOTES WILD.

\. GHP 1895-6; 2. P}2 1667-9; 3. CF 13 (Nov. 1932), 60*.

32 kimono] GHP, P}2; kimona CF 42 Considerate] GHP, P}2; Considerable CF YOSSEL LETZ. i. ?34 1963-4; 2-3. Judaean 5, 7 (1932), 7; program of the Ninth National Judaean Convention (1932); 4. Opinion 3, 6 (Apr. 1933), 23*. ARITHMETIC, i. ]udaean 6, 9 (June 1933), 71 (/); 2. Opinion 4, 4 (Feb. 1934), 19 (o)*; 3. the unrevised typescript for P34rev (?34); 4. ?34 1992 (P34rev). 16 sun,] /, P}4, P}4rev; sun. o 17 in his] by bright P}4rev 18 not in P}4rev COUNTING-OUT RHYME, i. Opinion 3, 6 (Apr. 1933), 22; 2. P34 1994; 3. HNJ, p. 76*. 7 plum,] ed.; plum, all versions INTO THE TOWN OF CHELM. i. Judaean 6, 9 (June 1933), 71; 2. ?34 1961; 3. MS 5131-2, a typescript (MS); 4. Opinion 6, i (Nov. 1935), 19 (o); 5. pp. 82-3; 6. c/c, 15 Feb. 1946, p. 8*. No heading in MS, o, c/c JONAH, i. Opinion 3, 6 (Apr. 1933), 22*; 2. P34 1968-9; 3. MS 2576-7 (MS). Heading 'Psalm xxix / A Psalm for Jonah within the Fish's Belly' MS LEGEND OF LEBANON, i. MS 2378-80 [stanzas 1-17] (MSI); 2. Jewish Standard, 14 Apr. 1933, pp. 172, 200-2 (/s)*; 3. MS 2364-77 (MS2). MSI contains numerous obvious errors, the most serious being the conflation of stanzas 9 and 10 into a single i6-line stanza and the consequent misnumbering of the following four stanzas as 10-13. /s reproduces the stanzaic confusion, as well as most of the other errors in MSI, and introduces several new ones. MS2 is probably based on js since, although it corrects most of the errors common to both MSI and js, it reproduces some unique to /s. Also, in MS2, as in js, the second, fourth, and sixth line of each stanza are indented; there is no indentation in MSI. In several cases 'ed' in MSI has been followed instead of ' 'd' in js and MSI because metre demands it. In 281 'Ah' in MS2 has been followed instead of 'Oh' in js. 'Oh' is probably a misreading of 'Ah'; if it is not, it is the only instance in any of the versions of the poem of this spelling: 'O' is the spelling in all other instances.

358 / Textual Notes pp 253-75 17 grow] grown MSI 45 air:] MSI; air; js, MS2 67 woofed] MS2; woof'd MSI, js 90 concubines,] MSZ; concubines MSI, /s 143 ribbed] MSZ; ribb'd js 229 devised] MS2; devis'd js 281 Ah] MS2; Oh js MOURNERS, i. Judaean 6, 9 (June 1933), 71 (/); 2. the unrevised typescript for P34rev (?34); 3. Opinion 7, 2 (Dec. 1936), 20 (o); 4. ?34 1959 (P34rev); 5. HNJ, pp. 79-80*; 6. HJV/rev. i laved] washed HNjrev limbs] corpse /, o, P}4, P}^rev MURALS FOR A HOUSE OF GOD. i. the unrevised typescript for MSirev (MSI); 2. Opinion 3, 9 (July 1933), 18-21 (o)*; 3. MS 2442-56 (MSirev); 4. MS 2457-72, a typescript (MS2); 5. MS 2473-85, a revised copy of MS2 [except for section vm] (MS2rev); 6. P, pp. 56-8 [section vm]. Klein submitted MS2rev (including section vm) to the Jewish Publication Society, but only section vm was accepted for publication. JPS objected to the word 'harangues' in the title; hence the title 'Rabbi Yom-Tom of Mayence Petitions His God' in p. Line spacing follows MS2 rather than o, which is erratic. 14 coins in] coins are in Mszrev 40 pawn] pour all other versions jo guards] guard all other versions 105 whine] whines all other versions 115 robe] robes all other versions 134 he will] will he Mszrev 159 perish] ed.; Perish all versions 163 into] into and with superimposed in MSI, MSirev; with MS2; within Mszrev 188 throat,] Mszrev; throat all other versions 191 funest] funest queried and fungus written into margin in Mszrev 194 talon] talone MSI, MSirev; talons MS2, P 201 with suppliant] with both suppliant MSirev, MSZ; suppliant both P 210 largess] Sinai P 214 Yea,] Kin P 227 skies,] P; skies all other versions 236 lore] lore and love superimposed in MSI, MSirev; love MS2, P 260 this silent] and silent all other versions 278 down] brown all other versions SCHOLAR, i. the unrevised typescript for ?34rev (P34); 2. ]udaean 6, 9 (June 1933),

359 / Textual Notes pp 275-83 71; 3. Opinion 3, 6 (Apr. 1933), 22-3 (o); 4. ?34 1962 (P34rev); 5. HNJ, pp. 112-13*. 3 That] Who all other versions 14 Went dry on] Gulped down o SONG OF EXCLAMATIONS, i. Opinion 3, 6 (Apr. 1933), 23 (o); 2. ?34 1987; 3. HAT/, P- 73*1 wash] brush o, P}4

SONG OF TOYS AND TRINKETS, i. ?34 1984; 2. Opinion 3, 6 (Apr. 1933), 22 (o); 3. HNJ, pp. 72-3*.

Heading Toys' PJ4, o 2 and no] no o 3 sorcerer's] Indian P}4, o 5 run-sheep-run] catching thieves P}4, o 6 with ... gun] at riding beeves P}4, o SONG TO BE SUNG AT DAWN. i. the unrevised typescript for P34rev (?34); 2. ]udaean 6, 9 (June 1933), 71 (/); 3. P34 1993 (P34rev); 4. HNJ, p. 74*. Heading 'Song' P}4, j, pj4rev BALDHEAD ELiSHA. i. ?34 1971; 2. Opinion 5, 6 (Apr. 1935), 14-15*; 3. MS 2586, a typescript (MS). Heading 'Psalm xxvm: A Psalm in Elisha's Despite' MS BALLAD FOR UNFORTUNATE ONES. 1. P34 2024-5; 2. HNJ, pp. 1O2~3*; 3.

HNJTSV.

2 The pale] These pale HNjrev 7 And the moon drum] the moon drum out HNjrev 15 ill] bound HNjrev BESTIARY, i. the unrevised typescript for ?34rev (?34); 2. Judaean 8, 9 (June 1935), 70 (/); 3. P34 1975-6 (P34rev); 4. HJV/, pp. 78-9; 5. Smith, pp. 397-8 (s); 6. fflv/rev; 7. MS 2235-6 (MSI); 8. MS 2237 [21-36] (MS2); 9. MS 2238-9, a typescript (MS3); 10. SP 2052-3, a revised copy of MS3; 11. Klinck and Watters, p. 382 (KW)*. 3 boy] lad P}4, j, P}4rev, HNJ, s; boy's HNjrev 7 boy] lad P}4, j, pjqrev, HNJ, s 11 boy] lad P}4, j, p^rev, HNJ, s 18/19 line space in P}4, j, pj4rev; page break in HNJ, HNjrev; no line space in s, MSI, MS), SP; new column in KW

360 / Textual Notes pp 283—92 24 Straw, and from the teat P}4, j, pjqrev, HNJ, s; successively (a) Straw, from tigress-teat, (b) Straw!.. At tigress-teat, (c) Straw!.. At the tigress-teat, HNjrev; same as (b) in MSI, MSZ 25 Of tigress a young lamb P}4, j, p^rev, HNJ, s; The young lamb, suckling milk, altered to As if of the same ilk, HNjrev 26 Suckling, like whelp nigh dam. P}4, j, P}4rev, HNJ, s; successively (a) Suckling, whelp at dam. (b) The young lamb, suckling milk!.. HNjrev; same as (b) in MSI, MSZ 27 as ... wind] staid, fearless, slow, MSZ 28 roe and hind] hind and roe MSZ 29 Bravely ... no] O, unafraid of MSZ 30 halts] holds P}4, /, P}4rev, HNJ, s, HNjrev, MSI, MS}; stops MSZ BIOGRAPHY, i. ?34 1973; 2. Opinion 5, 6 (Apr. 1935), 14; 3. HNJ, p. 85*. CANTOR, i. the unrevised typescript for P34rev (?34); 2. ?34 2014-5 (P34rev)/ 3. HNJ, pp. 110-2*. 21 grandma] grandam PJ^, pj4rev 25 grandma] grandam P}4, P}4rev 33 seeing] P}4, P}4rev; seeing, HNJ CAPTAIN SCUTTLE, i. the unrevised typescript for Msrev (MS); 2. MS 2242-7 (Msrev); 3. ?34 2008-13*. Heading Scuttle] Cutlass altered to Galut Msrev 24/25 Port Said benches / Had warmed him; so had / Japanese wenches; / He'd seen the Troad. MS CONCERNING A STRANGE KING. i. the unrevised typescript for P34rev (?34); 2. ?34 2006—7 (P34rev); 3- trie unrevised typescript for Msrev (MS); 4. MS 2257-8 (Msrev)*. Heading The Mad Monarch' PJ^, P}4rev; preceded by Tsalm xxxvm' in MS, Msrev 11 cake] cakes P}4 CONCERNING FOUR STRANGE SONS. i. ?34 1982; 2. Canadian Zionist 4, 10 (Mar. 1937), 103 (cz); 3. cjc, 31 Mar. 1939, p. 3*. 14 questions, -] questions, dumb; P}4, cz A DEED OF DARING. 1. P34 1970;

2 Samson] Shimshon Gibor P}4 rabbi] Rov P}4 3 rabbi] Rov P}4 5 Samson] Shimshon P}4

2. HNJ, p. 85*.

361 / Textual Notes pp 292-302 DOCTOR DWARF, i. the unrevised typescript for P}4rev (P34); 2. P34 1966-7 (P34rev); 3. HNJ, pp. 86-7*. Stanzas 6 and 7 are reversed in P34, P34rev. 21 town,] P}4, Pj4rev; town. HNJ 28/29 When children cried in their downy cribs / He would bring them such a store / Of sweet meats, they would lick their bibs / And smile, not cry, for more. P}4, pj4rev FAIRY TALE.

?34 1979-81.

31 Moo, because —' The] ed.; Moo/ because - the pj4 GETZEL GELT. i. ?34 1997-8; 2. Judacan 8, 9 (June 1935), 70 (/)*. In both ?34 and / end of line punctuation is uncharacteristically light, often to the detriment of the sense. Therefore semicolons have been added at the ends of 5, 14, 31, 34, 37, 41, and commas at the ends of 25, 26. 14 unperfumed] PJ^; unperfumed / 18 youngster] P}4; youngsters / 32 most] P}4; out / 44 of] PJ4; a / GIFT. i. the unrevised typescript for ?34rev (P34); 2. Opinion 5, 6 (Apr. 1935), 14; 3. ?34 1977 (P34rev); 4. HNJ, pp. 80-1*. 11 singing] after all other versions HEIRLOOM, i. the unrevised typescript for P34rev (?34); 2. Opinion 5, 6 (Apr. 1935), 14; 3. P34 1958 (P34rev); 4. HNJ, pp. 77-8; 5. Smith, p. 397*; 6. HN/rev; 7. MS 7935 [5-6] (MSI); 8. MS 2303-4 (MS2). 5 of his] his P}4 6 upon] anent HNjrev, MSI, MS2 JONAH KATZ. i. ?34 1965; 2. judacan 8, 9 (June 1935), 70 (/); 3. HNJ, pp. 83-4*. 9 he did] did he / 20 bystic] mystic / KING DALFIN. 1. P34 2026-7;

2

-

1{N

J> PP- 105-6*.

29 traitor.] p}4; traitor HNJ LULLABY FOR A HAWKER'S CHILD. ?34 1978. MADMAN'S SONG. ?34 2021. NOSE ARISTOCRATIC. P34 1999.

362 / Textual Notes pp 303-12 PIGEONS. ?34 2023. A PSALM OF A MIGHTY HUNTER BEFORE THE LORD. 1. ?34 2OOO-1; 2. P, pp. 15-16*. Heading 'Chatzkel the Hunter' P}4; preceded by Tsalm xi' in P 12 lariat] lassoo P}4 A PSALM OF HORSES AND THEIR RIDERS, i. the unrevised typescript for P34rev (P34); 2. ?34 2022 (P34rev); 3. cjc, 24 Oct. 1947, p. 6*. Heading 'Cavalcade' p}4, pj4rev 2 groomed] P}4, pj^rev; groom cjc 12 Astride the neck of his most frisky goat. PJ4; successively (a) Riding the [...] (b) Saddled upon the nape of his poor goat, (c) Saddled upon the nape of his tamed goat, pj^reu A PSALM, WITH TRUMPETS FOR THE MONTHS, i. the unrevised typescript for P34rev (?34); 2. ]udaean 8, 9 (June 1935), 70 (/); 3. P34 2002 (P34rev); 4. cjc, 24 Oct. 1947, p. 6*. Heading 'Calendar' pj4, j, pj^rev 16 Stalk] all versions except cjc; Stalks cjc REV OWL. i. ?34 2020; 2. Opinion 5, 6 (Apr. 1935), 15 (o); 3. HNJ, p. 115*. 10 wit?] P}4, o; wit?: HNJ RIDDLE. ?34 1974. SONNET OF THE STARVING ONE. ?34 2004. TOWN FOOL'S SONG. i. the unrevised typescript for P34rev (?34); 2. P34 1960 (p34rev)*. WANDERING BEGGAR. 1. ?34 2Ol8~9; 2. HNJ, pp. 106-7*.

4 Mending his rags with garnered lace? pj4 7 hops ... abode] hopped; he sometimes rode P}4 8 huckster] huckster's P}4 BAAL SHEM Tov. i. ?34 2003; 2. ]udaean 8, i (Oct. 1934), 4; 3. Opinion 5, 6 (1935), 15; 4. HN/, p. 108*; 5. HN/rev. 8 an urchin] a peasant HNjrev, CBC reading PSALM OF THE FRUITFUL FIELD, i. the unrevised typescript for P34rev; 2. Opinion 4, 6 (Apr. 1934), 23 (o); 3. ?34 1985-6 (P34rev); 4. P, pp. 10-11*.

363 / Textual Notes pp 312-16 For P, Klein was forced to change 24 by his publishers, the Jewish Publication Society. 'It is suggested that the line "that set on his shoulderblades two wings" be changed to "that set upon his shoulders wings." This suggestion is not an improvement. In the context, the phrase "shoulderblade" is the much more appropriate word. Grown up men have shoulders; little boys have only shoulderblades' [letter to JPS, i July 1943]. The original reading has been restored. Heading 'Paradise' p}4, o, P}4rev; preceded by 'Psalm vm' in P 2/3 The perfume of a field in rain / Sets madness crawling through the brain. P}4, o, P}4rev 21 pagan imps of] Oberon and his P}4, o 24 set ... two] P}4, Pj4rev; sprout his shoulderblades with o; set upon his shoulders P 30 treads] tread PJ4, o, P}4rev SONG OF SWEET DISHES, i. P34 1972; 2. ]udaean 8, i (Oct. 1934), 4; 3. Judaean 8, 9 (June 1935), 70; 4. cjc, 7 June 1940, p. 4*. No heading in cjc 3 synagogues] all versions except cjc; synagogue cjc 12 the] thin all other versions THE VENERABLE BEE. i. the unrevised typescript for ?34rev (?34); 2. judaean 8, i (Oct. 1934), 4 (/); 3. Opinion 5, 6 (Apr. 1935), 14 (o); 4. ?34 2005 (P34rev); 5. HNJ, pp. 114-15*. 18—19 His ... / Will] Wherever he seeks to roam / Will P}4, j, o; His synagogal home, / Do p^rev 21 one,] P}4rev; one P}4, o; bee /; one.HNJ PETITION FOR THAT MY FATHER'S SOUL SHOULD ENTER INTO HEAVEN. 1. MS 2522-4 (MSl)*; 2. MS 2526-7 [1-45] (MS2).

MSI has been chosen as copy-text because it is closer to completion than MS2. Klein's father died in Nov. 1933, and in the poem Klein places the death three months in the past ('three winter moons' [23]); hence the assigned date of composition, 1934. Heading For ... into] That My Father's Soul Be Permitted to Enter MS2 4 defender] befriender MS2 6 durst] dare MSZ 7-8 ease ... me] quote His laws, / Unholy advocate of a holy cause MSZ 13 Plea for the one who in my [...] is deceased, MSZ 14-15 no ... a] of bitter compounds, sealed / With the moist bitterness of MS2 21 his grave] the grave MS2 23 like ... souls] trailing their white grave-clothes MS2

364 / Textual Notes pp 316-17 24 25 27 28

the ... swards] that cemetery ground MS2 have ... boards] beat [...] altered to fell on those [...] boards MSZ to hear] and hear MSZ fallen ... blood] flesh of my flesh, and parched blood of my blood altered to fallen flesh of my flesh, and parched blood of my blood MSI; my fallen flesh, my parched blood altered to this flesh fallen - mine, mine the parched blood MSZ 34-5 incredulous ... song?] successively (a) incredulous, / How can [...] (b) incredulous? / I will be merely mouthing the good verse, the pious song. (c) incredulous? / I would be merely mouthing the good verse, the pious song. MS2

38 a bitter] an alien MSZ 39 I first] I first altered to first I MSZ 40-5 sacred ... sacrilege] praising ode. / I have forgotten the reading manner, the singing mode. MSZ 49 Wish a] Insist on the altered to Wish a MSI 74 successively (a) His broken stool, his tea, his crust of bread / His wife and children (b) His meagre board, (c) His board and bed, MSI

Explanatory Notes

O R I G I N A L P O E M S , 1926-1934 THE S H E C H I N A H OF SHADOWS

Title: The Shekhinah (Heb., 'dwelling/ 'abiding') is the numinous immanence of God in the world, often represented as an exiled queen or bride. 9 youth riding alone: Compare 'O what can ail thee, knight at arms, / Alone and palely loitering?' [Keats, 'La Belle Dame sans Merci/ 1-2]. 15 I'm a-weary of playing with shadows: Compare 'I am half sick of shadows' [Tennyson, 'The Lady of Shalott,' 71]. TO KEATS TO KEATS and LIFE AND ETERNITY were written as exercises for Klein's high school Latin and English teacher, John Astbury. In an article, clearly based on an interview with Klein, 'Abe Klein - In Person,' Jewish Standard, Sept. 1936, p. 23, S.H. Abramson identifies Astbury as the first important influence in [Klein's] life. He became interested in English poetry through the guidance of the Latin teacher, John S. Astbury ... Mr. Astbury was the ideal teacher. Under his instruction Virgil became something alive and vital instead of merely a study in syntax and grammar. It was he who first introduced Klein to the beauties of philology. He continually illustrated the beauties of the Latin poets by parallel beauties in igth century English literature, and first presented to the budding poet the Matthew Arnoldian principle of 'Seeing life whole and seeing it clear.' He took a keen personal interest in his promising pupils and was fond of quoting the mother of the Gracchi, 'Haec sunt mca ornamenta.' None of his pupils will soon forget his flexible thumb, more eloquent than a Galician rabbi's; nor the gleam in his blue eyes, bright like the waters around the region of Nova Scotia's shores whence he came.

366 / Explanatory Notes pp 4—14 14 Thou ... Bard: Compare Thou wast not born for death, immortal Bird!' [Keats, 'Ode to a Nightingale/ 61]. LIFE AND ETERNITY

See introductory note to TO KEATS. For the theme of the poem compare ORACLES OF THE CLOCK. AUTO-DA-FE

Auto-da-fe is Portuguese for 'act of faith,' referring to a ceremony at which the Inquisition pronounced sentence on its victims, generally death by fire. The characters Bessie and Pascal are based on Bessie Kozlov and Klein himself. Flora is probably based on a mutual high school friend, Florence Garmaise [Cap/an, p. 20]. The poem is in Spenserian stanzas (with the exception of stanza 54, which has an extra line). Klein's use of this form is closer to Keats -in particular, 'The Eve of St. Agnes' - than to Spenser. Dedication i royal wrapping: The fair copy of AUTO-DA-FE is in a notebook with purple covers. AUTO-DA-FE

43 Esther: See introductory note to FIVE CHARACTERS. 47-8 the old I Young singer of the song of songs: King Solomon, reputed author of the Song of Solomon (Song of Songs in Hebrew) 51-3 Shunnamite ... incandescent: When, in his old age, King David could not keep warm, a young maiden, Abishag the Shunammite, was brought to him to share his bed [i Kings 1.1—4]. 55-61 Rahab's rooms ... scarlet ribbon: Rahab was a prostitute in Jericho who gave shelter to spies sent by Joshua. She hung a scarlet cord from her window as a sign to Joshua's men to spare her house when they sacked the city [Joshua 2]. 66—7 Lilith ... I First man: a female demon, symbol of lust and sexual temptation, traditionally Adam's first wife 70 angels: The sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose' [Genesis 6.2]. Compare 186-7. 106 holy fringes: zizit, the fringes at each corner of the talit or prayershawl 107 phylact'ry thongs: The phylacteries or tefilin are two leather boxes containing biblical passages, attached to leather thongs. 214-15 Pyramus and Thisbe ... through walls: lovers who could communicate

367 / Explanatory Notes pp 23—34 only through the chink in a wall separating them. Their story is the subject of the mechanicals' play in act 5 of A Midsummer Night's Dream. 501-4 / feel... birth: Compare SONNET UNRHYMED. DISSOLUTION 'the result of brooding too much on what Keats called "being half in love with easeful death / Calling him soft names in many a mused rhyme" ' [letter to Rose Carlofsky, 22 Dec. 1928] LAST W I L L A N D T E S T A M E N T

'an exercise in fantastic imagery' [letter to Rose Carlofsky, 22 Dec. 1928] O R A C L E S OF THE C L O C K

Compare LIFE AND ETERNITY. Epigraph: 'My metal throat speaks all languages' [Baudelaire, 'L'Horloge,' 14]. SYMBOLS 'an exercise in fantastic rhymes' [letter to Rose Carlofsky, 22 Dec. 1928] FIVE CHARACTERS

The five characters are from the story of Purim, as told in the Book of Esther. When his wife, Vashti, refuses to appear before him and his nobles at a feast, Ahasuerus, King of Persia, repudiates her and, after much searching, chooses Esther as his queen. Esther is a Jewish orphan, but, on the advice of her uncle and guardian Mordecai, she keeps her identity a secret. Haman, Ahasuerus' chief counsellor, hates Mordecai because he refuses to bow down to him. In revenge, Haman convinces Ahasuerus to decree the destruction of all the Jews. Haman's plan fails, partly because Ahasuerus is reminded that he owes his life to Mordecai, who had once warned him of a conspiracy against him, and partly because Esther intercedes on her people's behalf, at the risk of her own life. Haman is hanged on the gallows he built for Mordecai. For other treatments of Purim, compare FESTIVAL and OF THE MAKING OF GRAGERS. 22-3 pale as East I ... praise the dawn: '... morning prayers are to begin only after it is light enough' [s]. 24 Shushan: or Susa, the capital of Persia 28 leprous: Spiro points out that Klein is following a rabbinical tradition that Vashti refused to appear because she suffered from leprosy.

368 / Explanatory Notes pp 34-57 31-3 Star ... Esther ... I Hadassah: Hadassah is Esther's Hebrew name. Esther is a Persian name, derived from Stara, Persian for star, or Astarte, the Babylonian equivalent of Aphrodite. 41 Giving her his scepter: 'Whosoever, whether man or woman, shall come unto the king into the inner court, who is not called, there is one law of his to put him to death, except such to whom the king shall hold out the golden sceptre, that he may live' [Esther 4.11]. 48 Bigthana and loud Teresh: the two traitors whose plot Mordecai overheard 51 a king's grandson: 'According to the rabbis, Mordecai was a descendant of King Saul' [s]. THE MONKEY

a parody of 'The Donkey' by G.K. Chesterton 16 degraduate: 'to depose from rank or dignity' [OED] LA BELLE DAME SANS MERCI

a parody of Keats's poem THRENODY

2 McGilliad is dead: In 1927 Klein wrote ten weekly columns for the McGill Daily, which he called 'The McGilliad.' THRENODY appeared in the same issue as the final column. ESCAPE 168-81 Hie ille ego ... Dixi: (Lat.) 'Here I am the one ... I have spoken.' The passage as a whole is a Petrarchan sonnet. 180 eheu into eude: eheu (Lat.) - 'alas'; eude (Gr.) - a shout of joy used by the followers of Dionysus 181 Dixi: (Lat.) 'I have spoken.' 230 Longum ... exemplis: (Lat.) 'The way is long by instruction, short by examples.' Brevum should be breve. 312-25 // ever ... moon: a Petrarchan sonnet; revised as PROTEST 320-1 wise-and-foolish ... oxymoron: An oxymoron is a figure of speech in which opposite ideas are joined. Klein may be punning on 'oxymoron,' which means 'sharply dull or foolish' in Greek, or perhaps on 'sophomore,' which, according to some, comes from the Greek for 'wise' and 'foolish.' 347-76 a crescent moon ...an unknown goose: Part of the lovers' exchange of similes for the moon was adapted by Klein for a similar exchange between

369 / Explanatory Notes pp 57—64 the two jesters Hershel and Chaikal in Hershel of Ostropol. The parallels cited below [HO] are from cjc, 13 Sept. 1934, p. 23. For a more remote parallel, compare A BENEDICTION FOR THE NEW MOON. 347—8 a crescent ... finger-nail: 'a fine crescent moon whose pale / Round curve was God's own little fingernail' [HO]. Compare also 'the crescent moon, thy little finger's finger-nail' [OUT OF THE PULVER AND THE POLISHED LENS, 101]. 349-51 an orange ... juice: 'an orange whose / Rich plumpness promises sweet juice' [HO] 352-6 the dark hair ... I Golden comb: 'a golden comb / In the dark hair of night' [HO]

372—6 Divine omelette ... goose: 'A toothsome, well-turned omelette in the sky ... A golden egg laid by a heavenly goose' [HO] 422 O Great Styx: To swear by the river Styx, one of the rivers of Hell, was a particularly solemn oath. Plaudite: (Lat.) 'applaud'; traditional request at the end of Roman comedies BALLAD OF SIGNS AND WONDERS

probably the first of Klein's poetic narratives dealing with the sufferings of the Jews of medieval Europe. Compare BALLAD OF THE DANCING BEAR, DESIGN FOR MEDIAEVAL TAPESTRY, and MURALS FOR A HOUSE OF GOD. The closest English parallel to these narratives, in subject and attitude, is Browning's 'Holy-Cross Day/ describing the reaction of the Jews of Rome to the annual sermon which they were forced to attend. Browning's sardonic poem, in vigorous, colloquial couplets, is closest in tone and technique to BALLAD OF THE DANCING BEAR. The poem is heavily marked in Klein's copy of the Poems of Robert Browning (Oxford University Press 1925), which is signed and dated 'April, '28,' and Klein refers to it favourably in his essay on 'The Jew in English Poetry' [LER, p. 231]. BALLAD OF SIGNS AND WONDERS, in particular, may have been conceived of as a reply to Chaucer's 'Prioress' Tale,' which Klein ranked among 'the most scurrilous attacks upon Jews in English literature' ['The Jew in English Poetry,' LER, p. 227]. Klein's plot recalls Chaucer's, in which an innocent child is murdered by an evil Jew but is miraculously revived for long enough to identify his murderer. Title: The phrase 'signs and wonders' occurs in Exodus 7.3, Deuteronomy 7.19. 3 ]udengasse: (Ger.) ghetto, literally 'Jew street' 4-8 Abib ... bitter herbs: Abib is Hebrew for Spring, and Nisan is the Hebrew month corresponding to April. Passover (at which 'bitter herbs' are eaten) falls in Nisan and often coincides with Easter ('lilies'). The Blood Libel, which arose in the Middle Ages, exploited this fact: Jews were accused of celebrating Christ's crucifixion by murdering Christian children and using their blood in Passover rituals.

37° / Explanatory Notes pp 64—72 21-2 From thy womb ... thy people's haters: probably an allusion to the Annunciation: 'And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus ... And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever' [Luke 1.31-3] 40 Holy Ark: the receptacle in the synagogue containing the To rah scrolls 50 strange bloody brews: See note to 4-8. 53 horse-radish: the 'bitter herbs' [8] of Passover 54 Kaddish: The mourner's Kaddish is a prayer recited by the nearest male kin, usually a son; here, by extension, orphan. 64 coffin: In Hebrew, the word for coffin and for the Holy Ark is the same: aron. 70 Adonai: one of the names of God, 'the Lord' 75 Hear, O Israel, God is One: the shema, the central Jewish declaration of faith in one God - a deathbed prayer, traditionally associated with martyrdom 89 shofar: (Heb.) the ram's horn, blown on solemn occasions CONJECTURES

9 Linnaeus: Carolus Linnaeus (1703-78), botanist and taxonomist 13-14 Aaron ... Blossom-rood: As a sign that Aaron was God's chosen priest, Aaron's rod 'brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and yielded almonds' [Numbers 17.8]. JOSEPH based on Genesis 37. Joseph, the youngest son of Jacob, is hated by his brothers because he is their father's favourite, and because he has dreams prophesying his domination over them. The brothers plot to kill him, but decide to throw him into a pit instead. They sell Joseph to some passing Ishmaelites and deceive Jacob into believing that Joseph has been killed by a wild animal, by showing him Joseph's many-coloured coat, a gift from Jacob, stained with the blood of a kid. Compare 'The Bible's Archetypical Poet' [LER, pp. 143-8]. 7 star ... sheaf: In Joseph's first dream, his brothers' sheaves bow down to his; in his second, the sun and moon and eleven stars bow down to him. 8 scorpions: According to the rabbis of the Talmud [Midrash, Bereshit Rabba, 84] there were scorpions in Joseph's pit. MATTATHIAS

Mattathias, the father of Judah Maccabee, was a priest from Modin who led the uprising of the Hasmoneans against Antiochus iv Epiphanes, who tried to suppress the Jewish religion. The incident referred to, which sparked the uprising, occurred in 167 B.C. and is described in i Maccabees 2.15-24.

3/1 / Explanatory Notes pp 76-8 A S O N G THAT THE SHIPS OF J A F F A DID SING IN THE N I G H T

originally entitled 'Cargo' and perhaps conceived of in response to 'Cargoes' by John Masefield, which begins with a description of an exotic cargo sailing to Palestine (rather than from, as in Klein's poem) ^ ]affa: the main port of Palestine at the time the poem was written 3 Citrons: A citron (along with branches of a palm, willow, and myrtle) is used as part of the ritual of the Jewish holiday Sukkot. 11 palm-leaves ... Uncomforted: Spiro identifies the 'Uncomforted' as Christians, 'who continually mourn the death of their saviour' and use palm-leaves on Palm Sunday. However, a reference to Sukkot seems more likely. See note to 3. 12 candlesticks ... Sabbath gloom: Candles are lit just before sunset on Sabbath eve. 13-14 little sacks of holy earth ... tomb: To speed their return to the Land of Israel when the Messiah comes, pious Jews are often buried with earth from the Holy Land under their heads. THESE C A N D L E LIGHTS

In early versions of the poem the title is hanerot halalu (in Hebrew letters), a phrase from the Hanukkah service meaning, originally, 'these lamps' and, in current usage, 'these candles.' Hanukkah commemorates the victory of the Jews, under the leadership of the Hasmoneans, over their Syrian oppressors in 165 B.C. 4 five brave brothers: the sons of Mattathias, leader of the revolt against Syria 9 songs of degrees: Psalms 120-34 are each entitled 'A Song of degrees.' TO THE J E W I S H POET

The poem contains some close parallels in thought and phrasing to GREETING ON THIS DAY, another Zionist poem urging constructive action rather than futile lamentations. 1-2 those tears I Of Jeremiah: a reference to the Book of Lamentations. Compare 'sad Jeremiah' [GREETING, 13]. 6 The Dawn arises, tinted white and blue: the colours of the Zionist flag, later the flag of Israel. Compare The sky a banner / Blue and white' [GREETING, 68-9]. 9-10 purge ... cleanse: Compare 'Lest grief clean out the sockets of your eyes, / Lest anguish purge your heart of happiness' [GREETING, 1-2]. 12 a cup of bitter wine: Compare 'within the golden cup is wine that overflows' [GREETING, 94-5].

372 / Explanatory Notes pp 79-89 FIVE WEAPONS AGAINST DEATH

occasioned by the death of Bessie Kozlov's father in September 1928. Compare WHERE SHALL I FIND CHOICE WORDS, COWARD IN CONSOLATION, and A PRAYER AGAINST THE WITNESSING OF GRIEF.

37-44 And they have torn ... lately learned: This passage describes customs followed by the relatives of the dead during the prescribed week of mourning. 44 Kaddish: (Heb.) the mourner's Kaddish, a prayer recited by the nearest male kin, usually a son 50 He who has given, He has snatched away: a reference to Job 1.21 - 'The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.' - traditionally recited at Jewish funerals 75 kissed no worn mezuzah: A mezuzah is a miniature parchment scroll with selected biblical verses in a container attached to the doorposts of Jewish residences. It is a custom to kiss the mezuzah upon entering and leaving the residence. WHERE SHALL I FIND CHOICE WORDS

See introductory note to FIVE WEAPONS AGAINST DEATH. COWARD IN CONSOLATION

See introductory note to FIVE WEAPONS AGAINST DEATH. A P R A Y E R AGAINST THE W I T N E S S I N G OF G R I E F

See introductory note to FIVE WEAPONS AGAINST DEATH. ARBITER BIBENDI

Title: (Lat.) 'master of the revels' [Horace, Odes 2.7.25-6] 3 Caesar Borgia: Cesare Borgia (1475/6-1507), notorious Renaissance duke, held responsible, along with his sister Lucrezia, of many crimes, including poisonings ASTROLOGER

14 asterisks: 'Asterisk,' like 'astrologer,' is from the Greek word for 'star,' aster.

373 / Explanatory Notes pp 91—120 B I O N IN HIS OLD AGE

Bion, one of the Greek bucolic poets, was the author of the 'Lament for Adonis/ a model for many later elegies, including, indirectly, Klein's own PORTRAIT OF THE POET AS LANDSCAPE. A COLOURED GENTLEMAN

a sonnet set as prose. Compare MURALS FOR A HOUSE OF GOD, sections m and ix, and OUT OF THE PULVER AND THE POLISHED LENS, section v. COMPOSITION 8 Alas, this is free verse: For Klein's attitude to free verse in the period when COMPOSITION was written, compare 'Worse Verse' [LER, pp. 151-3]. DISCORD OF THE CROW

13 frore: 'intensely cold, frosty, frost-like' [OED]. Klein misuses it as a noun, perhaps misinterpreting Milton's The parching Air / Burns frore, and cold performs th'effect of Fire' [Paradise Lost 2.594-5], cited in the OED entry on 'frore.' FIGURE 10 the still small voice of infinity: a combination of 'a still small voice' [i Kings 19.12] and 'the still, sad music of humanity' [Wordsworth, Tintern Abbey,' 90] F R A G M E N T ON THE DEATH OF S H E L L E Y

8-11 What glory ... beauty chose: The pathetic fallacy' [note from one of Klein's poetry readings, MS 6033] MOMUS Momus was the Greek god of mockery and censure. 9 jettatura: (Ital.) the evil eye SACRED E N O U G H Y O U A R E

6-7 Phylacteries I On Sabbath days: The image involves phylacteries, which are

374 / Explanatory Notes pp 123—9 worn to sanctify daily living. They are not worn on the Sabbath for the day itself is sufficiently holy' [s]. SOROR ADDITA MUSIS

Title: (Lat.) 'a sister added to the Muses'; from Ausonius, Epigram 51, 'To a Figure of Sappho': 'Lesbia Pieriis Sappho soror addita Musis' SPRING 8 holocaust: used in the sense of 'burnt offering.' The word had not yet acquired its current meaning when the poem was written. T H I S IS NO M Y T H

2

the Shulamite: the beloved mentioned in the Song of Solomon 6.13

VISITATION IN ELUL

Elul is the sixth month of the Hebrew calendar, corresponding to AugustSeptember. It is regarded as the month of penitence. HAGGADAH

The haggadah is a book of readings for the seder ritual on Passover. See The Art of the Passover Haggadah' [LER, pp. 23-6]. 1 dotted like th' unleavened bread: Mazah, the unleavened bread which is eaten during Passover, is punctured over all its surface before baking to help prevent it from rising. 2 The moon a golden platter: Passover begins at the full moon. 7-16 Once in a Year: For the theme of the 'unroyal' reality of everyday Jewish life being royally transformed through ritual celebration, compare Heine's 'Prinzessin Sabbath.' 9 perruque: See note to AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL, 38. 17-30 Black Decalogue: As part of the Passover ritual, the ten plagues which God inflicted on the Egyptians [Exodus 7-12] are recited; as each plague is named it is customary to dip one's finger into the wine and shake a drop onto one's plate. 30 Goshen: the area of Egypt where the Jews lived 31-5The Bitter Dish: For the seder ritual a ceremonial plate is set out containing several symbolic foods. These include mazah, symbol of 'the poor bread which they ate in the land of Egypt'; haroset (a thick mixture of ground apples, walnuts, and cinnamon), symbol of the mortar used by the Israelites in

375 / Explanatory Notes pp 129-32 building Egyptian cities; maror (horseradish), symbol of the bitterness of slavery endured by the Israelites. 31 This is the bread of our affliction:the opening words of the prayer recited over the ceremonial plate 36-43 Song: In anticipation of the prophet Elijah, who will herald the coming of the Messiah, a special goblet of wine is filled and the door is left open. 44-71 Chad Gadyah: (Aramaic) 'one kid'; a song traditionally sung at the seder. This section is a free rendering of the song. 58 Shochet: (Heb.) ritual slaughterer 71/72 The Still Small Voice: i Kings 19.12 73 The heirloomed clock enumerates the tribes: a reference to the twelve tribes of Israel 85 April wind: 'I cannot smell the winds of April but that I sense also the gust of air that flew into our banqueting house when the door was opened for Elijah to drink from his cup ...' [Stranger and Afraid, MS 3762]. 87 Jerusalem, next year! Next year, Jerusalem: 'Next year in Jerusalem' is the closing chant of the seder. KOHELETH

the Hebrew name for the Book of Ecclesiastes and its author, traditionally King Solomon. The poem was probably occasioned by Judah L. Zlotnik's Yiddish translation of Ecclesiastes, Klein's review of which appeared in the same issue of the Judaean as the poem. In the review, Klein summarizes the book of Ecclesiastes as follows: Disillusionment, futility, and boredom are the three themes which repeat themselves with the inevitableness of the varied versions of a dying man's groans. The monarch has quaffed cups; he has quaffed philosophies; he has known the meaning in the twittering of birds; he has read sermons in stones; he has probed the secrets of the universe, and - he finds them all vanity and a pursuit after wind. What has been, that again will be; and the inexorable circle reduces all things to a monotonous repetition. Out of the bitterness of his heart, therefore, and out of the anguish of his spirit, comes again and again the cry of the ultimate vacuum: Vanity of vanities, all is vanity ... Of such words is the refrain which the worms sing, as they ply their subterranean work ... ['Koheleth/ LER, pp. 3-4] 5 in wormwood and with gall: Lamentations 3.19 10 lion-guarded throne: The king made a great throne ... and there were stays on either side on the place of the seat, and two lions stood beside the stays' [i Kings 10.18—19]. 14 who have known the speech of birds: According to Jewish tradition, Solomon knew the languages of all living things.

376 / Explanatory Notes pp 132-5 14 Shunamite: a reference to the Shulamite in the Song of Solomon 6.13. There is probably a confusion with Abishag the Shunammite, who was linked to King David, not Solomon. See note to AUTO-DA-FE, 51-3. 17 pleasures of the wise: 'And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven' [Ecclesiastes 1.13]. 18 glories of the goblet: 'I sought in mine heart to give myself unto wine' [Ecclesiastes 2.3]. 20 wind and vanity: Koheleth's first words are 'Vanity of vanities, all is vanity' [Ecclesiastes 1.2], a refrain which is repeated throughout the book. The Hebrew word for vanity, hevel, also means 'fume, vapour, breath.' 23 a thousand concubines: 'And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines' [i Kings 11.3]. 24 There is nought new beneath the sun: 'There is no new thing under the sun' [Ecclesiastes 1.9]. P O R T R A I T S OF A M I N Y A N

Title: A minyan is the quorum of ten adult Jewish males required for public worship. 1—12 Landlord: 'a great scholar, a hard landlord' [note from one of Klein's poetry readings, MS 6044] 3 rashi script: The biblical commentary of Rashi (Rabbi Solomon bar Isaac) is traditionally printed in a small and quite distinctive script. 10 To Tau from Aleph: Aleph is the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet; tau is the Greek equivalent of taf, the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Klein also refers to the Hebrew letter yod by its Greek equivalent iota, in BALLAD OF THE DANCING BEAR, 158 and ELEGY, 8.

13-16 Pintele Yid: (Yid.) 'Literally "little dot of a Jew," a metaphorical Yiddish expression for the modicum or ember of Jewishness that remains in every Jew despite outward assimilation. The picturesque expression derives from Hebrew letters of the alphabet which have dots in the middle or, more symbolically, at the "heart" or "core." When the letter fades, the dot, because of the concentrated pressure in printing, remains' [s]. 16 Kaddish: The mourner's Kaddish is a prayer recited by the nearest male kin, usually a son. 17 Reb: (Yid.) 'mister,' traditional title prefixed to a man's first name 27 milah-banquet: 'a feast accompanying the performance of ritual circumcision' [s] 31 The onion and the herring: 'traditional fare for the Saturday night meal called Melaveh Malkah, or "the ushering out of the Sabbath Queen" ' [s] 33-6 On Ninth of Ab ... wailing beards: See note to AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL, 65. 37-9 Purim ... Haman: On Purim, when the Book of Esther is read in the

377 / Explanatory Notes pp 135-9 synagogue, children shake rattles at every mention of the name of Haman. For Purim, see FIVE CHARACTERS. 41-4 feasts of rejoicing ... the scrolls: Simhat Torah ('the rejoicing of the law'), a celebration marking the conclusion of one annual reading of the Torah and the beginning of the next. The celebrations include dancing with Torah scrolls around the synagogue. 49-52 Messiah's greeting ... roast leviathan: See note to BALLAD OF THE DAYS OF THE MESSIAH.

57-76 Shadchan: (Yid.) a matchmaker. 'Old institution, contra bonos mores' [note from one of Klein's poetry readings, MS 6044] 57 caftan: common garb of east European Jews 77-92 Sophist: In his McGill reading, Klein introduced SOPHIST as follows: I received my early instruction in Judaism from a number of scholars, among whom there was the late Rabbi Simcha Garber, a scholar who knew not his equal in his time. He knew the volumes of the Talmud so well ... that if you placed a pin through any different page, he would tell you what words it would puncture every other page beneath it, and this of any volume. In addition to this gift of memory, he had a great, agile, athletic mind, so that he was able with his arguments - some of us might perhaps call it sophistry to build up extraordinary edifices of logic, which, should he so desire, he would point at a flaw and the edifice would immediately collapse before your eyes, which, should you prefer the [?], he would annihilate the flaw and the edifice would once more rise before you. 85 pilpul: (Heb.) dialectical logic used in the study of Talmud. See note to A PSALM OF ABRAHAM, TO BE WRITTEN DOWN AND LEFT ON THE TOMB OF RASHI, 8.

87 Where worms split hair: Compare 'Where ... tendrils split a hair' [A.J.M. Smith, 'Epitaph' (1926), 3-4]. 97—9 For in a single breath ...on the Persian gallows rose: 'According to tradition the reader of the Book of Esther at the Purim service ... must utter the names of the ten sons of Haman who were hanged ... in one breath to indicate they all mercifully died at once ... This difficult feat - the names are long and hard to pronounce - is considered a test of the reader's talent' [s]. Compare 'the ten unspeakable sons of Haman enumerated, as they hung from gallows and purlins and rafters, in single sibilance decabarbaric' ['Adloyada/ a chapter from an unfinished novel, MS 4473]. 115 mottles: 'just the precise word required to describe a greasy junk-dealer viewed with a bird's eye' [draft of letter to Abraham Duker, 26 June 1942, MS 155] 119-23 But on the High, the Holy Days ... I While litanies are clamored: 'During the High Holy Days (New Year and Day of Atonement), it is customary to say the prayers louder than usual to prompt additional fervour' [s]. 136-51 And the Man Moses was Meek: 'Now the man Moses was very meek' [Numbers 12.3]. See note to AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL, 28.

378 / Explanatory Notes pp 139-41 137-8 Homunculus ... four ells: Compare This Jew homunculus seems very pent / In the four ells of his' [PORTRAIT, 9-10]. Four ells, or cubits, is 'a standard talmudic measurement which defines the area of a person's immediate surroundings legally and symbolically' [s]. It is also the minimum area required for a grave. CHRISTIAN POET AND H E B R E W MAID

occasioned by the marriage of Leo Kennedy and Miriam Carpin, in 1929 31 Blow ram's horns: the shofar, blown to mark solemn occasions (though not, traditionally, weddings) 31 make a joyful noise: a common phrase in the Psalms. See, for example, 66.1, 81.1, 95.1, 98.6. 37 double-triangle: the magen david or six-pointed Star of David 38-9 thin I Pendule: the fringes (zizit) on the four corners of the prayershawl (talit) 39 shield weds ball: The meaning of this phrase is obscure. Spiro links 'shield' with the cross, 'ball' with the Star of David: 'Lines circumscribing a cross resemble a shield in outline. A line around a Star of David is circular, or ball-shaped.' There are difficulties with this interpretation: 'shield,' rather than 'ball,' suggests the phrase magen david, which, though usually translated as 'Star of David,' literally means 'Shield of David'; and a ball, unlike a circle, is threedimensional. A reference may be intended to the novel The Ball and the Cross, by G. K. Chesterton. Leo Kennedy was a great admirer of Chesterton and introduced Klein to him. In the novel, the ball and cross on the dome of St Paul's are similarly used to symbolize a synthesis of opposites, in this case, reason and faith. Compare Klein's essay 'Chesterton,' in which Chesterton's paradoxical combination of worldly wisdom and childlike innocence is described in terms of the 'sphere' and the 'rattle' [LER, p. 154]. 40 The vulgate and the scroll: St Jermone's Latin translation of the Bible, adopted by the Roman Catholic Church; and the Torah, or Pentateuch, written on a parchment scroll 41 The spire and dome: Synagogues, especially in the East, are often domed. For the sexual imagery, compare the description of Casablanca in ss, p. 84/69 as 'this city of the teated domes and the phalloi of minarets.' 42 Mary and Miriam: Mary is the English form of Maria (Gr. and Lat.), the name of the Virgin, in turn a derivative of Miriam (Heb.), the name of Moses' sister. 48 Virgo and Leo: on one level, the Virgin Mary and the Lion of Judah; on another, the 'Hebrew maid,' Miriam Carpin, and the 'Christian poet,' Leo Kennedy

379 / Explanatory Notes pp 142-5 G R E E T I N G ON THIS DAY

occasioned by the Arab riots on 15 Aug. 1929 in Palestine, when Jewish settlers were killed. Spiro points out that the riots occurred on the Hebrew date of the ninth of Ab, a day of mourning for the destruction of the Temple, when greeting must be curtailed. SONNET IN TIME OF AFFLICTION was occasioned by the same events. 13 Jeremiah: 'Jeremiah's Book of Lamentations is read on the ninth of Ab' [s]. 20 Safed: a town in Upper Galilee; a centre of Jewish mysticism in the sixteenth century 28 Rabbi Joseph Caro: Safed mystic and codifier of Jewish law 31-2 Reb Isaac Luria, surnamed the Pard, I Who rose on Friday twilights: Safed mystic, the most important Kabbalist of his age. He was known as ARI (Heb., 'lion'), the acronym of his Hebrew name. He is particularly associated with Friday evening rituals for welcoming the Sabbath. 35 caftan: traditional garb of east European Jews 37-8 neat earlocks ... spiral: Orthodox Jews traditionally wear earlocks (peot), in accordance with Leviticus 19.27. These are curled for neatness. 41 ghosts of Hebron: the ghosts of contemporary Jews killed in the riots as well as the ghosts of the Patriarchs and their wives, buried in the Cave of Machpelah in Hebron [Genesis 23] 43 Talpioth: suburb of Jerusalem, site of Arab riots 62 Effendi, Mufti: Effendi is a Turkish title of respect. A mufti (Arabic) is an interpreter or expounder of Islamic law. The Grand Mufti, the leader of the Arabs in Jerusalem, at this time was Haj Amin al-Husseini, who took an active role in the riots of 1929 as well as other activities against Jewish settlers in Palestine. 68-9 The sky a banner I Blue and white: the colours of the the Zionist flag, later the flag of Israel. Compare ss, pp. 33-4/36: 'Above me there stretches the Mediterranean sky - blue; and its clouds - white: an Israeli banner.' Section vi imitates biblical poetry in its imagery and use of parallelism, and it echoes the vocabulary and syntax of the King James version. For specific borrowings, see below. 70 O who is this, rising from the Sharon: Sharon is the central coastal plain of Israel, one of the richest agricultural areas in the country. The line is probably an allusion to the Song of Solomon 3.6 and 8.5: 'Who is this that cometh out of the wilderness.' 71 golden apples: Proverbs 25.11 73 as hard as the heart of Pharaoh: 'And he hardened Pharaoh's heart, that he hearkened not unto them' [Exodus 7.13]. 80-1 Ashkinaz ... Sphorad: Hebrew for Germany and Spain, used more generally

380 / Explanatory Notes pp 145-8 to distinguish between the two largest Jewish cultural groups, the Ashkenazi and the Sephardi, originating in Germany and Spain, respectively 83 He has said to the sun, Thou art my father: 'He shall cry unto me, Thou art my father' [Psalms 89.26]. 88-9 For a thousand shall come ... be carried away: 'A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee' [Psalms 91.7]96 Forgive them, Lord, they know not what they do: Luke 23.34 100 pellicle: 'a small or thin skin' [OED] 123 Izak and Ishmael: Ishmael was the half-brother of Isaac [Genesis 16]; he is traditionally considered the ancestor of the Arabs. 124-5 Omar's dome ... the Wall of ancient pain: the Mosque of Omar, on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem; and the Western, or Wailing Wall, a section of the supporting wall of the Temple Mount which has remained intact since the destruction of the Second Temple and is regarded as holy by many pious Jews. It was the site of violent disputes between Arabs and Jews at this period. SONNET IN TIME OF AFFLICTION

For the occasion of the poem see introductory note to GREETING ON THIS DAY. 6 Bar Cochba's star: Bar Kokhba (Heb., 'son of a star') was the leader of a revolt in Judaea against Roman rule, 132-5 A.D. 10 Must turn ... scimitars: 'and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks' [Isaiah 2.4]. 11 hammer of the Maccabees: Maccabee was the name given to Judah, son of Mattathias, leader of the Jewish revolt against Syria in 167 B.C., and, by extension, to his followers. Its etymology is obscure, but it may come from the Hebrew word for hammer. 14 who languish ... northern stars: Compare THESE NORTHERN STARS ARE SCARABS IN MY EYES. D A N C E CHASSIDIC

The Chassidic movement emphasized joy in worship, expressed through singing and dancing. i each side-curl: Chassidim traditionally wear long earlocks (peot), in accordance with Leviticus 19.27. 5 pendules: the fringes of the prayershawl (zizit) 9 mantled Scroll: The Torah scroll is covered by a mantle. 18 yahrzeit lamps: Yahrzeit (Yid., 'anniversary') refers to the anniversary of the day of death. It is customary to light a candle on the eve of the yahrzeit to be left burning for the entire twenty-four hour period.

381 / Explanatory Notes pp 149-57 DIALOGUE

5 the golden land: a translation of the Yiddish phrase, di goldeneh medinah, a common term for America 15 Ratno's muds: Klein was born in Ratno, in the province of Volhynia, in the northwestern Ukraine. 17 Reb Yecheskel Chazan: 'Reb' (Yid., 'mister') is a traditional title prefixed to a man's first name; 'Yecheskel' is Hebrew for Ezekiel; 'chazan' is Hebrew for cantor. 20 To doom Columbus: a reference to the proverbial Yiddish expression 'a curse on Columbus.' See Klein's review of Michael Gold's jews without Money, 'A Curse on Columbus' [LER, pp. 225-6]. FALSTAFF

The episodes referred to are from The Merry Wives of Windsor. 4 ischiadic flask: hip flask PREACHER

i midrash: (Heb.) 'an exegesis which, going more deeply than the mere literal sense, attempts to penetrate into the spirit of the Scriptures' [/E, 'Midrash'] 26 Gehenna: (from Heb., gehinom) Hell THE WORDS OF P L A U N I - B E N - P L A U N I TO JOB

Tlauni-ben-Plauni, a term used in the legal portions of the Talmud ... is the equivalent of "John Doe"' [s]. 4 Man of Uz: 'There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job' [Job 1.1] BALLAD OF THE DANCING BEAR

See introductory note to BALLAD OF SIGNS AND WONDERS. In 'In Praise of the Diaspora' [BS, p. 466], Klein writes of 'the bear-dance [which] ... our forefathers, in bearskins, in pitiable bearish fawning were compelled to dance ... before boisterous Polish baron and his tittering dame.' Compare 'To-morrow the sot in the manor may / Request I dance the bear, while fiddlers play, / Serfs laugh, and soldiers prod me with a lance' [Hershel of Ostropol, cjc, 31 Mar. 1939, p. 21]. i Pan: (Pol.) 'gentleman, lord, master' 8 chalos: (Yid.) special Sabbath breads 19 jargon: Yiddish

382 / Explanatory Notes pp 157-69 Section in: For the description of poverty in this section compare Klein's translation of the Jewish folk-song ON THE ATTIC SLEEPS A ROOF. 153 Motka: Motka is a diminutive of Mordecai, and Motka's role may be intended to recall that of Mordecai in the Purim story. (See introductory note to FIVE CHARACTERS.) Klein may also have in mind Motka Chabad, one of the 'professional wits, ... schnorrers, badchanim, wedding-entertainers' whom he mentions in The Yiddish Proverb' [LER, p. 122]. 158 iotas of God's name: In prayerbooks, God's name, adonai, is represented by two yods: yod is the Hebrew equivalent of the Greek iota. The same phrase occurs in ELEGY, 8. 159 flourishes on holy script: a reference to the tagin or 'crowns,' formed of three flourishes added by scribes to the tops of certain letters in the Torah. In 'Of Hebrew Calligraphy' [LER, p. 86], Klein refers to them as 'the so-called pot-hooks and hangers, the filaments of diadem which crown the letters of our Scrolls of the Law.' 161 tfillin: (Heb.) phylacteries 163 Tzizith: (Heb.) fringes of the prayershawl (talit) 165—6 one I for whom God preserved the sun: a lamed-vavnik, one of the thirtysix (represented by the Hebrew letters lamed and vav) hidden saints on whom the existence of the universe depends. Compare LAMED VAV: A PSALM TO UTTER IN MEMORY OF GREAT GOODNESS and the list of thirty-six 'incognitos' in ss, p. 95/76, which includes Aaron Wassertrager, a 'water-bearer' like Motka. 199 moujik: (Pol.) peasant 204 Zhid'l: (Pol.) contemptuous diminutive of zhid, Jew ECCLESIASTES

13

Ecclesiastes has only twelve chapters. For another treatment of Ecclesiastes, see KOHELETH. N O W W E W I L L S U F F E R LOSS O F M E M O R Y

'The induced amnesia of assimilation. An instance of the protean nature of words, of how semantics impinges on semitics' [note from one of Klein's poetry readings, MS 6035]

Version i 3-4 ham ... milk ... fast-days: The offense of eating on fast-days is aggravated by the fact that meat is eaten with milk (the eating of meat and milk together being forbidden) and that the meat is pork, which is, in itself, unkosher.

383 / Explanatory Notes pp 170-3 SENTIMENTAL

14 Kaddish-voice: The mourner's Kaddish is a prayer recited by the nearest male kin, usually a son; hence, the phrase refers to a male heir. TO THE C H I E F SCRIBE, A PSALM OF A B R A H A M , IN THE DAY OF THE G L A D N E S S OF HIS H E A R T

instructions on the preparation of the ketubah, or marriage contract Title: See introductory note to A PSALM OF ABRAHAM, TOUCHING THE CROWN WITH WHICH HE WAS CROWNED ON THE DAY OF HIS ESPOUSALS. FOR THE B R I D E G R O O M C O M I N G OUT OF HIS C H A M B E R , A S O N G

In Psalm 19.5, the sun is described as 'a bridegroom coming out of his chamber.' i The young men ... laud the bride: 'rabbinical seminary students fulfilling the religious obligation to praise a bride' [s] 9-11 The long-haired virgins ... all the seven days' love: 'During a traditional ceremony, the bride and her bridesmaids make seven circuits around the groom to signify eternal love, seven being the number of ever-recurring days of the week' [s]. The wedding ceremony is followed by seven days of celebration. 14 He breaks the wineglass underneath his heel: At the end of the wedding ceremony, the bridegroom breaks a wineglass under his heel in memory of the destruction of the Temple. In a letter to the Jewish Publication Society, 7 Aug. 1942, Klein refers to the 'symbolism of the broken nuptial goblet lo Hymen!' FOR THE B R I D E , A S O N G , TO BE S U N G BY V I R G I N S

The effect of this poem lies in its short simple sentences' [letter to the Jewish Publication Society, i July 1943!. 1-2 laved her body ... touched no food: A Jewish bride immerses herself in a ritual bath and fasts before her wedding. A PSALM OF A B R A H A M , WHICH HE M A D E AT THE FEAST

5 replenished fish: gefilte fish, traditionally made by stuffing a fish skin with ground fish 8 a small Lebanon: a reference to the mountains of Lebanon

384 / Explanatory Notes pp 174—6 I N V O C A T I O N TO DEATH

5 perruque: See note to AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL, 38. 11-12 Kissing ... mezuzahs: A mezuzah is a parchment scroll with selected biblical passages in a cylinder attached to the doorposts of Jewish residences. It is a custom to kiss the mezuzah upon entering and leaving the residence. KALMAN RHAPSODIZES

Kalman was the name of Klein's pious father. 1-2 greet the moon I With triple elevation of the heel: a reference to the ceremony of greeting the new moon (kiddush levanah) which originally involved 'dancing and leaping toward the moon. In later times the custom has been to raise the body on the tips of the toes three times ...' [/£, 'New Moon, Blessing of the']. Compare 'Lift up your heels' [A BENEDICTION FOR THE NEW MOON, 13]. L A M E D V A V : A PSALM TO UTTER IN M E M O R Y OF GREAT G O O D N E S S

The Thirty-Six - the thirty-six anonymous worthies, water carriers and mendicants whose true holiness is not recognized by man - the thirty-six for whose sake alone God stays His hand and His wrath from a sinful world, - the thirty-six whose number is twice eighteen, the number of life - they are nowhere seen, everywhere present' ['The Dybbuk,' LER, p. 72]. In Hebrew, letters have numerical significance, and thirty-six is represented by lamed (thirty) vav (six). Compare the list of the thirty-six 'incognitos' in ss, p. 95/76. 3 fuss: The word "fuss" admittedly a vernacular, almost a colloquial word, enhances the sense of the sentence. It reduces the Saints in their desire to do honour to the name, to the helplessness and excitement of excited housewives' [letter to the Jewish Publication Society, i July 1943]. LOST F A M E

According to Jewish tradition, Solomon knew the languages of all living things. MARKET SONG

'Rachel market. Women examining chickens. A painting of the Dutch School. The typical gesture to discover whether a chicken is sufficiently [?]' [note from one of Klein's poetry readings, MS 6042]. Rachel market was on Rachel Avenue, in the Jewish area of Montreal.

385 / Explanatory Notes pp 177-81 NEHEMIAH

Nehemiah 2.1-8 describes how Nehemiah, cup-bearer to King Artaxerxes i of Persia, grieved in the King's presence over the destruction of Jerusalem. The King, moved by Nehemiah's sorrow, sent him to Jerusalem to arrange for its reconstruction. PLUMAGED PROXY

' "Plumaged Proxy" refers to the custom, still observed by orthodox Jews, which enjoins the pious to slay a rooster as proxy for the sinful soul before the Day of Atonement. The ritual killing of the fowl is preceded by the intonation of a prayer, while the rooster is circled over the head' [letter to Poetry magazine, 19 Apr. 1931]. 2-3 a beard I Pluck little feathers: The bearded ritual slaughterer (shohet) plucks little feathers from the neck of the fowl to prepare it for slaughter' [s]. 4-5 a thumb I Press down your gullet: 'After drawing a sharp blade across the neck of a fowl to sever the trachea and esophagus, the ritual slaughterer presses his thumb upon the epiglottis to bare them. This assures him that they have indeed been severed' [s]. 19-21 six score ... a ripe age: Jews traditionally specify a ripe old age as 120 years [see Genesis 6.3]. Curiously, early versions of the poem have 'seven score.' PORTRAIT i badge of yellow scorn: In 1215 the Lateran Council decreed that Jews were required to wear an identifying badge, generally yellow. 9—10 This Jew homunculus ... four ells: See note to PORTRAITS OF A MINYAN, 137—8. A P S A L M , F O R B I D D E N TO C O H A N I M

Cohanim (Heb., 'priests'), the descendants of the high priest Aaron, are forbidden to enter a house in which there is a corpse. A PSALM OF A B R A H A M , T O U C H I N G THE C R O W N WITH W H I C H HE WAS C R O W N E D ON THE DAY OF HIS

ESPOUSALS

Title: 'Go forth, O ye daughters of Zion, and behold King Solomon with the crown wherewith his mother crowned him on the day of his espousals, and in the day of the gladness of his heart' [Song of Solomon 3.11]. Compare TO THE CHIEF SCRIBE, A PSALM OF ABRAHAM, IN THE DAY OF THE GLADNESS OF HIS HEART.

4 fringed talismanic vest: a punning reference to the talis katan ('small prayer-

386 / Explanatory Notes pp 181-6 shawl'), a white rectangular garment with fringes at its four corners, which orthodox Jews wear under their shirts. For a similar pun, see TALISMAN IN SEVEN SHREDS. 7 each letter's mystic hook: Some letters in the Torah are crowned with hooklike flourishes (tagin). Spiro points out that Rabbi Akiba was reputed to have derived divine laws through his interpretation of these 'hooks.' 9 kiddush-wine: The kiddush is recited over a cup of wine to consecrate the Sabbath or a festival. REPLY COURTEOUS

'In conformity with an old custom, and in punishment for some fancied crime, one of [the Jews of Toulouse], generally the most respected old man of the community, was obliged to appear every Good Friday at the door of the cathedral to have his ears boxed in public' [JE, 'Toulouse']. The title seems to echo Touchstone's speech on 'the degrees of the lie' in As 'You Like It, 5.4.90-103, in which he refers to the 'Retort Courteous' and the 'Reply Churlish.' 9 yellow-badged Dayon: Day an is Hebrew for judge. In the Middle Ages it was a title given to community elders. For the yellow badge see note to PORTRAIT, i. SOIREE OF VELVEL K L E I N B U R G E R

Klein had an older half-brother named Velvel. 'Velvel' is the Yiddish diminutive for the personal name 'Wolf; it may also be a play on valvel, the Yiddish word for 'cheap.' Kleinburger is German for petit bourgeois - the poem was originally entitled 'Economics of Velvel Bourgeois.' Like DIARY OF ABRAHAM SEGAL, POET, it is influenced by T.S. Eliot. Its relationship to The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock' is particularly close. 29 Reb: (Yid.) 'mister,' traditional title prefixed to a man's first name, here used ironically 35 My life lies on a tray of cigarette-butts: T have measured out my life with coffee spoons' ['Prufrock,' 51]. 54 For I have heard: 'For I have known' ['Prufrock,' 49] 56-7 after days ... I Among machines: 'After the cups ... / Among the porcelain ...' ['Prufrock,' 88-9]. 62-3 And having trickled sweat... I Sewing buttons: Klein's father worked as a presser in a sweatshop in Montreal's garment district. 104 Og, the giant-king of Bashan: Og, King of Bashan, was a giant defeated by Joshua [Deuteronomy 3.11]. Compare ss, p. 107/84: 'A well-known brand of Israeli sausage was being advertised, it gladdened my heart to see, as Bashan -

387 / Explanatory Notes pp 186-7 just tribute to its magnum size, royal compliment descended from Og, Bashan's giant king.' TALISMAN IN SEVEN SHREDS

In the Middle Ages arose the belief in the possibility of infusing life into a clay or wooden figure of a human being, which figure was termed 'golem' by writers of the eighteenth century. The golem grew in size, and could carry any message or obey mechanically any order of its master. It was supposed to be created by the aid of the 'Sefer Yezirah,' that is, by a combination of letters forming a 'Shem' (any one of the names of God). The Shem was written on a piece of paper and inserted either in the mouth or in the forehead of the Golem, thus bringing it into life and action ... The best-known Golem was that of Judah Low b. Bezaleel, or the 'hohe Rabbi Low,' of Prague (end of i6th cent.), who used his golem as a servant on week-days, and extracted the Shem from the golem's mouth every Friday afternoon, so as to let it rest on Sabbath. Once the rabbi forgot to extract the Shem, and feared that the golem would desecrate the Sabbath. He pursued the golem and caught it in front of the synagogue, just before Sabbath began, and hurriedly extracted the Shem, whereupon the golem fell in pieces; its remains are said to be still among the debris in the attic of the synagogue. [/£, 'Golem'; marked] Throughout his career Klein was fascinated by the golem legend. He used the legend in a second poem, THE GOLEM, and referred to it often in his journalism. He also began a play, Death of the Golem, and a novel, The Golem, on the theme. 'Talisman,' in the title, is a pun on tails, prayershawl. Compare 'The fringed talismanic vest' [A PSALM OF ABRAHAM, TOUCHING THE CROWN WITH WHICH HE WAS CROWNED ON THE DAY OF HIS ESPOUSALS, 4]. Spiro points out that 'in seven shreds' derives from 'a Yiddish expression describing poverty - "ah kabtzen in ziben poless," "a poor man [dressed] in [a garment of] seven overlapping edges [to hide the holes]."' 5 Caliban: described as a 'salvage and deformed slave' in the dramatis personae of The Tempest 9 Kismet, Ananke: (Turk.) 'destiny'; (Gr.) 'necessity' 19 Johann Silvester in his scarlet cap: Johann Silvester was Cardinal of Prague. According to legend, Rabbi Low wrote to him demanding the opportunity to defend the Jews in a public disputation against the ritual murder libel. 20 Havlicek: a butcher responsible for a ritual murder libel exposed by the golem [Chayim Bloch, The Golem of Prague, trans. Harry Schneiderman (Vienna: Vernay 1925), pp. 77-80]. 23 He sleeps not, neither does He drowse: 'Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep' [Psalms 121.4].

388 / Explanatory Notes pp 187-91 28/29 Tetragrammaton: the four-lettered name of God, YHWH. See introductory note. 30 Zohar's spark: The Zohar (Heb. 'splendour') is the major work of Jewish mysticism. 42/43 Fons Vitae: (Lat.) Solomon ben Judah ibn Gabirol (c. 1O2O-C. 1051) was a Jewish philosopher and poet. His major work, a long neo-platonic treatise, survives only in its Latin translation as Fons Vitae, 'the font of life.' 'Solomon ibn Gabirol is said to have created a maid servant by ... means [of the ShemJ. The king, informed of this, desired to punish him, but Ibn Gabirol showed that his creature was not a real being by restoring every one of its parts to its original form' [/£, 'Golem']. 48-9 Maimonides ... I homnnculus: Maimonides, Rabbi Moses ben Maimon (1135-1204), was an outstanding rabbinic authority. His Guide to the Perplexed presents a synthesis of rabbinic Judaism and Aristoteleanism. Maimonides, 'it is said, also created life' [s]. I have been unable to find a specific source for this legend. 51 Sanctum sanctorum: (Lat.) lit. 'holy of holies'; the inner sanctuary of the Temple where the ark containing the tablets of Moses was kept 53 Tycho Brahe: Danish astronomer (1546-1601) 70/71 Guide to the Perplexed: See note to 48. 83 matter is chaos, mind is chasm: 'In tradition everything that is in a state of incompletion, everything not fully formed, as a needle without the eye, is designated as "golem"' [JE, 'Golem'J. 84/85 Immortal Yearnings: 'Immortal longings' [Antony and Cleopatra 5.2.281] 89 witch of En-dor: After the prophet Samuel's death Israel was threatened by the Philistines. Wishing to consult Samuel, King Saul had a witch at En-dor call up Samuel's spirit [i Samuel 28]. AVE ATQUE VALE

The 'parfait jolly company' celebrated in AVE ATQUE VALE consists of rabbis of the Talmudic era. The poem may have been, at least in part, occasioned by dismissive comments on the Talmud in The Chosen People, by Jean and Jerome Tharaud (London: Longmans 1929), p. 27: The Talmud is ... steadily abstract, full of logic, casuistry, and even quibbling. It smacks of oil and the lamp, not of the desert's life of freedom. Lacking, as it does, the glowing tales to which one listens open-mouthed beneath a tent, it is the book over which one ponders with knitted brows the while he mechanically plucks the hairs from his beard ... Klein marked this passage in his copy and added the marginal comment: 'How about Abba bar Abuha?' (I have been unable to identify Abba bar Abuha. Klein may have been thinking of Rabba bar Abuhah, who reportedly received

389 / Explanatory Notes pp 191-2 leaves from paradise at Elijah's hands [Bava Mezia 114!)].) For another possible instance of Klein's response to the Tharauds' comments on the Talmud see note to HEIRLOOM, 20. Klein's firsthand study of the Talmud dates from his childhood and early adolescence. S.H. Abramson, in 'Abe Klein - in Person,' ]ewish Standard, Sept. 1936, p. 23, reports: During this important formative stage he was still studying the Talmud with various erudite rabbis and Schochtim, the most important of whom was the late Rabbi Garber ... whom Klein has immortalized in The Sophist. The Gemarrahs he studied at this period were the three Babas, Baba Metziah, Baba Kama and Baba Bathra. The Gemarrah Kedushin was taught to him by the late father of Joseph Cohen, K.C., an extremely learned and witty schochet. Klein described this period in Stranger and Afraid [MS 3762]: And O the days when I bore the heavy folio of the Talmud through the streets. I walked with Tannaim, my head full of the subtleties of its most clever rabbis, and of the romance of Resh Lakish, gladiator turned scholar, and of Rabbi Akiva, poor, and sitting on the window-sill of the academy, hearkening Torah, and Rabbi bar bar Hunah. Time, and the advent of worthies from other spheres, speaking other accents, has not banished them. They still escort me, like good wishes, on my way. Klein probably did not continue serious Talmudic studies after adolescence, and it is unclear how much firsthand knowledge of the Talmud he possessed. There are several inaccuracies or apparent confusions in his references (see notes to 13-15, 16-18, 25-6, 27-8, 31-2, 33-4, 37-8). In any case, virtually all the characters and anecdotes mentioned in AVE ATQUE VALE would have been readily available to Klein in /£. All quotations from the Talmud in the following notes are from the Soncino translation (London 1961). Klein's article on 'Jewish Humor' []udaean 7, 5 (Feb. 1934), 36, 39], later revised as 'Of Hebrew Humor' [Opinion 6, i (Nov. 1935), 15-19], discusses a number of the figures mentioned in the poem. Page references are to the later version, reprinted in LER.

Version i Title: (Lat.) 'hail and farewell' Epigraph: Two Gentlemen of Verona 2.5.53-5 1 goodly feres: Compare Ezra Pound's 'Ballad of the Goodly Fere.' 'Fere' is an archaism for 'companion, comrade, mate, partner' [OED]. 2 Mermaid Tavern: the tavern where Shakespeare, Jonson, and other Elizabethan writers used to meet 10 my salad days: Antony and Cleopatra 1.5.73

390 / Explanatory Notes p 192 11 Sura, Pumbeditha: the two most important academies in Babylonia during the Talmudic era 12 Drawers of elephants through needles' eyes: 'Perhaps you are from Pumbeditha ... where they draw an elephant through the eye of a needle' [Bava Mezia 38bj. 13-15 ]abna-town ... ben-Zakkai ... Titus' heart did soften: In 'Rabbi Johanan ben Zakkai: A Symbol' [cjc, 31 May 1940, p. 3] Klein writes: It will be recalled that when Jerusalem was besieged by the legions of Titus [sic; should be Vespasian], when the city itself was torn by internal dissension, and when the end was imminent, that Rabbi Jochanan wished to go out and treat with the besieging foe. The zealots of Jerusalem, of course, would not countenance such a procedure. They would not permit the venerable rabbi exit from the Holy City. And so ben Zakkai instructed his disciples to announce abroad that he was dead; they then placed him in a coffin, and since the burial was to be made outside the gates of Jerusalem, they were permitted to carry the alleged corpse of the rabbi beyond the interference of the zealots. Once out, the rabbi insisted, before the Roman general, that the yeshiva of Yavneh should be spared. It was an innocent request, but ultimately it indicated a better sense of strategy on the part of the Talmudist than on that of the military leader. Jerusalem fell; but the spirit of Jerusalem was kept alive for centuries only by dint of the inspiration planted and replanted by Yavneh. Klein's source is Gittin 563-56^ 16-18 the lean Reb Zadoc ... fig ... transparent: There is a confusion in Klein's account of Reb Zadok and the fig. The Talmud [Gittin 563] recounts that during the siege of Jerusalem a rich woman, Martha, the daughter of Boethius, ate a fig left by R. Zadok, and became sick and died. For R. Zadok observed fasts for forty years in order that Jerusalem might not be destroyed, [and he became so thin that] when he ate anything food could be seen [as it passed through his throat]. When he wanted to restore himself, they used to bring him a fig, and he used to suck the juice and throw the fig away. 23-4 Abbaya and Rabba ... twins ... dialectic: Abbaya and Rabba were 'about the same age, and both of them developed the dialectic method' [JE, 'Raba']. 'Discussions of Abbaya and Rabba' became a general term for the entire system of Talmudic dialectics. 25 The smiling Kahana: 'We still shudder to recall how Rabbi Jochanan smote with a single glance his pupil Kahana for that the latter, unable to properly close his lips, seemed to be continually smiling' [p. 101]. See Bava Kamma 1173. 25-6 Shammai ... I Hillel... Ethiop: The Talmud states thst 'a man should always be gentle like Hillel, and not impstient like Shsmmsi' [Shabbat 313], and

391 / Explanatory Notes p 192 gives a number of examples illustrating their different temperaments. The most famous one, and the one Klein probably had in mind, is the following: ... it happened that a certain heathen came before Shammai and said to him, 'Make me a proselyte, on condition that you teach me the whole Torah while I stand on one foot.' Thereupon he repulsed him with the builder's cubit which was in his hand. When he went before Hillel, he said to him, 'What is hateful to you, do not to your neighbour: that is the whole Torah, while the rest is the commentary thereof; go and learn it.' There is no indication in the Talmud that the 'heathen' was an 'Ethiop.' Klein may have confused the story with another in which someone unsuccessfully tries to win a wager by angering Hillel with foolish questions, including why Africans have wide feet. 27-8 Finding ... excuses: Reb Meir 'would declare the ritually unclean to be clean and supply plausible proof, and the ritually clean to be unclean and also supply plausible proof [Eruvin ijb]. Later in the same passage the Talmud refers to an unnamed scholar 'who by a hundred and fifty reasons proved that a [dead] creeping thing was clean.' This may be the source of Klein's 'seven score ten excuses,' but he may also have been misled by the article on Reb Meir in /£, which mistakenly attributes the hundred and fifty reasons to him. 29-30 Ambiguous Resh Lakish, gladiator ... glutton ... staunch debater: Simeon ben Lakish. Klein refers to 'the appearance of Resh Lakish, whose past be it remembered would not bear investigation, and his witticisms on the bachelor life' [p. 102]. Resh Lakish was reputed to have been a gladiator in his early years, and he was notoriously fat. The Talmud recounts that 'as he was once seated [on the ground] eating and drinking, his daughter said, Don't you want something to recline on? He replied, Daughter, my belly is my cushion' [Gittin 473]. He is also reported to have eaten 'until his mind began to wander' [Berakhot 443]. Klein presumably means 'sexually ambiguous' when he characterizes Resh Lakish as ambiguous, referring to his relationship with the beautiful Rabbi Johanan: One day R. Johanan was bathing in the Jordan, when Resh Lakish saw him and leapt into the Jordan after him. Said he [R. Johanan] to him, 'Your strength should be for the Torah.' - 'Your beauty,' he replied, 'should be for women.' Tf you will repent/ said he, 'I will give you my sister [in marriage], who is more beautiful than I.' He undertook [to repent] ... [Bava Mezzo 843] There are numerous examples of Resh Lakish's being a 'staunch debater,' defending his position against all odds. Kiddushin 443, for example, cites an instance in which 'the entire band [of disciples] agreed with R. Johanan; and though Resh Lakish cried like a crane ... none heeded him.'

392 / Explanatory Notes pp 192-3 31-2 Obese Reb Paupa ... load of flax: Klein appears to have confused Rabbi Papa with two other 'obese' rabbis: When R. Ishmael son of R. Jose and R. Eleasar son of R. Simeon met, one could pass through with a yoke of oxen under them and not touch them ... [The waist of] Papa himself was as [large as] the wicker-work baskets of Harpania. [Bava Mezia 843] Klein cites Rabbi Papa's speculations 'on the alleged dimensions of Pharaoh's uncovenanted member' [p. 102]. 33—4 That consummate apocalyptic liar, I Bar Huna: The reference is to Rabbah Bar Bar Hana, who is famous for his tales of his marvellous adventures [Bava Batra 7313-743]. Klein has confused him with Rabbah bar Huna, a more conventional figure. It was said that 'every Bar Bar Hana is a fool' [Bava Batra 743]. 35 Uncouth Akiva: According to the Talmud [Yevamot 86b] Rabbi Akiva ben Joseph was a shepherd until the age of forty. He is reported to have said, 'When I was an am ha-aretz [ignoramus] I said: I would I had a scholar [before me], and I would maul him like an ass' [Pesahim 49b]. 35 cobbler Jochanan: Johanan ha-Sandlar ('the sandal-maker'), a cobbler by trade 36 Achair who quoted Greek: Aher is Hebrew for 'other.' The Talmud uses this term to refer to the apostate Elisha ben Abuyah. 'Greek song did not cease from his mouth' [Hagigah i5b]. 37-8 Yitschok ... Adam wrought alone: Klein seems to have confused two passages here. The primary reference is to Sanhedrin 38b, in which Rabbi Isaac conjectures that Adam showed his defiance of God by pulling up his foreskin, thus concealing the fact that he was a Jew. That Klein has this passage in mind is clear from 'Of Hebrew Humor,' in which he cites, referring to Sanhedrin, 'Rabbi Isaac [i.e., Yitschok] on Adam's unmentionable diversions during the season of his loneliness' [p. 102]. However, the reference to Adam's loneliness in both the poem and the essay suggests another Talmudic passage, Yevamot 633, in which R. Eleazar claims that 'Adam had intercourse with every beast and animal but found no satisfaction until he cohabited with Eve.' 39-40 Abba Saul ... adamant trade ... jests ... spade: Abba Saul was a gravedigger. Niddah zqb records a number of his humorous anecdotes, some of which are strongly reminiscent of the 'jests' of the grave-digger in Hamlet. 'Adamant' is probably a pun on Adam and adamah (Heb., 'earth'). Compare 'There is no ancient gentlemen but gard'ners, ditchers, and grave-makers; they hold up Adam's profession' [Hamlet 5.1.29-31]. 45-8 Reb Judah ... did disdain ... below the brain ... weep: 'Rabbi [i.e., Reb Judah] was asked, "Why were you called 'Our Holy Teacher?'" Said he to them, "I have never looked at my membrum." - In Rabbi's case there was another thing to his credit, viz., he did not insert his hand beneath his girdle'

393 / Explanatory Notes pp 193-7 [Shabbat n8b]. (The original version of the poem has 'never felt / The anatomy below his belt.') Reb Judah is frequently described as weeping in the Talmud. 55 no pharisaic crew: The Pharisees were the dominant religious and political sect during the period of the Second Temple, and played a central role in the later development of Judaism. The 'parfait jolly company' celebrated in the poem were all Pharisees or their heirs, and Klein explicitly rejects the pejorative connotations associated with Phariseeism in the New Testament. Version 2 10 flap-dragon: 'play in which they catch raisins out of burning brandy and extinguish them by closing the mouth and eating them' [OED] 20 Mountain-uprooters! Hammers of the law: The article on 'Titles of Honor' in JE identifies these as Rabbah bar Nahmani ('mountain-razer') and Johanan ben Zakkai ('mighty hammer') respectively. The passages are marked. Klein refers to Rabbah bar Nahmani as 'mountain uprooter' in notes to a lecture on the Talmud, 6 Dec. 1936 [MS 6989]. 31 the great Talmud's Babylonian pendulum: The Talmud, the collection of writings constituting Jewish civil and religious law, exists in two versions, the Jerusalem and the Babylonian, the latter of which came to be considered the superior authority. 'Pendulum' refers to the dialectical mode of Talmudic commentary. Compare 'the bright pendulum of dialectic' [DENTIST, 3]. CALVARY 4 Eli Eli: 'And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?' [Matthew 27.46]. Compare SATURDAY NIGHT, 14. DESIGN FOR MEDIAEVAL TAPESTRY

See introductory note to BALLAD OF SIGNS AND WONDERS. With the exception of one section, the poem is in terza rima. The breaking of the expected pattern after the first tercet in ]udith Makes Comparisons may be intended as a piece of formal symbolism since, in this section, expectations patterned on literary models are brutally shattered. For a more complex example of the symbolically significant disruption of terza rima, see POLITICAL MEETING.

18/19 Reb: (Yid.) 'mister/ traditional title prefixed to a man's first name 31 Judengasse: (Ger.) ghetto, literally 'Jew street' 41 yellow badge: In 1215 the Lateran Council decreed that Jews were required to wear an identifying badge, generally yellow. 52-3 the mouse discovers I The nibbled hole; the sparrow owns its nest: 'The

394 / Explanatory Notes pp 197-204 foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head' [Matthew 8.20]. 57/58 Nahum-this-also-is-for-the-good: a reference to Nahum of Gimzo, a rabbi mentioned in the Talmud who always put the best interpretation on events by saying, gam zu letovah, 'this also is for the good.' In 'The Resignation of Hore-Belisha' [cjc, 12 Jan. 1940, p. 4] Klein refers to 'a typical gam-zuI'tovah attitude.' 69/70 Epicure: The Hebrew word apikoros, meaning 'sceptic' or 'atheist,' derives from the name of the Greek philosopher Epicurus, who, though not actually an atheist, was sceptical of the gods' power to influence man or nature. Isaiah Epicure shares not only Epicurus' scepticism about divine power, but also his belief that pleasure is the only good. 88-91 How long ... nod: 'How long wilt thou forget me, O Lord? for ever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me?' [Psalms 13.1]. 109 sable ... gules: black and red, in heraldry. Compare 'sable arms, / Black as his purpose ... totally gules, horridly tricked / With blood' [Hamlet 2.2.452-7]. 114-16 Rashi ... Ibn Ezra ... I Maimonides: For Rashi see A PSALM OF ABRAHAM, TO BE WRITTEN DOWN AND LEFT ON THE TOMB OF RASHI. Abraham Ibn Ezra (1089-1164) and Maimonides (Moses ben Maimon, 1135-1204) were leading philosophers and commentators. 123 Duns ... aquinatic Thomas: the scholastic philosophers, Duns Scotus and Thomas Aquinas 154-5 kiddush benediction ... wine: a prayer recited over a cup of wine to consecrate the Sabbath or a festival. Compare MURALS FOR A HOUSE OF GOD, 259. 160 eighteen prayers: the shemoneh esreh ('eighteen'), the main prayer at all services, also known as the amidah. See introductory note to STANCE OF THE AMIDAH.

ELIJAH Elijah was a prophet in the Kingdom of Israel in the reign of Ahab and Ahaziah. He is a favourite figure in Jewish folklore and is the subject of many legends. However, Klein's presentation of Elijah as a Baal Shem Tov figure (compare BAAL SHEM TOV) seems to be his own invention. 19-20 Aleph ... Tauph: the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet EXORCISM

VAIN

'A poem inspired by the rites of Cabbala. An animadverting to the belief that a mis-pronunciation of the sacred name of God - the tetragrammaton, brings evil spirits upon the face of the earth' [letter to Jewish Publication Society, 7 Aug. 1942]. The exact nature of the Kabbalistic ritual is unclear. Spiro explains it as

395 / Explanatory Notes pp 204-8 an attempt to hasten the coming of the Messiah, but 'exorcise' suggests an exorcism ritual such as is described in the famous Yiddish play The Dybbuk, which Klein discusses in 'The Dybbuk' [LER, pp. 70-4], The theme of the frustrated ritual is reflected in the form of the poem: a Shakespearean sonnet lacking the final couplet. See note to SONNET UNRHYMED. 5 The circle broken: Spiro cites the Kabbalistic doctrine of emanations, often represented by a circle. The reference may also be to the drawing of a magic circle, a common motif in magical rites. 5 bird-feet: See note to IN RE SOLOMON WARSHAWER, 124-5. 12 The stutter in the tetragrammaton: The word of the greatest potency, of course, is the tetragrammaton, the four-lettered name of Jehovah, forbidden to be uttered save by the purest of the pure' [LER, p. 72]. Spiro points out the parallel with Klein's short story The Seventh Scroll,' in which a Torah scroll is invalidated by an error in the name of God [Stories, p. no]. KING ELIMELECH

For a more serious treatment of the theme of the deposed king, see IN RE SOLOMON WARSHAWER. The name Elimelech means 'God is my King.' ON THE ROAD TO P A L E S T I N E

6 Baruch Hu: (Heb.) 'Blessed is He' OUT OF THE PULVER AND THE POLISHED LENS

probably written in anticipation of the tercentenary of the birth of the Jewish philosopher Baruch (or Benedict) Spinoza (1632-77). The major source for the poem is The Philosophy of Spinoza: Selected from His Chief Works, with a life of Spinoza and an introduction by Joseph Ratner (New York: Modern Library 1927), of which Klein owned a copy. Unless otherwise noted, all quotations in the following notes are from Ratner. Klein drew especially on Ratner's The Life of Spinoza' [pp. xi-xxvi], which, along with the 'Introduction to the Philosophy of Spinoza' [pp. xxvii-lxx], contains several dozen markings and a few annotations. The main body of the work, consisting of selections from Spinoza's writings [pp. 1-376], contains only two markings (in the chapter 'Of the Ceremonial Law' [pp. 88-9]), which are of no relevance to the poem. As Klein's markings suggest, the poem shows no evidence of close familiarity with Spinoza's philosophy, except as a general vision of the One in the many. Klein's main interest is in Spinoza as a creative individual at odds with society; hence the poem's focus on the episode of Spinoza's excommunication by the Jewish community of Amsterdam. The young poet's identification with the young

396 / Explanatory Notes pp 208-10 philosopher at the time of his excommunication is obvious: Klein was twenty-two when the poem was first published; Spinoza was excommunicated when he was 'barely twenty-four' [p. xvi; marginal marking]. Title: Tulver' means 'powder, dust' (obs.; all citations in the OED from the sixteenth century). 'Polished lens' refers to the fact that, after his excommunication, Spinoza 'took up the trade of polishing lenses as a means of earning his simple bread' [p. xvii]. Klein may have been inspired to use Spinoza's lens polishing as the central metaphor for his poem by the epigraph to Ratner cited from Heine: 'All our modern philosophers, though often perhaps unconsciously, see through the glasses which Baruch Spinoza ground' [underlined]. 3 Baruch alias Benedict: Hebrew and Latin, respectively, for 'blessed': '... he changed his name from Baruch to Benedict, quite confident one can be as blessed in Latin as in Hebrew' [p. xvii; marginal marking]. 13-14 rani's horn blown ... maledictory breath: '... Spinoza found himself cut off from the race of Israel with all the prescribed curses of excommunication upon his head' [p. xvi; marginal marking]. In The Dybbuk' [LER, p. 72], Klein describes 'the instrument of excommunication with its black candles and white robes and ram's horn blown to shatter the air with anathema.' 19 stiletto: '... an attempt had been made by one of the over-righteous upon Spinoza's life soon after he became an object of official displeasure' [pp. xvi-xvii]. 20 Uriel da Costa: The 'indecisive martyr' [p. xii], Uriel da Costa (1585-1640), came from a family of Portuguese Marannos (Jews forced to practise their religion in secret) who had converted to Catholicism. He returned to Judaism and left Portugal for Amsterdam, where his unorthodox ideas angered the Jewish community. He was twice excommunicated, and he twice repented, but the humiliating penance he was forced to undergo the second time drove him to suicide. 24-9 bishop ... paternoster: Klein's references to 'bishop,' 'confessional/ and 'paternoster' are misleading; after his initial return to Judaism, da Costa's 'struggle' took place entirely within the Jewish community. 40 scripture on the wall: a reference to the writing on the wall which appears to Belshazzar in Daniel 5 41-3 threat... bribe of florins: 'Report has it ... they offered Spinoza an annuity of 1,000 florins if he would, in all overt ways, speech and action, conform to the established opinions and customs of the Synagogue; or, if he did not see the wisdom and profit of compliance, they threatened to isolate him by excommunication' [p. xvi]. Section iv: 'Instead of maintaining that God ... has absolute, irresponsible control of a universe which is external to him - the rather rude anthropomorphic account of the ultimate nature of the universe contained in the Bible - Spinoza

397 / Explanatory Notes pp 210-11 maintains that God ... must be and act according to external and necessary laws' [p. xxxiii; NB in margin]. Section v: a sonnet set as prose. Compare A COLOURED GENTLEMAN and MURALS FOR A HOUSE OF GOD, sections in and ix. 56-8 theorems ... two and two make four: 'Man, Spinoza held, is a part of Nature, and Nature is governed by eternal and immutable laws. It must be just as possible, therefore, to apply the mathematical method to man, as it is to apply it to matter' [p. xxviii; marginal marking]. 56 the horrible atheist: '... a rumor spread that he had in press a book proving that God does not exist' [p. xix; marginal marking]. Section vi: 'We find in him ... an utter reliance upon the powers of the human mind' [p. xxxii]. 70 Cabbalist: a student of the Kabbalah, the central Jewish mystical tradition 72 Sanctum sanctorum: (Lat.) lit. 'holy of holies'; the inner sanctuary of the Temple where the ark containing the tablets of Moses was kept 74 golden bowl of Koheleth: Koheleth is the Hebrew name for both the book of Ecclesiastes and its author, traditionally King Solomon. For the 'golden bowl' [Ecclesiastes 12.6] as the brain see note to A PRAYER OF ABRAHAM, AGAINST MADNESS, 9-12. Section vn: 'For Spinoza ... miracles, did they actually occur, would exhibit not God's power but His impotence. The omnipotence of the one absolutely infinite Being is not shown by temperamental interruptions of the course of events; it is manifested in the immutable and necessary laws by which all things come to pass' [p. xxxiv; NB in margin]. Section vm: '... we can apprehend the infinite essence of God or Nature because every particular finite thing is a determinate expression of the infinite ... Thus from the comprehension of any particular thing, we can pass to a comprehension of the infinite and eternal' [pp. Ixi—Ixii]. This section imitates biblical poetry in its imagery and use of parallelism, and it echoes the vocabulary and syntax of the King James version. For specific borrowings, see below. 89 petty ... fragment: '... man is, cosmically considered, impressively insignificant ... an infinitely small part of absolutely infinite Nature; ... a very tiny expression of infinite life' [p. Ixiii]. 90 thou art the world: '... God is identical with the universe' [p. xxxiii; NB in margin]. 95-7 Thy glory ... hear: 'and his voice was like a noise of many waters: and the earth shined with his glory' [Ezekiel 43.2]; 'the whole earth is full of his glory' [Isaiah 6.3]. 101 crescent moon ... finger-nail: Compare 'a crescent moon whose pale / Round curve is God's own finger-nail' [ESCAPE, 347-8]. 102-3 tf ••• there: quoted verbatim from Psalm 139.8

398 / Explanatory Notes pp 212-13 106—7 Go ... God: 'Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise' [Proverbs 6.6]. Section ix: For the central contrast in this section between the false bridegroom and the faithful 'ever-unwedded lover' see Ratner, p. liii: 'Natural love, or love free from all ceremonial coercions, is not merely not a questionable source of marital happiness: it is the only source. The ceremonial law, the legal or religious marriage custom, has nothing whatsoever to do with human happiness' [marginal marking]. 123 Shabbathai Zvi: Shabbathai Zvi (1626-76) proclaimed himself the Messiah and aroused enormous enthusiasm among his fellow Jews, especially those of eastern Europe. He went to Constantinople to convert the Sultan but was himself forced to convert to Islam under threat of death. Most of his followers despaired; some, known as the Sabbatians, continued to believe in him: '... many of the faithful were attracted by ... the strange hope of being saved from a bitter exile by a Messianic Sabbatai Zevi' [p. xii]. 124 Took ... wife: Shabbathai Zvi performed a sacrilegious marriage ceremony between himself and the Torah, in fulfilment of a prophecy concerning the coming of the Messiah. This ceremony took place within a year or two of Spinoza's excommunication in Amsterdam. 125 silken canopy: the hupah under which the Jewish wedding ceremony takes place 126 Thou art hallowed unto me: words spoken by the Jewish bridegroom to his bride as he places the ring on her finger 128 Mynheer: (Dutch) 'my lord' 128-9 forgetting I Dutchmen and Rabbins: 'For the rest of his life, whenever he had occasion to refer to the Jews, Spinoza referred to them as he did to the Gentiles - a race to which he did not belong' [p. xvii]. 129 consumptive: '... the fine dust he ground ... aggravated his inherited tuberculosis and undoubtedly considerably hastened his death' [pp. xvii-xviii; marginal marking]. SATURDAY NIGHT

In Klein's short story 'A Myriad Minded-Man,' SATURDAY NIGHT is composed by the anti-Semitic Godfrey Somers after a walk 'down Main Street on a Saturday night ... Bulky sausage-armed Jewesses pushed carriages holding at least two sons of the Covenant, while their husbands, in most cases diminutive and cadaverouslooking homunculi, walked by their sides. The delicatessen stalls sent out appetizing and spicy odors from their ever-open doors; the butcher shops were loud with the sound of bone-chopping, and bargaining. From a gramophone-store shrill spangles of song fluttered over the air, as a falsetto-voiced singer pronounced to a listening world, oi, the virtues of her boarder ...' [Stories, pp. 126-7].

399 / Explanatory Notes pp 213-19 1-2 It being no longer Sabbath, angels scrawl I The stars upon the sky: ' "Fine conceit," I said, "this making the angels endorse the sky with their initials" ' [Stories, p. 132]. Writing is forbidden on the Sabbath. 2 Main Street: St Lawrence Blvd, the old Jewish 'Main' 14 O, Eli, Eli, lama zabachthani: 'My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?'; Christ's last words on the cross [Matthew 27.46, Mark 15.34]. Compare CALVARY, 4. The passage Klein is quoting has sabachthani, not zabachthani. These words are an Aramaic translation of Psalm 22.2. The original Hebrew version in Psalm 22 formed the title of a popular Yiddish song. SCRIBE The scrolls of the law are written entirely by hand, and particular care must be taken to preserve the sanctity of the work' [letter to Poetry magazine, 19 Apr. 1931]. Compare The Bible Manuscripts' [LER, pp. 135-7! and The Seventh Scroll' [Stones, pp. 97-110]. 4 Sheen of Shaddai: Shin is the first letter of Shaddai, one of the names of God. The leather thongs of the phylacteries are wrapped around the left arm and hand in such a way as to form the three-letter word Shaddai on the hand. 9-11 prayer-shawl... pendules ... white and blue: The prayershawl is often blue and white and it has pendules or fringes (zizit). 12 Lilith: a female demon, symbol of lust and sexual temptation 13-17 His eyes ... commentaries of age: 'As he bent over the goatskin manuscript, his small tuft of a beard poised, like an oriental brush, above the writing ... contrasting with black dot-like eyes ... there shone from his face the white splendour of a broad brow' [Stories, p. 99]. 21 imp alcoved in a finger nail: 'an allusion to the Jewish tradition that evil spirits are attached to the fingernails' [s] 25 three score years and ten: the traditional full measure of human life 26-7 raised three pentateuchs I Aloft: The scribe has 'raised,' or brought into existence and completed, three scrolls in his lifetime; there is also a reference to the custom of raising the Torah scroll and displaying it to the congregation after it is read in the synagogue. 30 that other ark: 'A coffin is called aron in Hebrew. The same word is used for the ark into which the Torah scroll is placed in the synagogue' [s]. W O U L D T H A T T H R E E C E N T U R I E S PAST H A D S E E N U S B O R N

Version 2 3 golcondas: Golconda is 'the old name of Hyderabad, formerly celebrated for its diamonds, used as a synonym for a "mine of wealth" ' [OED].

400 / Explanatory Notes pp 223-9 THESE N O R T H E R N STARS ARE SCARABS IN MY EYES

8 the sweet-singer: King David, author of the Psalms 14 Maze/ Tov: (Heb.; lit., 'good luck') congratulations U P O N A T I M E T H E R E L I V E D A D W A R F , A JEW

5 Shadchan: (Yid.) matchmaker FROM B E A U T I F U L D R E A M S I RISE; I RISE FROM D R E A M S

The first two quatrains echo Shelley's 'Indian Serenade,' beginning 'I arise from dreams of thee.' MY LITERATI F R I E N D S IN R E S T A U R A N T S

4 Annul the Jew ... Graetz: Heinrich Graetz (1817-91) was the author of the seminal History of the Jews. 'Annul the Jew' is obscure. According to Spiro, 'Graetz expresses his belief that Jews have a mission to propagate ethical monotheism among the nations of the world. The poet's "literati friends" construe the idea to imply that the nations, having assimilated the essence of the mission, may now "annul the Jew." ' This interpretation seems out of keeping with Klein's characterization of his 'literati friends' as well as with his references to Graetz elsewhere in his works. These references invariably make the point that Graetz portrays the Jews as passive sufferers. For example, in 'The Literature of Israel' [c/c, 10 June 1949, p. 3] Klein writes of 'a repudiation of the psychology of the past' as described by Graetz: '... when Graetz came to write his history of our people he practically accepted as a basic axiom that the principal characteristic of Jewish exilic history was passivity. By and large, Jews did not do things: they had things done to them.' Perhaps Klein's point, then, is that the 'literati friends' use Graetz in their own 'repudiation of the psychology of the past.' 10 L'amor ... stelle: (Ital.) 'Love that moves the sun and the other stars'; the final line of the Divine Comedy I SHALL NOT BEAR M U C H B U R D E N W H E N I CROSS

13 psalter-book: 'It was customary for women to say special prayers (tehinot) on the Sabbath at home or in the synagogue' [s]. 14 perruque: See note to AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL, 38.

401 / Explanatory Notes pp 230-3 BANDIT

In a note to BANDIT from one of his poetry readings [MS 6038], Klein cites the Yiddish phrase a shmek-tabak gazlan, 'a snuff-tobacco bandit.' (He uses this phrase in a letter to Joseph Frank, 5 Aug. 1938, in which he refers to himself as 'only a snuff-tobacco bandit armed with tzitzith and tfillin.') The note continues, 'In Israel, there is no shoot of the tree of Jesse James.' DIARY OF A B R A H A M SEGAL, POET

like SOIREE OF VELVEL KLEiNBURGER, a satire in imitation of T.S. Eliot Title: 'Abraham Segal' combines Klein's own first name and the last name of J.I. Segal, a prominent Montreal Jewish poet whose works Klein reviewed and translated. 1 No cock rings matins of the dawn: 'Matins' is a traditional poeticism for morning bird song. The OED cites The shrill Organd Cocke / Shall cease to carroll Mattens to the morne' [Henry Glapthorne, The Hollander]. 2 morn, in russet mantle clad: Hamlet 1.1.166 3-4 melodye I Maken the smalle fowles: 'And smale foweles maken melodye' [Chaucer, Prologue to the Canterbury Tales, 9]. 5-6 The lark ... arise: 'Hark, hark, the lark at heaven's gate sings, / And Phoebus gins arise' [Cymbeline 2.3.20-1]. 7 little birds make a sweet jargoning: 'Sometimes all little birds that are, / How they seemed to fill the sea and air / With their sweet jargoning!' [Coleridge, 'Rime of the Ancient Mariner,' 360-2]. 9 slug-a-bed: 'Get up, sweet slug-a-bed' [Herrick, 'Corinna's Going A-May ing,' 5]. 11 braggadocio: 'empty vaunting' [OED]; from the boastful character, Braggadocchio, in Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene 18 ranunculi: (Lat.) 'little frogs' 22 cauchemars: (Fr.) 'nightmares' 24 worshippers before a mazda lamp: The mazda lamp was a widely used electric light bulb, developed in 1906. It was named after the Persian god of light. Klein was aware of the origin of the name: in 'Of National Characteristics' [cjc, 23 Feb. 1940, p. 4] he refers to the Persian gods 'Mazda and Ahriman.' 28 ye angels, weep: 'Tears such as Angels weep' {Paradise Lost 1.620] 44-5 What a piece of work ... the world: Hamlet 2.2.303-7 46 Dr. Aesculapius Pavlov: combining Aesculapius, the legendary Greek physician, and Ivan Petrovich Pavlov, the Russian physiologist and experimental psychologist 58-61 Blessed ... inherit the earth: 'Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth' [Matthew 5.5].

402 / Explanatory Notes pp 233—8 62-3 The Lord ... ends: Compare 'God moves in a mysterious way / His wonders to perform' [William Cowper, Olney Hymns, no. 35]. Parodied by T.S. Eliot in The Hippopotamus/ 23-4: 'God works in a mysterious way - / The Church can sleep and feed at once.' 66-8 Open, ye gates ... door: 'Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors' [Psalms 24.7]. 76—7 Consider ... toil: 'Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin' [Matthew 6.28]. Compare BARRICADE SMITH: HIS SPEECHES, 183-5. 78-81 In sacred stocks ... I In hallowed bonds: Compare 'I shall not want Capital in Heaven / For I shall meet Sir Alfred Mond. / We two shall lie together, lapt / In a five per cent. Exchequer Bond' [T.S. Eliot, 'A Cooking Egg,' 13-16]. 102 Moi ... doigts: (Fr.) 'As for me, I have Apollo at the tips of my ten fingers.' This appears not to be a quotation, but a clumsy attempt at an alexandrine on Abraham Segal's part. The line has the requisite number of syllables, but the caesura and accents are misplaced, and it is unidiomatic - 'j'ai sur les bouts de mes doigts' should be 'je sais sur les bouts de mes doigts.' 129 de profundis: from the Vulgate translation of Psalm 130.1, 'Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord.' 139-63 Beneath ... Ophelia: This section, written in mock-Elizabethan English, contains numerous echoes of Shakespeare: 'fretted roof [Hamlet 2.2.301]; 'swag-bellied' [Othello 2.3.78]; 'calibans' [Caliban in The Tempest]; 'immortal yearnings' ['immortal longings,' Antony and Cleopatra 5.2.281]; 'clink their canakins' [Othello 2.3.69-70]; 'brave oaths' [As You Like It 3.4.41]; 'feefi-fum' ['fie, foh, and fum,' King Lear 3.4.183]; 'flibbertigibbet' [King Lear 3.4.115]; 'bodkins' [Hamlet 3.1.75]; 'Let me lie in thy lap, Ophelia' [Hamlet 3.2.112]. The OED defines some of the more obscure Elizabethan terms as follows: 'byzant' (or 'bezant') - 'a gold coin first struck at Byzantium'; 'nockandro' 'the breech'; 'brabble' - 'to quarrel noisily'; 'dudgeon' - 'a kind of wood used by turners, esp. for handles of knives, daggers, etc.'; 'placket' - 'an apron or petticoat.' 171 Herzl: Theodor Herzl, founder of modern Zionism 175 My idols ... shards: According to Talmudic tradition, Abraham shattered the idols belonging to his father, Terah. 176 La chair ... les livres: the first line of Mallarme's sonnet 'Brise marine.' Compare ET J'AI LU TOUS LES LIVRES. 183-6 Around the corner ... phallus: Compare the treatment of the movies in BARRICADE SMITH: HIS SPEECHES, 79-106.

204 macaronics: Macaronic verse was originally a burlesque form in which vernacular words are given Latin endings and used in Latin constructions.

403 / Explanatory Notes pp 238-40 The word eventually came to designate any verse in which there is a mixture of languages, or, more broadly, any jumble or medley. 206-7 Within the meadow ... sweetheart: Compare THE MOUNTAIN, 37-43. EARTHQUAKE

2 a white ass ride: According to Jewish tradition, the dead will be raised by the Messiah, who will arrive riding on a white ass. See Zechariah 9.9. FESTIVAL ... Purim of all the festivals in the calendar was the one he favoured most. It was his childhood. The High Holy Days, the Days of Awe and Contrition, the Sabbath, and the Sabbath of Sabbaths - these, with their menace and mortifications, lay burdens on his heart; but Purim, the feast of the casting of lots and purparts, feast superlatively festive, feast-day upon which it was of merit to get so topsy-tipsy, so purblind drunk, as not to be able to distinguish (Adloyada!) between Mordecai blessed and Haman execrate (not that anybody did; it was its permissiveness that was so exhilarating); Purim commemorative of the enemy in his purpose frustrated; triumphant Purim, and the ten unspeakable sons of Haman enumerated, as they hung from gallows and purlins and rafters, in one single sibilance decabarbaric; full of gaiety, with its Purim players in mock purfled purpur: Ahasueros, poor royal fool, and perfumed Vashti, and Esther pure and noble, and Mordecai maintaining defiant port against imperious Haman - this was the holiday above all others that called to him, persuasive, peremptory, from the purlieus of his youth. ['Adloyada/ a chapter from an unfinished novel, MS 4472-3] For the Purim story see introductory note to FIVE CHARACTERS. 1-4 maskers ... falsetto ... hermaphroditic ... vinous: 'While the Jews have always been noted for abstemiousness in the use of intoxicants, drunkenness was licensed, so to speak, on Purim ... All kinds of merrymaking ... have been indulged in on Purim ... even transgressions of Biblical law, such as the appearance of men in women's clothing and vice versa ... One of the strangest species of merrymaking [is] the custom of masquerading ... Boys and girls walk from house to house in grotesque masks and indulge in all kinds of jollity' [/£, 'Purim']. 6 adloyada wine: The Talmud [Megillah 7b] states that on Purim one should drink until he no longer knows (ad delo yada in Aramaic) the difference between 'Cursed be Haman' and 'Blessed be Mordecai.' 7 haman-taschen: (Yid.) triangular pastry filled with fruit or poppy seeds, supposedly imitating the shape of Haman's hat 17-18 Zeresh ... mephitic: Zeresh was Haman's wife. Haman was forced to act

404 / Explanatory Notes pp 240-5 as Mordecai's herald as he rode in triumph through Shushan. The Talmud [Megillah i6a] relates that Haman's daughter (not his wife as Klein claims) mistook him for Mordecai and emptied a chamber pot on his head. 21 Rattle ... name of Haman: See OF THE MAKING OF GRAGERS. 22 senna: 'the dried leaflets of various species of Cassia, used as a cathartic and emetic' [OED] 24 Gehenna: Hell (from Heb., gehinom) MESSIAH Lines 1-24 list the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, which consists only of consonants, and 25-8 list four of the nekudot, or points, which are added to the letters to indicate vowel sounds. RATHER THAN HAVE MY BRETHREN BEND THE KNEE

Line references are to version i. 7 golden calves: While Moses was on Mount Sinai, the Israelites worshipped a golden calf [Exodus 32.1-6]. 8 high places: 'They have built also the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings unto Baal' [Jeremiah 19.5]. 13 Ashtaroth: (Heb.) Astarte, Semitic goddess of fertility and love REB LEVI YITSCHOK TALKS TO GOD

'Reb Levi Yitschok is a saint in the Hebrew calendar who is noted for his intimate and almost Blake-like conversations with deity. His theology reads like a divine camaraderie' [letter, 19 Apr. 1931, to Harriet Munroe, of Poetry magazine]. The poem is loosely based on the Chassidic folk-song LEVI YITSCHOK'S KADDISH, which Klein translated. In 'The Yiddish Proverb' [LER, p. 121], Klein says of the folk-song: The easy familiarity which Rabbi Levi Yitschok of Berditchev adopted towards his maker, summoning Him, as he does in the folk-song, to a lawsuit to answer for His treatment of Jewry, constitutes a forwardness which, in the eyes of devotees of other religions, verges on blasphemy. For the Jew, however, such intimacies had in them nothing of the audacious; was not God a constant Presence, a present help?' Compare 'In Memoriam: Rabbi Levi Yitschok of Berditchev' [BS, pp. 198-201]. 7 Rebono shel Olam: (Heb.) 'Master of the Universe' 43-6 Messiah ... wine ... shofar ... ass: According to Jewish tradition the Messiah will arrive on an ass; a shofar, or trumpet, will be blown to mark his arrival; and there will be a great feast in celebration. 47-60 So all night ... the sunrise smiled: a Petrarchan sonnet

405 / Explanatory Notes pp 245-51 WOOD NOTES WILD

Title: '... sweetest Shakespeare, fancy's child, / Warble his native Wood-notes wild' [Milton, 'L'Allegro,' 133-4] YOSSEL LETZ

'Vessel' is a Yiddish diminutive for Yosef or Joseph; letz is Yiddish for 'clown' or 'joker.' Compare the clown 'Itzi Litz' in Hershel of Ostropol, cjc, 31 Mar. 1939, p. 20. For details of the Passover seder, see notes to HAGGADAH. INTO THE TOWN OF C H E L M

In 'Of Hebrew Humor' [LER, p. 108] Klein refers to metropolitan Chelm, city of fools and simpletons, [which] rose resplendent in the imagination of Israel. The Jewish Encyclopaedia says with prosaic exactitude and with an utter indifference to the splendid role that Chelm plays in Jewish folk-lore, that it is a town in the government of Kovno, population forty-two thousand, all of whom, with the exception of three hundred presumably hewers of wood and kindlers of sabbath-fires - are Jews. Most of these, the writer goes on to say, are engaged in mercantile pursuits, only about one thousand five hundred and forty-nine being artisans. Notes on the educational and philanthropic institutions of the town follow. Not for its traffic in flax and in lumber, not for its synagogues exalting every lane, not for these is Chelm renowned among the cities of the world, but for that it is the Hebrew Gotham, a city whose census is taken under tabulations headed dolt, addle-pate, numskull, blockhead, and all the other varying degrees of nitwitry. This indeed is the metropolis that, in defiance of all architectural rules, was built from its roofs down, the city in which common sense was heavily and outrageously taxed, the capital in which - but let the poet take the reader within its precincts, there to proffer him the keys of the City, and there to abandon him, knowing full well that he who can unlock the gates of Chelm can have access to all the remote corners of Jewish humor. In a note from one of his poetry readings [MS 6037] he comments: 'Every race in its wisdom chooses a city of fools.'

406 / Explanatory Notes pp 253-65 LEGEND OF LEBANON

43 Shoshannah: (Heb., 'rose' or 'lily') Susannah noAshtaroth:(Heb.) Astarte, Semitic goddess of fertility and love 123 lyar: (Heb.) the second month of the Hebrew calendar, falling in mid to late spring 155-6Uriel I And Gabriel:two of the four angels who traditionally guard sleepers. See A PSALM OF ABRAHAM, WHICH HE MADE BECAUSE OF FEAR IN THE NIGHT.

239-40 For he was wise ... Love is stronger still: 'for love is strong as death' [Song of Solomon 8.6] MOURNERS

See note to AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL, 28. M U R A L S FOR A H O U S E OF GOD

See introductory note to BALLAD OF SIGNS AND WONDERS. In a letter to the Jewish Publication Society, 7 Aug. 1942, Klein describes the poem as a 'poetical treatment of a German pogrom in the eleventh century in Mainz.' Heinrich Graetz's History of the Jews (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society of America, 1967), 3.302-3 contains the following account cited by Spiro: ... the crusaders arrived in Mayence. Here their leader was a Count Emmerich of Leiningen ... a close relation of Archbishop Ruthard, an unprincipled, bloodthirsty man. He desired the riches of the Jews of Mayence as much as their blood, and together with the archbishop ... devised a fiendish plan of extermination. The archbishop invited all the Jews to take shelter in his palace, until the danger had passed ... But at break of day, ... Emmerich of Leiningen led the crusaders to the bishop's palace, and demanded the surrender of the Jews. The archbishop had indeed appointed a guard, but the soldiers refused to bear arms against the fanatical pilgrims, who easily penetrated into the palace ... Men, young and old, women and children, fell by the sword of their brethren or their foes ... The treasures of the Jews were divided between the archbishop and Emmerich ... Only a few were baptized; two men and two girls - Uriah and Isaac, with his two daughters - were induced by fear to accept baptism, but their repentance drove them to a terrible act of heroism. Isaac killed his two daughters on the eve of Pentecost, in his own house, and then set fire to the dwelling; then he and his friend Uriah went to the synagogue, set fire to it, and died in the flames. A great part of Mayence was destroyed by this fire.

407 / Explanatory Notes pp 265-73 18 bush: the sign-board of a tavern; from the branch or bunch of ivy hung up as a vintner's sign 32 thirty pieces of gold: a reference to the thirty pieces of silver for which Judas betrayed Christ [Matthew 26.14-16] Section in: sonnet set as prose. Compare A COLOURED GENTLEMAN and section v of OUT OF THE PULVER AND THE POLISHED LENS.

71/72 Johannus, Dei Monachus, Loquitur: (Lat.) 'John, monk of God, speaks.' 103-4 the beam from Palestine ... the mote from Mainz: 'And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but perceivest not the beam that is in thine own eye?' [Luke 6.41]. Section vi: in terza rima 138-9transgress your nail I Across its thin edge: Spiro compares the procedure by which the shohet or ritual slaughterer tests his knife: 'It must be examined for nicks - a rough blade renders the animal unfit - by running the finger up and down the cutting edge.' Section vm: There is no Rabbi Yom-Tob associated with Mainz. Klein has in mind Yom Tov of Joigny, who was the synagogal poet of York. In 1190, the Jews of York were attacked by crusaders preparing to leave for the Holy Land. They found temporary refuge in a castle, but Yom Tov inspired the whole community to join him in committing suicide, rather than yield to baptism. Yom Tov was author of an elegy on the Jews of Blois, who, in 1171, were burnt at the stake as a result of the first ritual murder accusation. He was also author of a hymn, omnam ken ('Yes, it is thus'), read on the eve of the Day of Atonement, in which he pleads with God to show mercy to sinful man. 193 horns of glory: In the description of Moses descending Mount Sinai [Exodus 34.29], the phrase karan or occurs, which is usually translated 'his skin sent forth light/ although its literal meaning is 'his skin sent forth horns.' This passage is the subject of book 6, chapter 9 of Sir Thomas Browne's Pseudodoxia Epidemica, 'Of the Picture of Moses with Horns' [The Works of Sir Thomas Browne, ed. Simon Wilkin (London: George Bell and Sons 1888), 2.29—31]. Klein made extensive markings in this chapter in his copy of the volume. In particular, he underlined the phrases 'horns and cones' and 'usually termed the glory' [p. 31]. 213-14 phylacteries ... sandal-strings: a reference to the leather thongs of the phylacteries 219 Let there be light: Genesis 1.3 244-6 Not in levin ... still small voice: 'And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake: And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice' [i Kings 19.11-12].

408 / Explanatory Notes pp 273—9 245 sign and wonder: Exodus 7.3, Deuteronomy 7.19. Compare BALLAD OF SIGNS AND WONDERS.

259 Kiddush of the wine-filled skull: Kiddush is recited over a cup of wine to consecrate the Sabbath or a festival. Compare DESIGN FOR MEDIAEVAL TAPESTRY, 154-5.

Section ix: a sonnet set as prose. See note to section m. SCHOLAR

3-21 gemara ... mishna: The Talmud consists of the mishna and the commentary on it, the gemara; gemara is often used to refer to the Talmud as a whole. 7-8 small ... rashi script: The biblical commentary of Rashi (Rabbi Solomon bar Isaac) is traditionally printed in a small and quite distinctive script. 28 Babylon: Babylon was noted for its eminent academies. SONG OF E X C L A M A T I O N S

In a note to the poem from one of his poetry readings [MS 6043], Klein refers to 'the expressive Yiddish monosyllables. An onomatopoeic eloquence in itself.' He cites a Yiddish proverb which he translates as 'It is good to get it off your chest. 4 bam-bim-bim: 'Hasidic melodies without words and with slow rhythm are sung with these sounds' [s]. 8 eh-beh-meh: 'Hebrew consonants with vowel sounds as they are read in primers' [s] 12 ai-ai-ai: 'Hasidic melodies without words and with lively rhythm, are sung with these sounds' [s]. S O N G O F TOYS A N D T R I N K E T S

9 pendules eight: fringes on the corners of the prayershawl 11-12 grager ... Haman: Compare OF THE MAKING OF GRAGERS. 13 tallis: (Heb.) prayershawl 15-16palmleaf and I Citron:A palm branch and a citron (along with a willow branch and a myrtle branch) are used as part of the ritual of the Jewish holiday Sukkot. 19 zaddik: (Heb.) 'righteous man'; Chassidic holy man and leader S O N G TO BE S U N G AT D A W N

15 Modeh Ani: (Heb.) T give thanks'; a morning prayer recited immediately upon waking up, the first that a Jewish child learns

409 / Explanatory Notes pp 280-3 BALDHEAD ELISHA

When the prophet Elisha cursed some little children for mocking his bald head, forty-two of them were killed by bears [2 Kings 2.23-5]. BALLAD FOR UNFORTUNATE ONES

2-3 The pale wan creatures ... stairs: Compare THE CRIPPLES. 6 songs of degrees: Psalms 120-34 begin with the phrase 'A Song of degrees.' 10 Messiah on his dappled mare: 'Behold, thy King cometh unto thee ... lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass' [Zechariah 9.9]. 11-20 The blind ... mare: 'Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing' [Isaiah 35.5-6]. 24 ram's horn jubilant: Elijah will blow the ram's horn or shofar to announce the coming of the Messiah. 'Jubilant' may be an allusion to the blowing of the shofar to mark the Jubilee year, which occurred once every fifty years, during which slaves were freed and debts forgiven. BESTIARY

Bestiaries were medieval collections of fables about animals, intended as didactic religious and moral allegories. As Spiro notes, Klein's BESTIARY 'alludes exclusively to beasts mentioned in the Bible and rabbinic commentaries.' Klein's own comments [K] are cited from a letter to A.J.M. Smith, 21 Jan. 1943. 14 The elusive unicorn: 'Canst thou bind the unicorn with his band in the furrow? or will he harrow the valleys after thee?' [Job 39.10; cited in K]. 16 The golden mice, the five: After the Philistines captured the Holy Ark they suffered a plague. They returned the Ark with an offering which included five golden mice [i Samuel 6.4]. 18 Gay peacock and glum ape: Klein's marginal notes to MS 2238 identify these as 'Solomon's peacock and ape' [i Kings 10.22]. 20 The fiery behemoth: Job 40.15-24 22 The crocodile's sneeze: The marginal notes to MS 2238 identify the crocodile as the leviathan. See Job 41.18: 'By his neesings [i.e., sneezings] a light doth shine, and his eyes are like the eyelids of the morning.' 23-6 He sees ... sucking milk: The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid ... and the lion shall eat straw like the ox' [Isaiah 11.6—7]. 28 the roe and hind: The marginal notes to MS 2238 have 'hind of Song of Songs.' See Song of Solomon 2.7, 3.5. 29-30 Bravely ... the basilisk: The basilisk, also known as the cockatrice, was a

410 / Explanatory Notes pp 283—97 fabulous reptile, hatched by a serpent from a cock's egg. Its breath, and even its look, was fatal. The reference seems to be to Isaiah 11.8: 'and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den.' 31 Pygarg and cockatrice: Tygarg' is 'a kind of antelope - literally, the whiterumped animal' [K]. Tygarg' occurs in Deuteronomy 14.5 and 'cockatrice' in Isaiah 11.8 and 14.29. 36 the beast Nebuchadnezzar:'This wicked King is reputed to have ended his days as a grass-eating animal' [K]. See Daniel 4.25-33. CANTOR 'Cantors are traditionally supposed to swallow raw eggs to improve their voices. This practice is the source of much Yiddish folk humour' [s]. 35 kdusha: (Heb.) 'part of the Sabbath and Holy Day synagogue service during which cantors traditionally display their vocal talents' [s] 36 Mizrach: (Heb.) 'east'; the east wall of the synagogue, which faces Jerusalem. It is the location of the Holy Ark, on both sides of which sit the rabbi and dignitaries. C O N C E R N I N G FOUR STRANGE SONS

In the haggadah, which contains readings for the seder, the ritual meal on the first evening of Passover, there is a passage describing the proper way to tell the Passover story to four types of sons, the wise, the wicked, the simple, and the one who is not even able to ask. 10 Rasha: (Heb.) 'wicked one' A DEED OF D A R I N G

5 Samson the brave: a translation of the Hebrew phrase shimshon ha-gibor, referring to the biblical Samson [Judges 13-16]. An earlier version of the poem has 'Shimshon Gibor' in line 2. DOCTOR D W A R F

11-12 almond ... raisin: a traditional Jewish delicacy. 'Raisins and Almonds' is the title of a Yiddish lullaby. GETZEL GELT

Title: 'Gelt' is Yiddish for money. The name Getzel seems to have no particular significance; it was probably chosen for its humorous alliteration with 'gelt.'

4ii / Explanatory Notes pp 297-301 Compare Ttzi Litz/ the clown mentioned in Hershel of Ostropol, cjc, 31 Mar. 1939, p. 20. GIFT

Tfillin, or phylacteries, are traditionally kept in an embroidered bag. 6-7 letters of flame ... square characters: Traditional Hebrew characters are square, with small curved strokes at the top which may have reminded Klein of flames.

8 His name, and his father's name: For religious purposes, a Jew is identified by his first name followed by ben ('son of) and his father's first name. HEIRLOOM Klein's own comments [K] are cited from a letter to A.J.M. Smith, 21 Jan. 1943. 3 yahrzeit: (Yid.) 'Literally anniversary. It is customary to inscribe the date of the passing of an ancestor on the fly-leaf of some sacred book. Special prayers are said on that anniversary date' [K]. 5 Baal Shem Tov: See note to AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL, 40. 9 no pictures: 'Hebrew prayer books are never illustrated. The only drawings that appear in the liturgy are the signs of the Zodiac illustrating the prayers for rain and fertility' [K]. 14 midnight liturgy: In a note on this phrase from one of Klein's poetry readings [MS 6036], Klein refers to tikun lei shevuot, the custom of staying awake on the night of Shavuot to study Torah. The term 'midnight liturgy' usually refers to tikun hazot, prayers at midnight in memory of the destruction of the Temple and for the restoration of the Land of Israel. 19—20 turned a leaf ... my father's beard: 'The human must be preserved. Humanity - white beard' [note from one of Klein's poetry readings, MS 6036]. In The Chosen People, by Jean and Jerome Tharaud (London: Longman's 1929), pp. 27-8, there is an account of how 'hairs [are] carefully left between the pages of [Talmuds] to prove the strain of one's thought, wherefore certain Talmuds which I have had at hand strangely resemble disgusting herbariums.' Klein marked this passage in his copy, underlining 'disgusting' and writing in the margin: '"disgusting" hyperbole.' For another instance of Klein's response to the Tharauds' comments see introductory note to AVE ATQUE VALE. KING DALFIN

Title: 'Dalfin' is a pun on dalfon, Hebrew for Very poor,' and dauphin, the title of the eldest son of the King of France. Compare 'His ancestral name had

412 / Explanatory Notes pp 302-7 originally been Dalfen, but disliking the connotations of penury that flowed from the Hebrew word, he had had it changed to Dauphin, and felt consequently more French if not more princely' [ss, pp. 72/61-2]. NOSE ARISTOCRATIC

\ Shlemozzle: A shlemazel (Yid.) is someone who constantly suffers bad luck. A PSALM OF A M I G H T Y H U N T E R B E F O R E THE L O R D

Title: 'He was a mighty hunter before the Lord: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord' [Genesis 10.9]. 3 Chatzkel: Yiddish diminutive of Ezekiel A PSALM OF HORSES AND T H E I R RIDERS

Title: 'I will sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea' [Exodus 15.1]. 6 the stables of King Solomon: Solomon had enormous stables for his thousands of horses [i Kings 10.26]. A P S A L M , WITH T R U M P E T S FOR THE M O N T H S

Shevat has been left out of the list of the Hebrew months in this poem. 5-6 Sivan ... thunder and Torah: traditionally the month in which God gave Moses the Torah on Mount Sinai 9-11 Av ... I Messiah in a cell: The Temple was destroyed on the ninth of Av. 'Jewish tradition states that the Messiah, poor and ill, waits somewhere for the appointed time when he will come and restore the Temple. It will be dedicated in Ab, the month in which it was destroyed' [s]. REV OWL

Title: 'Rev' is Yiddish for 'Rabbi.' 4 shtreimel: (Yid.) a fur-trimmed hat, commonly worn by Chassidim on the Sabbath and festivals 13-15 tears gizzards ... kosher: Before an animal can be declared kosher, it must be checked to ensure that its entrails are normal.

413 / Explanatory Notes pp 307—13 SONNET OF THE STARVING ONE

8 kugeled pies: A kugel is a pudding, usually savoury but sometimes sweet, based on such ingredients as potatoes or noodles. 11 curlicued breads: the braided bread served on Sabbath WANDERING

BEGGAR

27-8 small red Jew, I The turbulent Sambation: Sambation (pronounced Sambatyon) is a legendary river beyond which live descendants of the ten Lost Tribes. The river is so turbulent that it is impassable on week days; on the Sabbath it becomes still, but cannot be crossed because of the sanctity of the day. The inhabitants of the land beyond Sambation are often described as small and red-haired. B A A L SHEM TOV

The Baal Shem Tov (Israel ben Eliezer, c. 1700-60) was the founder of Chassidism. He was not a formal preacher but communicated directly with individuals, including women, children, and the common people. He was known for his love of nature and had a reputation as a miracle worker. See note to AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL, 40. 14 who bore children on his back to school: As a young man the Baal Shem Tov served as a teacher's assistant, whose job it was to bring children to school. 16 Crossed ... handkerchief: In a note from a poetry reading [MS 6045], Klein cites, in Yiddish, a passage from the Jewish folk-song COME YOU HERE, PHILOSOPHER. In Klein's translation of the poem, the lines [7-8] read: 'The Rebbe spreads his kerchief out, / And spans the sea and ocean ...' S O N G OF SWEET D I S H E S

'A full course dinner! Side-dishes, as from the hand of a king: Nebuchadnezzar salad, Seleucid olives. For entree - Teutonic herring - Bismarcks without heads. Soup - a choice of either a Pobodonostyev borsht or a puree with crouton of matzo. The main dish - the piece de resistance - meats, of all kinds - autoda-fe steak, or fatima ishkabob, chicken a la Czar, golden turkey. No lamb. And rich sauces. And of course Chanuka latkes. Cakes. Braided bread. Haman taschen. And Hitler baigel - as mementos of zero' ['Adloyada,' a chapter from an unfinished novel, MS 4478]. 5 Haman: See note to FIVE CHARACTERS. 8 Haman-taschen: (Yid.) triangular pastry filled with fruit or poppy seeds, supposedly imitating the shape of Hainan's hat, eaten on Purim

414 / Explanatory Notes pp 314—17 THE VENERABLE

BEE

Title: a punning reference to the Venerable Bede, the eighth-century English theologian and historian. Spiro suggests a further pun on beadle, since the bee is portrayed as performing the functions of a synagogue beadle, or shamash. 3 caftan:worn by east European Jews 19 besomim: (Heb.) spices used in the Sabbath ritual 23 kiddush: The kiddush is recited over a cup of wine to consecrate the Sabbath or a festival. PETITION FOR THAT MY F A T H E R ' S SOUL S H O U L D E N T E R INTO H E A V E N

occasioned by the death of Klein's father, Kalman, in November 1933 4 knave-defender: a reference to Klein's law practice. A second version has 'knavebefriender.' 20 Rebono shel Olam: (Heb.) 'Lord of the universe' 31 Hebrew ... Aramaic: the Bible and the Talmud 37 Aleph-bais: (Heb.) the Hebrew alphabet, so named from its first two letters 42-4 threw ... copper coins: See note to AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL, 35. 58 tending of cattle: See note to AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL, 45. 66—8 For they are the heirs ... wasted that heritage: Compare CHILDE HAROLD'S PILGRIMAGE, 132-5.

69—75 / know ... blessed his bread: 'Kalman Klein found work in the garment industry and became a presser ... [He] showed no interest in ever becoming more than a presser. His material ambitions in life were modest, and the peaceful haven Canada offered him was reward enough ... Kalman placed the highest value not on worldly success but on the precious hours spent in prayer and study' [LOTD, p. 22].

Index of Titles

O R I G I N A L POEMS Italics indicate subsections of long poems or of poetry sequences. Actuarial Report 2.607 Address to the Choirboys 2.613 Advice to the Young 1.85 Advice to Young Virgins 1.85 Aesthetic Curiosity 1.245 Afterword 1.82 Against Mammon, a Murmuring 1.242 Age Draws His Fingernail across My Brow 1.221 Ahasuerus 1.33 Air-Map 2.646 And in That Drowning Instant 2.608 And the Man Moses Was Meek 1.139 Anguish 1.191 Annual Banquet: Chambre de Commerce 2.678 Aphasia 1.42 Apologia 2.716 April Disappointments 1.86 April Fool 1.87 April Fulfilment 1.87 Arabian Love Song 1.155 Arbiter Bibendi 1.88 Arithmetic 1.249 Arrow of Aloofness1.79 As to Quantum 2.708 Assurance 1.89 Astrologer 1.89

416 / Index of Titles At Home 2.665 At the Sign of the Spigot 1.265 Autobiographical 2.564 Auto-da-fe 1.6 Autumn [c. 1928/1928] 1.63 Autumn [c. 1926/0. 1928] 1.90 Autumn Night 1.90 Ave Atque Vale [Version i] 1.191 Ave Atque Vale [Version 2] 1.193 Aye, but a Man's Reach 2.710 Baal Shem Tov 1.311 Babe in the Woods 2.709 Baldhead Elisha 1.280 Ballad for Unfortunate Ones 1.281 Ballad of Quislings 2.532 Ballad of Signs and Wonders 1.64 Ballad of the Dancing Bear 1.156 Ballad of the Days of the Messiah 2.533 Ballad of the Dream That Was Not Dreamed 2.534 Ballad of the Evil Eye 2.536 Ballad of the Hebrew Bride 1.269 Ballad of the Nuremberg Tower Clock 2.537 Ballad of the Nursery Rhymes 2.538 Ballad of the Thwarted Axe 2.539 Ballad of the Werewolves 2.541 Ballade of the Poet 1.44 Bandit 1.230 Barricade Smith: His Speeches 2.463 Basic English 2.615 Beatific Vision 2.710 Beaver 2.671 Benediction, A 1.172 Benediction for the New Moon, A 2.525 Benedictions 2.704 Bestiary 1.282 Betray Me Not. Treat Me As Scurvily 1.220 Biography 1.283 Bion in His Old Age 1.91 Bitter Dish, The 1.129 Black Decalogue 1.129 Blind Girl's Song 1.91 Blueprint for a Monument of War 2.453

417 / Index of Titles Boredom 1.40 Bounty Royal 1.92 Bread 2.617 Break-up, The 2.646 Business 1.93 Caesar's Plagiarist 2.708 Calvary 1.195 Canine Felicity 2.711 Cantabile 2.701 Cantor 1.284 Captain Scuttle 1.285 Chad Gadyah 1.130 Childe Harold's Pilgrimage [Version i] 2.475 Childe Harold's Pilgrimage [Version 2] 2.480 Christian Poet and Hebrew Maid 1.140 Chronicler Continues, The 1.274 Club of final Pain 1.81 Coloured Gentleman, A 1.93 Come Two, like Shadows 2.567 Commercial Bank 2.618 Composition 1.94 Concerning a Strange King 1.290 Concerning Four Strange Sons 1.291 Conjectures 1.67 Consider, Then, the Miracle You Wrought 1.226 Corrigendum 2.462 Counsel 2.712 Counting-out Rhyme 1.250 Coward in Consolation 1.83 Cripples, The 2.647 Cui Bono? 2.711 Dance Chassidic 1.148 Dark Cleopatra on a Gilded Couch 1.94 Dedication 1.6 Deed of Daring, A 1.292 Deja vu 2.710 Dentist 2.568 Desiderata 1.230 Desideratum 2.569 Design for Mediaeval Tapestry 1.195 Dial B and L 2.715 Dialogue 1.149

418 / Index of Titles Diary of Abraham Segal, Poet 1.231 Discord of the Crow 1.95 Discovery of Spring 1.25 Dissolution 1.26 Divine Titillation 1.96 Doctor Drummond 2.655 Doctor Dwarf 1.292 Dominion Square 2.672 Doubt 1.75 Dress Manufacturer: Fisherman 2.679 Earthquake 1.239 Ecclesiastes 13 1.167 Elder Counsels Self-killing, An 1.270 Elegy [c. 1926/0. 1928] 1.96 Elegy [c. 1947/1947] 2.673 Elijah 1.202 Embryo of Dusts 1.187 Enigma 1.188 Epigrams [i] 2.708 Epigrams [2] 2.715 Epitaph [c. 1930/1930] 1.150 Epitaph [c. 1942/0. 1944] 2.626 Epitaph Forensic 1.37 Escape 1.44 Esther 1.34 Esther Hears Echoes of His Voice. 1.201 Et j'ai lu tous les livres 2.570 Etching 1.128 Exit 1.73 Exorcism Vain 1.204 Exultation 1.73 Ezekiel the Simple Opines. 1.199 Fable 1.97 Fairy Tale 1.294 Falstaff 1.151 'Farcie de Comme' 2.709 February Morning 1.97 Festival 1.239 Figure 1.98 Filling Station 2.680 Finale 1.76 Finis 1.98

419 / Index of Titles First Sight 1.74 Five Characters 1.33 Five Weapons against Death 1.79 Fixity 1.128 Fans Vitae 1.188 For the Bride, a Song, to Be Sung by Virgins 1.172 For the Bridegroom Coming Out of His Chamber, a Song 1.171 For the Chief Physician 2.505 For the Sisters of the Hotel Dieu 2.648 Foreword 1.79 Fragment on the Death of Shelley 1.99 Frankly 1.99 Frigidaire 2.649 From Beautiful Dreams I Rise; I Rise from Dreams 1.227 From the Beyond 2.711 From the Chronicles 1.267 From the Japanese 2.713 Funeral in April 1.204 Gargoyle 1.100 Gestures Hebraic 1.168 Getzel Gelt 1.295 Gift 1.297 Girlie Show 2.571 Golem, The 2.572 Grace before Poison 2.505 Grain Elevator 2.650 Green Old Age, The 2.619 Greeting on This Day 1.142 Guardian of the Law 2.461 Guide to the Perplexed 1.189 Haggadah 1.129 Haman 1.35 Haunted House 1.68 He Communes with Nature. 1.238 He Considers the Factory Hands. 1.232 He Contemplates His Contemporaries. 1.237 He Eats at the Family-Board. 1.236 He Reads His Pocket-Edition of Shakespeare; and Luxuriously Thinks. 1.236 He Receives a Visitor. 1.234 He Rises. 1.231 He Travels on the Street-Car, and Reads over a Neighbour's Shoulder. 1.232 He Worships at the North-Eastern. 1.235

420 / Index of Titles He Yawns; and Regards the Slogans on the Office Walls. 1.233 Heart Failure 1.42 Heaven at Last 1.246 Heirloom 1.298 Here They Are - All Those Sunny April Days 1.215 Heroic 1.168 His Lordship 2.458 His Was an Open Heart 1.139 Histrionic Sonnet 1.100 Hitleriad, The 2.581 Holy Bonds 1.170 Homage 1.101 Home 1.75 Hommage 2.716 Hormisdas Arcand 2.681 / Shall Not Bear Much Burden When I Cross 1.228 Image Celestial 1.246 Immortal Yearnings 1.189 In Memoriam: Arthur Ellis [Version ij 2.557 In Memoriam: Arthur Ellis [Version 2] 2.559 In Memoriam: Arthur Ellis [Version 3] 2.561 In Re Solomon Warshawer [Version i] 2.493 In Re Solomon Warshawer [Version 2] 2.498 Inarticulate 2.713 Indian Reservation: Caughnawaga 2.641 Indictment 1.245 Initiation 2.709 Into the Town of Chelm 1.250 Invitation 1.101 Invocation to Death 1.174 Irony of Fourteen Blades 1.80 Isaiah Epicure Avers. 1.198 ]ob Reviles. 1.198 Johannus, Dei Monachus, Loquitur 1.267 Jonah 1.251 Jonah Katz 1.299 Joseph 1.72 ]udith Makes Comparisons. 1.199 ]unk-Dcaler 1.138 Kalman Rhapsodizes 1.174 King Dalfin 1.300 King Elimelech 1.205

421 / Index of Titles Kiss ..., A 1.5 Koheleth 1.132 Krieghoff: Calligrammes 2.682 La Belle Dame sans Merci 1.37 La Glorieuse Incertitude 2.460 Lamed Vav: A Psalm to Utter in Memory of Great Goodness 1.175 Landlord 1.134 Last Will and Testament [Version i] 1.27 Last Will and Testament [Version 2] 1.27 Lay of the Lady, The 1.39 Legend of Lebanon 1.253 Les Filles majeures 2.683 Les Vespasiennes 2.627 Let Them Pronounce Me Sentimental 1.227 Letters to One Absent 1.102 Librairie Delorme 2.684 Library, The 2.620 Life and Eternity 1.5 Litany 1.103 Lockjaw 1.42 Lone Bather 2.685 Lookout: Mount Royal 2.686 Loosen the Drawbridge, Men! I Am Pursued 1.224 Lost Fame 1.176 Lothario 1.103 Love 2.573 Love Call 1.74 Lowell Levi 2.666 Lullaby for a Hawker's Child 1.301 Lunatic 1.42 M. Bertrand 2.651 M. le juge Dupre 2.687 Ma Aleyk - No Evil Befall You 2.715 Madman's Song 1.302 Mais, c'est pas de mes oignons, gal 2.716 Manuscript: Thirteenth Century 1.104 Market Song 1.176 Maschil of Abraham: A Prayer When He Was in the Cave 2.506 Mattathias 1.72 Meditation upon Survival 2.663 Messiah 1.240 Midnight Awakening 1.28

422 / Index of Titles Momus 1.112 Monkey, The 1.36 Monsieur Gaston 2.688 Montreal 2.621 Mordecai 1.35 More's the Pity, The 2.711 Mountain, The 2.689 Mourners 1.264 Murals for a House of God 1.265 Mute Heraldry 1.246 My Dear Plutophilanthropist 2.574 My Literati friends in Restaurants 1.228 Nahum-this-also-is-for-the-good Ponders. 1.197 Narcosis 1.41 Nehemiah 1.177 New Version 1.75 Ni la mort ni le soleil 2.623 Nocturne 1.113 Nose Aristocratic 1.302 Not All the Perfumes of Arabia [Version i] 2.610 Not All the Perfumes of Arabia [Version 2] 2.611 Not from a Hermit's Grotto, nor Monk's Cell 1.222 Notary, The 2.656 Now We Will Suffer Loss of Memory [Version i] 1.168 Now We Will Suffer Loss of Memory [Version 2] 1.169 O God! O Montreal! 2.700 Obituary Notices 1.41 October Heresy 1.113 Of Beauty 2.467 Of Castles in Spain 2.473 Of Daumiers a Portfolio 2.458 Of Dawn and Its Breaking 2.464 Of Faith, Hope and Charity 2.467 Of Poesy 2.468 Of Psalmody in the Temple 2.466 Of Remembrance 2.488 Of Shirts and Policies of State 2.469 Of Soporifics2.469 Of the Clients of Barnum 2.465 Of the Friendly Silence of the Moon 2.542 Of the Lily Which Toils Not 2.470 Of the Making of Gragers 2.707

423 / Index of Titles Of Tradition 2.628 Of Violence 2.463 Old Dame Prates in Galilee, An 1.114 Old Maids 1.178 Old Maid's Wedding 1.206 On Examining a Bill of Fare 2.713 On the Road to Palestine 1.207 Once in a Year 1.129 Oracles of the Clock 1.29 Orders 1.114 Oriental Garden 1.178 Out of a Pit of Perpendiculars 1.115 Out of the Pulver and the Polished Lens 1.208 Palm am Qui Meruit 2.717 Parade of St. Jean Baptiste 2.691 Pastoral of the City Streets 2.694 Pathetic Fallacy 1.30 Pawnshop 2.575 Penultimate Chapter 2.577 Petition For That My Father's Soul Should Enter into Heaven 1.315 Philosopher's Stone 1.241 Pigeons 1.303 Pintele Yid 1.134 Plumaged Proxy 1.179 Poet to the Big Business Man, The 1.117 Polish Village 2.542 Political Meeting 2.657 Portrait 1.179 Portrait, and Commentary 2.666 Portrait of the Poet as Landscape 2.634 Portrait of the Poet as Landscape [Deleted section] 2.640 Portraits of a Minyan 1.134 Post-War Planning 2.629 Prayer against the Witnessing of Grief, A 1.83 Prayer of Abraham, against Madness, A 2.526 Prayer of Abraham That He Be Forgiven for Blasphemy, A 2.508 Prayer of the Afflicted, When He Is Overwhelmed, A 2.508 Preacher 1.151 Preface 1.118 Pride before Fall 1.246 Prince to the Princess in the Fairy-Tale, The 1.216 Probabilities 1.118

424 / Index of Titles Prosecutor 2.459 Protest 1.62 Provinces, The 2.642 Psalm for Five Holy Pilgrims, Yea, Six on the King's Highway, A 2.509 Psalm, Forbidden to Cohanim, A 1.180 Psalm of a Mighty Hunter before the Lord, A 1.303 Psalm of Abraham, concerning That Which He Beheld upon the Heavenly Scarp, A 2.530 Psalm of Abraham concerning the Arrogance of the Son of Man, A 2.510 Psalm of Abraham of That Which Was Visited upon Him, A 2.510 Psalm of Abraham, Praying a Green Old Age, A 2.511 Psalm of Abraham, to Be Written Down and Left on the Tomb of Rashi, A 2.512 Psalm of Abraham, Touching His Green Pastures, A 2.513 Psalm of Abraham, Touching the Crown with Which He Was Crowned on the Day of His Espousals, A 1.181 Psalm of Abraham, When He Hearkened to a Voice, and There Was None, A 2.527 Psalm of Abraham, When He Was Sore Pressed, A 2.514 Psalm of Abraham, Which He Made at the Feast, A 1.173 Psalm of Abraham, Which He Made Because of Fear in the Night, A 2.515 Psalm of Horses and Their Riders, A 1.305 Psalm of Justice, and Its Scales, A 2.516 Psalm of Resignation, A 2.517 Psalm of the Fruitful Field 1.312 Psalm of Time and the Firmament, A 2.528 Psalm or Prayer - Praying His Portion with Beasts, A 2.531 Psalm, to Be Preserved against Two Wicked Words, A 2.517 Psalm to Teach Humility, A 2.518 Psalm Touching Genealogy, A 2.624 Psalm, with Trumpets for the Months, A 1.305 Public Utility 2.460 Quarrel 1.75 Quebec Liquor Commission Store 2.659 Rabbi Yom-Tob Harangues His God 1.272 Rather Than Have My Brethren Bend the Knee 1.241 Reader of the Scroll 1.137 Reb Abraham 1.134 Reb Daniel Shochet Reflects. 1.197 Reb Levi Yitschok Talks to God 1.243 Reb Zadoc Has Memories. 1.196 Recollection 2.713 Reply Courteous 1.181

425 / Index of Titles Request 1.119 Rev Owl 1.306 Reveille in Winter 1.120 Rheumatic 1.41 Riddle 1.307 Ritual 2.716 Rocking Chair, The 2.644 Sacred Enough You Are 1.120 Saga the First 2.629 Saturday Night 1.213 Scatterbrain Singeth a Song 1.265 Scatterbrain's Last Song 1.275 Scholar 1.275 Scribe 1.213 Sennet from Gheel 2.543 Sentence 2.459 Sentimental 1.170 Sequence of Songs, A 1.73 Sestina on the Dialectic 2.662 Seventy Regal Moons, with Clouds as Train 1.218 Shadchan 1.136 Shechinah of Shadows, The 1.3 Shelley 1.120 Shiggaion of Abraham Which He Sang unto the Lord 2.519 Simeon Takes Hints from His Environs. 1.200 Sire Alexandre Grandmaison 2.696 Sleep Walking Scene 1.121 Sleuth 2.461 Sling for Goliath 1.81 Snowfall ... Eiderdown ... Cumulus ... 2.709 Snowshoers, The 2.652 Soiree of Velvel Kleinburger 1.183 Solomon Talmudi Considers His Life. 1.199 Song [c. 1926/c. 1928] 1.122 Song [c. 1929/1929] 1.130 Song before Winter 1.122 Song for Wanderers, A 2.528 Song of Degrees, A 2.520 Song of Exclamations 1.277 Song of Innocence 2.678 Song of Love 1.74 Song of Sweet Dishes 1.313

426 / Index of Titles Song of Three Degrees, A 2.459 Song of Toys and Trinkets 1.278 Song That the Ships of Jaffa Did Sing in the Night, A 1.76 Song to Be Sung at Dawn 1.279 Song without Music 2.630 Sonnet in Time of Affliction 1.147 Sonnet of the Starving One 1.307 Sonnet Unrhymed 2.645 Sonnet without Music 2.474 Sophist 1.137 Soror Addita Musis 1.123 Speak Me No Deaths. Prevent That Word from Me 1.221 Spinning Wheel, The 2.660 Spinoza: On Man, on the Rainbow 2.714 Spring 1.123 Spring Exhibit 2.624 Stance of the Amidah 2.704 Still Small Voice, The 1.131 Strabismus 1.41 Style 1.245 Sugaring, The 2.653 Summer 1.124 Sweet Singer 1.138 Sword of the Righteous 1.80 Sybarite Though I Be 1.125 Syllogism 1.186 Symbols [1926] 1.31 Symbols [c. 1926/c. 1928] 1.125 Tailpiece to an Anthology 2.631 Talisman in Seven Shreds 1.186 Technique 2.711 Tetragrammaton 1.187 That Legendary Eagle, Death 2.578 These Candle Lights 1.77 These Northern Stars Are Scarabs in My Eyes 1.223 Think Not, My Dear, Because I Do Not Call 1.217 This Is No Myth 1.126 This Is Too Terrible a Season! Worms 1.218 Threnody 1.43 'Tis Very Well to Parrot the Nightingale 1.222 To Forgive Divine 2.708 To Keats 1.4

427 / Index of Titles To One Gone to the Wars 2.473 To the Chief Bailiff, a Psalm of the King's Writ 2.521 To the Chief Musician, a Psalm of Israel, to Bring to Remembrance 2.522 To the Chief Musician, a Psalm of the Bratzlaver, a Parable 2.486 To the Chief Musician: A Psalm of the Bratzlaver, Touching a Good Gardener 2.489 To the Chief Musician, a Psalm of the Bratzlaver, When He Considered How the Pious Are Overwhelmed 2.487 To the Chief Musician, a Psalm of the Bratzlaver, Which He Wrote Down As the Stammerer Spoke 2.491 To the Chief Musician, Al-Taschith, Michtam of Abraham; When One Sent, and They Watched the House to Kill Him 2.521 To the Chief Musician, Who Played for the Dancers 2.523 To the Chief Scribe, a Psalm of Abraham, in the Day of the Gladness of His Heart 1.170 To the Jewish Poet 1.77 To the Lady Who Wrote about Herzl 2.668 To the Prophets, Minor and Major, a Psalm or Song 2.524 Toreador 2.474 Town Fool's Song 1.308 Tremblement du coeur 1.74 Tribute to the Ballet Master [Version i] 2.631 Tribute to the Ballet Master [Version 2] 2.632 Universite de Montreal 2.697 Unveiling 2.712 Upon a Time There Lived a Dwarf, a Jew 1.224 Variation of a Theme 2.579 Vashti 1.34 Venerable Bee, The 1.314 Visitation in Elul 1.126 Wandering Beggar 1.309 Were I to Talk until the Crack o' Doom 1.229 What Winter Has Said, Is Said 1.127 Where Shall I Find Choice Words 1.82 White Old Lady, The 2.661 Who Hast Fashioned 2.706 Why Do You Love Me, As You Say You Do 1.216 Winter 1.32 Winter Night: Mount Royal 2.698 Wishing to Embarrass Me, but Politely 2.669 Within My Iron Days, My Nights of Stone 1.225 Without Your Love, without Your Love for Me 1.225

428 / Index of Titles Wood Notes Wild 1.245 Words of Plauni-Ben-Plauni to Job, The 1.153 Would That Three Centuries Past Had Seen Us Born [Version i] 1.219 Would That Three Centuries Past Had Seen Us Born [Version 2] 1.219 Wrestling Ring 2.669 xxn Sonnets 1.216 Yehuda Halevi, His Pilgrimage 2.544 Yossel Letz 1.247 Young Man Moans Alarm before the Kiss of Death, A 1.271

TRANSLATIONS Akavyah ben M'halallel 2.860 And at My Prayers I Will Quiver 2.830 And This I Know 2.804 And When Messiah Will Come 2.831 And When One Burns - One Burns Brandy 2.819 And When Our Rebbe Walks 2.852 Asks the World an Old, Old Question 2.831 Autobiographical 2.805 Bar Yochai 2.862 Be There No Altar 2.780 Bear Thou, O Wind, My Love 2.768 Behold 2.784 Beneath the Burden ... 2.725 Better a Hebrew Teacher 2.827 Burglary, A 2.848 Canticum Canticorum 2.796 Charm 2.818 Chastisement of God, The 2.726 Childless One, The 2.789 City of Slaughter, The 2.733 Come, Gird Ye Your Loins, and in Might Robe Yourselves 2.727 Come You Here, Philosopher 2.817 Conceit Curious 2.799 Confession 2.809 Dance of Despair 2.752 Dance of Despair, The 2.749 Dawn 2.789 Eleventh: In Memory of Isaac, Son of the Tailor, The 2.792 Gifted One, The 2.793

429 / Index of Titles Glory of the Homeland, The 2.782 Goats 2.806 God Grant My Part and Portion Be ... 2.728 God Willing, at the Rebbe's 2.836 Golden Parrakeet, The 2.824 Golden Parrot, The 2.798 Gone Is the Yesterday 2.829 How Fares the King? 2.856 Hush! Hush! 2.821 I Go upon the Balcony 2.825 I Sit Me Down upon a Stone 2.835 In God's Good Time 2.847 In the City of Slaughter 2.744 Kaddish, The [Version i] 2.721 Kaddish, The [Version 2] 2.722 Ki-Ki 2.797 King, A 2.807 King Rufus 2.808 Kings of the Emek 2.777 Kinnereth 2.788 Last Song, The 2.797 Last Will and Testament 2.800 L'chayim, Rebbe! 2.835 Levi Yitschok's Kaddish 2.840 Lord Has Not Revealed, The 2.730 Lord, Hele Me, Y-wis I Shal Be Heled 2.769 Lovely Am I, O Lovely, and Lovely Is My Name 2.834 Make Blind, O Sun of Jerusalem 2.780 Miracles and Wonders 2.859 M'laveh Malkeh 2.841 Mother Jerusalem 2.778 My Noddle It Is Humming 2.854 Myerka, My Son 2.838 No More Tears 2.802 Now Such Am I ... 2.787 O Dove beside the Water Brook 2.771 O Heighte Sovereign, O Worldes Prys 2.772 O My Mother Sent Me 2.828 O Site Most Kingly, O Royal Sanctum 2.724 O There, O There, Where Is Our Holy Rebbe 2.842 O Thou Seer, Go Flee Thee - Away 2.756 O What Do You Wish, My Dearest Child 2.832

430 / Index of Titles Ode to Zion 2.769 Of the Ancient House of the Clinii [Version i] 2.866 Of the Ancient House of the Clinii [Version 2j 2.868 Old Gold 2.811 Omar Adoishem 1'Ya-akoiv! 2.860 On My Returning 2.732 On the Attic Sleeps a Roof 2.819 On the Hill, over the Hill 2.829 Once upon a Time; This 2.826 Our Rebbe [Version ij 2.853 Our Rebbe [Version 2] 2.854 Our Rebbe, the Miracle-Worker, Once 2.851 Oy, Our Rebbenu 2.836 Oy, Vey, Rebbenu 2.850 Portrait of the Artist 2.795 Prayer of a Physician, The 2.790 Prescription, The 2.765 Rachel 2.787 Reb Zorach 2.812 Rebbe Elimelech, The 2.862 Rebbe, He Wanted, The [Version ij 2.844 Rebbe, He Wanted, The [Version 2] 2.845 Rebbele, the Gabbai'le, the Cantor'l, the Shamash'l, The 2.857 Rubaiyat of Yehuda Halevi 2.773 Sabbath 2.785 Seer, Begone 2.755 Shall I Be a Rabbi? 2.816 Smoke 2.794 Song 2.813 Song of Wine 2.822 Speak to Your People, Therefore, in This Wise 2.815 Spirit Passed before Me, A 2.761 Stars Flicker and Fall in the Sky 2.764 Sunset 2.804 Tear Not Your Hair, My Sweetheart 2.818 Tell Me, Pretty Maiden, O Hearken Pretty Maiden 2.833 Tell Us, Rebbenu 2.849 Thou Hast Chosen Us 2.842 Thou Song, A 2.839 Thy Breath, O Lord, Passed Over and Enkindled Me 2.760 To Jerusalem the Holy 2.768 To L. Munatius Plancus 2.871

431 / Index of Titles To Leuconoe 2.870 To Lydia 2.869 Train, The 2.855 Tsig, Tsigitsapel 2.858 Unfavoured 2.786 Upon the Highway 2.776 Upon the Slaughter 2.763 Vesomachto 2.865 War 2.814 We Are a Generation, Heaven-Doomed 2.800 We Ask Our Boarding-Mistress 2.822 What Is Loftier than a House? 2.833 When He Has Frolicked for a Little 2.834 When I Knead the Dough 2.825 When the Days Shall Grow Long 2.757 Where Our Good Rebbe Is to Be Found 2.843 Windows Are Grated, The 2.803 Wine 2.766 With Every Stone 2.781 Word, The 2.759 Yoma, Yoma, Play Me a Ditty 2.820 Yonder! Yonder! 2.864 Yoshka, Yoshka 2.850 You Walk upon Your Sunlit Roads 2.801

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Index of First Lines

O R I G I N A L POEMS A field in sunshine is a field 1.312 A fox 1.97 A goat a scholar, 1.275 A grotesque gargoyle on a grey 1.100 A little Jew lived in a little straw hut; 1.283 A microbe sewed his lips, this monger 1.42 A prowler in the mansion of my blood! 2.510 A shirt! a shirt! a kingdom for a shirt! 2.469 A song for hunters: In that wood, 2.505 A tradesman Getzel Gelt would be. 1.295 A whole long week it rained; and were it not 1.101 About the Crematorium where the Jews 2.678 Across my bed-room window pass 1.120 Age draws his fingernail across my brow. 1.221 Agnostic, he would never tire 1.134 Ah, Solomon, you sage who knew the language 1.176 Aleph, Bais, 1.240 All day the crows cracked sky-clefts with their caws. 1.90 All flowers that in seven ways bright 2.714 All he muttered was the same, 1.42 All honour to the memory of Alexander Graham Bell! 2.715 All week his figure mottles 1.138 All worship is doomed to schisms, heresies, 2.712 Amber opaque are autumn skies - 1.128 Among the penny arcades and the dime shows, 2.684 An aged king, his brittle shins in hose, 2.486 An ant shouldering a light straw; 1.246 And after I have slept for many a year 1.126

434 / Index of First Lines And all was void; and Spring sprang in undrest, 1.7 And as the orators, rewarded roars, scored, soared, bored And for the sake of you I am become 1.93 And in that drowning instant as 2.608 And now the smiles fall to the floor 2.712 And on that day, upon the heavenly scarp, 2.530 And these touched thunders, this delyredrum 2.543 And they have torn their garments; and have turned 1.80 And though I do not love you any more 1.99 And when he mentioned showers 1.87 And when they brought him back 2.701 And yet the doubt is hither-thither cast - 1.75 Another moon, and the penitential days 2.613 At length, the peasant, plodding from the woods, 2.542 At times, sensing that the golgotha'd dead 2.663 At unprehensile Time, all fingers clutch. 2.491 Autumn 1.206 Autumn 1.246 Autumn, you dement; you wrench from my throat 1.90 Avaunt the nightingale! Perish the rose! 1.168 Avrohom, Yitzchok, and Yaacov, patriarchs; 2.710 Baldhead! Baldhead! 1.280 Bannered, and ranked, and at its stances fixed 2.691 Bard, paying your rental of the ivory tower, 2.468 Be his memory forever green and rich, 1.311 Because the Lord was good to me, and gave 1.103 Because to Him in prayershawl, he prays, 1.236 'Behold the dreamer cometh!' ... They beheld 1.72 Behold the months each in their season: 1.305 Beneath this fretted roof, the knave, swag-bellied, 1.236 Betray me not. Treat me as scurvily 1.220 Between distorted forests, clapped into geometry, 2.694 Beware, - spiritual humankind, - 2.467 Big-bellied dewlapt grand vacuity ... 1.117 Black crows are pecking at the carrion 1.63 Blase nihilities encompass me, 1.40 Blessed art thou, O Lord, 2.706 Blessed the men this day, 1.233 Booted and armed, the frontier guard 2.536 Bring on the rich, the golden-dotted soup; 1.173 Brown are your eyes, as brown as the gazelle's, 1.155 Bundled their bones, upon the ninetynine stairs - 2.647

2.678

435 / Index of First Lines By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, we wept 2.522 Chivalric more than knight on charger black; i.3°5 Christ is risen from the tomb ... 1.45 City of Toulouse, reign of King Philip: 1.181 Clients of Barnum, yours no even break! 2.465 Communists ask for more bank holidays. 1.232 Compute the plagues, your little finger dip 1.129 Concerning four strange sons, the Torah wrote: 1.291 Consider my speech, O Lord, not too severely; 2.508 Consider the son of man, how he doth get him knowledge and 2.520 Consider, then, the miracle you wrought. 1.226 Consider this creature, its peculiar pride, 2.510 Creation's crust and crumb, breaking of bread, 2.617 Cupid in a caftan 1.136 Dark Cleopatra on a gilded couch 1.94 Dawn! and I feel the light 1.97 Dead heroes ride the chariots of the wind; 1.77 Death, the peddler, came to my door this day. 2.521 Defeated 2.709 Dispose of every sting with some safe gnome 1.85 Divinely he sang the scriptured note; 1.137 Dizzy amidst a whorl of fingerprints; 2.461 Do you but say the word, and I will come, 1.101 Do you go to Venus, Love, 1.91 Does an owl appreciate 1.245 Dropped privily below the crotch of squares - 2.627 Elder, behold the Shunamite, the rumour of her face, 2.525 Elijah in a long beard 1.202 Emmerich, Count, of the stentorious voice 1.265 Enamort have I been of bleaseful Death, 2.579 Erudite, solemn, 1.306 Eternity is caught in this dead room. 1.29 Even if in the gutter you were lying dying of thirst 2.708 Even if your heart were stone, 1.89 Even in July it is our winter corner, 2.649 Evenings, they walk arm in arm, in pairs, - 2.683 Every burgher is a feaster; 1.64 Fat grows Stanislaus, Pan, whose 1.156 Fill the silver goblet; 1.130 First, the two older ones, the bunkhouse brawnymen, 2.642 Flaunting their canes, their jaunty berets, the students throng 2.697 Flowering jungle, where all fauna meet 2.618

436 / Index of First Lines Footsteps are bringing beauty hither. She 1.74 For him to write a poem was to parse 1.120 For that he gave to the stone understanding to understand direction. 2.704 From beautiful dreams I rise; I rise from dreams 1.227 From crater of heart did there rise up a flame-tongue 1.5 From library to library I go - 2.570 From pastures green, whereon I lie, 2.513 From the fjord faring, striding the stream, 2.629 Geographers may mark Prague on the map 1.187 Go catch the echoes of the ticks of time; 2.488 God breathe a blessing on 1.282 God is grown ancient. He no longer hears. 1.198 Good friend, for Jesu's sake, forbear 2.626 Gown'd in ghostly mistiness, she stalks ... 1.121 Guerdon for wit is lavished in the realm; 2.487 Hard to be a Jew? 2.712 He gayly jaunted down the street, 1.42 He is a learned man, adept 1.134 He jaunted down the busy shopping street in natty style, 1.93 He lifts his middle-aged cabby-face from roots, 2.671 He quoted rnidrash and the psalms; 1.151 He reverenced no idol, nor of gold, 1.35 He stuttered when he spoke, and then 1.39 Heaven is God's grimace at us on high. 1.200 Heigh ho! the rooster crows! 1.279 Heigh-nonny-no! 1.275 Heil heavenly muse, since also thou must be 2.581 Here in a sudden meadow dropped amongst brick 2.672 Here lies a lawyer turbulent 1.37 Here they are - all those sunny April days! 1.215 His greeting is of the faith, like the muezzin's. 2.716 His mother's bribes, 1.247 His pillow knew all that he sigh'd; 1.41 His squinted eyes at strife, 1.41 His voice may tear the sky to shreds, 1.204 His was an open heart, a lavish hand, 1.139 Ho, maskers, fix your noses, strike a posture, 1.239 Holy, holy, holy, 2.459 Hormisdas Arcand, about to found a new party 2.681 How came this spectacled, this little Jew, 1.44 How have you become not that which once you were, 2.461 How is he changed, the scoffers say, 2.506

437 / Index of First Lines How lividly he looks, obliviously! ... 1.35 How pleasant are the times and their cezannes, 2.624 How private and comfortable it once was, 2.646 How sweetly did he sing grace after meals! 1.201 How was I to know, those months in my mother's womb, 2.716 How will you phrase regret when 1 depart, 1.170 However, for bread and the occasional show, 2.640 I am no brazen face to hale the Lord 1.272 I am no contradictor of Cabbala: 2.569 I am not of the saints, O Lord, to wear 2.517 I eat; the ladle does not leave the bowl. 1.102 I have seen a lark 1.246 I must write my love a poem ... 1.94 I remember Summer by some symbols: 1.31 I remember the old Coltoon, circumciser, in action. 2.709 I said: Autumn 1.245 I said in my heart: 'I shall not love her more. 1.30 I shall no more complain; I shall not ask 2.517 I shall not bear much burden when I cross 1.228 'I think I hear a trumpet overhead. 1.239 I who have expiated life in cities, 2.511 I will make a song for you, 1.74 I will make him a little red sack 1.297 I would be happy if the Winter thawed, 1.87 I would not tell this to the man met on the street, 2.508 If ever I should love I would not pine 1.62 If golem is the effigy of man, 1.186 If I were Jove, I would gloat humouredly 1.112 If so, 1.75 If we will fast for forty days; if we 1.199 If you are joyous now, omit 1.79 If you would snare your lover, mesh 1.85 Impudent female! salvaged none knows whence; 2.668 In back-room dens of delicatessen stores, 1.183 In his wandered wharf on the brake side of the lake; 2.679 In one-armed restaurants where Cretan floors 1.235 In pairs, 2.648 In the fair summer-time when the ether doth quiver 1.3 In these prosaic days when lovers ask 1.151 Instructions to the stenographer: 2.453 Into his beard he laughs at the 1.292 Is this your Canadian poet, with the foreign name? 2.631

438 / Index of First Lines It being no longer Sabbath, angels scrawl 1.213 It is an enchanted palace 1.307 It is to be wondered whether he ever really 2.655 It seconds the crickets of the province. Heard 2.644 It was a green, a many-meadowed county! 2.489 Jonah Katz 1.299 Judith had heard a troubadour 1.199 Kind you may be at least when I am dead, 1.27 Kind you may be at least when I am dead, 1.27 King Dalfin sat on his throne, the size of a thimble, 1.300 King Elimelech - 1.205 Koheleth, on his damasked throne, lets weary exhalation follow 1.132 La chair est triste, helas, et j'ai lu tons les livres. 1.237 Lead me to the mountain-top. 1.119 Lest grief clean out the sockets of your eyes, 1.142 Let me recall. What was that ancient night 1,100 Let me sink into a southern sea, 1.26 Let the blank whiteness of this page be snow 2.682 Let the storm rage; 1.68 Let them pronounce me sentimental. I 1.227 Liveth the tale, nor ever shall it die! 2.544 Look not askance, O Love, upon these gifts; 1.92 Loosen the drawbridge, men! I am pursued! 1.224 Loosen the tangles of the dark, 2.542 Lord, for the days allotted me, 2.526 Love is an ache 1.76 Love is become a memory, 1.75 Love, love, love, 2.573 M. le juge Dupre has all the qualities. 2.687 Madame, I see that you have indeed considered the ant, 2.716 Magic and strife and crapulence 1.125 Manikin, manikin, in your chair, 2.534 May none be called to visit this grim house, 2.575 May the sun wash your eyes; may you 1.277 Milady Schwartz, beloved of the boss, 1.234 Mr. Lowell Levy, finds it difficult to distinguish 2.666 Mud and mire of Moldau, that was the sperm 1.188 Muffle the wind; 1.114 My blood shouts very joyous news 1.73 My dear plutophilanthropist, 2.574 My father bequeathed me no wide estates; 1.298 My literati friends in restaurants - 1.228

439 / Index of First Lines My suite is like a violin, so full 2.630 Named for my father's father, cousin, whose cry 2.673 Neither on death, nor at the blazing sun 2.623 Never let me behold her so again ... 1.81 Next to the cure, he is hierarch, 2.656 Nigh Lebanon, nigh lofty Lebanon, 1.253 No churl am I to carp at the goodly feres 1.191 No cock rings matins of the dawn for me; 1.231 No man is there but walks his long last mile; 2.557 No man is there but walks his long last mile; 2.559 No Melchizedek Parchment-Parched am I 1.193 No pulpit talk in ale-houses; no sermons 1.267 Nonetheless Ali Baba had no richer cave, 2.659 Not an editorial-writer, bereaved with bartlett, 2.634 Not from a hermit's grotto, nor monk's cell 1.222 Not sole was I born, but entire genesis: 2.624 Now finally, by way of corrigendum: 2.462 Now, in this terrible tumultuous night, 2.512 Now she awaits me at this time we made - 1.74 Now that the guards, in homage to our Lord, unbarred the 1.274 Now we will suffer loss of memory; 1.168 Now we will suffer loss of memory: 1.169 Nuremberg tower-clock struck one: 2.537 O bridegroom eager for the bride, 1.172 O city metropole, isle riverain! 2.621 O incognito god, anonymous lord, 2.519 O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall declare 2.704 O, not for furs, 1.303 O poet of the removeable glass eye - 2.709 O rooster, circled over my brother's head, 1.179 O sign and wonder of the barnyard, more 2.518 O the days of the Messiah are at hand, are at hand! 2.533 O think, my Love, of what we two will be 1.174 O tribune, tribune manque, passed over in favour 2.717 O weep your tears, you crocodiles! the great 1.43 'O what can ail thee, flashy sheik, 1.37 O, what human chaff! 1.96 O what is Helen, what is Guinevere 1.126 O what would David say, 1.138 O, when they laved my uncle's limbs 1.264 Of scabrous heart and of deportment sleek, 1.72 Of trope of testament and Caesar's wars 2.615

440 / Index of First Lines Of yore yclept in old Judaea Zvi; 2.475 Of yore yclept in old Judaea Zvi; 2.480 Oh Autumn will come all too soon this year, 1.99 Oh, but in France they arrange these things much better! 2.651 On a little brown pony, a little boy rides 1.250 On bane big-bellied mothers feed; 1.265 On leather, beneath rafters, beside oak, 2.620 On the school platform, draping the folding seats, 2.657 On Wodin's day, sixth of December, thirty-nine, 2.493 On Wodin's day, sixth of December, thirty-nine, 2.498 Once in a year this comes to pass: 1.129 Once upon a time, in a land far far away, a marvellous 1.294 One comes: - he is a very blossoming tree - 2.509 One day the signal shall be given me; 2.516 Orange, citron, fig and date, 1.250 Orchids of music flutter from the keys. 2.665 Out of a pit of perpendiculars 1.115 Out of the ghetto streets where a Jewboy 2.564 Out of the yesterday, and ages gone 2.567 Pharaoh was plagued with lice and frogs, 1.313 Pity who wear the castoffs of the years, 2.619 Plump pigeons, who will buy? 1.176 Poltroons may fear the foeman, for such are less than cattle, 2.532 Prepare the inks, the red, the green, the black; 1.170 Prince Shlemozzle 1.302 Privy to the Eleusinian mysteries 2.711 Quails before manna? 2.713 Queen Esther is out walking in the garden, 1.34 Rather than have my brethren bend the knee 1.241 Rather than have my brethren bend the knee 1.242 Rather that these blood-thirsty pious vandals, 1.199 Reb Abraham, the jolly, 1.134 Reb Levi Yitschok, crony of the Lord, 1.243 Reb Zadoc's brain is a German town: 1.196 Remembering boyhood, it is always here 2.686 Rich and remote in panelled offices 2.666 Sacred enough you are. 1.120 Scars carved crescents 1.285 Seeing that planets move by dynamos, 2.467 Seeing three on the left side, and on the right three, 2.708 Seek reasons; rifle your theology; 1.198 Set in the jeweled fore-part of his crown 1.33

441 / Index of First Lines Seventy regal moons, with clouds as train, 1.218 Shall he be sat on a wired electrical seat 2.629 She has laved her body in living water. She 1.172 Since motion was, there has been no such dance! 2.631 Since prophecy has vanished out of Israel, 2.527 Sleep, hungry child, within your crib. 1.301 Slowly, and flake by flake ... At the drifted frond 2.698 Smile never on the ugly ones; 2.711 'So have I spent a life-time in my search 1.241 Soft pious whisperings are drown'd 1.28 Solve me this riddle: Rumours are bruited 1.188 Somewhere a hungry muzzle rooted. 1.195 Somewhere above the innocent clouds there flies 2.578 Spare me, O Lord, if you will spare 1.83 Speak me no deaths. Prevent that word from me. 1.221 Spit spittle on the rose? fling gravel at 1.271 Starved, scarred, lenten, amidst ash of air, 2.653 Striking the melancholy attitudes 1.80 Strolling the Champs Elysee 2.713 Summer had raised herself 1.246 Sybarite though I be, I shall not rest 1.125 That man is too good: suspect his motives; 2.712 The ants repair to cooler galleries; 1.124 The badge of yellow scorn upon his chest, 1.179 The bat beats uncouth wings on mildewed rafters, 1.113 The beauty that my love wore all the seven 1.74 The benison of health will yet be theirs! 1.281 The better to understand Thy ways, 2.531 The birds twitter, excited, behind their copper wires. 2.713 The black phylacteries about his arm 1.213 The blue sea laps the Lesbian rock; 1.123 The candles splutter; and the kettle hums; 1.131 The carefully-evolved and cultured tribes 2.577 The chamberlain burst on the royal feast 1.34 The coffin-board has now been planed; 1.150 The crow upon the hawthorn bush 1.82 The famished one lies down to sleep, and dreams 1.307 The following are the proper instruments wherewith Haman 2.707 The great tycoon is dead. 2.716 The idealist 2.709 The incense, rising, curls the nostrils with its scent: 1.177 The inverted funnel pouring its light like alcohol 2.669

442 / Index of First Lines The jolly icicles ringing in their throats, 2.652 The judges sat in their blood-red robes, 2.539 The law is certain; and the law is clear. 2.460 The leper counts his sores; 1.249 The man said nothing, nothing at all, but sat 2.713 This mirror libels me, and cavils at 1.103 The mole can burrow through the brain, 1.302 The moon 1.191 The moon in his head was a strain. 1.42 The moon is a golden hoop 1.75 The music of what sphere? 2.711 The nightingale proclaims no creed; 1.140 The noble Antony 2.708 The nozzle of the earthworm meets 1.122 The old Jews greet the moon 1.174 The old maids think of couches cold i' the moon; 1.178 The paleface mutters: Lord God is a myth; 1.189 The panic jangles repeated themselves every year. 2.661 The paunchy sons of Abraham 1.208 The pigeons coo among the eaves, 1.303 The pimp, he pays his fine and costs, 2.460 The planetary motion of the blood, 2.568 The prince to the princess in the fairy-tale, 1.216 The prisoner confessed most willingly. 2.459 The royal wrapping of your poem embrace 1.6 The sea clutches her hair in grief, 1.96 The shamash of the glade, 1.314 The ship leaves Jaffa, treasure in its hold: 1.76 The sky is dotted like th' unleavened bread, 1.128 The snow-flaked crystal stars fall fast - 1.67 The soul of a squirrel 1.98 The stone slabs of milady's walks 1.122 The street is great festivity; 1.73 The sun goes down, and slowly there appears 1.89 The thin and delicate etching of Jack Frost 1.123 The time has come; the brooks begin to break 1.25 The toad seeks out its mud; the mouse discovers 1.197 The tongue has faltered. Hence, revoked the demons, 1.204 The town fool sat on the top o' the roof, 1.308 The two false coins in my copper pot 1.91 The two shawl-covered grannies, buying fish, 1.149 The word of grace is flung from foreign thrones 1.147

443 / Index of First Lines The worm doth make the earth a labyrinth 1.167 The wrath of God is just. His punishment 1.197 The young men with the sparse beards laud the bride; 1.171 There lies a corpse upon your memory, plus 1.81 There was a Jewish bandit who lived in a wood, 1.230 There was a mad monarch 1.290 There was a youth in Nazareth, 1.114 There's not a man but must at last go up 2.561 These be repasts lethean of your kind: 2.469 These northern stars are scarabs in my eyes. 1.223 These robbers filched electricity: 2.459 These were but innuendo: 2.700 These were the ones who thanked their God 2.523 They are upon us, the prophets, minor and major! 2.524 They do lie heavily upon me, these 2.466 They quacked and they cackled, 1.284 They smote us hip and thigh; 2.712 They suck and whisper it in mercury, 2.646 Think not, my dear, because I do not call 1.217 This globe, this world, this onion of humanity! 2.716 This is a curious plot 1.130 This is a tale of a deed of daring: 1.292 This is the bread of our affliction, this 1.129 This is the golem. 2.572 This is the man who brought to me 1.181 This is the seventh time this week 1.86 This is too terrible a season! Worms 1.218 This last July a crazy caterpillar 1.245 This last week I have shunned mortality; 1.79 This little Jew 1.139 This mirror libels me, and cavils at 1.103 This spinster neither spins 2.710 This, then, is over ... I will take each paper 1.98 This wrist 1.5 Thou dost not know thy deeds, O Job, when thou 1.153 Thou settest them about my bed, 2.515 Thou wast not born to live thy life on earth - 1.4 Three things I long to see: 1.230 Three werewolves on a deadman's chest! 2.541 Throwback and atavism of Mizraim: 2.710 Tis very well to parrot the nightingale, 1.222 To sleep, perchance to dream. Where there is smoke 1.189

444 / Index of First Lines To the perfume that the rose dreams of, 2.710 Twilight is about to come. 1.178 Twist each side-curl; form the symbol 1.148 Under a humble name he came to us; 1.175 Undoubtedly terror may through the widened eyes 2.610 Undoubtedly terror may through the widened eyes 2.611 Unfurl the scarlet banner, Toreador, 2.474 Unsheathe the blade; transgress your nail 1.270 Until a wiser method entered my 1.113 Unworthiest crony of my grammar days, 2.473 Unworthy even to utter His slightest name, 1.315 Up from the low-roofed dockyard warehouses 2.650 Upon a day, and after the roar had died, 2.538 Upon a time there lived a dwarf, a Jew. 1.224 Upon the ecstatic diving board the diver, 2.685 Upon the piazza, haemophilic dons 2.474 Upon the road to Palestine 1.207 Upon these trees was Autumn crucified ... 1.195 Was it not kindled a million years ago 2.528 We, the undersigned 2.607 Well may they thank thee, Lord, for drink and food: 2.505 Were I to talk until the crack o' doom, 1.229 What a piece of work is man! the paragon 1.232 What does the word mean: Violence? 2.463 What is this seasonal nonentity? 1.32 ... What men or gods are these? What maidens loth? 2.571 What scrofulous ashes upon sack-cloth, what 1.187 What shall I say to you in that grim hour? 1.83 What toys shall I buy my little lad? 1.278 What was the song the gypsy sang 2.528 'What wit, what wonder, winged words work!' 2.711 When fishes soared, and forests danced, 1.36 When I in prayer beseech thy benison, 2.521 When, on the frustral summit of extase, 2.645 When Sire Alexandre Grandmaison, Seigneur of Biche, 2.696 When will there be another such brain? 1.137 When you will read this then-archaic rune 1.118 Whenever he wanted some sleep 1.41 Where are the braves, the faces like autumn fruit, 2.641 Where now that tree is, they say, once a man 1.118 Where once the butterfly was seen 1.95 Where shall I find choice words to mention Sorrow 1.82

445 / Index of First Lines Where will you be 2.464 Wherefore, upon the twenty-seventh May, ten hundred 1.267 Who can fail to admire the 2.711 Who coming from the synagogue 1.180 Who envies not this beggar, who 1.309 Who has not heard of Blanche the beautiful, 1.104 Who knows it only by the famous cross which bleeds 2.689 Who remembers not this eminently capable man, 2.458 Why do you love me, as you say you do, 1.216 'Why do you set the candlesticks, 1.269 Winter has said what it has said: 1.127 Wishing to embarrass me, but politely, 2.669 With my own eyes I saw it, I who loved my father 2.628 With snakes of rubber and glass thorax, 2.680 Within my iron days, my nights of stone, 1.225 Within the meadow on the mountain-top 1.238 Within the whale's belly 1.251 Without your love, without your love for me, 1.225 Would that the Lord had made me, in place of man-child, beast! 2.514 Would that three centuries past had seen us born! 1.219 Would that three centuries past had seen us born! 1.219 Yes yeasts to No, and No is numinous with Yes. All is 2.662 You can find it only in attics or in ads, 2.660 You cherished them as ancient gems, those tears 1.77 You fear me; and with good reason. 2.713 You have excelled yourself, cher maitre! 2.632 You remember the big Gaston, for whom everyone predicted 2.688 You, Tillie the Toiler and Winnie the Worker, consider 2.470 You well deserve my complimental gesture 1.88

TRANSLATIONS A curious thought: As I gaze on my pen, 2.799 A ghost of stubble, a leaf that flutters 2.732 A jug of water in the hand, and on 2.789 A spirit passed before my face, it dazzled me; for an 2.761 Akavyah ben M'halallel sayeth: 2.860 And at my prayers I will quiver, 2.830 And do you rejoice upon your feast-day, 2.865 And it shall come to pass when the days shall grow long 2.757 And this I know: It is a devil's play, 2.804

446 / Index of First Lines And when Messiah will come 2.831 And when one burns - one burns brandy, 2.819 And when our Rebbe walks, 2.852 Arise, and go now — go to the city of slaughter! 2.744 Arise and go now to the city of slaughter; 2.733 Asks the world an old, old question: 2.831 At last I tore me from their fetters; 2.805 At my Rebbe's, there did happen, there did happen 2.848 Bar Yochai, Bar Yochai, Bar Yochai, 2.862 Be there no altar, then upon high places 2.780 Bear thou, O wind, my love 2.768 Behold my country - the carcass of a savage, 2.784 Beneath the burden of your love, 2.725 Better a Hebrew teacher 2.827 Beyond the farthest oceans 2.807 Come, gird ye your loins, and in might robe yourselves! 2.727 Come you here, philosopher, 2.817 Cry, Muppim and Huppim! Strike blows on your drums! 2.752 Even as a great country withers, and goes to rot, 2.811 Fling, O prophet, the coal of fire from thine altar; 2.759 'Fly! Run away!' Not such as I do run. 2.756 Flying he comes, the little dwarf Ki-Ki 2.797 For whom am I these things recounting? 2.809 From a foreign land has fluttered hither 2.824 From him whom Love's sweet anguish now destroys, 2.773 Gewald! Gewald! Gewald! Gewald! Gewald! 2.836 God willing, after Sabbath 2.855 Gone is the yesterday 2.829 Good liquor, prized and ever unshent, 2.822 Good morning to you, Reboinoi shel Olam! 2.840 Grieving for them, thy captive sons who are 2.769 Heavenly spheres, beg mercy for me! 2.763 Her blood flows in my blood; 2.787 Hush! Hush! let a silence fall 2.821 I am not favoured with the arms 2.786 I go upon the balcony 2.825 I have left my comrades, and the four ells of my youth 1 have 2.778 I know the path of camels in the sand; 2.776 I sit me down upon a stone; 2.835 In God's good time, and the Messiah appearing 2.847 In sooth, what savoure hath now food for me? 2.768

447 / Index of First Lines It may be these things never did occur. 2.788 L'chayim, Rebbe! A happy week to you! 2.835 Let the Bureaux de Tourisme and Chambers of Commerce 2.871 Like an arrow shot 2.766 Little goat, little colt, pussy-cat, 2.818 Lord, hele me, y-wis I shal be heled! 2.769 Lovely am I, O lovely, and lovely is my name; 2.834 Make blind, O Sun of Jerusalem, and shrivel 2.780 Meek of the earth, humble in wit and works, 2.728 Muppim and Huppim! Strike blows on your drums! 2.749 My noddle it is humming 2.854 Myerka, my son, Myerka, my son, O Myerka, my son - 2.838 Neither in the dreams of my nights has the Lord revealed 2.730 Not Abraham did this altar build; 2.792 Now such am I; as quiet 2.787 O, brother, say, 2.841 O do you know the land where the citron's growing 2.864 O dove beside the water brook 2.771 O heighte sovereign, O worldes prys 2.772 O my mother sent me 2.828 O site most kingly, O royal sanctum, 2.724 O there, O there, where is our holy Rebbe 2.842 O there, O there, where our good Rebbe is to be found, 2.843 O what do you wish, my dearest child, 2.832 Of the ancient house of the Clinii, prince, 2.866 Of the ancient house of the Clinii, prince, 2.868 On the attic sleeps a roof, 2.819 On the hill, over the hill 2.829 Once upon a time; this 2.826 Our Rebbe, he went forth into the desert 2.854 Our Rebbe, the Miracle-Worker, once 2.851 Our Rebbe went into the desert 2.853 Oy, our Rebbenu! Gewald, our Rebbenu! 2.836 Oy, vey, Rebbenu 2.850 Rabbi Joshua ben Chananya polishes needles, 2.812 Rabosai, Rabosai, scholars for this task: 2.856 Reboinoi shel Olam 2.839 Said the Lord, the Lord, to Jacob - 2.860 Sanct and exaltate 2.721 Sanct and exaltate in the world which to his will he 2.722 'Seer, begone!' One of my kind flees not! 2.755

448 / Index of First Lines Set me in breaches of the wall, with stone; 2.781 Shall I be a rabbi? 2.816 Since men ceased to put their faith in God, 2.797 Small freckles constellate my face; 2.795 Speak to your people, therefore, in this wise: 2.815 Stars flicker and fall in the sky, 2.764 Summoned to attend this beautiful lady, eight days ailing, 2.765 Tear not your hair, my sweetheart, 2.818 Tell me, pretty maiden, O hearken pretty maiden 2.833 Tell us, Rebbenu! 2.849 The chastisement of God, is this His curse: 2.726 The funnels of the ship have ceased to smoke. 2.785 The Lord, He endowed him with herds and with flocks, 2.793 The moon set; the sky darkened; and the stars 2.782 The Rebbe comes, 2.859 The Rebbe, he wanted to go to the city 2.844 The Rebbe wished to journey up to the city, 2.845 The Rebbele, the Gabbai'le, the Cantor'l, the Shamash'l - 2.857 The sun goes down. 2.804 The sun will climb over and under the hill, 2.798 The windows are grated, 2.803 There are no more tears, 2.802 There lie two goats 2.806 They are still full of wrath, the many gods, 2.814 This is the one taboo — to think of to-morrow! 2.870 This song is greater than all others: 2.796 Thou hast chosen us from among all nations, 2.842 Thy breath, O Lord, passed over and enkindled me. 2.760 To a king who had 2.808 To Thee, O great Arcane, 2.790 Up from the chimney of the crematory 2.794 We are a generation, heaven-doomed, 2.800 We ask our boarding-mistress - 2.822 What have you done to the man, Lydia? What kind of love is it 2.869 What is loftier than a house? 2.833 What is the crown of kings, and what the glory 2.777 When he has frolicked for a little 2.834 When I knead the dough 2.825 When I will die, then let my hearse 2.800 When our Rebbe Elimelech 2.862 Who maketh a statement, he, he must prove it! 2.858 World, I would take and lift thee up - 2.813

449 / Index of First Lines Would that I had a little boy, 2.789 Yoma, Yoma, play me a ditty, 2.820 Yoshka, Yoshka, harness the horse, and 2.850 You walk upon your sunlit roads 2.801

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C O L L E C T E D WORKS O F A . M . K L E I N C O M P L E T E POEMS PART 2

A.M. KLEIN

Complete Poems PART 2 O R I G I N A L POEMS, 1937-1955 AND POETRY TRANSLATIONS

E D I T E D BY ZAILIG POLLOCK

U N I V E R S I T Y OF TORONTO PRESS Toronto Buffalo London

© University of Toronto Press 1990 Toronto Buffalo London Printed in the United States of America

ISBN 0-8020-5802-7

Printed on acid-free paper

Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data Klein, A. M. (Abraham Moses), 1909-1972. Complete poems (Collected works of A.M. Klein) ISBN 0-8020-5802-7 (set) I. Pollock, Zailig. II. Title. III. Series: Klein, A. M. (Abraham Moses), 1909-1972. Collected works of A.M. Klein. ps8521.L45A17 1990 c811.52 PR9199.3.K588A17 1990

c90-094506-0

FRONTISPIECE: Klein in the early 19405 National Archives Canada, 58346 Photo by Associated Screen News Limited, Montreal This book has been published with the help of grants from the Canadian Federation for the Humanities, using funds provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, and from the Canada Council and the Ontario Arts Council under their block grant programs.

Contents

Preface xvii ORIGINAL POEMS, 1937-1955 c. 1937/1937 Blueprint for a Monument of War 453 Of Daumiers a Portfolio 458

c. 1938/1938 Barricade Smith: His Speeches 463 Of Castles in Spain 473 Childe Harold's Pilgrimage [Version 1] 475 Childe Harold's Pilgrimage [Version 2 (c. 1953/c. 1955)] 480

c. 1938/1940 To the Chief Musician, a Psalm of the Bratzlaver, a Parable 486 To the Chief Musician, a Psalm of the Bratzlaver, When He Considered How the Pious Are Overwhelmed 487 Of Remembrance 488 To the Chief Musician: A Psalm of the Bratzlaver, Touching a Good Gardener 489 To the Chief Musician, a Psalm of the Bratzlaver, Which He Wrote Down As the Stammerer Spoke 491

vi / Contents

c. 1940/1940 In Re Solomon Warshawer [Version 1] 493 In Re Solomon Warshawer [Version 2 (c. 1953/1955)] 498 For the Chief Physician 505 Grace before Poison 505 Maschil of Abraham: A Prayer When He Was in the Cave 506 A Prayer of Abraham That He Be Forgiven for Blasphemy 508 A Prayer of the Afflicted, When He Is Overwhelmed 508 A Psalm for Five Holy Pilgrims, Yea, Six on the King's Highway 509 A Psalm of Abraham concerning the Arrogance of the Son of Man 510 A Psalm of Abraham of That Which Was Visited upon Him 510 A Psalm of Abraham, Praying a Green Old Age 511 A Psalm of Abraham, to Be Written Down and Left on the Tomb of Rashi 512 A Psalm of Abraham, Touching His Green Pastures 513 A Psalm of Abraham, When He Was Sore Pressed 514 A Psalm of Abraham, Which He Made Because of Fear in the Night 515 A Psalm of Justice, and Its Scales 516 A Psalm of Resignation 517 A Psalm, to Be Preserved against Two Wicked Words 517 A Psalm to Teach Humility 518 Shiggaion of Abraham Which He Sang unto the Lord 519 A Song of Degrees 520 To the Chief Bailiff, a Psalm of the King's Writ 521 To the Chief Musician, Al-Taschith, Michtam of Abraham; When One Sent, and They Watched the House to Kill Him 521 To the Chief Musician, a Psalm of Israel, to Bring to Remembrance 522 To the Chief Musician, Who Played for the Dancers 523 To the Prophets, Minor and Major, a Psalm or Song 524

c. 1940/1941 A Benediction for the New Moon 525 A Prayer of Abraham, against Madness 526 A Psalm of Abraham, When He Hearkened to a Voice, and There Was None 527 A Psalm of Time and the Firmament 528 A Song for Wanderers 528

vii / Contents

c. 1941/1941 A Psalm of Abraham, concerning That Which He Beheld upon the Heavenly Scarp 530 A Psalm or Prayer - Praying His Portion with Beasts 531 Ballad of Quislings 532 Ballad of the Days of the Messiah 533 Ballad of the Dream That Was Not Dreamed 534 Ballad of the Evil Eye 536 Ballad of the Nuremberg Tower Clock 537 Ballad of the Nursery Rhymes 538 Ballad of the Thwarted Axe 539 Ballad of the Werewolves 541 Of the Friendly Silence of the Moon 542 Polish Village 542 Sennet from Gheel 543 Yehuda Halevi, His Pilgrimage 544

1941 In Memoriam: Arthur Ellis [Version 1] 557 In Memoriam: Arthur Ellis [Version 2 (c. 1946/1946)] 559 In Memoriam: Arthur Ellis [Version 3 (1954)] 561

c. 1942/1942 Autobiographical 564 Come Two, like Shadows 567 Dentist 568 Desideratum 569 Et j'ai lu tous les livres 570 Girlie Show 571 The Golem 572 Love 573 My Dear Plutophilanthropist 574 Pawnshop 575 Penultimate Chapter 577 That Legendary Eagle, Death 578 Variation of a Theme 579

viii / Contents

c. 1942/1943 The Hitleriad 581 C. 1943/1943

Actuarial Report 607 And in That Drowning Instant 608 Not All the Perfumes of Arabia [Version 1] 610 Not All the Perfumes of Arabia [Version 2 (c. 1952/1952)] 611 C. 1944/1944

Address to the Choirboys 613 Basic English 615 Bread 617 Commercial Bank 618 The Green Old Age 619 The Library 620 Montreal 621 Ni la mort ni le soleil 623 A Psalm Touching Genealogy 624 Spring Exhibit 624

c. 1942/c. 1944 Epitaph 626 Les Vespasiennes 627 Of Tradition 628 Post-War Planning 629 Saga the First 629 Song without Music 630 Tailpiece to an Anthology 631 Tribute to the Ballet Master [Version 1] 631 Tribute to the Ballet Master [Version 2] 632

c. 1944/1945 Portrait of the Poet as Landscape 634 Portrait of the Poet as Landscape [Deleted Section] 640

ix / Contents

c. 1945/1945 Indian Reservation: Caughnawaga 641 The Provinces 642 The Rocking Chair 644 Sonnet Unrhymed 645

c. 1945/1946 Air-Map 646 The Break-up 646 The Cripples 647 For the Sisters of the Hotel Dieu 648 Frigidaire 649 Grain Elevator 650 M. Bertrand 651 The Snowshoers 652 The Sugaring 653

c. 1946/1946 Doctor Drummond 655 The Notary 656 Political Meeting 657 Quebec Liquor Commission Store 659 The Spinning Wheel 660 The White Old Lady 661 Sestina on the Dialectic 662 Meditation upon Survival 663

1946 At Home 665 Lowell Levi [Version 1] 666 Portrait, and Commentary [Version 2 of 'Lowell Levi'] 666 To the Lady Who Wrote about Herzl 668 Wishing to Embarrass Me, but Politely 669 Wrestling Ring 669

x / Contents

c. 1945/1947 Beaver 671 Dominion Square 672 C. 1947/1947

Elegy 673 Song of Innocence 678 Annual Banquet: Chambre de Commerce 678 Dress Manufacturer: Fisherman 679 Filling Station 680 Hormisdas Arcand 681 Krieghoff: Calligrammes 682 Les Filles majeures 683 Librairie Delorme 684 Lone Bather 685 Lookout: Mount Royal 686 M. le juge Dupre 687 Monsieur Gaston 688 The Mountain 689 Parade of St. Jean Baptiste 691 Pastoral of the City Streets 694 Sire Alexandre Grandmaison 696 Universite de Montreal 697 Winter Night: Mount Royal 698 1947

O God! O Montreal! 700 1948

Cantabile 701

c. 1950/1950 Benedictions 704 Stance of the Amidah 704 Who Hast Fashioned 706 Of the Making of Gragers 707

xi / Contents 1952/1954 Epigrams [1] 708

c. 1953/1955 Spinoza: On Man, on the Rainbow 714

1955 Epigrams [2] 715

POETRY TRANSLATIONS ARAMAIC The Kaddish [Version 1] 721 The Kaddish [Version 2] 722 HEBREW Solomon ben Moses ha-Levi Alkabez O Site Most Kingly, O Royal Sanctum 724 Chaim Nachman Bialik Beneath the Burden ... 725 The Chastisement of God 726 Come, Gird Ye Your Loins, and in Might Robe Yourselves 727 God Grant My Part and Portion Be ... 728 The Lord Has Not Revealed 730 On My Returning 732 The City of Slaughter [Version 1] 733 In the City of Slaughter [Version 2 of ' The City of Slaughter'] 744 The Dance of Despair [Version 1] 749 Dance of Despair [Version 2 of The Dance of Despair'] 752 Seer, Begone [Version 1] 755 O Thou Seer, Go Flee Thee — Away [Version 2 of 'Seer, Begone'] 756 When the Days Shall Grow Long 757 The Word 759

xii / Contents Thy Breath, O Lord, Passed Over and Enkindled Me [Version 1] 760 A Spirit Passed before Me [Version 2 of 'Thy Breath, O Lord, Passed Over and Enkindled Me'] 761 Upon the Slaughter 763 Stars Flicker and Fall in the Sky 764 Immanuel (ben Solomon) of Rome The Prescription 765 Micah Joseph Lebensohn Wine 766 Yehuda Halevi To Jerusalem the Holy 768 Bear Thou, O Wind, My Love 768 Lord, Hele Me, Y-wis I Shal Be Heled 769 Ode to Zion 769 O Dove beside the Water Brook 771 O Heighte Sovereign, O Worldes Prys 772 Rubaiyat of Yehuda Halevi 773 Poets of the Yishuv Abraham Broides Upon the Highway 776 Uri Zvi Greenberg Kings of the Emek 777 Mother Jerusalem 778 Judah Kami (Valovelski) Be There No Altar 780 Make Blind, O Sun of Jerusalem 780 With Every Stone 781 David Shimoni (Shimonovitz) The Glory of the Homeland 782 Abraham Shlonsky Behold 784 Sabbath 785 Mordecai Temkin Unfavoured 786

xiii / Contents Rachel (Rachel Bluwstein) Now Such Am I ... 787 Rachel 787 Kinnereth 788 Dawn 789 The Childless One 789 YIDDISH

Mordecai Etziony The Prayer of a Physician 790 Jacob Glatstein The Eleventh: In Memory of Isaac, Son of the Tailor 792 The Gifted One 793 Smoke 794 Moyshe Leib Halpern Portrait of the Artist 795 Canticum Canticorum 796 The Last Song 797 Ki-Ki 797 The Golden Parrot 798 Conceit Curious 799 Last Will and Testament 799 Leib Jaffe We Are a Generation, Heaven-Doomed 800 You Walk upon Your Sunlit Roads 801 H. Leivick (Leivick Halpern) No More Tears 802 The Windows Are Grated 803 Mani-Leib (Mani-Leib Brahinsky) Sunset 804 Jacob Isaac Segal And This I Know 804 Autobiographical 805 Goats 806 A King 807 King Rufus 808

xiv / Contents Confession 809 Old Gold 811 Reb Zorach 812 Song 813 War 814 Speak to Your People, Therefore, in This Wise 815 Jewish Folk-Songs Shall I Be a Rabbi? 816 Come You Here, Philosopher 817 Charm 818 Tear Not Your Hair, My Sweetheart 818 And When One Burns - One Burns Brandy 819 On the Attic Sleeps a Roof 819 Yoma, Yoma, Play Me a Ditty 820 Hush! Hush! 821 We Ask Our Boarding-Mistress 822 Song of Wine 822 The Golden Parrakeet 824 When I Knead the Dough 825 I Go upon the Balcony 825 Once upon a Time; This 826 Better a Hebrew Teacher 827 O My Mother Sent Me 828 On the Hill, over the Hill 829 Gone Is the Yesterday 829 And at My Prayers I Will Quiver 830 Asks the World an Old, Old Question 831 And When Messiah Will Come 831 O What Do You Wish, My Dearest Child 832 Tell Me, Pretty Maiden, O Hearken Pretty Maiden 833 What Is Loftier than a House? 833 When He Has Frolicked for a Little 834 Lovely Am I, O Lovely, and Lovely Is My Name 834 1 Sit Me Down upon a Stone 835 Chassidic Folk-Songs L'chayim, Rebbe! 835 Oy, Our Rebbenu 836

xv / Contents God Willing, at the Rebbe's 836 Myerka, My Son 838 A Thou Song 839 Levi Yitschok's Kaddish 840 M'laveh Malkeh 841 Thou Hast Chosen Us 842 O There, O There, Where Is Our Holy Rebbe [Version 1] 842 Where Our Good Rebbe Is to Be Found [Version 2 of 'O There, O There, Where Is Our Holy Rebbe'] 843 The Rebbe, He Wanted [Version 1] 844 The Rebbe, He Wanted [Version 2] 845 In God's Good Time 847 A Burglary 848 Tell Us, Rebbenu 849 Yoshka, Yoshka 850 Oy, Vey, Rebbenu 850 Our Rebbe, the Miracle-Worker, Once 851 And When Our Rebbe Walks 852 Our Rebbe [Version 1] 853 Our Rebbe [Version 2] 854 My Noddle It Is Humming 854 The Train 855 How Fares the King? 856 The Rebbele, the Gabbai'le, the Cantor'l, the Shamash'l 857 Tsig, Tsigitsapel 858 Miracles and Wonders 859 Akavyah ben M'halallel 860 Omar Adoishem 1'Ya-akoiv! 860 Bar Yochai 862 The Rebbe Elimelech 862 Yonder! Yonder! 864 Vesomachto 865

xvi / Contents LATIN Horace Of Of To To To

the Ancient House of the Clinii [Version 1] 866 the Ancient House of the Clinii [Version 2] 868 Lydia 869 Leuconoe 870 L. Munatius Plancus 871

Abbreviations 875 Textual Notes Original Poems, 1937-1955 879 Poetry Translations 924 Explanatory Notes Original Poems, 1937-1955 953 Poetry Translations 1029 Appendix A: Contents of Published and Unpublished Collections 1061 Appendix B: Poems Revised in the Early Fifties 1075 Appendix C: Pages Which End with the Last Line of a Stanza or Verse Paragraph 1079 Index of Titles 1081 Index of First Lines 1099

Preface

This is Part 2 of an edition of A.M. Klein's Complete Poems. Part 1 contains the Introduction, Textual Chronology, Editorial Procedures, Acknowledgments, Biographical Chronology, original poems arranged chronologically up to 1934, and textual and explanatory notes for those poems. Part 2 contains the remainder of Klein's original poems, his poetry translations, textual and explanatory notes for those original poems and poetry translations, and appendices listing (1) the contents of the published and unpublished collections, (2) the poems revised in the early fifties, and (3) pages which end with the last line of a stanza or verse paragraph.

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O R I G I N A L P O E M S , 1937-1955

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C. 1937/1937

Blueprint for a Monument of War

Instructions to the stenographer: Address: The Board for Monuments of War The thirteenth residence, Rue de la Mort; If within five days not delivered on the chairman's desk, 5 Return to My Self, Esq. Copy for Mr. Algernon B. Brown Look up the who's who for the alphabet, Trailing his name, like the train of milady's gown. (This is the man who sold the soldiers shoes — 10 Aye, what a host of feet there marched then, wet! Now is he rated pillar of the town, Sits with his footwear - first-class - on the desk, Puffs at his pipe, is sad about the war, And plans great honour for the boots that walk no more ...) 15 Also a copy for Sir Alfred Poyns. (General of the Army - he survived! Great man! The hour struck. He girded his loins. And with the arrival of slaughter, he arrived. His ghost now pens his memoirs, to narrate 20 His epic of indomitable will His saga, both of destiny and fate,

454 / Original Poems, 1937—1955 How he was bravely timid, shrewdly rash, And how he bought - attend the bargain, and thrill! The salient for ten thousand lives, cold cash ...) 25 Omit not, please, Rev. Smith and Rabbi Cohen, The one in his temple, t'other in his church, Twin footstools, burnished, of the heavenly throne. These men know monuments; it is their perch. They also know, as they have always known 30 Infallibly what side the Lord was on. Address him - lest we forget - the editor: Mustering infantry in pica; zooming in paragraphs; Throwing his word-grenades; featly bombarding Big Bertha headlines on the metropolis. 35 Advancing the slogans; retreating with epigrams; Fighting courageously; bugling the call; All On the map that hangs upon his office-wall! (His essays did prelude obituaries. 40 Hinc illae lachrymae, this blueprint packet: The editorial we; the obit; the hie jacet.) Epistle and Enclosure: The blueprint's clear, and all who skip may see: Gathered the unseamed flesh, the jagged bone 45 Of the eclectic anonymity, The valiant alias, the brave unknown. Dig, then, the grave, as deep as spade will go Who lived in a trench, may in a trench lie dead. Lift up the hero, minus nose, thumb, toe, 50 And crypt the treaty underneath his head. So is it wiser. Parchment will preserve

455 / c.i937/*937 Mortality from the immortal worm. The monument? Tis simple, but 'twill serve: To wit: a stone, a cairn, cemented, firm. 55 The corpse, perforce such sure impedimentum Never to rise. Exegi monumentum! Memorials need mnemonics. Surely, then, Our pawn, the unknown soldierman, y-clept Andrew Angelo Francois Xavier Sam 60 Stanislaus Thomas Abraham Jones (God rest his bones) Deserves some chiselling, grandiloquent and apt!

So be it. 65 Who shall gainsay that on a tombstone, Latin Is for the great departed A winding sheet of satin? Wherefore, Horatius Flaccus, who fought and ran away And therefore lived to fashion many a martial lay, 70 Be with us now. Dvlce et decorvm est pro patria mori (What is more beautiful than dying? Think, More beautiful than flowering into flesh, Than gaining glory in indelible ink 75 Upon an archive page, and what more noble Than being consumed by scientific stink? Nothing; unless for some wild slogan's sake To hang in barbed wire i' the light o' the moon. And hear the thunder roll, the thunder break, 80 And watch the issuing guts until you swoon ...)

456 / Original Poems, 1937—1955 Mors et fvgacem perseqvitvr virvm And if, among the number of men, there be Some men whom Death has skipped Why, gentlemen, your duty is most clear: 85 Conscript, conscript. Virtvs reclvdens immeritis mori Coelvm, negata temptat iter via

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(Behold my brother, sans both legs A military loss However, now he ambulates On a Victoria Cross.) P.S. If you desire English text, then go To Rupert Brooke whose bugles always blow; Or Mr. Tennyson Who will tell any son Of battle's benison! P.P.S. Appendix for the Pious — Isaiah, chapter sixty-seven. And it shall come to pass that the king's high counsellor, desiring honourable mention in a footnote of the chronicles, shall stand up upon a balcony and he shall shout: They hold me in derision. The alien three oceans beyond us holds me in derision. Wherefore you shall be amazed, you shall stand confused, you shall not know when or how. It shall be a thing you have not heard. But the emissaries of the whetted tongue shall go forth to the market-places, and shall stand them up upon a chariot, and shall pound upon their chests, groaning: Honour, honour. Until you too shall rise, shaking your fists, and crying with a loud voice: We shall not be held in derision. You shall journey long distances to lands in a picture-book. Your farewells shall be full of glory; paid speakers will laud you.

457 / c.i937/1937

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The manufactories of bunting shall do much trade; the writers of martial musick shall win them renown. The speeches shall be uttered, the bugles shall be blown, and the kisses wafted And you shall go the long way over many seas. This also I know, that the high-counsellor and his brother the swordsmith will rub their hands, warm at the prospect of seven fat years And will hasten to their secret chambers, there to calculate calculations. And you shall journey great distances to lands in a picturebook, And shall discover yourselves in the midst of a strange people, who have not ever lifted a little finger against you, or said a short word ill of you And you shall array yourselves, each against the other And the voice of the captain shall thunder, and it shall rain brimstone. For many days you shall rest in the watery pit Until your feet shall be swollen, and you shall remember with great longing a pair of slippers and a chair. Vermin shall crawl about you, the louse shall move in on you And you shall curse your fingers because they are few. Worse than the great noise of the instruments of war shall be the terrible silence When you shall bethink yourself of kith and kin, and of the king's counsellor Causing himself to be regarded full-face and in profile. The generals shall be bathed in lotions, the captains shall be perfumed with myrrh And you, son of man, shall own mud as your breastplate, and mire as your armour. The battle shall rage, and men with strange devices shall signal to one another Signals of victory, honour, and inches of land. Until both you and the alien shall be weary, and the counsellors weary of profit. Peace shall be heard in the land, but who shall hear it?

458 / Original Poems, 1937-1955

Truce shall be called in the land, who shall hearken unto it? 155 For your brothers shall lie in foreign fields, where the crow may bring them the tiding, and the worm whisper the news. c. i937/!937

1937

Of Daumiers a Portfolio I

His Lordship Who remembers not this eminently capable man, Magician of costumes; factotum: changer of roles? How, in his youth, he gowned himself: a lawyer: And with cold logic proved contiguous the poles ... 5 How, later, having wedded a legal fiction, His wife: the Corporation: endowed him, debtor; Whereat he stayed, in gratitude, for all time faithful, Except when other corporations endowed him better . Again, having eloquently defended on the hustings 10 The chastity of three deflowered regimes Behold him in overalls, among the paupers \ I am the toiler's friend! He smiles; he beams. On to the bench he goes now, gifted maestro; Before him walks a crier, and he cries: 15 Silence! The Honourable Mr. Justice Hogarth, Arriving in robes judicial, his new disguise!

459 / c. 1937/1937 II

Sentence These robbers filched electricity: This is a crime to property! In jail for one month let them be, 20 To privately own - their privacy. Ill

A Song of Three Degrees The prisoner confessed most willingly. Of his own free will he confessed, my Lord. There were no threats, no, nor cajolery. I say this on my good policeman's word. 25 The bruises on his face? The bruises? They're The sure stigmata of a contrite course: Behold you, too, how penitence doth stare Out of a black eye, coloured with remorse. I swear there was no use of physical force. IV

Prosecutor 30 Holy, holy, holy, Consider the prosecutor; Who failing arguments acute Finds arguments acuter.

460 / Original Poems, 1937-1955

V

Public Utility The pimp, he pays his fine and costs, 35 Which monies go to stock The Treasury which builds more streets For streetwalkers to walk. The wench, alas, must earn her fine. So back to her tenement, 40 This civil servant toils and spins; She keeps the Government. VI

La Glorieuse Incertitude The law is certain; and the law is clear. Having invoked Justinian, exorcised That Pothier of the tomes where s is f, 45 The five good judges of the higher court, Each conning the same gospel, toothlessly Splutter their wisdom on the fleur-de-lys. Two greybeards, cutting syllogistic dolls, Issue their answer: unambiguous Yea. 50 Two others, scissoring a similar script, With many curlecued wherefores, shape their Nay. The fifth, a younger sage, and nimbler, skips Trippingly on his hypothetic way To halt him, cutely, pendent in mid-air. 55 The law is certain; and the law is clear.

461 / 0.1937/1937 VII

Sleuth Dizzy amidst a whorl of fingerprints; Playing ballistics; learned; nobody's fool; Reading from unseen ink invisible hints; Look! A detective of the modern school. 60 By sniffing, he could trace a noxious wind. He solved The Mystery of the Door Ajar; In pride, he framed his cases, - even pinned A rap of arson on a falling star. So trained, and so instructed, no surprise 65 Startled his rapt admirers when he found Because in Hull, tears shone in a servant's eyes, And at Quebec, a swabbing sailor groaned, A man on relief at Hochelaga wept The province by sedition swept. VIII Guardian of the Law 70 How have you become not that which once you were, Brass-buttoned blue-serged hero of my youth! I laid me down, when six, to sleep untroubled By dreams of ogres, fearsome and uncouth, Or sound of robbers whispering in the dark; 75 And this, because you walked the street and park. A prober of door-knobs, peerer into glass-fronts, From curb to curb escorter of the blind, Friendly your smile to me that day I wandered Around the corner, and wept, and could not find 80 The way back to the apron of my home. You held me, dried my tears, and wiped my nose (Your uniform smelled like my own father's clothes) You led me, and I followed, like a mouse,

462 / Original Poems, 1937-1955

Until I suddenly ran, to recognize my house! 85 And now have I seen you in your colour, slave, Paid hater of your kin! Against the unarmed and helpless, mightily brave Mightily noble - for a fin! For I have seen you grin 90 Outside the factory where my father is A spool for a spool of thread Yes, seen you grin, and strike my father's friend With baton on the head! So do you earn your bread, 95 And butter, And good red jam well-bled! IX

Corrigendum Now finally, by way of corrigendum: Judges there be, not only solemn, but wise To whom their justice is no thing of trade. 100 The law requests I make this fair addendum. It is made. c. i937/*937

1937

c. 1938/1938

Barricade Smith: His Speeches I

Of Violence What does the word mean: Violence? Are we not content? Do not our coupons fall, like manna, from the bonds? Are we not all well-fed? Save for twelve months of Lent? Is it not slander to aver the Boss absconds 5 With all the embezzled dollars in his delicate hand? Is there not heard a sound Of belching in the land? Who, then, would speak of violence, uncouth and impolite? Surely not we, the meek, the docile, the none-too-bright! 10 The askers with cap-in-hand, the rebels, a Emily Post Who know too well our place, our manners, and our host! Wherefore, though wages slither, and upward soar the rates, Not we will be the churls rudely to doubt that boast Of Labor and Capital, that Siamese twin alright,

464 / Original Poems, 1937-1955 15 One of whom eats, the other defecates. The Board of Directors sits And cudgels its salaried wits: At cost of life and limb Show profits, and still be 20 Unviolent as a hymn. They syncopate your groans on gramaphones; Your muscles throb in their Rolls-Royce; They triturate your sweat in cocktail-shakers. But they are not violent, for violence is wicked; 25 And worse than that - I shudder to say the word, That fell indictment It simply is not cricket! Go therefore, tell your wives that the breadbox must stay breadless, The rent unpaid, the stove unheated, you enslaved; 30 Because you must be above all things, well-behaved. And having uttered these heroic words, slink hence Into some unleased corner, and there vanish But not with any violence. II

Of Dawn and Its Breaking Where will you be 35 When the password is said and the news is extra'd abroad, And the placard is raised, and the billboard lifted on high, And the radio network announces its improvised decree: You are free? Where will it find you, that great genesis? 40 Preparing your lips for a kiss?

465 / €.1938/1938

Waiting the call of next in a barbershop? Rapt with the ticker's euphony? Or practising some negroid hop? Where will you be 45 When the news is bruited by the auto horn? Holding a pair of aces back to back? Paring a toe-nail, cutting out a corn? Or reading, with de-trousered back, Hearst's tabloid, previously torn? 50 Or will you be — O would that you should be! Among those valiant ones returning to their homes To tell Their daughters and their sons to tell posterity How they did on that day, 55 If not create new heaven, at least abolish hell. Ill

Of the Clients of Barnum Clients of Barnum, yours no even break! The maestros have you, have you on the hip! They gloat: they hold you ready for the take: And you, O rube, fall smacko for the gyp! 60 Sucker, you stand no chance; the cards are nicked, The factory, believe you me, is one clip joint; The sadness is you know not you are licked Come from the cleaners, you have missed the point. Buffalo'd, taken for a ride, you gape; 65 Say dirty work at the cross-roads, but can not Articulate its manner, form or shape.

466 / Original Poems, 1937—1955

For deadheads, here where X proclaims the spot, Enters Politico, and p.d.q. To tell you what a lovely land is ours; 70 With him, Kid Pedagogue, the champ who slew All challenging low wages and long hours; Also Don Pulpiteer, to promise you, Not earthly dwellings, — no — celestial bowers! Is it not time 75 Before they shove you on an unemployment shelf, Or freeze you in a pension-frigidaire, That you do get Wise to yourself? IV

Of Psalmody in the Temple They do lie heavily upon me, these 80 Sores of the spirit, failings of the flesh! Wherefore, O triply-purgatoried soul, Scram; And chastened O my body, Take it on the lam 85 To the colossal, suprasuper hideout, blow, To the lotiferous movie-show! There I do sit me down in thick upholstery; I do not want. A tale is prepared before me: heroine enters, 90 Slim; and a villain, gaunt: Also a well-groomed esquire saying / love you Fade out, fade in; Shots of a lot of legs, and a couple of stooges, Close-up, a grin. 95 The decent, the fair, win prizes; the wicked Their just deserts.

467 / €.1938/1938 The prince weds Cinderella, and virtue triumphs Until it hurts. O these felicitous endings, sweet finales, 100 They comfort me O bodies' beatitude, O soul's salvation, Where this can be! Most surely I shall dwell in this great temple And take my bliss 105 Forever out of scenes which end forever In an eight-foot kiss. V

Of Faith, Hope and Charity Beware, - spiritual humankind, Faith, contraceptive of the mind; And hope, cheap aphrodisiac, no Supplying potency its lack; And also that smug lechery Barren and sterile charity. VI

Of Beauty Seeing that planets move by dynamos, And even the sun's a burnished well-oiled spring, 115 What glory is there, say, in being a rose And why should skylarks still desire to sing, Singing, and no men hear, men standing close Over some sleek, mechanic and vociferous thing? For these there is one beauty; put it on a table: 120 A loaf of bread, some salt, a vegetable.

468 / Original Poems, 1937-1955 VII

Of Poesy Bard, paying your rental of the ivory tower, With the old coin of hoarded metaphor, Abandon now the turret where you cower; Descend the winding staircase; and let your 125 Speech be, not of the thrush's note, long sour, But of the Real, alive upon a floor. Let Keats forget his father's stables, smelling The mythical odour of the asphodel; Let Wordsworth clutch his sensitive bosom, leaping 130 When he beholds a rainbow he can sell; Let butler Tennyson pour out old vintage For the good knights of Arthur's King Hotel. But you, O streamlined laureate, What's Hecuba to you? 135 How long will you yet bind your fate With stars archaic and with obsolete dew? Go out upon a roof, and laud the moon! Your words are sweet and flattering, as if The moon were a good corpse, a threnodied stiff! 140 O idiot bard, O frenzied loon, Such words to blow Upon that smooth hydraulic dynamo! For soon, O sooner than the laurel grows Will come to you, superior of the mass, 145 The foreman Death, To push you into one of many rows And bodily have you manufacture grass, Of your sweet immortality, true token, Wage of the foreman Death 150 His time-clock, broken.

469 / 0.1938/1938 VIII Of

Soporifics

These be repasts lethean of your kind: the tabloid whispering, the penny sheet shouting the scoop that even the richest meet with mesalliance, murder, maddened mind; 155 the sermon showing corpses wined and dined; the radio hour and its jovial bleat; the circus come to town, a breadless feat; two weeks of grace for fifty weeks of grind. These are the brews that are allowed to mull 160 in crucibles of bone one would call sane; these are concoctions patented to dull the too-keen edge of the too-querulous brain, persuading the cockerel dung is beautiful, and the bespatted, spit is only rain.

IX Of Shirts and Policies of State 165 A shirt! a shirt! a kingdom for a shirt! Open your paper; bargains, if you please! A principality goes for less than dirt, The palmiest state for any pied chemise. A red blouse buys the franchise of the czar; 170 The brown habergeon claims an Arian realm; Where once were candid togas, blackshirts are; Shirtless is but mahatma at his helm. Wherefore, O Machiavel, Get you a rag, a shoulder-strap or a brassiere, 175 And be it but of the right proper hue And kings will come in trembling and in fear And peoples, hoarsely obedient, will come to you!

4/o / Original Poems, 1937-1955 Make haste; and use dispatch! The shirts of the spectrum governance the world! 180 Get yourself, therefore, while you can, a patch Of rainbow silk, of motley linen, and Declare another philosophic shirt unfurled!

X Of the Lily Which Toils Not You, Tillie the Toiler and Winnie the Worker, consider This fabulous lily - and her milk-fed pride, 185 She toils not, no, and neither does she spin! O not like yours her most egregious skin, Her epidermis gilt-edged, bonded hide! For she has been a child most delicate, Bathed in milk, filched from the wild goat's haunt; 190 She has thrived, has grown, has come to man's estate, She is the season's worthiest debutante! Her grandfather sold cheap gawds in quantity; Non-lilies in their hundreds toiled for them. Now dough is no consideration, see, 195 The girl must have her court and diadem. Call the reporters, call the photographers! Here, for The Sportsman, a snap of Lilia Patting the groomed posterior of a horse; And for The Social Star, 200 Lily and jaguar. And please, good fellow, print this one apart, (It goes to show our hot-house Lily has Not only a big bosom, but a heart.)

4/i / c-1938/1938 Photo of limousine, and background-slums, 205 Lily dispensing to the poor unmentioned sums, Already titled for the typesetter: Deb and debtor. Isn't that cute? Also do not forget to comment on the style of her spring-suit. 210 Have a drink; drink hearty; Here are passes to the party. And what a party! Outre, a 1'outrance! Strawberries from the Himalayas, and Fowl hatched somewhere in some uncharted land 215 And other tidbits, costly all, and all Prepared by (trumpets!) Oscar Cinq of France. The wine, the flowers, the music, and the guests! The liquor gurgled of Napoleon's wars, The hired jester made financial jests, 220 The slick musicians juggled their music scores, While dignified doormen guarded all the doors Permitting only the distingue who Could swear he never laced up his own shoe. Tillie, it was a glorious sight to see! 225 Tails and white ties, and gowns, and naked backs; Chrysanthemums, pink, brought from beyond the sea, Tinted, by artists, with bright blues and blacks, And brooding, like a spirit, Over the champagne flood that never once did ebb, 230 Lily the Deb! Of course, I did not see it all myself; Sadly, I lacked, what millionaires call pelf, And so I must, in honesty, relate, That Barry Cade-Smythe did not crash the gate.

472 / Original Poems, 1937-1955

235 But Barricade Smith did love her from afar, Watched her, in due time, go upon a cruise And come back, headlined in the nation's news, As wife of the tenth cousin of the Czar. Whom, in due time, she buried. No one needs 240 To be reminded of that tragic cut Of her Paris widow's weeds. That season over, with the coming of the spring And dividends blossoming on many a bank, She wedded, being now a lady of rank, 245 A closer relative of a deposed king. Whom, in due course, She did divorce, And sent him packing, with a little tip, Two million dollars, and a discarded ship. 250 And still to-day, Tillie, if you have the time, And Winnie, if you care, you may, Ahunting go to Africa, or climb Some hills Helvetian, yodelling, and find Lily at play; 255 Or on the Riviera, or shooting birds of clay, Perhaps, however, you cannot get away. c. 1938/1938

1938

473 / 0.1938/1938

Of Castles in Spain

To One Gone to the Wars For S.H.A. Unworthiest crony of my grammar days, Expectorator in learning's cuspidor, Forsaking the scholar's for the gamin's ways, The gates of knowledge for the cubicular door, 5 How you have shamed me, me the noble talker, The polisher of phrases, stainer of verbs, Who daily for a price serve hind and hawker, Earning my Sabbath meat, my daily herbs. 10

'Tis you who do confound the lupine jaw And stand protective of my days and works, As in the street-fight you maintain the law And I in an armchair - weigh and measure Marx.

Alas, that fettered and bound by virtues long since rusty, I must, for spouse and son, 15 Withhold, as is befitting any prison trusty, My personal succour and my uniformed aid, And from the barracks watch the barricade Offering you, meek sacrifice, unvaliant gift, My non-liturgic prayer: 20 For that your aim be sure, Your bullet swift Unperilous your air, your trenches dry, Your courage unattainted by defeat, Your courage high.

474 / Original Poems, 1937-1955 Toreador

25 Unfurl the scarlet banner, Toreador, Take up your stance; Let, then, the bull bicornate for the gore, Snorting, advance, To meet your clean thrust, bringing to his knees 30 The taurine beast. Let banner upon blood proclaim the peace Of bull, deceased. Sonnet without Music Upon the piazza, haemophilic dons delicately lift their sherry in the sun. 35 Having recovered confiscated land, and his expropriated smile redeemed, the magnate, too, has doff'd his socialized face. He beams a jocund aftermath to bombs. Also, the priest, — alas, for so much bloodshed! 40 cups plumpish hand to catch uncatechized belch. The iron heel grows rusty in the nape of peasant feeding with the earthworm - but beware aristocrat, Don Pelph, beware! The peon soon will stir, will rise, will stand, 45 breathe Hunger's foetid breath, lift arm, clench fist, and heil you to the fascist realm of death! c. 1938/1938

1938

475 / 0.1938/1938

Childe Harold's Pilgrimage [Version i] Of yore yclept in old Judaea Zvi; Cognomen'd Cerf where Latin speech is carolled; Dubbed Hirsch, a transient, in wild Allmany; For sweet conformity now appellated Harold, 5 Always and ever, Whether in caftan robed, or in tuxedo slicked, Whether of bearded chin, or of the jowls shaved blue, Always and ever have I been the Jew Bewildered, and a man who has been tricked, 10 Examining A passport of a polyglot decision To Esperanto from the earliest rune Where cancellation frowns away permission, And turning in despair 15 To seek an audience with the consul of the moon. For they have all been shut, and barred, and triple-locked, The gates of refuge, the asylum doors; And in no place beneath the sun may I On pilgrimage towards my own wide tomb 20 Sit down to rest my bones, and count my sores; Save near thy shimmering horizon, Madagascar! Where in the sickly heat of noon I may Bloom tropical, and rot, and happily melt away. Aye, but thy fell is somewhat safe in Muscovy! 25 Quoth Kamenev to me. And truth it is, as all the world avows: Provided I cast off my divine impedimenta, And leave my household gods in the customs house.

476 / Original Poems, 1937-1955

30 And there is also Palestine, my own, Land of my fathers, cradle of my birth, Whither I may return, king to his throne, By showing the doorman, Mr. Harold's worth Several thousand pounds (and not by loan!) 35 Redemption for the pawned and promised earth! O mummied Pharaoh in thy pyramid, Consider now the schemes thy wizards schemed Against those shrewd proliferous Israelites! Son of Hamdatha, though the witless Mede 40 Did gibbet thee, behold thy inventions deemed Wisdom itself by many worthy wights. Rejoice, Judaeophobes, The brew you brewed and cellared is not flat! See, in the air, mad Antiochus, the 45 Inimitate image of thy frenzy, and Lean Torquemada, look about thee, and grow fat. Sieg heil! Behold, against the sun, familiar blot: A cross with claws! 50 Hearken The mustached homily, the megaphoned hymn: Attila's laws! He likes me not. He does not like my blood in state unspilled; 55 Pronounces me begotten of canaille Talmudic, biblic riff-raff, and polluted Blood of the prophets, and their Marxian guild. The sage has elocuted. Not blue my eyes, ergo, I am ill-bred; 60 My head is short, wherefore, I am too long By a head! Tow hair on Teuton skull - this is the token By which to take the measure of the strong. The seer has spoken.

477 / c. 1938/1938

65 So sound the trumpet! And join, ye burghers, in the ditty that the pimp Horst Wessel Wrote for his strumpet!

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0 fellowman - forgive the archaic word! Break now your sullen silence, and expound Wherefore you deem me that foul mote in your eye, That bone in your throat, that ugly scab, that plague, That in your gospels you so character Me and my kin, consanguine and allied? Is it my wealth you envy, my wine-goblet, My candlesticks, my spattered gaberdine? Why, take them; all my goods and chattels - yours. Take them, I shall not so much as say O, And let there be an end. The scowl persists. It is my thoughts, then, that you do begrudge me? Good; I'll expunge them! I will bid my brain Henceforth to cease, go dry, be petrified, And as it was in my mother's womb, remain. Cousin, will that be pleasing to you? No? You are not pleased at all. Pray do not tell me, I will myself unfathom the dark reason My father's heresy, his obstinate creed? That is the sword between us? Bring it down. 1 pledge you, for the sake of peace, that I Will be your most observing true marrano That ever bent the knee to several gods. Not so, you say, for being a generous mind You will forgive the false. What is it, then, That ghostly thing that stalks between us, and Confounds our discourse into babel speech? I am too forward; wherever you seek me not There you do find me, always, big in your sight. That, too, good brother, is no difficult matter For I will dwarf myself, and live in a hut Upon the outskirts of nowhere, receive no mail, And speak so low that only God shall hear me! So, surely shall we be as bosom-friends.

478 / Original Poems, 1937-1955

I stray; I grope; I have not read your mind. Perhaps I am a man of surly manners, Lacking in grace, aloof, impolitic, 105 To wit, an alien? And that is false. For on occasion and in divers lands I have sojourned, set up abode with you, Drank the same drinks, partook of the same food, Applauded the same music, uttered the no Very same language, thought a similar thought, And still you have sneered foreigner, and still Your hate was great, as reasonless hatred is. Stranger and foeman, I know well your wish! My blood, my blood! Shall I, then, sever a vein, 115 Drain off an artery, open the valves Of my much too-Semitic heart, and be That blond cadaver pleasing to your eye? Have I not well conjectured? Is not your mind Now laid on the table, pointed, like a dagger? 120 In such sad plight, in such sore case, My sire would turn his bearded face Upwards, and, fast or festive day, Would don his prayershawl, and pray. To him in converse with his God, 125 The wicked king was less than sod, And all his machinations were Less than the yelpings of a cur. For as my father prayed, he heard The promise of the holy word, 130 And felt them watching over him, The furious fiery seraphim. My father is gathered to his fathers, God rest his wraith! And his son Is a pauper in spirit, a beggar in piety, 135 Cut off without a penny's worth of faith.

479 / 0.1938/193^ Esau, my kinsman, would, in like event, Devise a different answer for the foe; And let the argumentative bullet dent The heart of the tyrant, let the steel blade show 140 The poor mortality of the heaven-sent, And let the assassin's bomb, vociferous, throw Defiance to the oppressor, Booming No! Alas, for me that in my ears there sounds 145 Always the sixth thunder of Sinai. What, now, for me to do? Gulp down some poisoned brew? Or from some twentieth story take My ignominious exit? Make, 150 Above this disappearing Jew, Three bubbles burst upon the lake? Or dance from a rope upon the air Over an overturned chair? No, not for such ignoble end 155 From Ur of the Chaldees have I the long way come; Not for such purpose low Have I endured cruel Time, its pandemonium, Its lunatic changes, its capricious play; And surely not that I might at long last 160 Vanish Have my feet crossed these many frontiers, and My brain devised its thoughts. 'Tis not in me to unsheathe an avenging sword; I cannot don phylactery to pray; 165 Weaponless, blessed with no works, and much abhorred, This only is mine wherewith to face the horde: The frozen patience waiting for its day, The stance long-suffering, the stoic word, The bright empirics that knows well that the

480 / Original Poems, 1937-1955

170 Night of the cauchemar comes and goes away, A baleful wind, a baneful nebula, over A saecular imperturbability. c. 1938/1938

1940

Childe Harold's Pilgrimage [Version 2] Of yore yclept in old Judaea Zvi; Cognomen'd Cerf where Latin speech is carolled; Dubbed Hirsch, a transient, in wild Allmany; For sweet conformity now appellated Harold, 5 Always and everywhere, Whether in caftan robed, or in tuxedo slicked, Whether of bearded chin, or of the jowls shaved blue, Always and at all frontiers have I been the Jew Shunted and shuttled, been the Hebrew tricked 10 Examining A passport of a polyglot decision (To esperanto from the earliest rune) Where cancellation frowned away permission, Man turning in despair 15 To seek him his visa from the consul of the moon. For they have all been shut, and barred, and triple-locked, The gates of refuge, the asylum doors; And in no place beneath the sun may I, Who've tugged at the latch of all the longitudes, 20 Sit down to rest my bones, and count my sores, Save at your shimmering horizons, Madagascar! Where in the sickly heat of noon I may Bloom tropical, and rot, and happily melt away. No home nor haven is for us; 25 All doors are exodus.

481 / €.1938/1938 O mummied Pharaoh in your pyramid, Consider now the schemes your wizards schemed Against those shrewd proliferous Israelites! Son of Hamdatha, though the witless Mede 30 Did gibbet you, see your inventions deemed Now of realpolitik's highest flights. Rejoice, Judaeophobes, The brew you brewed and cellared is not flat! See, in the air, mad Antiochus, the 35 Inimitate image of your frenzy, and, Lean Torquemada, look about you, and grow fat. Sieg heill Behold, against the sun, familiar blot: A cross with claws! 40 Hearken The mustached homily, the megaphoned hymn: Attila's laws! He likes me not. He does not like my blood in state unspilled; 45 Pronounces me begotten of canaille Talmudic, biblic riff-raff, the polluted Blood of the prophets, an ignoble melt. The sage has elocuted. Not blue my eyes, ergo, I am ill-bred; 50 My head is short, wherefore, I am too long By a head! Tow hair on Teuton skull - this is the token By which to take the measure of the strong. The seer has spoken. 55 O fellowman - forgive the obsolete word! Break now your sullen silence, and expound Why you consider me that mote in your eye, That hone in your throat, that abscess on your flesh, That in your choler you so character 60 Me and my kin, consanguine and allied? Is it my wealth you envy, my wine-goblet,

482 / Original Poems, 1937-1955

65

70

75

80

85

90

95

My candlesticks, my spattered gaberdine? Why, take them; all my goods and chattels - yours. Take them, I shall not so much as say Oh! And let there be an end. Your scowl persists. They are my thoughts, then, that you do begrudge me? Good; I'll expunge them! I will bid my brain Henceforth to cease, go dry, be petrified, And as it was in my mother's womb, remain. Cousin, will that be pleasing to you? You are not pleased at all. No, do not tell me, I will myself illumine the dark reason My father's heresy, his obstinate creed? That is the sword between us! Bring it down. I pledge you, for the sake of peace, that I Will be your most observing true marrano That ever bent the knee to several gods. Ah, you protest. Yours is a generous heart. Error you can forgive. What is it, then, That hops between us, mischievous familiar, And with a spell brings outrage to your eyes? I am too forward; wherever you seek me not There you do find me, always, big in your sight. That too, good brother, is no difficult matter For I will dwarf myself, and live in a hut Upon the outskirts of nowhere, receive no mail, And speak so low that only God shall hear me! Then, surely must we be as bosom friends. The spot's not touched. I have not read your mind. Is it, perhaps, - I whisper this - my manners, That now are much too loud, - and now too hushed Now ultra-demonstrative, an instant later All of self-effacement and punctiliousness, The alien's typical alternations? False! For on occasion and in divers lands Sojourning, I've set up abode with you,

483 / 0.1938/1938 Drank the same drinks, partook of the same food, Applauded the same music, uttered the Very same language, thought a similar thought, 100 And still you have sneered Foreigner! and still Your hate was great, as reasonless hatred is. Stranger and enemy, I have read your wish! My blood! Shall I, then, sever a vein, Drain off an artery, open the valves 105 Of my much too-Semitic heart, and be That blond cadaver pleasing to your eye? Have I now well conjectured? Is not your mind Now laid on the table, pointed, like a dagger? In such sad plight, in such sore case, no My father would turn his bearded face Upwards, and, fast or festive day, Would don his prayershawl, and pray. To him in converse with his God, Tsar Nicholas was less than sod, 115 And all his machinations were Less than the bark of his borzoi. For as my father prayed, he heard The promise of the holy word, And felt them watching over him, 120 The furious fiery seraphim. My father is gathered to his fathers, God rest his wraith! And his son Is a pauper in spirit, a beggar in piety, Cut off without a penny's worth of faith. 125 Esau, my kinsman, would, in like event, Devise a different answer for the foe; Would let the argumentative bullet dent The heart of the despot, let the steel blade show His poor mortality how effluent, 130 Would let the apoplectic bomb assert

484 / Original Poems, 1937-1955

In the scattering square its rage And the tyrant's hemorrhage. Alas for me, that in my ears there sounds Always the sixth thunder of Sinai. 135 What, now, for me to do? Gulp down some poisoned brew? Or from some twentieth story take My ignominious exit? Make, Above this disappearing Jew, 140 Three bubbles burst upon the lake? Or dance from a rope upon the air Over an overturned chair? No, not for such ignoble end From Ur of the Chaldees have I the long way come; 145 Not for such purpose low Have suffered Time, its pandemonium, Its lunatic changes, its capricious play; And surely not that the ethic and the lights eternal Kindled upon the wick of the renewing brain 150 Should gutter at the last, and be obscured, Outsnuffed, and my own self snuffed out Have I endured all that I have endured As evil whirled about me and about. 'Tis not in me to unsheathe an avenging sword. 155 I cannot don phylactery to pray. Weaponless, blessed with no works, and much abhorred, This only is mine wherewith to face the horde: The frozen patience waiting for its day, The stance long-suffering, the stoic word, 160 The bright empirics that knows well that the Night of the cauchemar comes but goes away, -

485 / 0.1938/1938 A baleful wind, a baneful nebula, over A saecular imperturbability. c. 1953/c. 1955

c. 1938/1940

To the Chief Musician, a Psalm of the Bratzlaver, a Parable An aged king, his brittle shins in hose, Spoonfed, dribbling over a purple bib, Upon a time and at a banquet board Raised bony palm, and stayed the resined bows, 5 And hushed the drums, and stilled the cornet's chord. Then caused to issue from his seventh rib These toothless words: Thane of four graveyard ells, Soon shall you mark me, vassal of the worm. The eager belfry waits to cluck its bells; 10 The royal sexton, palsied and infirm, Lets rust grow on his spade, moss on my tomb. Wherefore, my son, my immortality, Ascend my throne; don crown; let cannon boom! For though from my high tower in the sky 15 My rheumy eyes have seen your star and doom, Be of good cheer, of noble temper be; And never let a baneful wind blow dust Between yourself and your felicity ... c. 1938/1940

1944

487 / €.1938/194°

To the Chief Musician, a Psalm of the Bratzlaver, When He Considered How the Pious Are Overwhelmed Guerdon for wit is lavished in the realm; About the young prince hover old wise men, Chewing the tips of their beards, lean sages pen Theses with long Greek words. Astrologers 5 Fall into ditches gazing at the stars. The prince eats doctrine, while his scholars cram The pinnacled platters of the daily feast So in a land where no direction is Each simpleton's a wise man of the East. 10 Only the prince's cracked pate wants a stitch. He talks in riddles, he moans in heavy sleep, His brain is troubled with the wizard's itch; Sometimes he laughs, and sometimes he doth weep. He stalks through the lonely halls and sighs and sighs; 15 Of woman's womb and from snipped navelcord, Released to wander beneath blank blue skies, Wherefore, and to what end? My father's end? The king who wears a diadem of roots? The sages speak of God, the First, but what 20 The seed of which he is the Fruit of Fruits? And what am I, the king, my majesty Pedigreed bone, blue blood, anointed skin? Alas, the marble pillars have no tongues No sound without replies to sound within. 25 Meantime, the prince's generals have gout Philosophers, discoursing happiness Have put the bannered myrmidons to rout Soldiers read books, and captains play at chess.

488 / Original Poems, 1937-1955

30

There is no citadel above the port, The spider-web hangs from the cannon's mouth, The mortar drops from every frontier fort. c. 1938/1940

Of Remembrance Go catch the echoes of the ticks of time; Spy the interstices between its sands; Uncover the shadow of the dial; fish Out of the waters of the water-clock 5 The shape and image of first memory. Recall: The apple fallen from the apple-tree: O child remembering maternity! The candle flickering in a mysterious room: 10 O foetus stirring in the luminous womb! One said he did remember, he did know What time the fruit did first begin to grow: O memory of limbs in embryo! Another did recall the primal seed 15 Conceiver of conception of the breed! A third, the sage who did the seed invent O distant memory of mere intent! Recall the fruit's taste, ere the fruit was fruit Hail memory of essence absolute!

489 / 0.1938/1940 20 Recall the odour of fruit, when no fruit was, O Spirit untainted by corporeal flaws! Recall the fruit's shape, ere the fruit was seen! O soul immortal that has always been! Said one, and he the keenest of them all: 25 No thing is what I vividly recall O happy man who could remember, thus, The Mystery beyond the mysterious. c. 1938/1940

1951

To the Chief Musician: A Psalm of the Bratzlaver, Touching a Good Gardener I

It was a green, a many-meadowed county! Orchards there were, heavy with fruitage; and Blossom and bud and benison and bounty Filled with good odour that luxurious land. 5 Stained with crushed grass, an old and earthy yeoman Sceptred that green demesne with pruning wand. II

Suddenly came the chariots of the foeman; Suddenly vanished that good gardener, Ruled in the land, three companies of bowmen.

490 / Original Poems, 1937-1955

io One company polluted its sweet air, Another rendered its ripe fruitage bitter; A third made foul its beauty which was fair. People of starving sparrows, loud their twitter! Wherefore I did bespeak a neighboring folk: 15 Behold your kin devoured by a wolf's litter, Release their land, unburden them their yoke Or similar evil may transgress your borders!

III

Now, though they made them ready, as I spoke, In tippling and in gluttonish disorders 20 They tarried on their march, until one day As they descried the invaders' spectral warders, Their flagons soured, their viands did decay, And odor and taste did utterly forsake them. Then in their sore distress, they sought to pray. 25 O but my ungraped water did so slake them! My poor dry crust did such rich taste afford! They ate, they drank, they slept, and none could wake them. IV

Wherefore, alone, I mingled with the horde, And unknown walked in many public places. 30 God save me from the ugly filth I heard! And from those gates, beset by wrothful faces Where Bribery stretched its hand, and turned its head! And from quick Lust, and his two-score grimaces!

491 / 0.1938/1940 Salute them, now, three companies of dread: 35 Filth, in its dun array, the clean taste killing; Embattled Bribery, with stealthy tread Advancing on the vanquished, all too-willing To barter visions for a piece of gold; And legioned Lust, at its foul buckets swilling V

40 They did salute them, did my henchmen bold, With many a sword, and many an eager arrow, And driven was the foe from wood and wold. Then did we come upon him, in a narrow Streetyard, followed by children, and a cur, 45 We brought him fruit, high-piled in a barrow, Gift for a king, - for that good gardener. c. 1938/1940

*944

To the Chief Musician, a Psalm of the Bratzlaver, Which He Wrote Down As the Stammerer Spoke At unprehensile Time, all fingers clutch. Can it be counted on an abacus? Or weighed on scales, most delicate to the touch? Or measured with rods? What Mathematicus 5 Can speak thereof, save as a net on the brain, A web some much-afflated spider weaves On which hang chronicles, like drops of rain? That, and no more, the quarry he retrieves.

492 / Original Poems, 1937-1955

But, truly, in what smithy is it forged? 10 In what alembic brewed? By what bird hatched? I, but a stammerer, by the spirit urged, Having approached that Door, found it unlatched, Say Time is vacuum, save it be compact Of men's deeds imitating godly act. c. 1938/1940

1944

c. 1940/1940

In Re Solomon Warshawer [Version i] On Wodin's day, sixth of December, thirty-nine, I, Friedrich Vercingetorix, attached to the vnth Eavesdroppers-behind-the-Line, did cover my beat, when suddenly the crowd I watched 5 surrounded, in a cobbled lane one can't pass through, a bearded man, disguised in rags, a Jew. In the said crowd there were a number of Poles. Mainly, however, there were Germans there; blood-brothers of our Reich, true Aryan souls, 10 breathing at last - in Warsaw - Nordic air. These were the words the Jew was shouting: I took them down verbatim: Whom have I hurt? Against whose silk have I brushed? On which of your women looked too long? 15 7 tell you I have done no wrong! Send home your children, lifting hardened dung, And let your curs be hushed! For I am beard and breathlessness, and chased enough. Leave me in peace, and let me go my way.

494 / Original Poems, 1937-1955

20 At this the good folk laughed. The Jew continued to say he was no thief, he was a man for hire, worked for his bread, artist or artisan, a scribe, if you wished, a vendor or a buyer, work of all kinds, and anything at all: 25 paint a mural, scour a latrine, indite an ode, repair an old machine, anything, to repeat, anything at all, so that he might eat 30 and have his straw couch in his abandoned stall. Asked for his papers, he made a great to-do of going through the holes in his rags, whence he withdrew a Hebrew pamphlet and a signet ring, herewith produced, Exhibits i and 2. 35 I said: No documents in a civilized tongue? He replied: Produce, O Lord, my wretched fingerprint, Bring forth, O angel in the heavenly court, My dossier, f u l l , detailed, both fact and hint, 40 Felony, misdemeanor, tort! I refused to be impressed by talk of that sort. From further cross-examination, it appeared, immediate history: a beggar in Berlin, chased as a vagrant from the streets of Prague, 45 kept as a leper in forced quarantine, shunned as the pest, avoided like a plague, he had escaped, mysteriously come by devious routes, and stolen frontiers, to the nalewkas of Warsaw's sheenydom.

495 / 0.1940/1940

50 Pressed to reveal his foul identity, he lied: One of the anthropophagi was he, or, if we wished, a denizen of Mars, the ghost of my father, Conscience - aye, 55 the spectre of Reason, naked, and with scars; even became insulting, said he was Aesop the slave among the animals ... Sir Incognito - Rabbi Alias ... The eldest elder of Zion ... said we knew 60 his numerous varied oriental shapes, even as we ought to know his present guise the man in the jungle, and beset by apes. It was at this point the S.S. man arrived. The Jew was interrupted; when he was revived, 65 he deposed as follows: At low estate, a beggar, and in flight, Still do I wear my pride like purple. I Am undismayed by frenzy or by fright, And you are those mirrored in my pitying eye. 70 For you are not the first that I have met O I have known them all, The dwarf dictators, the diminutive dukes, The heads of straw, the hearts of gall, Th' imperial plumes of eagles covering rooks! 75 It is not necessary to name names, But it may serve anon, Now to evoke from darkness some dark fames, Evoke, Armada'd Spain, that gilded jettison; So And Russia's last descended Romanov, Descending a dark staircase To a dank cellar at Ekaterinoslov; Evoke

496 / Original Poems, 1937-1955

The glory that was Babylon that now is gloom; 85 And Egypt, Egypt, scarcely now recalled By that lone star that sentries Pharaoh's tomb; And Carthage, sounded on sand, by water walled; And Greece - O broken marble! And disinterred unresurrected Rome. 90 These several dominions hunted me; They all have wished, and more than wished, me dead; And now, although I do walk raggedly, I walk, and they are echoes to my tread! Is it by your devices I shall be undone? 95 Ah, but you are philosophers, and know That what has been need not continue so; The sun has risen; and the sun has set; Risen again, again descended, yet To-morrow no bright sun may rise to throw 100 Rays of inductive reason on Judaeophobic foe. Is there great turmoil in the sparrow's nest When that bright bird, the Sun, descends the west? There is no fear, there is no twittering; At dawn they will again behold his juvenescent wing! 105 Such is the very pattern of the world, Even the sparrows understand; And in that scheme of things I am enfurled, Am part thereof, the whole as it was planned, With increase and abatement rife, no Subject to sorrow, joined to joy Earth, its relenting and recurring life! Yes, but the signet ring, the signet ring! Since you must know, barbarian, know you shall! I who now stand before you, a hunted thing, 115 Pressed and pursued and harried hither and yon,

497 / 0.1940/1940

/ was, I am the Emperor Solomon! O, to and fro upon the face of the earth, I wandered, crying: Ani Shlomo, but — But no one believed my birth. 120 For he now governs in my place and stead, He who did fling me from Jerusalem Four hundred parasangs; Who stole the crown from off my head, And robed him in my robes, beneath whose hem 125 The feet of the cock extend, the tail of the demon hangs! Asmodeus! Mistake me not: I am no virtuous saint; Only a man, and like all men, not godly, Damned by desire 130 But I at least waged war, for holy booty, Against my human taint; At least sought wisdom, to discern the good; Whether of men, or birds, or beasts of the wood; Spread song, spread justice, ever did aspire 135 Howbeit, man among men, I failed To lay the plan, and work upon the plan To build the temple of the more-than-man! But he, the unspeakable prince of malice! Usurper of my throne, pretender to the Lord's! 140 Wicked, demoniac, lycanthropous, Leader of hosts horrific, barbarous hordes, Master of the worm, pernicious, that cleaves rocks, The beast that talks, Asmodeus! 145 Who has not heard the plight of his domain? Learning is banished to the hidden cave; Wisdom decried, a virtue of the slave; And justice, both eyes seared, goes tapping with a cane. His counseler is the wolf. He counsels hate.

498 / Original Poems, 1937-1955 h

And love is a high crime against the state. The fury of the forest Is the law. Upon his charnel-throne, in bloodied purple, 155 Hearkening to that music where the sigh Pauses to greet the groan, the groan the anguished cry, Asmodeus sits; AndlAt this point the S.S. men departed. 160 The Jew was not revived. He was carried and carted, and to his present gaoler brought; awaiting higher pleasure. And further deponent saith not.

c. 1940/1940

1944

In Re Solomon Warshawer [Version 2] On Wodin's day, sixth of December, thirty-nine, I, Friedrich Vercingetorix, attached to the vnth Eavesdroppers-behind-the-Line, did cover my beat, when, suddenly, the crowd I watched 5 surrounded, in a cobbled lane one can't pass through, a bearded man, in rags disguised, a Jew. In the said crowd there were a number of Poles. Mainly, however, there were Germans there: blood-brothers of our Reich, true Aryan souls, 10 breathing at last - in Warsaw - Nordic air.

499 / 0.1940/1940

These were the words the Jew was shouting: I took them down verbatim: Whom have I hurt? Against whose silk have I brushed? On which of your women looked too long? 15 / tell you I have done no wrong! Send home your children, lifting hardened dung, And let your curs be hushed! For I am but beard and breathlessness, and chased enough. Leave me in peace, and let me go my way. 20 At this the good folk laughed. The Jew continued to say he was no thief; he was a man for hire; worked for his bread, artist or artisan; a scribe, if you wished; a vendor; even buyer; work of all kinds, and anything at all: 25 paint a mural, scour a latrine, indite an ode, repair an old machine, anything, to repeat, anything at all, so that he might eat 30 and have his pallet in his abandoned stall. Asked for his papers, he made a great to-do of going through the holes in his rags, whence he withdrew a Hebrew pamphlet and a signet ring, herewith produced, Exhibits i and 2. 35 I said: No documents in a civilized tongue? He replied: Produce, O Lord, my wretched fingerprint, Bring forth, O angel in the heavenly court, My dossier, f u l l , detailed, both fact and hint, 40 Felony, misdemeanor, tort!

500 / Original Poems, 1937-1955 I refused to be impressed by talk of that sort. From further cross-examination, it appeared, immediate history: a beggar in Berlin; chased, as a vagrant, from the streets of Prague; 45 kept, as a leper, in forced quarantine; shunned as the pest, avoided like the plague; then had escaped, mysteriously come by devious routes and stolen frontiers to the nalewkas of Warsaw's sheenydom. 50 Pressed to reveal his true identity, he lied: One of the anthropophagi was he, or, if we wished, a denizen of Mars, the ghost of my father, Conscience - aye, 55 the anatomy of Reason, naked, and with scars; even became insulting, said he was Aesop the slave among the animals ... Sir Incognito ... Rabbi Alias ... The eldest elder of Zion ... said we knew 60 his numerous varied oriental shapes, even as we ought to know his present guise the man in the jungle, and beset by apes. It was at this point the S.S. man arrived. The Jew was interrupted. When he was revived, 65 he deposed as follows: At low estate, a beggar, and in flight, Still do I wear my pride like purple. I Do fear you, yes, but founder not from fright. Already I breathe your unfuturity. 70 For you are not the first whom I have met O I have known them all, The dwarf dictators, the diminutive dukes,

501 / 0.1940/1940

The heads of straw, the hearts of gall, Th' imperial plumes of eagles covering rooks! 75 It is not necessary to name names, But it may serve anon, Now to evoke from darkness some dark fames, Evoke, Armada'd Spain, that gilded jettison; So And Russia's last descended Romanov, Descending a dark staircase To a dank cellar at Ekaterinoslov; Evoke The peacock moulted from the Persian loom ... 85 Babylon tumbled from its terraces ... Decrescent and debased Mizraim, remembered only By that one star that sentries Pharaoh's tomb ... Evoke O Greece! O broken marble! ... 90 And disinterred unresurrected Rome ... They would have harried me extinct, these thrones! Set me, archaic, in their heraldries, Blazon antique! ... For they were Powers ... Once! ... But I, though still exilian, rest extant, 95 And on my cicatrices tally off Their undone dynasties! Shall I dread you - who overlived all these? Here impudence was duly rebuked, and the Jew confronted with Exhibit 2. 100 Yes, but that signet ring! ... Freiherr, that seal Once flashed the pleasure majestatical! For I, who in tatters stand investitured, Who, to these knightly men, am dislodged pawn, Abdicate and abjured, 105 I was, I am, the Emperor Solomon! O, to and fro upon the face of the earth,

502 / Original Poems, 1937-1955

/ wandered, crying: Ani Shlomo, but But no one believed my birth. For he now governs in my place and stead, no He who did fling me from Jerusalem Four hundred parasangs! Who stole the crown from off my head! Who robed him in my robes! Beneath whose hem The feet of the cock extend, the tail of the demon hangs! 115 Asmodeus! Mistake me not; I am no virtuous saint; Only a man, and like all men, not god-like ... From birth beset by his own heart's constraint, Its brimstone pride, the cinders of its greed, 120 (Brazier behind the ribs that will not faint!) Beset, inflamed, besooted, charred, indeed, Only a man, and like all men, not god-like, Damned by desire But I at least fought down that bellows'd gleed, 125 Tried to put out the sulphurs of that fire! ... At least craved wisdom, how to snuff the blaze, Sought knowledge, to unravel good from evil, Sought guidance from the Author of my Days. The understanding heart, and its enthymemes, 130 Being granted me, I learned from beast... bird ... man; Would know; and eavesdropped nest... and house ... and lair. The wild beasts spoke to me, told me their dreams, Which, always biped, towards the human ran ... O, how that flesh did long to doff its fur! 135 The fluttering birds, the twittering birds of the air: 'Would you cast off from your feet,' they said, 'earth's mass, That weighted globe of brass, And soar into your own? With azure fill your heart! ... Be hollow of bone!' 140 And from my self, and from the breed of Adam, I fathom'd that heart's depths, how it may sink

503 / 0.1940/1940 Down to the deep and ink of genesis, And lie there, that once could the heavens explore, A sponge and pulse of hunger on the ocean-floor... 145 Saw also, and praised, for then knew possible, The heart's saltations! ... That always - vanitatum vanitas! That always after back to grossness fell. Thus taught, thus prompted, upward I essay'd, — 150 Some not mean triumphs scored, Spread truth, spread song, spread justice, which prevailed, Builded that famous footstool for the Lord, Yet human, human among mortals, failed! Was thwarted the greater yearning, the jubilee 155 Wherein the race might at the last be hailed Transcendent of its own humanity! For I Qoheleth, King in Jerusalem, Ecclesiast of the troubled apothegm, Concluding the matter, must affirm mankind 160 Still undivined. However, though worsted, I had wrestled, but he — Our royal Jew, now questioned in camera, was not, this time, molested. It was thought some enemy intelligence might come through 165 from his distractions, some inkling of the plot now being pursued by his ten losing tribes. Therefore the record, as ordered, here gives the whole Jew, for which the subscribing officer subscribes apology. 170 But he, unspeakable prince of malice! Usurper of my throne, pretender to the Lord's! Wicked, demoniac, lycanthropous, Goad of the succubi, horrific hordes! Master of the worm, pernicious, that cleaves rocks,

504 / Original Poems, 1937-1955 1/5 The beast that talks, Asmodeus! — Who has not felt his statutes? ... His scientists, Mastering for him the lethal mysteries; His surgeons of doctrine, cutting, like vile cysts 180 From off the heart, all pities and sympathies; His judges, trembling over their decrees, Lest insufficient injustice displease; And his psychiaters, guarding against relapse, For fear the beast, within the man, collapse. 185 His statecraft, and its modes and offices? Here motive is appetite; and oestric hate The force that freaks and fathers all device. All love's venereal; or excess; or bait. Ambush all policy, and artifice; 190 And all reward conferred, all honour Hierarchical to the degrees of Hate. Upon his lych-throne, robed in bloodied purple, Listening to those harmonies where the sigh Exhaling greets the groan, the groan is pitched to the cry, 195 Asmodeus sits; AndlAt this point the S.S. men departed. The Jew was not revived. He was carried and carted, and to his present gaoler brought; 200 awaiting higher pleasure. And further deponent saith not. c. 1953/1955

*957

505 / c.i94°/194°

For the Chief Physician A song for hunters: In that wood, That whispering jungle of the blood Where the carnivorous midge seeks meat, And yawns the sinuous spirochete, 5 And roars the small fierce unicorn, The white-robed hunters sound the horn. May they have goodly hunting. May Their quarry soon be brought to bay. c. 1940/1940

*944

Grace before Poison Well may they thank thee, Lord, for drink and food: For daily benison of meat, For fish or fowl, For spices of the subtle cook, 5 For fruit of the orchard, root of the meadow, berry of the wood; For all things good, And for the grace of water of the running brook! And in the hallelujah of these joys Not least is my uplifted voice. 10 But this day into thy great temple have I come To praise thee for the poisons thou has brayed, To thank thee for pollens venomous, the fatal gum, The banes that bless, the multifarious herbs arrayed In all the potency of that first week 15 Thou didst compose the sextet of Earth spoken, made!

506 / Original Poems, 1937—1955

Behold them everywhere, the unuttered syllables of thy breath, Heavy with life, and big with death! The flowering codicils to thy great fiat! The hemp of India — and paradise! 20 The monk's hood, cooling against fever; And nightshade: death unpetalled before widened eyes; And blossom of the heart, the purple foxglove! The spotted hemlock, punishment and prize, And those exhilarators of the brain: 25 Cocaine; Blood of the grape; and marrow of the grain! And sweet white flower of thy breath, O Lord, Juice of the poppy, conjuror of timeless twilights, Eternities of peace in which the fretful world 30 Like a tame tiger at the feet lies curled. c. 1940/1940

Maschil of Abraham: A Prayer When He Was in the Cave How is he changed, the scoffers say, This hero of an earlier day, Who in his youth did battle with The wicked theologic myth; 5 Who daily from his pocket drew (Aetat. sixteen) a writing, true, Attested, sealed, and signed, its gist: God swearing He did not exist; Who in his Zion lay at ease 10 Concocting learned blasphemies To hate, contemn, and ridicule The godly reign, the godly rule.

1951

507 / 0.1940/1940 How is he now become as one Trembling with age before the Throne, 15 This xxth century scientist, A writer of psalms, a liturgist; A babbling pious woman, he Who boasted that his thoughts were free, And who at worst did nullify 20 By ignorance the deity. 0 Lord, in this my thirtieth year What clever answer shall I bear To those slick persons amongst whom 1 sat, but was not in their room? 25 How shall I make apocalypse Of that which rises to my lips, And on my lips is smitten dumb: Elusive word, forgotten sum. O could I for a moment spare 30 My eyes to them, or let them hear The music that about me sings, Then might they cease their twitterings. Then might they also know, as I, The undebatable verity, 35 The truth unsoiled by epigram, The simple / am that 1 am. But failing these powers in me, Lord, Do Thou the deed, say Thou the word, And with Thy sacred stratagem 40 Do justify my ways to them. c. 1940/1940

1944

508 / Original Poems, 1937—1955

A Prayer of Abraham That He Be Forgiven for Blasphemy Consider my speech, O Lord, not too severely; It does not mean what it does seem to say. With strangers I must see my tongue says merely The hollow nought, the vacuous cliche! 5 For You I need not choose my language; surely Need not measure the words with which I pray; Surely, Lord, You would have it this way rather. I speak to you this day Even as once I spoke to my sire, now with You. 10 And I never loved one more than I did my father. c. 1940/1940

1941

A Prayer of the Afflicted, When He Is Overwhelmed I would not tell this to the man met on the street, The casual acquaintance, even the intimate friend, Stopping to speak of the news, complain about the heat: Him would I tell my triumphs mount, and have no end, 5 And tricks are fine, thank you, and never were they better. But to tell you, O Lord, it is a different matter I would not have you pity my cheap lies. You know the truth, the ache I have and had, The blind alleys, the frustrations, and the sighs. 10 O Lord, the times they are not good at all, And one might even say that they are bad. c. 1940/1940

1941

509 / c.i94°/194°

A Psalm for Five Holy Pilgrims, Yea, Six on the King's Highway One comes: - he is a very blossoming tree With frankincense and perfumery: Sweet savour for his nostril'd deity. Another bears God trinkets, smooth and rich, 5 And little idols polished overmuch All holy objects pleasant to the touch. And still another seeks the mystic word With all the rainbows of his jewelled hoard His goodly proffer to the sight of the Lord. 10 With delicates and sweetmeats and with fruit, Food of the blossom, eating of the root, Comes one to flatter the taste of the Absolute. And the fifth pilgrim trips upon the sod, Blowing sweet music from a hollow rod: 15 Sounds gratifying to the ear of God. Not sight, sound, smell, taste, touch, his freight, One brings his heart for pawning with his fate: He, surely, he shall come within the Gate! c. 1940/1940

1944

510 / Original Poems, 1937-1955

A Psalm of Abraham concerning the Arrogance of the Son of Man Consider this creature, its peculiar pride, This braggart loud in his invented brag! Is he not weaker than the ant, and than the dog Duller, and than the ape but little better bred? 5 Yet is he arrogant: the orbit of the stars, The wandering planets, the most marvellous sky, Nor yet this weird earth, this terrible sea, Induce humility in his orgulous course. However, not all souls are violins 10 Evocative of music at the touch. Indeed, there be some that no sage could teach Nor any subtlety break through their chalky bones. But Man, Man, Man, who perforce daily Must in the privy take your humble seat, 15 A bencher of the jakes, slave to a gut, How do you still esteem yourself, grand, noble, holy? c. 1940/1940

1941

A Psalm of Abraham of That Which Was Visited upon Him A prowler in the mansion of my blood! I have not seen him, but I know his signs. Sometimes I hear him meddling with my food, Or in the cellar, poisoning my wines, -

511 / c.i94°/194° 5 Yet face to face with him I never come; But by a foot print, by a book misplaced, Or by the imprint of an inky thumb, Or by the next day's meal, a strange new taste, I know that he has breached my household peace, 10 I know that somehow he has let him in. Shall I fling open a window, and shout Police! I dare not. He is of my kith and kin. c. 1940/1940

1952

A Psalm of Abraham, Praying a Green Old Age I who have expiated life in cities, Whose lungs have inhaled dust and noisome oils, Whose ears have heard no bird's or cricket's ditties, Whose eyes have only surmised fruitful soils, 5 I who have merely guessed the birds' existence By sparrow-droppings on the brim of a hat, I am that one who now, with meek persistence Pray humbly to the Lord of Eden, that I may in such green sunny places pass 10 The ultimate years that when at last I leave, My shoes be smooth with unguent of crushed grass And green be on the elbow of my sleeve. c. 1940/1940

1941

512 / Original Poems, 1937-1955

A Psalm of Abraham, to Be Written Down and Left on the Tomb of Rashi Now, in this terrible tumultuous night, When roars the metal beast, the steel bird screams, And images of God, for fraud or fright, Cannot discern what is from that which seems, 5 I, in bewilderment, remember you, Mild pedagogue, who took me, young and raw, And led me, verse by verse, and clue by clue, Mounting the spiral splendid staircase of the Law, You, Rabbi Solomon bar Isaac, known 10 Rashi, incomparable exegete, Who did sustain my body and my bone With drink talmudic and with biblic meat, Simple, and for a child were they, your words, Bringing into the silent wooded script, 15 Texts that came twittering, like learned birds, Describing mightily the nondescript. Not these can I forget, nor him ignore, That old archaic Frank expounding lore From his Hebraic crypt. 20 Nothing was difficult, O Master, then, No query but it had an answer, clear, But now though I am grown, a man of men, The books all read, the places seen, the dear Too personal heart endured all things, there is 25 Much that I cannot grasp, and much that goes amiss, And much that is a mystery that even the old Gaul, Nor Onkelus, nor Jonathan, can lucidate at all. Yours were such days, great rabbi, like these days, When blood was spilled upon the public ways, 30 And lives were stifled, for mere glut of gore, As they marched on, those murderous four,

513 / 0.1940/1940 Hunger and hate and pestilence and war! Wherefore, O Parshandatha of the law, Unriddle me the chapter of the week: 35 Show me the wing, the hand, behind the claw, The human mouth behind the vulture beak; Reveal, I pray you, do reveal to me Behind the veil the vital verity; Show me again, as you did in my youth, 40 Behind the equivocal text the unequivocal truth! 0 vintner of Troyes, Consider the cluster of my time, its form and shape, And say what wine will issue from this bitter grape! 1 wait your answer; in the interim 45 I do, for you who left no son to read The prayer before the sacred cherubim, Intone, as one who is of your male seed, A Kaddish: May it reach eternity And grace your soul, and even bring some grace 50 To most unworthy, doubt-divided me. c. 1940/1940

*953

A Psalm of Abraham, Touching His Green Pastures From pastures green, whereon I lie, Beside still waters, far from crowds, I lift hosannahs to the sky And hallelujahs to the clouds,

514 / Original Poems, 1937-1955 5 Only to see where clouds should sit, And in that space the sky should fill, The fierce carnivorous Messerschmidt, The Heinkel on the kill. They'll not be green for very long, 10 Those pastures of my peace, nor will The heavens be a place for song, Nor the still waters still. c. 1940/1940

1944

A Psalm of Abraham, When He Was Sore Pressed Would that the Lord had made me, in place of man-child, beast! Even an ox of the field, content on grass, On clover and cud content, had made me, made me the least Of his creatures, one of a herd, to pass As cattle, pastured and driven and sold and bought 5 To toil on ploughland or before a cart! For easier is the yoke than the weight of thought, Lighter the harness than the harnessed heart! c. 1940/1940

1944

515 / 0.1940/1940

A Psalm of Abraham, Which He Made Because of Fear in the Night Thou settest them about my bed, The four good angels of the night, Invisible wings on left and right, An holy watch at foot and head: 5 Gabriel, Uriel, Raphael, And Michael, of the angelic host Who guard my sleep-entrusted ghost Until day break, and break the spell. Until day break, and shadows pass 10 My bones lie in a sack of flesh, My blood lies caught in carmined mesh, And I am wholly trodden grass. But those the warders of life and limb Escort my soul to distant shores, 15 My soul that in its dreaming soars With seraphim and cherubim, To lands unrecognized, to shores Bright with great sunlight, musical With singing of such scope and skill, 20 It is too much for human ears. I see the angel's drinking-cup, That flower that so scents the air! The golden domes! The towers there! My mind could never think them up! 25 Yet when the shadows flee away, And fly the four good angels, and

516 / Original Poems, 1937-1955 I fare forth, exiled from that land, Back to my blood, my bone, my day, Untowered, unflowered, unscented banks, 30 Back to the lumpy sack of skin, The head, the torso, and the shin, I offer up, to Thee, my thanks. c. 1940/1940

1944

A Psalm of Justice, and Its Scales One day the signal shall be given me; I shall break in and enter heaven, and, Remembering who, below, held upper hand, And who was trodden into misery, 5 I shall seek out the abominable scales On which the heavenly justice is mis-weighed. I know I am no master of the trade, Can neither mend nor make, clumsy with nails, No artisan, — yet am I so forespoken, 10 Determined so against the automaton, That I must tamper with it, tree and token, Break bolts, undo its markings, one by one, And leave those scales so gloriously broken, That ever thereafter justice shall be done! c. 1940/1940

1944

517 / 0.1940/1940

A Psalm of Resignation I shall no more complain; I shall not ask The question that betrays the doubting soul. Tactful my words, my face shall be a mask. I shall but say the flaws are part of the perfect whole. 5 Can it be otherwise? For I am weary of the quarrel with my God, Weary of cavilling at the works of the Lord; For who indeed can keep his quarrel hot And vigorous his cries, 10 When He who is blasphemed, He answers not, Replies no word, not even a small sharp word? c. 1940/1940

*953

A Psalm, to Be Preserved against Two Wicked Words I am not of the saints, O Lord, to wear The broken shoes of poverty, and dance. For I am made sick at heart with terrible fear Seeing the poor man spurned, looked at askance, 5 Standing, his cap in hand, and speaking low, And never getting his fellow's heart or ear. O may I never beg my daily bread, Never efface my pride, like a dirty word; And never grovel that my little chick be fed. 10 Preserve me from poverty, O Lord.

518 / Original Poems, 1937-1955 Preserve me, too, and Thou who knowest hearts, Know'st this prayer does from the heart arise, Preserve me from possessions, from the marts, The mints, the mansions, all the worldly goods, 15 Debasing even the man of noblest parts. From too much wealth that warps the very saints, From power that ambushes the soul by stealth, From suzerainty that fevers, and then faints: Preserve me, Lord, from wealth. 20 But in Thy wisdom Thou canst so ordain That wealth and poverty be known no more. Then hadst Thou answered me, again and again, Answered Thy servant, neither rich nor poor. c. 1940/1940

1944

A Psalm to Teach Humility O sign and wonder of the barnyard, more beautiful than the pheasant, more melodious than nightingale! O creature marvellous! Prophet of sunrise, and foreteller of times! 5 Vizier of the constellations! Sage, red-bearded, scarlet-turbaned, in whose brain the stars lie scattered like well-scattered grain! Calligraphist upon the barnyard page! Five-noted balladist! Grower of rhymes!

519 / 0.1940/1940 io O morning-glory mouth, O throat of dew, announcing the out-faring of the blue, the greying and the going of the night, the coming on, the imminent coming of the dawn, 15 the coming of the kinsman, the brightly-plumaged sun! O creature marvellous - and O blessed Creator, Who givest to the rooster wit to know the movements of the turning day, to understand, to herald it, 20 better than I, who neither sing nor crow and of the sun's goings and comings nothing know. c. 1940/1940

1944

Shiggaion of Abraham Which He Sang unto the Lord 0 incognito god, anonymous lord, with what name shall I call you? Where shall I discover the syllable, the mystic word that shall evoke you from eternity? 5 Is that sweet sound a heart makes, clocking life, Your appellation? Is the noise of thunder, it? Is it the hush of peace, the sound of strife? 1 have no title for your glorious throne, and for your presence not a golden word, — 10 only that wanting you, by that alone I do evoke you, knowing I am heard. c. 1940/1940

1944

520 / Original Poems, 1937-1955

A Song of Degrees

5

10

15

20

Consider the son of man, how he doth get him knowledge and wisdom! Not to the sorcerer does he go, nor yet to the maker of books; not from the gait of angels does he take example; he mimics not the antics of the cherubim. The beasts of the field are his teachers; feather and fur his instructors, instructing him the way that he shall go therein. Before their hooves, he sits, a disciple; to the eyrie, he climbs, crying, Master, Master. To the ape he bows down, the ape, flinging the cocoafruit, devising slings. He worships the elephant for that he has an ivory sword. He sees the bow of the porcupine, and the arrows of his quills; a parable in shell the tortoise brings to him. Even the noisome beast, whose spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof, instructs him how that the enemy may be abashed. How wonderful, therefore, is this son of man, who lets no pride between him and his doctors, Yea, at this very instant, he gapes at the eagle's talons dropping volcanic rock. c. 1940/1940

1944

521 / 0.1940/1940

To the Chief Bailiff, a Psalm of the King's Writ Death, the peddler, came to my door this day. Sold me his merchandise, old wares under a new name. Forever and forever, piecemeal, must I pay. Defaulting, he revendicates the same. 5 I shall not have peace any more. But, every day, I shall arise, And find him spying at my door, The agent with the estimating eyes: Watching the parcels brought to me, 10 My mode of life, my personal mail, And hoping most malignantly That shortly shall those payments fail: Whereat the bailiffs at his side Unseen, like unseen creditor Death, 15 Shall claim their writ, hearth, home, and hide, In lieu of merchandise, my breath. c. 1940/1940

1941

To the Chief Musician, Al-Taschith, Michtam of Abraham; When One Sent, and They Watched the House to Kill Him When I in prayer beseech thy benison, Many are they thy favours I could seek: A long and worthy life for my only son, A happy hearth for my wife, and for my mother 5 Health, and untroubled waiting in the sun,

522 / Original Poems, 1937-1955 (A golden crown in Eden for my father!) And for my several kin, I could also speak, Of this one's need, desire of that one, And ask for each of thy abundant grace: 10 Save that today I ask no blessings, no, I am but one of many almoners Who ask for him thy devastating curse. May his flesh fall from him, and may he living rot Until he is not sure he is, or he is not. 15 May he be flung from fever into an icy cold And may his days be long for him, but he not old. May strange diseases take him, doctors come From far-off lands to twitter over him, Matter-of-factly, without pity, 20 As over a strange new scum. O may his brain be peopled by grim ghosts And may he wake from sleep, in sweaty fear, Fearing four murderers at the four bed posts! And after a fortnight of convulsions may he finally die, 25 And be remembered, if remembered at all, In the name of some newly found, particularly disgusting fly, Or in the writing on a privy wall. c. 1940/1940

1944

To the Chief Musician, a Psalm of Israel, to Bring to Remembrance By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, we wept When we remembered Zion, O they are many that have had our tears! The alluvium of Nilus is still fat 5 With the tender little bones of our firstborn,

523 / 0.1940/1940 And Tiber is still yellow like our badge. Shall one forget the bears, and the Jews like bears That danced on the shores of the savage Vistula? Forget the crystal streams of castled Spain 10 So many fires failed to boil to salt? Forget the Rhine? O Rhenish wines are sharp. The subtle salt of blood gives them their sharpness. Gather them up, O Lord, these many rivers, And dry them in the furnace of Thy wrath! 15 Let them not be remembered! Let them be So many soon-to-be forgotten clouds Dropping their rain Upon the waters of Thy favorite Jordan! c. 1940/1940

1944

To the Chief Musician, Who Played for the Dancers These were the ones who thanked their God With dancing jubilant shins: The beggar, who for figleaf pride Sold shoelaces and pins; 5 The blindman for his brotherly dog; The cripple for his chair; The mauled one for the blessed gasp Of the cone of sweet kind air. I did not see this dance, but men 10 Have praised its grace; yet I Still cannot fathom how they danced, Or why. c. 1940/1940

1944

524 / Original Poems, 1937-1955

To the Prophets, Minor and Major, a Psalm or Song They are upon us, the prophets, minor and major! Madame Yolanda rubs the foggy crystal. She peers, she ponders, the future does engage her; She sees the Fuehrer purged by Nazi pistol. 5 Sir Aries Virgo, astrology-professor, Regards the stars, and prophesies five truces. Herr Otto Shprinzen, of the same guild, a guesser, From the same stars the contrary deduces. They too have thoughts, those scriptural inspectors; 10 They count the verses, the hapaxlegomena, By means of esoterical detectors Foretell next year's right-guaranteed phenomena. Ides is foretold, and doomsday, and God's thunders. January greets the unseen with a seer. 15 Augurs prognosticate, from signs and wonders, Many a cradle, yea, and many a bier. These, then, the soothsayers, and this their season: But where, O where is that inspired peasant, That prophet, not of the remote occasion, 20 But who will explicate the folded present? c. 1940/1940

1944

c. 1940/1941

A Benediction for the New Moon Elder, behold the Shunamite, the rumour of her face, And young man, know, the mirror of thy love! Praise ye, therefore, the moon: each after his own fashion! Sing ye a song: 5 The warrior for the brass buckler of David; The learned man in his tent For the bright candle smiling on his book. Before that newly-minted coin Rub, O little merchantman, thy joyous palms! 10 For the weaver of your tides, Sing, O mariners, shuttlers of ships! Praise it, O hunters, the hind you cannot stalk! Lift up your heels; lift up your eyes to see, Each after his own fashion, the seal of God 15 Impressed upon His open writ! c. 1940/1941

1944

526 / Original Poems, 1937—1955

A Prayer of Abraham, against Madness Lord, for the days allotted me, Preserve me whole, preserve me hale! Spare me the scourge of surgery. Let not my blood nor members fail. 5 But if Thy will is otherwise, And I am chosen such an one For maiming and for maladies So be it; and Thy will be done. Palsy the keepers of the house; 10 And of the strongmen take Thy toll. Break down the twigs; break down the boughs. But touch not, Lord, the golden bowl! O, I have seen these touched ones Their fallow looks, their barren eyes 15 For whom have perished all the suns And vanished all fertilities; Who, docile, sit within their cells Like weeds, within a stagnant pool. I have seen also their fierce hells, 20 Their flight from echo, their fight with ghoul. Behold him scrabbling on the door! His spittle falls upon his beard, As, cowering, he whines before The voices and the visions, feared. 25 Not these can serve Thee. Lord, if such The stumbling that awaits my path -

527 / 0.1940/1941 Grant me Thy grace, Thy mortal touch, The full death-quiver of Thy wrath! c. 1940/1941

1944

A Psalm of Abraham, When He Hearkened to a Voice, and There Was None Since prophecy has vanished out of Israel, And since the open vision is no more, Neither a word on the high places, nor the Urim and Thummim, Nor even a witch, foretelling, at En-dor, 5 Where in these dubious days shall I take counsel? Who is there to resolve the dark, the doubt? O, these are the days of scorpions and of whips When all the seers have had their eyes put out, And all the prophets burned upon the lips! 10 There is noise only in the groves of Baal. Only the painted heathen dance and sing, With frenzied clamouring. Among the holy ones, however, is no sound at all. c. 1940/1941

1944

528 / Original Poems, 1937-1955

A Psalm of Time and the Firmament Was it not kindled a million years ago The starlight that now falls upon my brow? Was it not uttered ages long ago, The singing of that distant star, heard now? 5 That star is a dead coal these many years, Fallen, perhaps, from the starry firmament, And dead as are its ancient worshippers. Its voice has long been still; its fire spent. Yet on this night, I hear its voice, long mute, 10 And see its flame that has not been at all Since days when David played upon his flute, Even the days of the towering babel-wall. c. 1940/1941

A Song for Wanderers What was the song the gypsy sang Singing to his fiddle? The open road, and the pleasant place, The sun that shines with a gypsy face, 5 The two halves of the beautiful world, And O, himself in the middle! What was the song the sailor sang To the wind's soughing? The silver on the moonlit sea,

529 / 0.1940/1941 io The stars for jolly company, The harbor pub, and the girl in port, And O, a good wind blowing! What was the song the weary Jew Sang to his sorrow? 15 No song at all made sweet his lips, Not of travelled roads nor travelling ships. No song today wells from the heart That has no morrow! c. 1940/1941

1944

c. 1941/1941

A Psalm of Abraham, concerning That Which He Beheld upon the Heavenly Scarp 1 And on that day, upon the heavenly scarp, The hosannahs ceased, the hallelujahs died, And music trembled on the silenced harp. An angel, doffing his seraphic pride, 5 Wept; and his tears so bitter were, and sharp, That where they fell, the blossoms shrivelled and died. 2

Another with such voice intoned his psalm It sang forth blasphemy against the Lord. Oh, that was a very imp in angeldom, 10 Who, thinking evil, said no evil word But only pointed, at each Te Deum Down to the earth, and its abhorred horde.

3 The Lord looked down, and saw the cattle-cars: Men ululating to a frozen land. 15 He saw a man tear at his flogged scars, And saw a babe look for its blown-off hand. Scholars, he saw, sniffing their bottled wars, And doctors who had geniuses unmanned.

531 / 0.1941/1941 4 The gentle violinist whose fingers played 20 Such godly music, washing a gutter, with lye, He saw. He heard the priest who called His aid. He heard the agnostic's undirected cry. Unto Him came the odour Hunger made, And the odour of blood before it is quite dry. 5 25 The angel who wept looked into the eyes of God. The angel who sang ceased pointing to the earth. A little cherub, now glimpsing God's work flaw'd, Went mad, and flapped his wings in crazy mirth. And the good Lord said nothing, but with a nod 30 Summoned the angels of Sodom down to earth.

c. 1941/1941

*955

A Psalm or Prayer - Praying His Portion with Beasts The better to understand Thy ways, Divinity I would divine, Let me companion all my days The more-than-human beasts of Thine; 5 The sheep whose little woolly throat Taught the child Isaac sacrifice; The dove returning to Noah's boat, Sprigless, and with tearful eyes; The ass instructing Balaam 10 The discourse of inspired minds; And David's lost and bleating lamb, And Solomon's fleet lovely hinds;

532 / Original Poems, 1937-1955

Enfold me in their fold, and let Me learn their mystic parables 15 Of food that desert ravens set, And of the lion's honeyed fells. Above all, teach me blessedness Of him, Azazel, that dear goat, Sent forth into the wilderness 20 To hallow it with one sad note. c. 1941/1941

1944

Ballad of Quislings Poltroons may fear the foeman, for such are less than cattle, But men will fear no other man who can be met in battle, Where courage and the claymore cut apart the bitter quarrel, Awarding one the willow, and the other one the laurel. 5 For the enemy who marches to the beating of his drum, Men take their several stances: Let him come! Let him come! But where shall men take counsel that they be not beblitzed By the renegade, the falseface, the traitor in our midst? O not from stranger hostile, but from that cordial native 10 Who rattles for a pleasant noise the shackles of the caitiff, Preserve us, and protect us, and from our congregation Uproot him, mask and members, and fling him to damnation! O from the subtle traitor and double-damned knave, Inhaling breath of freeman, exhaling speech of slave, 15 Protect us, and Lord, save us, for we are weak before The enemy, with roses, whose shadow's at our door!

533 / c.1941/1941

For how shall men of goodwill discern his parrot-screech? And how discern the weasel wrapt in his weasel-speech? Is not his loud toast proffered? His hand in friendship up? 20 And how surmise the dagger, or poison in the cup? God grant he be found out, and be found soon thereafter A-hanging, a fifth column, from taut rope and broad rafter, His soul go up in sulphur, and he go out a-sizzling, To that place where no horses are, nor any unsinged quisling! c. 1941/1941

1953

Ballad of the Days of the Messiah i 0 the days of the Messiah are at hand, are at hand! The days of the Messiah are at hand! 1 can hear the air-raid siren, blow away the age of iron, Blast away the age of iron 5 That was builded on the soft quick-sand. O the days of the Messiah are at hand! 2 O Leviathan is ready for the feed, for the feed! Leviathan is ready for the feed! And I hold firm to the credo that both powder and torpedo 10 Have so fried that good piscedo He is ready for the eating, scale and seed! Leviathan is ready for the feed! 3 Yea, the sacred wine is ready for the good, for the good, The wine of yore intended for the good -

534 / Original Poems, 1937-1955

15 Only all that ruddy water has now turned to blood and slaughter Has fermented into slaughter, Aged for so long, as it has been, in the wood That wine of yore intended for the good! 4 0 I see him falling! Will he shoot? Will he shoot? 20 Will Messiah's falling herald aim and shoot? Tis Elijah, he announces, as he falls from sky, and bounces Out of all those silken flounces Of the heaven-sent and colored parachute: Messiah, he is coming, and won't shoot!

5 25 Don't you hear Messiah coming in his tank, in his tank? Messiah in an armor-metalled tank? 1 can see the pillared fire, speeding on the metal tire Over muck and out of mire And the seraphim a-shooting from its flank! 30 O Messiah, he stands grimy in his tank!

c. 1941/1941

*944

Ballad of the Dream That Was Not Dreamed Manikin, manikin, in your chair, Pantalooned, slippered, dreaming there, What is the dream your evening weaves Out of the journal between your sleeves?

535 / c.1941/1941

5 I do not know your dreaming lore. I never dreamed this dream before. Manikin, manikin, what do you see Upon the screen of your revery? I see a dagger's shadow track 10 A shadow, and hide in its back! Manikin, manikin, what do you hear As music of your daily sphere? I hear the silver pieces fall, Thirty silver pieces in all. 15 Manikin, manikin, who do you smell That is like brimstone out of hell? It seems that they are odours three: Ink poisoned, blood, and t.n.t. Manikin, manikin, is there a name 20 Writ on the journal of your dream? I see no name; but a mark instead A double double cross, in red. Poor little manikin, 'tis no dream The images are as they seem. 25 Poor little manikin, wake to find This was no dream bred in your mind. c. 1941/1941

536 / Original Poems, 1937-1955

Ballad of the Evil Eye

Booted and armed, the frontier guard Looks at the humble Jew, Begging for exit. His face is hard, His heart is iron, too. 5 'A passport to the devil, A visa plumb to hell Is all that I will grant to-day To the sons of Israel!' O weep not, weep not, broken Jew, 10 Nor lie you down to die. Not lonely are you in your plight, Nor sole in misery. This churl he hath an evil look He hath an evil eye. 15 He sees the bird upon the wing: It falleth from the sky. He looketh at the peasant man So hale of lith and limb. The peasant man, he cannot stir 20 For that he looked at him. His look it is a wicked look Beyond imagining. For it doth cripple, it doth maim God's every living thing. 25 God grant that it may come to pass That this knave may espy

537 / c. 1941/194*

Himself in water or in glass Staring with evil eye! c. 1941/1941

Ballad of the Nuremberg Tower Clock Nuremberg tower-clock struck one: The swastika clawed at the sun. Ring wrong! Ring wrong! The clock struck two: Behind a curtain trembled a Jew. 5 Nuremberg tower-clock struck three: Storm-troopers shouted blasphemy, And as the public square did roar The clock-hands heiled, and they heiled four! The herald, as the clock struck five, 10 Read out the purged from the old archive. The Fuehrer's words, vulpine, prolix, Drowned out the song of the hour of six. Indeed, they blared and shouted, even As Nuremberg clock heckled: seven. 15 Somewhere, as Nuremberg clock showed eight With crumbs a burgher wiped his plate. A poet, at the hour of nine, Thought, in his cell, of the beautiful Rhine.

538 / Original Poems, 1937-1955

O, in their sleep the clock struck ten: 20 Men stirred in a dream of murdered men. Gestapo music rose to heaven: The clock, delirious, struck eleven. And O in that eleventh chime Expired, as did human time. c. 1941/1941

1944

Ballad of the Nursery Rhymes Upon a day, and after the roar had died, And the dust had settled, and the cities were no more, He sat him down, alone, in a world that was wide, As wide as is to a child his nursery floor. 5 And he sang all alone remembered snatches of song, He wandered with the wandering of his mind: Hey-diddle-diddle, and the music all gone wrong, And the old clock turned by three mice that were blind. His small voice cracked as he sang Cock Robin dead, 10 And twenty-four birds who mourned him from a pie, And Simple Simon, begging his rationed bread, And the poor dame whose ducks did always die. O sad was his song when he sang Jack's tumbled crown, And Jill who fell in channel from frying-pan, 15 And all the bridges that were broken down, And fee-fi-fum, the bloods of the race of man.

539 / c.1941/1941

And when night fell, night found him singing still: The sheep's in the meadow, the wolf is in the corn, And Humpty-Dumpty on a bombed window-sill, 20 Watching the moon, and the hornets on its horn. c. 1941/1941

1952

Ballad of the Thwarted Axe (Coram the German People's Court)

The judges sat in their blood-red robes, The victim in the dock was stood, The clerk read a number on a writ, And the room smelled blood. 5

Headsman, headsman, whet your axe, Against the sparking stone, The blade that's eaten by the flint, The better eats the bone!

The perjurers recite their rote, 10 The body, manacled, stands mute; It cannot be they speak of him, If they do speak the truth.

15

Headsman, headsman, take their words, Each of a whetstone shape, And sharpen that good axe of yours, To meet a stubborn nape! The prosecutor weaves his phrase, With withes of lust, and warped lore, Accused regards his shadow, now

540 / Original Poems, 1937-1955 20 Lying on the floor. Headsman, headsman, that skilled man, He weaves a beautiful Red basket, firm and large enough To hold a severed skull! 25 The chief judge in his blood-red robe, Opens his red-lined book, And blows therefrom a poisoned breath, That pales the poor man's look. 30

Headsman, headsman, catch that breath, That is as sharp as lime! O, it will eat away the limbs Of any judge's crime.

The court is done with its assize Of overt acts and dead intents; 35 Now sawdust blots the red ink of The bleeding documents.

40

Headsman, headsman, — cheated man! Whom thorough judges mock. You shall have no use for your axe, A ghost stands in the dock! c. 1941/1941

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541 / 0.1941/1941

Ballad of the Werewolves Three werewolves on a deadman's chest! Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of blood! (Hairlip, Ratface, and Medal-on-the-Chest Quaff their liquor.) After us the flood! 5 Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of life For to batten the werewolves three! Break it, uncork it, pry it with a knife! Tis good strong rum for Our trinity! What if the corpse, he has been bled 10 To give us this swig of the tasty drink? Look on the blood when it is red! Skoal! and lose not the fortieth wink! O wash us in the blood of the lambs That once stood fleeced in the shivering fold! 15 Our guts crave blood, even Abraham's, Quaffed from the heads that have been rolled! A bottle of blood, and the moon on high, And the werewolves crying, bold and clever: Yo-ho-ho, here's blood in your eye! 20 The full moon doesn't last forever! c. 1941/1941

542 / Original Poems, 1937—1955

Of the Friendly Silence of the Moon Loosen the tangles of the dark, Slip the moon in a sheath; Let all be blackness, pitch and stark, Rain darkness on the heath. 5 For every time the moon is out, Death boards a bombing-plane! His skull grins down upon his route, The metric trickle of his brain. Back 10 That Back Back

to your sulphurous cocoon, hangs on the still night's breath! to the caves of the poisoned moon! to your hangar, Death!

Fool, that I wished for moonlight once, To lay me down to sleep, 15 It is the moon brings evil ones, Who make that slumber creep. c. 1941/1941

Polish Village At length, the peasant, plodding from the woods, Came on his village, emptied of its folk, Save for his sisters, weeping behind their hoods, And his father's broken body, hanging from the oak.

543 / c. 1941/1941

5 In his sisters' weeping, he heard no Polish phrase. They did not name the murderers, nor sob: Why. They showed him geese walking their arrogant ways And wheelmarks following the road to a broken sky. He wept, and to his holy church he ran, 10 And stood before the figure of Christ, and saw O those dear wrists re-broken! the newly-bleeding man! Jesus recrucified into a swastika! c. 1941/1941

1942

Sennet from Gheel And these touched thunders, this delyredrum Outbrasting boom from shekels of cracked steel Arrave the whirled goon dapht, as zany in Gheel! Mad as a hater, come, Nick knows warfrom! 5 Bedlam, Bicetre, and hundemonium Are compos and sain compared to the unweal Of these wildbats that frap in belfrydom! Or are these horrorbingers we are guerred And hale in Gheel, and lucid like the rest, 10 As good and woad as other humus merde? If so, sweet Lord of Hosts, kind exorcist, Fling us, un-levined, back to whence we erred, Zuruck to our lunasylum of the blest. c. 1941/1941

X

944

544 / Original Poems, 1937—1955

Yehuda Halevi, His Pilgrimage i Liveth the tale, nor ever shall it die! Upon his scroll the scribe has lettered it. The learned rabbin, in his homily, Its telling gilds with verse of holy writ. 5 O many a darkened Jewerie is lit By its mere memory. It doth not fail. Yet, in this latter day, who shall have wit, Whose cunning of words shall in this day avail For speech too grieving even for throat of nightingale? 2

10 Only the fingers of the wind may play The harp of David on the willow tree; And Solomon his song, none durst essay. The sons of Asaph eke have ceased to be; Dust are their temple throats; and also, he, 15 The chief musician is now stifled mould. In Israel is no song save threnodie; Shall then, for want of singer, stay untold The tale of the pale princess and the jongleur bold?

3 Bard - and no Levite of degrees, no sweet 20 Singer in Israel, but a humble wight, A process-server, a pleader at the leet, Born, yea, miscarried to a pagan night, Sing thou the song that any other might, Singing for supper; tell the tale as one 25 Who for a penny sobs his sorry plight, And let thy words for her be orison Of saddening evening, and dark midnight, and bright dawn.

545 / c.1941/1941 4

Whilom in Toledoth, that ancient town, Founded by Hebrews, built by the conquering Moor, 30 And governed now by that great Christian Don, There dwelt the incomparable troubadour Bird on the lintel of the ghetto-door! Brightest of feather of those plumaged throats, Melodious ibns of the golden lore, 35 Who sang the bubbling wine, the riddle's coats, The ditty, merry or sad, and Love's so difficult notes! 5 Albeit he could joust with the wittiest, Even with Ezra's sons, their courtesie, Apt at the wassail-word, the wedding jest, 40 The Saracen or Prankish measure, he Ermined in tallith, crown'd with phylactery, Halevi, minnesinger of the Lord, Liege to the manor of divinity, Has utterly foresworn the profane word. 45 Homage he gives to God, and carols only at His board. 6 His was the ballad of the fluttering heart: The hooded falcon on the wrist of God. He sang its flights, its venery, its art, Its moulting, and its final resting sod. 50 The jewell'd rhyming he devised to laud The King in whose courts he carolled and was glad, Were such as never issued from mere clod, Or from the sage or the divinely mad, Whether from Mantua or Lesbos or Baghdad. 7 55 Did he not also in that wondrous script Of Al-Kazari chronicle that king, The heathen begging of the godly-lipped Some wisdom for his pious hearkening, -

546 / Original Poems, 1937-1955

A candle for the dark, - a signet ring 60 To make the impress of the soul, - that prince Who covenanted with the mightiest King, Abjured false testaments and alcorans, Accepting only To rah and its puissance. 8 Scorn not the largess lavished on the bard 65 By Seigneur hearkening the bard's refrain: The minted moon no merchant ever marr'd; The sun, the silver currency of Spain; The mountain flower, the flower of the plain; And from the beaker of the soul, that wine 70 Which sours not; and from the bowled brain Grape clusters torn from paradisal vine; Honey of Samson's bees; and milk from Pharaoh's kine! 9 Thus, in that crowded town Castilian, Where crypted is that psalter, writ on gold 75 In ink of molten ruby, th' inspired man, Halevi, served God, luminously-souled. Aye, and the learned glossators of old Tell also of his leechcraft, subtil, wise, For chills and fevers, humors hot and cold, 80 Simples for all who craved his remedies, Nazarite, Moslem, Hebrew - God's ailing entities. 10 Still is there aught which troubles him; it hath No name nor appellation, yet it is. Sometimes, it is a shadow on his path, 85 But thrown by whom he doth not know, y-wis! Sometimes upon his brow, it is a kiss, Was it the wind or feather in the air? He knoweth not; but there is aught amiss. Daughter of sound? A footstep on a stair? 90 And in the synagogue, song heard, and no one there?

547 / c. 1941/194* 11

The stars are manna in the sky; the moon, Fleshpot of Egypt. By its light he cons Old parchment to a Babylonian tune. He nods, he drowses. Sleep, the Cushite, fawns 95 Upon Halevi, and he dreams. O once There were those wizards who could rede these things, Make clear the dreaming to the dreaming ones Baker or cupbearer or young princelings But who shall now interpret these imaginings? 12 100 Behold in his dream, a castle on a hill, Moated and massive, ominously-walled! Of all its towers, one to a pinnacle Rises, as if by constellations called To keep all masonry abased, enthralled. 105 And from that tower is heard a voice, a sigh, Bitter with Sorrow, sorrow that doth scald Its hearer as it doth its votary, At the barred casement of that doleful tower on high. 13 O beautiful beyond compare is she, no That lady in the tower of her gaol! She is the very rose for mystery, And like the lily is she lily-pale. She speaketh, and it is as if a tale Of the sharp thorn were told by the white rose, 115 Of fragrance that for agony doth fail, And beauty stabbed of her dagger'd foes, Unpetall'd, plundered, and left lying in her throes. *4 'I was a princess in my father's hall, Of all his daughters, his sweet favorite! 120 Was there a wish, a word my lips let fall, The King, my father, not fulfilling it?

548 / Original Poems, 1937-1955

0 did I wish - as young girls without wit Might wish - the golden platter of the moon, Forthwith, I swear, the chamberlain would flit 125 Hither and yon, send messengers, - 'tis done! So long ago that was - a dream, remembered, gone! 15 'Peace in the realm, my father on his throne! The vintner, swarth, sits drinking underneath The shadow of his grapes; the hay, new-mown, 130 Gladdens the peasant on the yellow heath. And in the garden, I, the King's daughter, wreathe, Many a flower for the King's delight, Beauty the late summer doth bequeath, Peace in the realm! the generals, old, now fight 135 Only with bloodless chessmen throughout the noiseless night. 16 'Suddenly came the foe barbaric, slew, Plundered and slaughter'd our poor scythe-arm'd youth: They were a flame that through our hamlets flew And left not standing palace, nor hut, nor booth. 140 Utterly without pity, without ruth, Their sword proclaimed to widow and maid our shame; The orphan, all affrighted by the uncouth Stranger, remembered not his own pet name, Remembering only, as I, the war-cry, flight, and flame.

V 145 'My father! O my father! I know not Even to this day of his fate. I faint, 1 shudder at the dark, the horrible thought. Perhaps he fled the conqueror's constraint, A beggar, and unrecognized, a saint, 150 In some far land of alien wont and word! It may be - on his shield what blot, what taint! He picks the morsels flung beneath the board By the loud drunken captains feasting with their lord!

549 / c.i941/1941 18 'And me - alas! - be blotted out that day 155 Of ribald jest and ruffianish leer When the barbarian spied me for his prey! Again I see him, and again I hear His frightening gutturals. Now, in this drear Tower am I immured, and to be shown 160 Neighboring princes entertained here, I am their caged bird, their unwitting clown, Their most ungracious guest, their tarnished trophied crown. 19 'Who shall release me from this bondage? What Warrior, mounted and plumed, shall some great day 165 Gallop the highway, jump the noisome moat, Dismount, draw sword, and leap his clanging way Up the long staircase, bloodied with affray, And at long last, break down this studded door? It shall not ever be - alack-a-day! 170 Ransom shall not be mine, not ever more, And perish I shall surely on this stony floor. 20 'O, if no prince shall ever bring release, Nor any soothsayer use wizardry Encompassing my freedom, then, God please 175 That soon — or I will surely cease to be One little precious gift be granted me! May I soon hear my good folk speech again! May I once more, before pale memory Whitens the mind, hear talk that is like rain 180 Unto parched fields, like sunshine on the ripening grain! 21 'Hast thou some potion that will render me A bird to flutter from these bars abhorr'd, Halevi, bring it me; hast thou some plea To melt the iron of this mailed horde,

550 / Original Poems, 1937-1955

185 Place it before the Throne; hast thou a sword, Lift it against my gaolers; at the least, Bring me thy ringing, winging, singing word.' The shadow lifted, and the dreaming ceased. The moon had vanished, and the sun smiled from the east. 22

190 What fumes within the alembic of his brain Conjured this dream? What pollen wafted from Blossoming orchards beyond the turbulent main Quickens the memory? What mountain drum Beating beyond the horizon, sends its hum 195 Echoing softly in Halevi's ear? In sooth, he knoweth not whence these things come; But he hath seen a far-off princess, near, A dark thing happening, and the Lord would make it clear! 23 He will no more of herbaries, nor drugs, 200 Nor physic that is arrogant; he will Give, as a gift, his phials and his jugs, And all the script of sage Aristotele. Begone, Toledo, incense-scented gaol! He will take staff in hand, and fare him forth 205 To unknown shores, across the perilous swell Of seas uncharted, whether south or north; And he will seek her out, that princess of great worth. 24 Cordova, diadem of Andaluse! Not from thy robed scholars, splitting hairs, 210 Nor from thy merchants of bright silk, came news Of her he sought, nor from the market-fairs Loud with the gossip of strange pilgrimers. They had not heard her fame. They knew her not. Each lifted dinars from his stringed purse 215 Stamped with some royal head; alas, this wrought Gold was not precious with the face of her he sought!

551 / c.i941/1941 2

5 It is a ship, a full white beautiful swan, Gliding to Africa on the Great Sea! Alnath, alpherd, alferoz, ald'baran, 220 Loveliest blossoms on the heavenly tree Guiding the slowly-moving argosy. The mariners sing chanties of sea-folk; Halevi marvels at the calm blue sea Whose little waves salaam to the oak, 225 Breaking the glassy waters. And then the tempest broke! 26 The wind plucked out the stars from heaven; and The sea, a furious serpent, leaped at the sky, The ship, a pebble in a tall djinn's hand, The little men, less than homunculi. 230 Quoth now the Berber captain, wrathfully: There is in our midst an unbelieving cur, Faring to Egypt with his heathenry! Into the sea with him, young mariner! In fish's belly, let him reach Iskandahar!' 27 235 Answered Halevi: Tray unto your God!' 'Aye, that we have!' 'Then let me pray to mine!' Then was Halevi's prayer like a rod Smiting the wild uplifted wave supine. To liturgy heart-rending came divine 240 Answer unto the sea-swept wind-swept dove! The mariners gape now at the calm brine And now stare at the kindly sky above Where ald'baran, alnath, alpherd, alferoz rove! 28 Are 245 The The The

they not written in the annal books places of his perilous journeying: bright saharas, shimmering, with no brooks; deserts wild; the mountains harboring

552 / Original Poems, 1937-1955

Assassins; and the sweet oases spring Where tribes fanatic curl in the scimitar? 250 And is not, too, recorded the welcoming That Cairo, Demieyet, Iskandahar, Made for the learned minstrel coming from afar? 29 But nowhere did he find the face he sought. The silent pyramids, the ancient Nile 255 Knowing so many secrets, knew her not. Shereef and scarred cid and rabbin smile At this his search, and bid him tarry awhile In new Mizraim where no pharaoh is; In vain: the shadow grows upon the dial; 260 Time flies; and in the dungeon of distress Waits, pale, her hair hung loose, the beautiful princess. 30 What Asian cities did his sandals shun? He sought them all; the cities of great bazars; The Gates where justice triumphs in the sun, 265 The village of the clanging armourers. He sought them all; there where the gardener mars The rose to attar, and the too-sweet air Silences birds, and makes to swoon the stars! He was to the fief of the crippled conjuror. 270 Ever he chased a shadow in a vision of nowhere. 3i Weary, and footsore, and in spirit low, At length, at long last, after many days, He is upon the dusty roads that go Bowing to Palestine. O offer praise 275 Halevi, to thy Lord, for thine eyes gaze Now upon land that is that holy stem Whose flower, in heaven, blossoms forth ablaze A flower, a flame, a talismanic gem Lift up thine eyes - the glorious Hierusalem!

553 / c. 1941/1941 32 280 O wondrous miracle that came to pass! The blindfold of the dream is dropped away. It is no vision, seen as through a glass, It is the brightness of the high noon-day. Behold the princess in her sad array! 285 Certes 'tis she, and no vain stratagem! It is she whom the vision did soothsay! The princess of the fallen diadem! Jerusalem, the princess! Fair Jerusalem!

33 Aye, but that dark dreaming is now bright. 290 The princess Zion is that princess fair Gaoled by the cross-marked arrogant Prankish knight! Still is she beautiful, though full of care; Still is the jasmine fragrant from her hair And still within her eyes is, shining, kept 295 Remembered sunshine. But despair, despair Like a hot wind of the desert, overswept Halevi, and he sang what was not song. He wept. 34 'Grieving for them, thy captive sons who are The last sheep of thy flock, O Zion, take, 300 Accept from them their greeting from afar, Their greeting and their longing and their ache. Receive the homage of thy vassal, whose Tears, like the dew of Hermon, seek thy hills, Where he would be a jackal, all night long 305 Wailing thy bitter news, Where he would dream away thy manacles, And be the harp melodious for thy song!

35 Teniel! Bethel! Mahanayim! sod Where walked thy saints, where rests the Immanence, 310 Whose gates are open to the gates of God,

554 / Original Poems, 1937-1955

Whose light is not the light of firmaments But the illumination of the Lord! Shrines holy! where I would pour out my soul As was the spirit of the sacred One 315 Upon you once out-poured, How have you fallen to an evil dole, Where slaves now lord it from your sullied throne! 36 'Thy ruins, thy waste places, and thy void, Thy dwellings rendered rubble and small rock, 320 The chambers of thy cherubim destroyed Yea, there, though bleeding, barefoot, would I walk. I will cut off my hair, and that day curse That flung thy crowned ones among heathen foes; I'll fast, for food and drink must surely reek 325 When I behold the curs, Tearing the lion's litter, and day shows The eagle bleeding from the raven's beak! 37 'O Zion, altogether beautiful! Thy sons rejoice them in thy time of peace, 330 And in thy sorrow, their cup, too, is full. They weep thy ruins, yet they never cease From striving towards thee from captivity. They bend the knee unto thy gates, thy sons, Scattered on mountains, driven over seas, 335 Remembering, Zion, thee, Yearning to touch the plinth of thy shattered stones O but to touch the boughs of thy palm-trees! 38 'Can Shinar and Pathros equal thee for glory? Can Urim and Thummim be surpassed by spells? 340 With whom compare thy kings, thy prophets hoary, Thy Levites and thy singers? All things else Will pass away - idol, idolater -

555 / c. 1941/1941

Only thy crown is for eternity! Thou art God's dwelling place, His goodly booth! 345 O none is happier Than he who with thee waits thy dawn to see Thee once again as thou wast in thy youth! 39 'God granted that I might go wandering Where He to seer and prophet was revealed. 350 God gave me wings that I might fly; and fling My broken heart upon thy broken field. O, I will fall upon my face, and kiss Thy very stones, so blessed in thine earth; I will take hold of thee, thy clods, thy soil, 355 Thy very dustiness, And hold it as a thing of extreme worth Prized above rubies, and the richest spoil/ 40 Would that with these his tears this tale might end, Even with this sad guerdon, this poor meed! 360 Zion abased by the irreverend, Yet Zion, seen; Zion beheld, in deed! But so 'twas not ordained, not so decreed; Lo, from afar, and shouting a wild oath Rideth an Arab on his thundering steed. 365 Nameless that rider, save for war-name, Death. Zion, O Princess, receive thy minstrel's trampled breath! 41 Murdered, the minnesinger of the Lord! Where rest his bones? None knows. Surely he dwells In the third temple of the hallowed word, 370 Where Zion, even now, still hears the bells Of high-priest moving at his rituals, Where the fair princess still hears prophecy, And joyful music, and the oracles Consolatory of her misery,

556 / Original Poems, 1937-1955 375 Saying: The daughter of the king will yet be free. 42 Liveth the tale, nor ever shall it die! The princess in her tower grows not old. For that she heard his charmed minstrelsy, She is forever young. Her crown of gold, 380 Bartered and customed, auctioned, hawked and sold, Is still for no head but her lovely head. What if the couch be hard, the cell be cold, The warder's keys unrusted, stale the bread? Halevi sang her song, and she is comforted!

c. 1941/1941

!944

1941

In Memoriam: Arthur Ellis, 1870-1938 Executioner [Version i] i No man is there but walks his long last mile; All time is clocked to an electric switch. Through months of fatal Fridays, no reprieves Upon our verdicts smile, 5 Not for the doomed, nor those that doom, reprieves: All mount the gallows; all descend the ditch. Therefore have hempen days evoked your ghost My dubious friend, recalled our tavern-talks, And that young lawyer was again your host 10 Who heard you drop your deeds in pinewood box, Tell of your skilful knots, and of that post Where Death stood vertical, unorthodox. 2

Who'd boast a hangman of his social set? Citizens stood facetious at your name. 15 The Man with the Rope, they said, The Lark at Dawn Frock-coated Mister Death And saying, tightened their ties in sombre fun. Even your juries polled their twelve-fold shame Upon your head, and black-capped judges whose 20 Justiciary fingertips you were

558 / Original Poems, 1937-1955

Despised you looping their man with your noose, Despised you giving their deed sepulture. And from all relatives, of course, abuse, And from your country, only so much per. 3 25 Myself was not more kindliness; I deemed You, thought unspoken, of a freakish breed As man repulsive, charming, if a snake. Your python knowledge gleamed In crime and clue, and in confession's ache. 30 Your talk of hanged men, shocked, expelling seed, Of the men docile, of those loud with rage, Of eavesdropping upon eternity, Your talk of final menus and of the Terrible fright of the most frightening stage 35 Truly entranced me, as with speech of sage. At the same time, your talk disgusted me.

4 But I recall you now with pity, ghost, Recall your incognito life, your name Kept out of phone-books, all your mail addressed 40 To some provincial post, And neighbours told you never were at home, You travelled in the public interest. Always you bore an alias; you went Friendless and childless your own long last mile. 45 Giving, you took the piecemeal punishment Forever baffled by the civic guile Which damned the servant of its orders, while It hailed the courtroom's murderous intent. 5 My pity is the pity for my like. 50 All generation follows your red trade. We eat our bread with blood; our rationed meat Is cannibal, and decayed.

559 / i94i Invoking a great word, like you, we strike. Like you, we prosper only on defeat. 55 Murder it is, and all men live by it, Executors, or executioners. The deed is noble, out of Holy Writ Kill off the evil, ere it will do worse Yet we performing this hard task, admit 60 Ourselves accursed with your special curse.

1941

In Memoriam: Arthur Ellis 1867-1937 Executioner in Canada [Version 2] i No man is there but walks his long last mile; all time is clocked to an electric switch. Through months of fatal Fridays, no reprieves upon our verdicts smile, 5 not for the doomed, nor those that doom, reprieves: both climb the gallows, both slide down the ditch Wherefore have hempen days evoked your ghost, shall I call you friend? - evoked our tavern-talks, and that young lawyer was again your host, 10 with whom you bandied Crippen and Guy Fawkes, with whom you quaffed the swift embarrassed toast to Death the vertical, the unorthodox. 2

Who'd boast a hangman as of his social set? Citizens stood facetious at your name: 15 The Man with the Rope, they said, The Lark at Dawn, Frock-coated Mister Death; and tightened their ties in unconvicted fun. Even your juries polled their twelve-fold shame

560 / Original Poems, 1937-1955

upon your head, and black-capped judges whose 20 justiciary fingertips you were, despised you even as you looped the noose, the noose they wove, that they must answer for. And from all relatives, of course, abuse; and from your country, only so much per. 3 25 Myself was not more kindliness; I deemed you — thought unspoken - of a hell of a breed, as man, miscarried; charming, if a snake. Your python knowledge gleamed with clues, crimes, and not-guiltys always fake. 30 Your talk of hanged men, shocked, expelling seed O Love and Death upon the frightening stage! of trite confession, last gastronomy, of the men docile, of those loud with rage, all curiosa of the fatal tree, 35 the bitter apples of your pilgrimage, tempted; and, now I say it - jaundiced me. 4 Still, I recall you now with pity, Ghost, recall your incognito life, your name kept out of phone-books, all your mail addressed 40 to some provincial post, and neighbours told - suspicious of your game you travelled in the public interest. O, baffled were you by the civic guile which praising the courtroom's murderous intent 45 scorned you its servant, as if you stood trial! Like crime, you bore an alias; you went friendless and childless your own long last mile. And each death, piecemeal, marked your own descent.

561 / 1941

5 My pity is the pity for my like. 50 All generation's of your calling. All are carnivorous, almost all men's meat is cannibal. Invoking a great word, like you, we strike. Like you, we prosper only on defeat. 55 The deed is noble, out of Holy Writ, and reasoned, Kill off evil or see worse; yet this just murder, we performing it, unmasks us, the masked executioners, who at our fatal function must admit 60 ourselves accursed with your special curse.

c. 1946/1946

1946

In Memoriam: Arthur Ellis 1867-1937 Executioner in Canada [Version 3] i There's not a man but must at last go up towards the zero dangling for his breath! There's not a one but is the strapped pendulum that must his own time stop! 5 To each, to all, those shortened Fridays come, braiding, both judged and judge, in one twined death ... Wherefore have hempen days evoked your ghost, macabre friend, evoked our tavern-talks, and that young lawyer was again your host 10 with whom you bandied Crippen and Guy Fawkes, with whom you quaffed the quick embarrassed toast to Death the vertical, the unorthodox.

562 / Original Poems, 1937—1955 2

Who'd boast a hangman as of his social set? Citizens stood facetious at your name: 15 The Man with the Rope, they said, The Lark at Dawn, Frock-coated Mister Death ... and tightened their ties in unconvicted fun. Even your juries polled their twelve-fold shame upon your head, and black-capped judges, whose 20 justiciary fingertips you were, despised you at the looping of the noose that made the flourish to their signature. And from all relatives, of course, abuse, and from your country, only so much per. 3 25 Myself was not more kindliness; I thought you - thought unspoken - of a freakish breed: as man, miscarried; charming, if a snake ... Your python knowledge fraught with causes celebres, not-guiltys (always fake) ... 30 your talk of hanged men, shocked, expelling seed O Love and Death upon that frightening stage! of trite confession, last gastronomy, of the men docile, of those loud with rage, all curiosa of the fatal tree, 35 the bitter apples of your pilgrimage, tempted, and, bitten into, jaundiced me. 4 Still, I recall you now with pity, Ghost! recall your incognito life, your name kept out of phone-books, all your mail addressed 40 to some provincial post; and neighbours told - suspicious of your game you travelled in the public interest. Oh baffled were you by the civic guile which, praising the courtroom's murderous intent, 45 still scorned in you its own name, deed, and style ...

563 / 1941

compelled you to an alias ... Thus you went friendless and childless your own long last mile. And each death, piecemeal, marked your own descent.

5 My pity is the pity for my like. 50 All generation's of your calling. All are carnivorous, almost all men's meat is cannibal. Invoking a great word, like you, we strike. Like you, we prosper only on defeat. 55 The deed is noble, out of Holy Writ, and reasoned, Such death's evil, but kills worse; yet this just murder, we performing it, unmasks us, the masked executioners, who at our lethal function must admit 60 ourselves accursed with your special curse. *954

c. 1942/1942

Autobiographical i Out of the ghetto streets where a Jewboy Dreamed pavement into pleasant bible-land, Out of the Yiddish slums where childhood met The friendly beard, the loutish Sabbath-goy, 5 Or followed, proud, the Torah-escorting band, Out of the jargoning city I regret, Rise memories, like sparrows rising from The gutter-scattered oats, Like sadness sweet of synagogal hum, 10 Like Hebrew violins Sobbing delight upon their eastern notes. 2

Again they ring their little bells, those doors Deemed by the tender-year'd, magnificent: Old Ashkenazi's cellar, sharp with spice; 15 The widows' double-parloured candy-stores And nuggets sweet bought for one sweaty cent; The warm fresh-smelling bakery, its pies, Its cakes, its navel'd bellies of black bread; The lintels candy-poled 20 Of barber-shop, bright-bottled, green, blue, red;

565 / c.i942/1942 And fruit-stall piled, exotic, And the big synagogue door, with letters of gold. 3 Again my kindergarten home is full Saturday night - with kin and compatriot: 25 My brothers playing Russian card-games; my Mirroring sisters looking beautiful, Humming the evening's imminent fox-trot; My uncle Mayer, of blessed memory, Still murmuring Maariv, counting holy words; 30 And the two strangers, come Fiery from Volhynia's murderous hordes The cards and humming stop. And I too swear revenge for that pogrom.

4 Occasions dear: the four-legged aleph named 35 And angel pennies dropping on my book; The rabbi patting a coming scholar-head; My mother, blessing candles, Sabbath-flamed, Queenly in her Warsovian perruque; My father pickabacking me to bed 40 To tell tall tales about the Baal Shem Tov, Letting me curl his beard. O memory of unsurpassing love, Love leading a brave child Through childhood's ogred corridors, unfear'd! 5 45 The week in the country at my brother's - (May He own fat cattle in the fields of heaven!) Its picking of strawberries from grassy ditch, Its odour of dogrose and of yellowing hay, Dusty, adventurous, sunny days, all seven! 50 Still follow me, still warm me, still are rich With the cow-tinkling peace of pastureland. The meadow'd memory

566 / Original Poems, 1937-1955

Is sodded with its clover, and is spanned By that same pillow'd sky 55 A boy on his back one day watched enviously. 6 And paved again the street: the shouting boys Oblivious of mothers on the stoops Playing the robust robbers and police, The corn-cob battle, — all high-spirited noise 60 Competitive among the lot-drawn groups. Another day, of shaken apple-trees In the rich suburbs, and a furious dog, And guilty boys in flight; Hazelnut games, and games in the synagogue, 65 The burrs, the Haman rattle, The Torah-dance on Simchas-Torah night.

7 Immortal days of the picture-calendar Dear to me always with the virgin joy Of the first flowering of senses five, 70 Discovering birds, or textures, or a star, Or tastes sweet, sour, acid, those that cloy; And perfumes. Never was I more alive. All days thereafter are a dying-off, A wandering away 75 From home and the familiar. The years doff Their innocence. No other day is ever like that day. 8 I am no old man fatuously intent On memoirs, but in memory I seek 80 The strength and vividness of nonage days, Not tranquil recollection of event. It is a fabled city that I seek; It stands in Space's vapours and Time's haze; Thence comes my sadness in remembered joy

567 / c.i942/!942 85 Constrictive of the throat; Thence do I hear, as heard by a Jewboy The Hebrew violins, Delighting in the sobbed oriental note. c. 1942/1942

1951

Come Two, like Shadows Out of the yesterday, and ages gone Come two, like shadows on a bedroom wall, To haggle for the psychic jettison. It is a mighty wrestling, by my soul, 5 And which shall garner, at the very last, The paltry winnings, I can not foretell, Nor which of the shadows shall give up the ghost. Plato is one whose shadow I surmise As one surmises the man behind a screen. 10 His words, however, phosphoric, to my eyes From whom, to whom, and what they nobly mean, Love that is fleshless, passion that is dry Betray the spirit come to keep me clean, Clean, - tropical only in philosophy. 15 That other shadow has a bedside manner. He holds my wrist; he bids me speak out Ah; Tell him about the dream of the crimson banner And of the carnivorous ladies that dream saw. - O, they are two in a surrealist void 20 Who haunt me: Plato and his shaven jaw, And the pudendal face of Doctor Freud. c. 1942/1942

1943

568 / Original Poems, 1937-1955

Dentist The planetary motion of the blood, Also the peregrinations of routine, And the bright pendulum of dialectic, All go awry, 5 Lose their direction and their polarhood Before the keen Weltschmerz residing in a cavity! Sometimes, in such a dire case, this man He of the aloe'd pellets against pain 10 Has been to my anguish - antiseptic Hero! But now, to-day, I know him different, clumsy Caliban, Narcoticized brain, Gloating with pincers over my dismay! 15 The panic of his nightmare's still with me: This ogre of the hypodermic claws, Smelling of novocaine and drugged mayhem, Knee on my chest, Still runs amok among the ivory, 20 Distorts my jaws, Still keeps my gurgled havoc unexpressed! May thirty-two curses blight that torturer! May his gums soften! May he lose his friends Turning in silence from his exhalations! 25 His tinsel wreath Fall from his mouth, abscessed, with clotted gore At its forked ends! Thirty-two curses on his thirty-two teeth!

569 / c.i942/1942 Pity he cries? May only thirty-one 30 Of those foul nibs slip from their gummy curves, Leaving his food in lumps, uncut, unmolar'd For belly's sake And may one canine, comic and alone, And quick with nerves, 35 Remain - his weltschmerz and his livelong ache! c. 1942/1942

X

944

Desideratum

I am no contradictor of Cabbala: that there are nerves two hundred forty-eight couriers through the forest of the flesh is sure arithmetic, and sacred; that 5 organs and limbs three hundred sixty-five give motion to this Adam's also granted; and that these two corporeal sums add up gematria inspired and symbolic to number the six hundred and thirteen 10 edicts of Holy Writ, is truth most glorious!

Yet I would these limbs were separable, these members divisible from their heap o' bones: a realm compact of sovereign entities, 15 the body's Powers, Dominations, Thrones, all regnant for themselves, not galley-slaves fettered unto the simultaneous oars. Aye, where there stood one lonely worshipper, six hundred thirteen would run godly chores! 20 And this were immortality man craves!

57° / Original Poems, 1937-1955 Instance this much-desired case: the skull though severed from unbleeding shoulders, lives. Severed, it ambulates to some green knoll, its eyes upon the blessed sunshine thrive, 25 its ears, they are two beings all of sound, its mouth, though throatless, speaks; its sheathed brain, a watch whose tickings were in heaven wound, unwinding Time ... The severed body? Let that body, headless, go about its business, 30 its grosser tasks, ejaculate, excrete, digest, perspire, micturate. The head knows no dependence, lives! c. 1942/1942

*944

Et j'ai lu tous les livres From library to library I go — The brothels of the mind — to seek the thrill Exotic I shall, it seems, never know. The condom novels, the journalonanist spill, 5 The cyclopedia's two score and twelve ways And the minette of sapphic tongue, do not Silence the strange desires of my days Nor still the lechery of erected thought. Houses of fame, farewell! I go again 10 To walk the bookless alleys of ascetic rain. c. 1942/1942

571 / 0.1942/1942

Girlie Show i

... What men or gods are these? What maidens loth? What mad pursuit? What feigning to escape? ... Who are these satyrs, ribald and uncouth? What vestals, these, in pantomime of rape? 5 Does Pan still live? And is his rite still kept? I thought his flutes were silenced long ago, Himself remembered only on a vase; Hellas, I thought, all horned Hellas slept. Who are these dancers, then, and these fauns, who 10 With beard of fingers, whistle lewd applause? 2

With quivering breasts, and ever-parted lips, Their navels bold, and violent their loins, The dancing girlies thrill all fingertips, As music titillates the assembled groins. 15 O, in their crypts, there roar the little beasts Ready for sacrifice! ... The footlights blaze, Like altar-flames, where meeting comics cross Waving their wands: two largely trousered priests Doing the ritual of oblique praise 20 In worship of the un-named omphalos.

3 This is the temple! Here the crippled come To throw away the crutches of their sex! Who ails of sluggish blood, or members numb, Glows here again; who, of the dead reflex, 25 Stays clod at sight of the mere public parts, Here finds his blood, goat-footed, capering. Here, as the strip-tease queen struts on the stage, To music pizzicato on g-string,

572 / Original Poems, 1937-1955

30

Her satin'd buttocks, smooth or quick, by starts, The spent renew, the old forget, their age.

4 The son of Hermes lives! Not in bright glades Nor in dark forests, seek his votaries, But enter here through marbled colonnades (Where smile, from feathers, photo'd goddesses) 35 The city sanctuary of the shaggy one. The ushers cry their aphrodisiac toys. The flutists set their reeds. The curtains soar. At once, the legs and music are begun. The inflamed devotees make joyful noise. 40 And once more Pan is god, as he was god of yore.

c. 1942/1942

The Golem This is the golem. He is wooden, and he is painted brown. In walking, he carefully lifts each foot As if to kick it out of muck. 5 The mechanism in his throat goes cluck-cluck-cluck. His dexter, at the hailed word, goes up and down. Upon his upper lip, six hairs are stuck. This is the golem. The rabbi Nubal and his holy vessels 10 With pious incantation gave this clod The strength wherewith he wrestles. He was to serve none other but their god, And save them from the bear of the human walk:

573 / c. 1942/1942

A hewer of wood — to keep their Sabbath hot; 15 A drawer of water - to fill his master's crock. The incantation, alas, was too well wrought. The golem ran amok! He ran amok, And all Bohemia's forests did not suffice For his mad hewing; before his drawing of water 20 The rivers trembled. Had they turned to ice Mortified rabbi, how will you now undo Your doing? How revoke your invocation, Saving you call again the abjured spell: The horns of iron, the bladed chariot, the 25 Satanic chemical? c. 1942/1942

1945

Love

Love, love, love, O lyric-love, half angel and half slut! Uncleanest of the four-saxon-littered herd! Foul euphemism of the apes in rut! 5 Laundered obscenity, the figleaf word To hide the ambush of the treacherous gut! It moves the sun and all the stars, this love. Much pullulation goes on in its name. Even reserved men wear it, with a glove. 10 All flatter the wench to believe herself grand dame.

574 / Original Poems, 1937-1955

The lady evangelist cries Love: the poet, too, Passionate that his name be writ in water; The playboy, likewise; and the salesman-crew Roaming the country for the farmer's daughter. 15 All, all, testiculate their urgent throes: June bridal cars sounding priapic horns, The Ripper Jack whose hive's a red red rose, And the monorchid, valiant among thorns. O, oyster-swallowing gents and oat-ripe boys, 20 Always the jubilee turns jeremiad, For after the long planning, brief the joys, And after, always, every man is sad. c. 1942/1942

My Dear Plutophilanthropist My dear plutophilanthropist, Unclench your tight white-knuckled fist, And give, as others of the tribe, The annual philanthropic bribe: 5 From ancien and from nouveau-riche The unimpeachable baksheesh \ It shuts the big mouth of the poor From seeking and from getting more, Narcoticizing with crumb'd bread 10 Rebellion in the pauper-head And it costs nothing; for returned Is merely part the pauper earned The sweetest saw-off to be had: Two cents the dollar - Is that bad? 15 And even these two paltry cents

*944

575 / c. 1942/1942

Being tax-exempt, are Government's. For us the cake, - the poor a maka Great is the Hebrew ideal: zdaka! Can better business deal be made 20 Than this most double-dealing trade Which here below, preserves your own And up above, takes to the Throne The blessing of the synagogue: This overlord helped underdog. 25 Can better profit come to you All this, all this, and heaven, too? c. 1942/1942

Pawnshop i May none be called to visit this grim house, all cup-boards, and each cup-board skeleton'd with ghost of gambler, spook of shiftless souse, with rattling relict of the over-dunned! 5 Disaster haunts it. Scandals, once-renowned, speak from its chattels. In its darkness glow the phosphor-poor who stalk its rooms at night. One should have razed it to the salted ground antitheses ago, 10 and put its spectres long ago to flight! 2

Near waterfront, a stone's throw from the slums, it lifts, above its wreckage, three gold buoys; yet to its reefage tattoo'd flotsam comes unsnaring bag and baedeker of toys. 15 Also those stranded on their own dear shores, -

576 / Original Poems, 1937—1955

the evicted tenant, the genteel with false name, the girl in trouble, the no-good sons and heirs, waver, and pause before its brass-bound doors, look right and left, in shame, 20 enter, and price, and ticket their despairs.

3 Oh, for a coloured cardboard, wave out of sight the dear, the engraved, the boasted inventory: (a) family plate - hocked for the widow's mite; (b) birthday gifts; the cups marked champion (c); 25 (d) tools; (e) special, vase picked up in Crete; en bloc: watch; ring, endowing bride; camera; medal; crushed accordion; rich votives of penultimate defeat, weighed, measured, counted, eyed 30 by the estimating clerk, himself in pawn. 4 Whose lombard schemes, whose plotting kapital thrusts from this lintel its three burnished bombs set for a time, which ticks for almost all whether from fertile suburbs or parched slums? 35 The architect is rusted from his plaque. Was his name Adam? Was his trade a smith who thought a mansion to erect of wealth that houses now the bankrupt bricabrac, his pleasure-dome made myth, 40 his let-do hospitality made stealth? 5 This is our era's state-fair parthenon, the pyramid of a pharaonic time, our little cathedral, our platonic cave, our childhood's house that Jack built. Synonym 45 of all building, our house, it owns us; even when free from it, our dialectic grave. Shall one not curse it, therefore, as the cause,

577 / c-1942/1942 type, and exemplar of our social guilt? Our own gomorrah house, 50 the sodom that merely to look at makes one salt? c. 1942/1942

1948

Penultimate Chapter The carefully-evolved and cultured tribes Moved blithely in their habitats and keels, Superior in the scripture of their scribes, And safe in discovered fire, invented wheels. 5 Foretold by neither seer nor seismograph, The imminent earthquake of ancestral mires Stilled not their boast, nor falsified their laugh. Closeted were the skeletons of their sires! 10

Buried; but, in the frightening-fauna'd rock, The dry bones quickened, in the nether plain Stirred, and grew scales, and yearned once more to stalk The lesser prey. The strata burst!

Again The winged reptiles in their slimy hosts, Their beaks saw-toothed, and their wingspread claw'd, 15 Swooped on the men who fled them, crying: Ghosts! Our wild progenitors have left their sod! They fled to their coasts. Out of the wallowing sea The ichthyosaurus! The pigmies stood unmanned Before the horrific stare of ancestry.

578 / Original Poems, 1937-1955

20

They scurried back upon the higher land, Only to meet hooves' thunder, lightning tusks: Titanothere and tetrabelodon! Terror unkerneled the dry human husks. The mammoths (circa 1951) ... c. 1942/1942

1953

That Legendary Eagle, Death Somewhere above the innocent clouds there flies The legendary eagle. Never yet Have I beheld him. I have heard his cries. And once his shadow and my shadow met. 5 I fear the vengeful king who sent him up! Those claws are curled about the stones of our feud! When will those stones fall, and that king eavesdrop Upon the echoings of my splattered blood? Often I hoped to make my enemy sad, 10 Impatient in his windy turret for News of the eagle, and none to be had Lost in the skies, dead on the ocean floor. I therefore aimed, by shadow and by call, My arrows at what I thought his wings of jet. 15 The arrows rose. The eagle did not fall. That wrathful king will have his vengeance yet. c. 1942/1942

1953

579 / 0.1942/1942

Variation of a Theme i

Enamort have I been of bleaseful Death, Knelled him soft names in manes a muted rhyme; Or, vault-face, trumpeted my herald breath Into Gold Gotha echoes of his fame: 5 The Lord of Ghosts- the Imperor of Bearse; Rex Tumulus; great Sherasod the Prince; Menhir von Wrinklemop; Barow de Hearse; Le Comte de Funct; von Waggoner, C.G.; Sire Mintz. 2

Mr. O. Topsy-Turf, of Cher Noel House; 10 The Mausolem, Sir Koph-Ag, L.A.G.; That mandarin chap Suo Seid; the Russ Undone Checkofsky; Ripper R.I.P.; Sven Swansong; Harry Carey, Samurai; Nick Ropoulos; Regratter Abie Taff; 15 The Cryptic Patriark; Chief Wenanivei; Allover Cromlech; Rotter Doestenasher, graph. 3 O I have skald his eili-aces rite, And conjoured him in alles shapes and garbs, As heirold in black ossuary dight, 20 As Abbot Ware, as Cooped haeming barbs, As Myster Wynken brinken nods; I've seen Hymn in his cete-monies and costumes, yea As houriental djinn, of yestern mien, As mielancholy Dane, and aye as Francheman gai.

580 / Original Poems, 1937—1955

4 25 His gags, his joker-knots, his escapades, His bower, his mite, they monsternate me not. I know his tryx, the way-pence of his trades, He has been sybilled blacker than he wrot. I do not fear him, and it may well be 30 That I aspyre his embrass, would cry: 'Acain my brooder, comes to call for me, And more than ever, mortal, it seems rich to die!'

c. 1942/1942

1944

c. 1942/1943

The Hitleriad I Heil heavenly muse, since also thou must be Like my song's theme, a sieg-heil'd deity, Be with me now, but not as once, for song: Not odes do I indite, indicting Wrong! 5 Be with me, for I fall from grace to sin, Spurning this day thy proffered hippocrene, To taste the poison'd lager of Berlin! Happier would I be with other themes (Who rallies nightmares when he could have dreams?) 10 With other themes, and subjects more august Adolf I sing but only since I must. I must! Shall I continue the sweet words That praise the blossoming flowers, the blossoming birds, While, afar off, I hear the stamping herds? 15 Shall I, within my ivory tower, sit And play the solitaire of rhyme and wit, While Indignation pounds upon the door, And Pity sobs, until she sobs no more, And, in the woods, there yelp the hounds of war?

582 / Original Poems, 1937—1955

20 I am the grandson of the prophets! I Shall not seal lips against iniquity. Let anger take me in its grasp; let hate, Hatred of evil prompt me, and dictate! And let the world see that swastika-stain, 25 That heart, where no blood is, but high octane, That little brain So that once seen the freak be known again! Oh, even as his truncheon'd crimes are wrought, And while the spilt blood is still body-hot, 30 And even as his doom still seems in doubt, Let deeds unspeakable be spoken out. Wherefore, O Muse, I do invoke thy aid, Not for the light and sweetness of the trade, But seeing I draw a true bill of the Goth, 35 For the full fire of thy heavenly wrath! Aid me, and in good time, for as I talk The knave goes one step nearer to the dock; And even as triumphant cannon boom He marches on his victories - to doom! II

40 See him, at last, the culprit twelve men damn. Is this the face that launched the master-race And burned the topless towers of Rotterdam? Why, it's a face like any other face Among a sea of faces in a mob, 45 A peasant's face, an agent's face, no face At all, no face but vegetarian blob! The skin's a skin on eggs and turnips fed, The forehead villainous low, the eyes deepset The pervert big eyes of the thwarted bed 50 And that mustache, the symbol of the clown Made emperor, and playing imperial pranks -

583 / 0.1942/1943 Is this the mustache that brought Europe down, And rolled it flat beneath a thousand tanks? Ill

Judge not the man for his face 55 Out of Neanderthal! Tis true 'tis commonplace, Mediocral, But the evil of the race Informs that skull! 60 You ask, is paragon'd The Nordic in this thrall? Why, chivalry's not found In him at all! And he's the beast not blond, 65 Nor is he tall. His strength is as the strength Of ten, and ten times ten; For through him, magnified Smallness comes to our ken 70 The total bigness of All little men. IV

The dossier, then; the facts, the untampered text: Let this world know him, ere he goes to the next! Where was he born? (Born is the word that I 75 Use, seeing littered is not poesy.) Where was he born? In Braunau at the Inn And Austria paid for that original sin! Born to a father, old and over-wined Who had he slept one night, had saved mankind!

584 / Original Poems, 1937-1955

8o At first hight Schicklgruber - 'what a name To herald through the mighty trump of fame' Heil Schicklgruber! Schicklgruber, heil! Methinks this lacks the true imperial style, And certainly no poet's nor mob's tongue 85 Could shake from shekel-shackle-gruber - song! The gods are kind. His father changed his name, And saved, at least the Schicklgrubers' shame. Soon he removed to Linz. Now, note this well, This was the town where Rilke wove his spell, 90 Where Rilke dreamed the beautiful and good And on this boden, Hitler dreamed of blut! His teachers have since died; and fortunate they Who else had died ten deaths to see the day The dunce of the corner corner better men, 95 And great wealth his who could not count to ten! Doctrine he spurned, and scholarship despised: Let others win the palms so meanly prized The teacher's apple and the fiat lux Sheepskin for sheep, and for the bookworm books. 100 Let others learn to love their fellowmen; He had no fellow, neither now, nor then. Let others learn to love their neighbours. He Hated his father and all Linz-ery. (Forgive the young: he'd see his hate untwined 105 To take in, generously, all humankind.) Wherefore, uncouth, untutored, unconcerned, He left his school most thoroughly unlearned, Fit for the plough - before it, not behind! And as time proved, the premier German mind! V

no But did he not in art show promise, such As to forgive, if not all ignorance, much? He did; the first of many promises Still unfulfilled, most tolerable, this:

585 / 0.1942/1943 He drew a line, it was not crooked, so 115 He thought that he was Michelangelo! Yet is it true that in due time, he would Incarnadine him murals with much blood; To Europe's marbled treasures adding his Ruins out-ruining Acropolis; 120 Yes, with a continent for easel, he Would yet show vicious virtuosity, Would yet achieve the opus of his dream, The classic painting, masterpiece supreme: The Reich's Last Supper (out of stolen pots) 125 With quislings six, and six iscariots! Meanwhile he dreamed, and dreaming saw himself Rich and esteemed on many a library shelf, In many paintings hanging from a wall, (This hanging theme, is it prophetical?) 130 And Hitler fecit, pinxit Hitler was The only Latin of his final class. He comes before his betters to stand test: Is this an artist, for he is ill-dressed? Is he to paint, because he cannot write? 135 We believe his linens would look better - white! And for the first time Adolf's judged aright. VI

Here stutters biography. The scribes conflict In qualifying Vienna's derelict: Was he a bricklayer, as some aver, 140 A paperhanger, or a carpenter? The witnesses ignore. It seems, in any case, - symbolic thing! He always worked on scaffolding. Some others say - on oath - he had no trade, 145 Blame his survival on the public aid. He slept, they say, in flophouses; he wore

586 / Original Poems, 1937-1955

Castoff; he ate handouts at the door; (Tis no disgrace. Disgraceful only is Ignoring in others one's own miseries.) 150 He fed on alms, these say. Twas Jewish food. Hate knows no firmer ground than gratitude. VII

And then there came - blow, trumpets; drummers, drum! The apocalypse, the pandemonium, The war the Kaiser from his shrivelled hand 155 Let fall upon the European land. Mark well, O men, the manner of our man: He who not once in his entire life-span Was either by sympathy or sorrow swept, Heard of the carnage imminent - and wept! 160 He wept - but let us his own words employ: T fell on my knees, I wept, I wept for joy!' Now this was the stuff of which a soldier's made! But after four years, where is Adolf's braid? Where are his medals? His promotions, where? 165 He had none; could it be he'd failed to dare? Or could it be the brave of the front-line Too often showed the salient his spine, And chose too often duties, unsung, drear But safe - 'to bring dispatches to the rear'? 170 O could it be that this was, after all, How Adolf humbly stayed a corporal? Alas, that then the untaught General Staff Knew intuition as an epitaph, And did not, as in later times, bestow 175 On this non-sense its generalissimo!

587 / €.1942/1943 VIII Why, even in his private little war, His march on Munich, when for the first time This painter showed his phobia of red, It was old Ludendorff, the warrior, 180 Still battling Foch, but now in pantomime, Who marched breast forward, while - while Adolf fled, Fled, with the fleeing of his own brave words, Fled, fell on his face, and not upon his spear, Got up, and fled, a rabbit to its hutch. 185 Such was the hero, flashing others' swords! Such was the leader, leading bouts with beer! Such was the puttering-out of the Great Putsch! IX

Let it be said of Hitler, then, that he Had courage, when he had a guarantee; 190 He risked, when primed assurance smiled; he dared When the positions had been well-prepared. He sought the German power, - but no haste: The dotard Hindenburg would see him placed. He marched across the Rhine; yet it was plain 195 A bullet would have marched him back again. He coveted the Czech-land; yet he waited Until that prize was generously donated. Circumspect, cautious, of an humble air Until he found he could afford to dare. 200 Then, summoning the pensioned warriors, Then, even then, he followed his true course, Mounting no charger, but a Trojan horse!

588 / Original Poems, 1937-1955 X

205

210

215

220

225

So, you may say, he was a miracle Of bold persuasion and of iron will, And sure he needs no courage who has skill! What skill? And what persuasion? Skill to use Hatred as bomb, and rhetoric as fuse? Persuasion to persuade the Swabian mind It was the unwhipped cream of humankind? A bag of tricks, a mountebank's recipes, Fit only for the half-mentalities By birth and training sedulously bred To swap, for circuses, their daily bread. Consider with what petty bribes these were Perverted from both Kant's and Goethe's lore, Pure Reason bartering for Force impure, And their Faust-soul betraying for a whore! Consider for what baubles they sold out: The shoddy uniform; the chorus'd shout; The bonfired books; the robot-like salutes; The ever-marching military boots! These, such as these, no genius, but mere quack Could soon reduce from people to a claque, And bid them be, enamoured and enticed, Of crooked cross re-crucifying Christ!

XI Go to Mein Kampfif you would know his trade, And there learn how a people is unmade, And how, with mocking pantomime, The tyrants on its ruins climb. 230 There learn the rules, (Transparent unto all, save fools) There take the lessons from the literate boors And learn to lead the lofty-destined Reich — Or Barnum-Bailey tours!

589 / 0.1942/1943 235 Learn it from Adolf's very prosiness, Indited by his fellow-convict, Hess, (Though adept at the demagogic yell, It is averred that Adolf could not spell) Learn it from him, who, east, west, north and south, 240 Excelled in the loud bigness of his Mouth! Learn How with the double-jointed rhetoric He turned men's minds - (and stomachs) - and the trick; Hear him reveal the charlatan's technique: 245 The prearranged ad-libs, the advised shriek, The spontaneities prepared, the stance Best suited for prophetic eloquence, The iterated and ecstatic prose, And above all, the pose, the Wagnerian pose! 250 And hear him brief his wisdom, brashly smooth: 'The lie, if oft repeated, is the truth!' Read, marvelling, the slogans that did foil The Hun intelligence: Blood, Honour, Soil: The worship of the blood, in Arians veined, 255 And in all others preferably uncontained; The practice of an Honour, modified By the dear temperature of one's own hide; And as for Soil, a simple ratio: Nazis above, all others deep below! 260 Add then, the insured craft with which he chose The chosen people for his choicest prose: Here was a scapegoat to his measure made, Big enough to inform his wild tirade And too small to return its foe his due: 265 The strange ubiquitous Jew! When could one find a better scapegoat than The bearded Hebrew cosmopolitan, Than this the Israelite, not far to seek,

590 / Original Poems, 1937-1955

Who was at once an alien, and weak? 270 Is it the rich who rouse the tribune's ire? Some Jews are rich, and can well feed his fire. Is it the poor, the indigent radical? Judaea's destitution is not small. The Jew's unsocial — he will not join in 275 The civic hubbub, the political din, And also he's too forward; everywhere Smell his ambitious presence in the air! Pietist, he pollutes with his old creed The pagan vigour of the German breed; 280 And at the same time lifts the mystic mist From off the German mind - the atheist! All evil from this Marxian plutocrat: The Weimar laws, and the Versailles diktat, The lowered standards and the rising costs, 285 Inflation and heat-waves, taxes and sharp frosts, All, all achieved by the Semitic hosts. The theorem did not matter, nor its flaws, Sufficient to sneer 'Jew' to win applause, Yelp 'Jude,' and await the frenzied jeers 290 And thus assure the Reich its thousand years! So did he still the German hunger with The ever-novel but right ancient myth, And taught his people first to heil and hoot, Then legislate, then doom, then persecute, 295 Visiting even on the blondest Jew The crime his great-great-great-grandmother knew! Such his persuasion, and - the authentic curse Such the too-soon persuaded Berliners. (Observe the method in this madness, since 300 The Jew being beaten, the world did not wince, The vogue was shown, by flesh-barometer, He could persist, yet no great risk incur.)

591 / 0.1942/1943 XII

Yet not alone Did Hitler do the deeds for which he must atone! 305 Henchmen he had, Spirits and genii whom he did evoke Out of the bottled Herren-volk, Frustrated men, who'd tried all things, and failed, And then determined to be jailed, or hailed! 310 Herr Goebbels such a one Club-footed, rat-faced, halitotic, the Brave Nordic ideal, a contrario! A kept man; eloquent, a Ph.D; Carried no gun, forsooth; a radio 315 Lethal enough for him, shouting its lies, Exploding lebensraum and libido; Subtle in puncturing all human foibles Saving his own, prolific in alibis, Goebbels. 320 And such that other, Rosenberg, The penman of the mob; had written books; Corrected Adolf's grammar; could devise Seventy reasons for atrocities; Scorned pity; credited with stabbing hooks 325 Into the too-compassionate Christian crux; Concocted, weekly, blood-philosophies, To genuflect non-Arians to their knees; Was daft about his twentieth-century spooks; Herr Rosenberg, burdened with double shame: 330 A Baltic birth, and a Semitic name. Nor was he absent, that ubiquity, Goering, the arsonist, who loved disguise A uniform for every pantomime, Including asbestos for the Reichstag crime 335 Goering distinguished, mainly, by his size, By the great girth's unrationed symmetries,

592 / Original Poems, 1937—1955

Ridiculous, in ersatz-land, sublime! There was geheimrat who was not geheim! Big in his own, and other people's eyes! 340 Loved hunting, pref'rably biped quarry; Loved art, if stolen; loved imported grub; Addicted to the narcotic and the gory; Bore weapons (daggers); led a lion-cub; And thought that full-face photos spread his glory. 345 (There is, of course, no profile to a tub.) Nor yet was overlooked the fashion-plate: Be not deceived by the manners of this fop, His hat and gloves, his apathetic heils. This was no dandy, but a man of wiles, 350 The double-swasticrossing Ribbentrop. Think him not milksop, no, nor champagne-sop. His morning coat was cut to the latest styles Of armour-plate; he was the villain who smiles, And pours the cocktails with the poison-drop. 355 He was the fingerman who spied the job; The Cliveden layout was his tour-de-force, And it was he contacted the Vichy mob, And he who fed oats to the Trojan horse, 'Twas he, the master of the slick hobnob, 360 Who put in protocol the Nazi curse! XIII And other lesser fry there were Who joined the Nazi exchequer, Careerists who sought living-space Upon the body of their race, 365 Each coming forward, for a price, To sell his own especial vice: Von Papen, spy and diplomat, Hiding low cunning in high hat, Giving his masters fealty

593 / 0.1942/1943

370 As long as they held mastery, Reliable, whate'er might happen To serve the good of Herr Von Papen! And Himmler, Heinrich, mild and meek, Most studious of the human shriek, 375 Inquisitive about the extent To which men could take punishment, Already planning for the foe The order of the Gestapo, Already practising to bowl 380 With all the heads that needs must roll, Already forging chains and gyves For the long night of the long knives, Himmler, most self-effacing, and Effacing others with Kultur's impartial hand. 385 Oily, obscene, fat as a hog, The thick scourge of the synagogue, The loutish uncouth pedagogue, Streicher, brings up his hefty rear, Among his bandit peers, a peer 390 Meet now, the brothel-keeper for The votaries of racial lore, Who procured, by his journal's traffic The titillation pornographic, The lewd urge, the concupiscent thrill 395 By which he proved him human still. He also stood, with beckoning claw Holding uncandid camera The fawning Hoffman, who dared give The Fuehrer his sole negative; 400 And he, hook-nosed, was also there, The learned doctor Haushofer, Expanding Hitler's empery By dint of pure cartography: The soldiers pluck what his school picks -

594 / Original Poems, 1937—1955

405 The art is geopolitics. Nor should one fail to speak to-day Of the besotted Robert Ley Since drunken underneath a table To speak himself he is unable; 410 Nor yet forget - alack-a-day, Volatile Hess who flew away. O what a crew unto their leader like! As master mongrel, so each crawling tike, And all the saviours of the German Reich! XIV

415 Aye, were not others at that honeymoon, Herr Strasser and his strange gregorian tune, And Captain Roehm, ever in love with youth, Best man among the paladins of truth? Where are they now? 420 These knights reproachable but without fear? O where is Schleicher's intellectual brow? Why does not Heines, stalwart, reappear? Where are the crows of yesteryear? Departed, gentlemen, but without dirge. 425 The gallant Fuehrer had to have his purge; These worthies, therefore, came to bitter ends: They'd sinned the supreme sin - they were his friends! XV

Yet not by their sole aid did Adolf rise, His greatest help came from his enemies: 430 The eye-glass'd Junker looking down Upon the upstart corporal clown; The simple Social Democrat;

595 / 0.1942/1943 The Catholic, and concordat; The too-shrewd plutocratic vons 435 Thyssen, Hugenberg and sons; The dialectic theorist who saw the ever-thickening mist And cheered, in hope that soon therefrom The light, hegelian, would come; And even Hindenburg, who in alarm, 440 Sold a republic for a private farm! Each in his fashion, and for personal sake Led Germany to Hitler's stake. Yes, let it be told, let it be written down How even from afar 445 There came the aid that burned the Republic brown; Let it be told How gold tycoon, how monied czar, Reaction black, and Interest, dirty-grey Trembled before the rumour of that plot 450 Plotting for Europe its Muscovian day, And trembling, dropped more coin into the Nazi pot! Let us not name the names, but let us speak Only about munition'd dividends, Of markets rising to an envied peak, 455 Of rubber's conscienceless elastic ends, Of timely trains by fascists always mann'd, And of umbrellas, which, alas, did leak. Those who have memory will understand. XVI

Who are those thousands in the goose-step march? 460 Athletes, said Papen, sly and arch. Whose are those planes that through the ether race? Commerce, said Goering, with cherubic face. The tanks that still keep coming, on and on? Said innocent Ley: The Volkswagen.

596 / Original Poems, 1937-1955

465 And all those lovely gases, what are they? Said Goebbels: Cure-alls for a better day. Within the chancelleries, the diplomats Chuckled and winked behind their polished hats; And Downing Street announced from Number Ten 470 The balance of power balanced once again. XVII There were — the decade's grace - who saw This moulting of the moral law, Who cried against the knaveries Designed to please and to appease, 475 And such an one was he who stood Late and alone against the flood, The man who hated sham and cant, Unfortunately brilliant, Churchill, who kept our world extant! 480 Across the seas, still doomed to wait, Man's conscience-made-articulate, Roosevelt sent forth his biblic words As he would yet send forth, for vengeance The steel leviathans, the flaming swords, 485 The swift seraphic engines! Ah, he who might have led great France Against the brazen countenance, Was gone from twilight into night, The Tiger, ever-burning bright!

597 / c. 1942/1943 XVIII 490 But was there not, to cope with this intrigue To keep the peace - the wise Wilsonian league? The League of Nations - what a hope was there, Fled with the years, vanished in spoken air! It could have had no other fate. Alas, 495 Who looked, could long have seen it in the glass: The kisses blown with weak asthmatic breath By old men gesturing themselves to death. Were these the men to put teeth in the law, Who had no tooth in their collective jaw? 500 Were these the men that would the peace maintain Themselves upholding only with a cane? Could these look in the future, who could not See without specs, and those, at home, forgot? Most miserable world which had to lean 505 Upon the dotards of this dying scene! While such as these, then, guard the public weal And safety totters, and security Goes palsied, doddering and down-at-heel, While Senex drones, and all Geneva snores, 510 He'd be no burglar, who in such event Did not bethink him of his burglary, To try his key in all the tempting doors! And Hitler read his opportunity! XIX

How blind these were, he thought, who did not see 515 The new excalibur that rose in air That certain weapon of short victory, Which using, even the unrash might dare The great assault, the sudden lightning thrust! Before this thing, defenses could not score,

598 / Original Poems, 1937-1955

520 And pacts were sand, and maginot were dust This Stuka of the fourth-dimensional war! Let then, the old men, therefore, rack their wits, Magniloquizing their paralysis As if it were a tactic of Clausewitz. 525 From hidden hangars and fake factories Would soon emerge the weapons of the blitz! Then would there be, old men, a peace, the peace That passeth boundaries! XX

Now, the career he built on such foundations 530 With allies, passive, active, such as these Is black and public on the garb of nations. It has no secrecies. Is there a wickedness this wicked man Did not accomplish? An iniquity 535 That he did not decree? A crime that was not indexed in his plan? He did encompass all The high crimes and the misdemeanours low, Enormous, diabolical, 540 Lavish of suffering, and of woe Beyond recall. I shall not here complain that he did not Know decency, or love, or honour, or The other virtues surplus to the codes: 545 They were beyond his thought, Here was a land his spies did not explore Uncharted were these roads.

599 / 0.1942/1943 XXI

But Law, uncommentaried and unburden'd Law, The child-eye choosing between right and wrong, 550 The manly option made against the beast, That, by the man so high above the throng, That might have been expected, That, at least! At least! That little least was more 555 Than he could suffer, who despised The norms that only weak men prized Not Pity, cloth by cripple spun, Not Justice - blind - he put out both her eyes, Nor Culture, here he cocked his gun, 560 Nor Worth, nor yet Humanity effete, The weakling's meat! Wherefore, in lieu of the illumined law He ushered in, the better for his deeds, The burglar's darkness and the murderer's fog. 565 He tore the statutes; he abjured the creeds; He stamped on the Decalogue! He coveted. O what did this much-shrivelled little soul Not covet, not lust after? Everything 570 That was not his: The painter's brush, a purer genesis, The fame of letters not won by himself, Bismarckian role, Power and place and pelf. 575 But had he merely coveted, merely bayed At the unreachable reaches of the distant moon, Out of his thwarting, out of hope delayed He would have perished soon, Heart-broken, foiled, his wrist-veins cut 580 But

600 / Original Poems, 1937-1955

He also stole. He was a thief. He stole. Even the credos of his sloganry He piecemeal filched to make a patchwork whole. (Forgiveable - a petty larceny!) 585 His depredations rose. He robbed the rich; impartial, robbed the dole. The folk he loved, he taxed; and those he hated He confiscated. The poor man for his pension-pennies sobbed. 590 The church he also held up for its toll. The house of God was robbed. .

Fed thus with native quarry, flesh and gore He licked his whiskers, crouched, then stalked for more.

XXII

See, on historic film his crimes deployed, 595 Felonies flickering from celluloid! And through the planes' sharp retina, behold His victims, and their plight, The beaten, and the ambushed, and the sold! Austria, gay and bright and musical 600 Receiving in the silenced hall The mud-bespattered guest; And brave Bohemia, - Honour's epitaph Broken in half, Half blackmailed, plundered of the rest. 605 (Watch for the montage of accomplished guile: As Skoda skids, the four smug men will smile.) The scenes now change, but madness knows no halt. Norway is sacked, and Poland's sown with salt Explosive! Holland also visited, 610 Whose dykes and Dutchmen bled.

601 / 0.1942/1943 (Montage again: the camera goes berserk With vertical flame and towers diagonal; Then rests to show the generals; they smirk.) Closeup. The fascist and his rods 615 Flogging the Jugoslavian fading out To Greece, her freemen broken, like her gods. Roofs; and the Eiffel Tower's prominence France! Bereft of Buonaparte 620 Her sated mirrors shattered, and her heart. /France, that too soon, too humble, did descend From brightness to the dark, Bereft of Joan of Arc, Upon an evil day on evil hours come. 625 Within her conquered hall Domremy voice is dumb. The lesser corporal Over prostrated France Mimics with carpet-fretting feet 630 Napoleonic stance! Look west, and see the towers of London-town Declining, battered, but not battered down The burglar mounted, but he came too late: He broke, but did not enter. 635 Look east, the Russian lifts avenging hands, Waylaid, assaulted, wounded - he still stands By dint of that unthawed triumvirate: Cold steel, and Stalin cool, and icy Winter!

XXIII As footnote to the headlined Terror, know 640 His ally fared no better than his foe. War was a science; treaties were an art.

602 / Original Poems, 1937-1955

Wherefore, with artful pacts, he pushed the free Contracting the parties of the second part Through slow contraction to nihility. 645 Met, plenipotent - farewelled, impotent, They came as sovereigns, and as servants went. He made of Magyarland a state in fee, A German province out of Italy, A dairy out of Denmark, and 650 An oil-well of Roumanian land. And are these methods banned? Where treaties could avail, why use the rod? Why seek by force, what could be got by fraud? He'd even make a ten-year truce with God! 655 To bear false witness was no crime. Wherefore Upon his blood-and-soiled honour swore He longed for peace. Was believed. And then prepared for war.

XXIV Nor did he merely wage his war on Man. Against the Lord he raised his brazen brow, 660 Blasphemed His name, His works, contemned His plan, Himself a god announced, and bade men bow Down to his image, and its feet of clay! God's places of true worship were laid low, And idols on the high places held their sway; 665 Astrologers were prophets in the land, And mad philosophers rose to inveigh Against the diktat of the Lord's command. Iniquity espoused, and evil wived, Kindliness, pity, brother-love, were banned.

603 / €.1942/1943 670 The creed of the Black Forest was revived, And ceased the ancient pieties for men. Of manliness and godliness deprived, The pagan, named for beasts, was born again. The holy days were gone. The Sabbath creed 675 Unfit for slaves, superfluous to his reign, Stood unobserved. The nine-month-littered breed Traduced their parents to the Gestapo; Adulterous, the stud-men spawned their seed. The Madman named the Lord his personal foe, 680 And chained the bearers of His sacred word. This is the sign, he shrilled: In hoc vinco! He raised aloft the blood-stained sword; Upon the square the heathen horde Roared. XXV

685 But not with human arrogance come I To plead our Maker's cause, and make His cause The mighty measure of my feeble words. Himself, in His good time, the Lord of Hosts, The slowness of His anger moved at last, 690 And His longsuffering at last forespent Will rise, will shine, will stretch forth His right hand And smite them down, the open impious mouth, The tongue blaspheming, silenced, in the dust! I come now rather as a man to men, 695 Seeking the justice for that voice which cries Out of the ground, the voice of our brothers' blood! That blood will not be still again, Those bones unblessed will still arise,

604 / Original Poems, 1937—1955

Yes, and those living spectres, of the mind unhinged, 700 Will still beat at our padded memory, until Their fate has been avenged!

XXVI Let them come forth, those witnesses who stand Beyond the taunt of perjury, those ghosts In wagons sealed in a forgotten land, 705 Murdered; those phantoms the war-tidings boast, Those skeletons still charred with the gestapo brand! Let them come forth and speak, who lost their speech Before the midnight gun-butt on the door, The men made dumb with their last voiceless screech 710 In ghetto-yard, and on the Dachau floor, Let them accuse now, who did once in vain beseech! Summon them, bailiff of the dead, the ghosts Who once were brave men stood against a wall, Summon them, all the exsanguinated hosts, 715 Hero and martyr, liquidated; call, Call forth the witnesses, the uninterred ghosts, And let them speak. And let the dead attest Their murder and its manner and its cause, From shattered jaw, from perforated breast 720 Speak out their mauling at the bestial claws. Speak out, or neither we, nor they, again know rest. Let them in all their thousands speak the shame Visited on them, and the ignoble death, The nameless ones, and those of a great fame: 725 With wounded whisper and with broken breath Speaking the things unspeakable, and the unspeakable name!

605 / 0.1942/1943 Then from such evidence, such witnessing, Surely the anger of the world will burst, Surely the wrath of nations will outfling 730 Against this culprit, multitude-accursed Doom indexed by the black gloves of their reckoning! Thief, perjurer, blasphemer, murderer, Let him be blotted out, and all his crew. Efface the evil; let it be no more. 735 Let the abomination cease; and through Implacable Justice let emerge the world, clean, new! Bold malefaction brought at last to bay! Avenged the martyrs! Mankind truly purged! Returned at last the spectres to their clay! 740 And over the green earth, at last emerged, After the cock-crow of the guns, the cloudless day!

XXVII And on that day as the unrighteous pass, Unrighteousness will pass away, and men Will see once more, as when their vision was 745 Illumined by the lightning strokes the ten, Gesturing Truth ungagged will speak again, And Man will don his godliness once more Then from four corners of the earth will sing The sons of heaven, the bright freedoms four; 750 The field will glow again with harvesting, And glow with argosies the deep; again Will frolic in the ether, sunlight-blue'd Not the grim vulture of the brood Its talons dripping blood, 755 But the bright friendly somersaulting plane Writing against the sky So all may read on high

606 / Original Poems, 1937-1955

Man loyal to his human brotherhood, To human brotherhood, and to the godly reign! c. 1942/1943

1944

C. 1943/1943

Actuarial Report We, the undersigned Magi of your actuarial staff Having examined the data of the year And drawn therefrom the hereto-appended graph 5 (The hanging gardens of Death, shown tier by tier) Regretfully prognosticate a rising trend: They will increase, our policy-holders, Doomed to an untimely end. We have seen the medical certificates 10 Guessing the cause of death; we have examined The corpses slabbed in our filing cabinets; We have deduced the necessary deductions. The incidence of earthquake has been studied, Not overlooked are pestilence and dangerous intersections. 15 The act of God is equated; And the will-to-self-destruction (two premiums paid) Is also calculated. Had there, however, been only these Funereal figures on our adding-machines 20 It would have been easy; to wit, the status quo. There was to be considered, unfortunately, A state of hostilities.

608 / Original Poems, 1937-1955

It is true, of course, we have the saving war-clause. Nonetheless, there are risks, perils, and bad luck 25 Remote from the battlefields, but laying The dead hand on our deeds. Such are anxiety, trouble at home, measured rations, The abnormalities of separation; in fine, General absence from felicity. 30 Accordingly, we have taken the measurements, and we know The steps of death are hastened. He comes with bodyguard: Famine, disease, and other motley personages. His ingenuities are increased. He moves with up-to-date motion, Certainly he gets about more than he has of recent years. 35 Our contracts begin to have his personal smell. And we Have become the keepers of his diary. Sirs, we had much rather come back from our spying To say, like magi of old, A son is born. 40 Regrettably, all that we can see for the present fiscal year Is many a father dying. c. 1943/1943

And in That Drowning Instant And in that drowning instant as the water heightened over me it suddenly did come to pass my preterite eternity 5 the image of myself intent on several freedoms

1953

609 / 0.1943/1943 fading to myself in yellowed Basle-print vanishing into ghetto-Jew a face among the faces of 10 the rapt disciples hearkening the raptures of the Baal Shem Tov explaining Torah vanishing amidst the water's flickering green to show me in old Amsterdam 15 which topples into a new scene Cordova where an Abraham faces inquisitors the face is suddenly beneath an arch whose Latin-script the waves erase 20 and flashes now the backward march of many I among them to Jerusalem-gate and Temple-door!

For the third time my body rises and finds the good, the lasting shore! c. 1943/1943

1951

6io / Original Poems, 1937—1955

Not All the Perfumes of Arabia [Version i] Undoubtedly terror may through the widened eyes Enter the heart, as image enters mirror; As poison into the ears of royal Denmark Through portals of the ears may enter Terror; 5 But the real horror, the truly shuddering nefas Is surely particled on the scented dust, Is surely through the nostrils made to pass Through the duct whispering, through the stealthy vein Meandering, at length to thrust 10 Its cry of havoc into the haunted brain! Even now, as the broadcaster at the regular hour Announces his name, the place of his gadgets, and His historic theme: The evil currencies of the bloodied land 15 It is not words I hear, Nor are they sights I see, I smell the smell of fear.

20

25

Sevastopol: and fee-fi-fum Cordite and lilac odours fill This powder-pollinated room; And from each sailor-syllable Rises upon the spindrift foam The large green ocean-water smell. The stukas of his speech dive down The dust of rubble stifles! Doom That slinks in nether Paris-town Evokes the stench of sewer scum; And Hellas of the white renown The starving mouth's effluvium!

611 / 0.1943/1943 30

35

The little panic smell of sweat Of men who stand against a wall Awaiting the twelve-muzzled threat Is that fetor judaical? The fragrance herrenvolk beget? Or is this musk dispersed from hell? The voice of the announcer, like Mephisto's in the play Crackles and dies. - Within the vibrating room, Fear, and the brimstone fume. c. 1943/1943

1943

Not All the Perfumes of Arabia [Version 2] Undoubtedly terror may through the widened eyes enter the heart, as image enters mirror; as poison into the ears of royal Denmark through portals of the ears may enter Terror; 5 but the real horror, the truly shuddering nefas surely is through the nostrils made to pass, is inhaled, surely, and as an odour - pulver of pain! whirls havoc in the brain! Even now, as the broadcaster at the regular hour io announces his name, the place of his gadgets, and his historic theme: they are not words I hear nor are they sights I see, I smell the smell of fear. 15 See where the mushroom curls corruption on the air!

612 / Original Poems, 1937-1955

Shall scents and attars avail there? c. 1952/1952

1952

c. 1944/1944

Address to the Choirboys Another moon, and the penitential days Will be upon us. There are many signs: My mother following her mother's ways, Keeping two fasts the week; the ram's horn blown 5 Each morning, pastoral, on the city air; The tombstone maker dusty with his stone; And every evening, from the practising choir, The song of the Cantor, teaching downy boys The cantillation of the sacred prayer. 10

O Lord, thou art my Judge and Prosecutor! The Keeper of the Book which reads itself, Witness who has seen all, remembering.

The sorrow of Rabbi Amnon made that song! A sad and bitter day it was 15 That day they bore him to the House of God, His legs cut off, that were so fleet, so strong To serve their Maker, lopped those holy arms That wound and wore phylacteries, - cut off: The corners of his world, outpouring blood!

614 / Original Poems, 1937-1955

20 'Abjure thy faith, and there's an end to strife!' And Rabbi Amnon (O but this flesh, this stalk, these leaves and petals Do so desire life!) The Rabbi stayed in hesitation 25 Between the pity of children, and his fathers' pride, And hesitated. And only, at length, defied!

30

Let us give strength to holiness this day, This day being terror-full, and full of doom, And therein raise Thy mighty Majesty. Therefore, these stumps, they were the Lord's dictate Not any that small arrogant man could utter Punishment for unfaith which hesitates.

Like the white petals of an eastern bloom 35 His limbs torn off, and he that flower, dying The rabbi hears above him flutter The wings of angels, angels sighing Softly his doom. O they are at the year's beginning written 40 And on the fast day of atonement sealed: Who pass away, and who shall come to pass, Who at his time, and who before his time; Who through the death by water, who through the death By sword, by fire, by ferocious beast. 45 Sing on, ye innocent choirboys, this song The sorrow of Rabbi Amnon made Against a day like ours, like ours a wrong! Sing, in your innocence, O milk-sweet voices Smooth like your cheeks your song, 50 Your cherry lips know nothing yet of sorrow And only music in your throat rejoices Nor are the tragic phrases tragic on your tongue.

615 / 0.1944/1944 O let no lips dare tell you of their meaning Their burden of sorrow, their weight of suffering 55 But in your innocence warble, lean white throats, And in your young unknowing jubilations, sing. c. 1944/1944

1944

Basic English (To Winston Churchill) i Of trope of testament and Caesar's wars Grand rhetor, voice Of warrior-days, Not you, I thought, would give the lion's nod 5 To these eight hundred laboratory mice Scrawny with fasting, certainly not you Of the armada'd phrase! 2

Exporters' argot, small talk of small trade, The agent's slang 10 Bartering beads, This is the very speech of nursery blocks, Pidgin palaver, grunt of Caliban, By no means the awaited syllables For even lesser breeds. 3 15 Reducing motion to mere come and go, Narrowing act To give and get, Flowers no longer flower in the mind;

616 / Original Poems, 1937-1955

Fades from the eyes nuance; and eloquence 20 Sticks in the throat. The dumb are merely raised To the inarticulate. 4 Exhausted well of English, and defiled Is it with this Semantic spray 25 You would baptize the cultured continents? Shall Europe judge and Asia esteem The wassail liquor of our English speech From this, the don's weak tea? 5 In jargoning ports, perhaps, in jungle-river, 30 One may make use Of such boned gauds: The drummer, bringing flag and bargain, may So dragoman himself, perhaps, and thus Close his shrewd deal, - but only after many 35 Gestures, head-shakes, nods. 6 For lettered nations this desesperanto? For races that Boast alphabet, And song and synonym and subtlety? 40 Amused, but polite, the city-dwellers smile; And that good-will these mumbos were to breed We neither - give nor get. 7 For where among the vocables, castrate Of Saxon strength, 45 O Sponsor, where The Hellenic music or the Latin storm? Where are the thunders of our choric voice?

617 / 0.1944/1944 And where is Shakespeare's scope and Milton's reach? Your words triphibian, where? 8 50 Basic as bread, and English as all water These bread-and-water Calories Are not for men unpainted and in clothes! O, rather for loincloths on some fronded isle, 55 Trading at beach, or at the mission chanting These skimmed simplicities! 9 Orator, organist of history, Much mightier tones Have we to sound 60 Than these flat octaves, playing sad or glad. Ours is a sweeping measure, resonant, And destined, for its splendors, not its strictures, To be renowned!

c. 1944/1944

1944

Bread

Creation's crust and crumb, breaking of bread, Seedstaff and wheatwand of all miracles, By your white fiat, at the feast-times said, World moves, and is revived the shrouded pulse! 5 Rising, as daily rises the quickening east, O kneading of knowledge, leaven of happiness, History yearns upon your yearning yeast! No house is home without your wifeliness.

618 / Original Poems, 1937-1955

No city stands up from its rock-bound knees 10 Without your rustic aid. None are elect Save you be common. All philosophies Betray them with your yokel dialect. O black-bread hemisphere, oblong of rye, Crescent and circle of the seeded bun, 15 All art is builded on your geometry, All science explosive from your captured sun.

20

Bakers most priestly, in your robes of flour, White Levites at your altar'd ovens, bind, Bind me forever in your ritual, your Worship and prayer, me, and all mankind! c. 1944/1944

1948

Commercial Bank Flowering jungle, where all fauna meet crossing the marbled pool to thickets whence the prompted parrots, alien-voiced, entreat the kernel'd hoard, the efflorescent pence, 5 wondrous your caves, whose big doors must be rolled for entrance, and whose flora none can seek against the armed unicorn, furred blue and gold, against the vines fatal, or the berries, that touched, shriek. How quiet is your shade with broad green leaves! 10 Yet is it jungle-quiet which deceives:

619 / 0.1944/1944 toothless, with drawn nails, the beasts paw your ground O, the fierce deaths expiring with no sound! c. 1944/1944

194%

The Green Old Age Pity who wear the castoffs of the years, dressing in clown's clothes the unclownish ones, with baldness on head, and hairiness in ears, and cellophane upon the chalky bones, 5 and in concealed sacking, stones! Sweet flakes in the blood, the mouth exhaling acid; the bowels becalmed, and the loud bile in rage; the artery hardened, and the member flaccid; nor ever at normal the pulsating gauge 10 metathesis of age which strives again toward its babyhood where neither the shanks nor sphincters will behave, nor syntax stand, and where, as if it would be joined again, the spinal cord does crave 15 the navel of the grave. Be blessed the doctors who with toxic ease, coned odour, marrowed needle, candid pill, the waxing of these mooned monstrosities forestall; and give into the hand and will 20 the proleptic miracle. c. 1944/1944

1948

620 I Original Poems, 1937-1955

The Library On leather, beneath rafters, beside oak, we sat and talked only of amor intellectualis. The books, at their stances, on the mounting wall, gold-lettered, crested, red, 5 like seventh-generation lackeys stood: dumb, high-blood-pressured, seen and not heard. Progress was air in that room, refinement, and soft manners: the original robber baron bred down to sweetness and tungsten. 10 His opinions were sensitive, his gestures fine, fine, and like his cigarettes were monogrammed. The culture of the best schools, to wit, morals and sport, worn neatly, like his clothes. He sighed, - from the world's lung. He had weltschmerz, 15 like a painless disease. Thinkers he quoted, and was pure reason; poets, and was kind. Even the blood moving his vocal cords seemed an intrusion. Yet suddenly, and for no reason at all, 20 his temper changed, and all his breeding sloughed, Swiss governess and English tutor dead, - or more than ever alive? it was a cinema-change. As if the books were boards, and, at a button, had slid away, revealing 25 bars, and behind, cement - his secret - where wild beasts yawned, and waved paw, circled, ran forward, roared for the week's meat. c. 1944/1944

1952

621 / c.i944/1944

Montreal i O city metropole, isle riverain! Your ancient pavages and sainted routs Traverse my spirit's conjured avenues! Splendor erablic of your promenades 5 Foliates there, and there your maisonry Of pendent balcon and escalier'd march, Unique midst English habitat, Is vivid Normandy! 2

You populate the pupils of my eyes: 10 Thus, does the Indian, plumed, furtivate Still through your painted autumns, Ville-Marie! Though palisades have passed, though calumet With tabac of your peace enfumes the air, Still do I spy the phantom, aquiline, 15 Genuflect, moccasin'd, behind His statue in the square!

3 Thus, costumed images before me pass, Haunting your archives architectural: Coureur de bois, in posts where pelts were portaged; 20 Seigneur within his candled manoir; Scot Ambulant through his bank, pillar'd and vast. Within your chapels, voyaged mariners Still pray, and personage departed, All present from your past!

622 / Original Poems, 1937—1955

4 25 Grand port of navigations, multiple The lexicons uncargo'd at your quays, Sonnant though strange to me; but chiefest, I, Auditor of your music, cherish the Joined double-melodied vocabulaire 30 Where English vocable and roll Ecossic, Mollified by the parle of French Bilinguefact your air! 5 Such your suaver voice, hushed Hochelaga! But for me also sound your potencies, 35 Fortissimos of sirens fluvial, Bruit of manufactory, and thunder From foundry issuant, all puissant tone Implenishing your hebdomad; and then Sanct silence, and your argent belfries 40 Clamant in orison! 6 You are a part of me, O all your quartiers And of dire pauvrete and of richesse To finished time my homage loyal claim; You are locale of infancy, milieu 45 Vital of insitutes that formed my fate; And you above the city, scintillant, Mount Royal, are my spirit's mother, Almative, poitrinate!

7 Never do I sojourn in alien place 50 But I do languish for your scenes and sounds, City of reverie, nostalgic isle, Pendant most brilliant on Laurentian cord! The coigns of your boulevards — my signiory Your suburbs are my exile's verdure fresh,

623 / c. 1944/1944 55 Your parks, your fountain'd parks Pasture of memory! 8 City, O city, you are vision'd as A parchemin roll of saecular exploit Inked with the script of eterne souvenir! 60 You are in sound, chanson and instrument! Mental, you rest forever edified With tower and dome; and in these beating valves, Here in these beating valves, you will For all my mortal time reside!

c. 1944/1944

1948

Ni la mort ni le soleil

(On a maxim of de la Rochefoucauld)

Neither on death, nor at the blazing sun Can mortal gaze Without being blinded by the one As by the other's rays: 5 They are two fascinations eyes reject, Looking, yet loath To fix themselves upon the sight elect Bright worlds both. c. 1944/1944

1952

624 / Original Poems, 1937—1955

A Psalm Touching Genealogy Not sole was I born, but entire genesis: For to the fathers that begat me, this Body is residence. Corpuscular, They dwell in my veins, they eavesdrop at my ear, 5 They circle, as with Torahs, round my skull, In exit and in entrance all day pull The latches of my heart, descend, and rise And there look generations through my eyes. c. 1944/1944

1945

Spring Exhibit How pleasant are the times and their cezannes, But pleasanter than all, the thyme of spring! Blooms dilly-tanty fresco through God's manse, And through its galaries, birds on the wing! 5 Van-terre is gone, white fogey criticans; The paintillest buds at last are burgeoning. Manet from heaven falls upon the plane Where little fauns go fralipping the grass. Again the babbling breukels flow, again 10 Riveros mighty move where marble was. Gone is the glassic ice; the root-men reign; The whorled is new, in fern, and furze, and grass.

625 / 0.1944/1944 Herald the vangogh of the year, its colour, flash! O are these trees or but a dream of trees? 15 These flowers, of vermeils bold, chrome yellows brash, The world's sweet sistine day! the field's louvrese! Youth in plenair, with all things green and fresh, Unchagalled days in primotif release! c. 1944/1944

1944

c. 1942/0. 1944

Epitaph

Good friend, for Jesu's sake, forbear Upon this shriven dust to tread, Nor move these blessed stones. Here, he who left the middling air, 5 His passable life, his secondbest bed, Upon his best now rests his bones. The curtain falls, and the stage-traffic ends. Silenced the herald's sennets, the murderers' knocks: Howbeit, Shakespeare, unaware, still sends 10 The Globe his whispers from his prompter's box. c. 1942/c. 1944

627 / c.i942/c-1944

Les Vespasiennes Dropped privily below the crotch of squares its architecture is like the sets in dreams: the wide slow staircase ... the unknown loiterers ... the floor that would be counted ... the mirrors' gleams 5 dancing with daffodils ... and before their white niches all effigies reversed: precisely that mise-en-scene, that whiteness which is seen as having been in dreams seen first: an anxiety dream where fallen seraphims, 10 maimed by metabolism, like children of men, do get their leeching, and rise above their limbs, and think themselves the angels once again: and thus, standing in that dream, I and its persons know at the chemical core, 15 at the bubbling self, that which was built on and known even by Vespasian the Emperor, namely: that we are not God. Not God. Why, not, not even angels, but something less than men, creatures, sicknesses, whose pornoglot 20 identities swim up within our ken from the graffiti behind the amputate door, (the wishful drawing and rhyme!) creatures - the homo, the pervert, the voyeur, all who grasp love and catch at pantomime. 25 See how they linger here, while the normal (Who?) climb up from the subterranean dantesque into the public square, the shine, the blue, and don again their feathers and the mask angelic, and are 'valiant again to cope 30 with all high enterprise

628 / Original Poems, 1937-1955

of true pure love and sweet spiritual hope/ as if no privies were and only Paradise! c. 1942/0. 1944

Of Tradition With my own eyes I saw it, I who loved my father And cherish now my father's memory, I saw My friend spilling his father to the ground: The scene that walked with symbols round the room 5 Scattered in shards, the shards glazed in corners, The plinth of the vase, delicate little coffin, Broken, and ashes, ashes that begot him, grey on ground. Do not, he said, speak to me of my father, I have had enough, and more than enough 10 Of parables, comparisons, examples. His impotence blubbered, remorse bit its lip, And whisky-breath lay mourning in the air. Inverted rite of Onan, seed spilling sire! I turned away, and only his father's portrait 15 Looked on himself in ashes, Lying with cigarette-ash, with carpet-dust, with dried invisible phlegm. c. 1942/0. 1944

629 / c.i942/c-1944

Post-War Planning Shall he be So he burn Or dangled Or coffined

sat on a wired electrical seat till the sinews orate with his siblilant sound? from gallows, a sheeny with gesturing feet? alive in an artfully-breathable ground?

5 Or led out to pasture, and pastured on thistles and grass? Or stood to his neck in vile coprophagous earth? Or shall he be doomed to the choking chamber of gas Catching his breath in a concave copy of mirth? Or 10 Or Or Or

stoned like a dog? Or drowned like a whiskered cat? bubbled with air till his veins, till his heart be stopped? chopped with an axe, a carcass at both ends flat? lifted on high in a plane over water, and dropped?

c. 1942/c. 1944

Saga the First From the fjord faring, striding the stream, By the wind winnowed, flailed by the flood, Lo, Lief the lusty, Red Eric's son! That safe strand seeking which to his wit 5 Gave greensward guerdon for waters wan, Lief wandered, wending ships to new shore!

630 / Original Poems, 1937-1955 Vinland, the Viking named it in Norse! Kneeling the Norsemaii gave God his thanks For bounty better than gold-hoard got: 10 Wheat unsown waving, wineberries wild, Birches of blossoming bark, in a land Hoarded by Him since the work of His word! c. 1942/c. 1944

Song without Music My suite is like a violin, so full Of mewsick begging to be played. Rise up O Love, and pass thy resin'd resonant beau Over that dear amati bawdy. Call 5 Her the names of love, thy straddle-various, Thy hoyden, thy tartini, thy Viola da gamba. Loosen the g-string. Play Fidelio, play the movement of thy song. Cajole with kisses that cithara; let 10 Her breasts be utters at creamona shaped On alto and in tuffenbruck thy notes! What fluent melodies may thence issue, What pizzicato trills, what muted chords Throbbing beneath the hair of Pegasus? c. i942/c. 1944

631 / c.i942/c-i944

Tailpiece to an Anthology Is this your Canadian poet, with the foreign name? What does he know of fir trees? Can he get along With matters of old French or Indian fame? Has ever a local flower sprouted in his song? 5 And this the man to sing Canadian weather Confederated vegetation, Canuck dew? O, he and the maple do not go together. A guide he needs to paddle his canoe. A Canadian poet! Why, 10 He has not stolen even a single line From British poesy! c. 1942/c. 1944

Tribute to the Ballet Master [Version i] Since motion was, there has been no such dance! You have excelled yourself, cher maitre. Who Else would have thought to take all reels at once Into the single one-step. Only you! 5 The tango of the slithering plane, The general's strategic waltz; The rumba of the tank; the hospital shuffle; The ante-mortem minuet of the slain One weaving into the other, and out again 10 Broken by distracting somersaults A masterpiece, eccentric and eclectic, Distinguished in that all feet foot it spry,

632 / Original Poems, 1937-1955

The hob-nailed boot, cothurnus, diplomat's gaiter, All join in the dance, well-drummed and hectic, 15 All dancers, and no spectator! All dancers, elephant and elf, All dancing high. Cher maitre you have excelled yourself. You have reason to be proud; and I applaud. 20 I would, of course, if I were you Sensitive about the paralysed polonaise, Touchy about the gout-smitten gavottes, Ignore that critic who speaks of The Tautentanz of Hottentots. c. 1942/c. 1944

Tribute to the Ballet Master [Version 2] You have excelled yourself, cher maitre! Your hollow-boned steps enhance The lethal science of saltation To the supremest dance! 5 The rumba of the panzer-buttocks The slither of the tango-ing plane The hospital shuffle; the ante-mortem Minuet of the slain; The fox-hole flop; the waltz strategic; 10 And the slow South Pacific crawl, Cher maitre in your magnum opus Are all of these steps, all.

633 / 0.1942/0.1944 And all do foot it, whether shod Or barefoot, or in diplomat gaiter 15 A folk-dance, on my word! And you Are sole spectator. c. 1942/c. 1944

c. 1944^945

Portrait of the Poet as Landscape I Not an editorial-writer, bereaved with bartlett, mourns him, the shelved Lycidas. No actress squeezes a glycerine tear for him. The radio broadcast lets his passing pass. 5 And with the police, no record. Nobody, it appears, either under his real name or his alias, missed him enough to report. It is possible that he is dead, and not discovered. It is possible that he can be found some place 10 in a narrow closet, like the corpse in a detective story, standing, his eyes staring, and ready to fall on his face. It is also possible that he is alive and amnesiac, or mad, or in retired disgrace, or beyond recognition lost in love. 15 We are sure only that from our real society he has disappeared; he simply does not count, except in the pullulation of vital statistics somebody's vote, perhaps, an anonymous taunt of the Gallup poll, a dot in a government table -

635 / 0.1944/1945 2o but not felt, and certainly far from eminent in a shouting mob, somebody's sigh. O, he who unrolled our culture from his scroll the prince's quote, the rostrum-rounding roar who under one name made articulate 25 heaven, and under another the seven-circled air, is, if he is at all, a number, an x, a Mr. Smith in a hotel register, incognito, lost, lacunal. II

The truth is he's not dead, but only ignored 30 like the mirroring lenses forgotten on a brow that shine with the guilt of their unnoticed world. The truth is he lives among neighbours, who, though they will allow him a passable fellow, think him eccentric, not solid, a type that one can forgive, and for that matter, forego. 35 Himself he has his moods, just like a poet. Sometimes, depressed to nadir, he will think all lost, will see himself as throwback, relict, freak, his mother's miscarriage, his great-grandfather's ghost, and he will curse his quintuplet senses, and their tutors 40 in whom he put, as he should not have put, his trust. Then he will remember his travels over that body the torso verb, the beautiful face of the noun, and all those shaped and warm auxiliaries! A first love it was, the recognition of his own. 45 Dear limbs adverbial, complexion of adjective, dimple and dip of conjugation!

636 / Original Poems, 1937-1955

And then remember how this made a change in him affecting for always the glow and growth of his being; how suddenly was aware of the air, like shaken tinfoil, 50 of the patents of nature, the shock of belated seeing, the lonelinesses peering from the eyes of crowds; the integers of thought; the cube-roots of feeling. Thus, zoomed to zenith, sometimes he hopes again, and sees himself as a character, with a rehearsed role: 55 the Count of Monte Cristo, come for his revenges; the unsuspected heir, with papers; the risen soul; or the chloroformed prince awaking from his flowers; or — deflated again — the convict on parole. Ill

He is alone; yet not completely alone. 60 Pins on a map of a colour similar to his, each city has one, sometimes more than one: here, caretakers of art, in colleges; in offices, there, with arm-bands, and green-shaded; and there, pounding their catalogued beats in libraries, — 65 everywhere menial, a shadow's shadow. And always for their egos - their outmoded art. Thus, having lost the bevel in the ear, they know neither up nor down, mistake the part for the whole, curl themselves in a comma, 70 talk technics, make a colon their eyes. They distort such is the pain of their frustration - truth to something convolute and cerebral. How they do fear the slap of the flat of the platitude! Now Pavlov's victims, their mouths water at bell, 75 the platter empty. See they set twenty-one jewels into their watches; the time they do not tell!

637 / 0.1944/1945 Some, patagonian in their own esteem, and longing for the multiplying word, join party and wear pins, now have a message, 80 an ear, and the convention-hall's regard. Upon the knees of ventriloquists, they own, of their dandled brightness, only the paint and board. And some go mystical, and some go mad. One stares at a mirror all day long, as if 85 to recognize himself; another courts angels, - for here he does not fear rebuff; and a third, alone, and sick with sex, and rapt, doodles him symbols convex and concave. O schizoid solitudes! O purities 90 curdling upon themselves! Who live for themselves, or for each other, but for nobody else; desire affection, private and public loves; are friendly, and then quarrel and surmise the secret perversions of each other's lives.

IV 95 He suspects that something has happened, a law been passed, a nightmare ordered. Set apart, he finds himself, with special haircut and dress, as on a reservation. Introvert. He does not understand this; sad conjecture 100 muscles and palls thrombotic on his heart. He thinks an impostor, having studied his personal biography, his gestures, his moods, now has come forward to pose in the shivering vacuums his absence leaves. Wigged with his laurel, that other, and faked with his face, 105 he pats the heads of his children, pecks his wife, and is at home, and slippered, in his house.

638 / Original Poems, 1937-1955 So he guesses at the impertinent silhouette that talks to his phone-piece and slits open his mail. Is it the local tycoon who for a hobby no plays poet, he so epical in steel? The orator, making a pause? Or is that man he who blows his flash of brass in the jittering hall? Or is he cuckolded by the troubadour rich and successful out of celluloid? 115 Or by the don who unrhymes atoms? Or the chemist death built up? Pride, lost impostor'd pride, it is another, another, whoever he is, who rides where he should ride.

V Fame, the adrenalin: to be talked about; 120 to be a verb; to be introduced as The; to smile with endorsement from slick paper; make caprices anecdotal; to nod to the world; to see one's name like a song upon the marquees played; to be forgotten with embarrassment; to be 125 to be. It has its attractions, but is not the thing; nor is it the ape mimesis who speaks from the tree ancestral; nor the merkin joy ... Rather it is stark infelicity 130 which stirs him from his sleep, undressed, asleep to walk upon roofs and window-sills and defy the gape of gravity.

VI Therefore he seeds illusions. Look, he is the nth Adam taking a green inventory

639 / 0.1944/1945 135 in world but scarcely uttered, naming, praising,

h syllabled fur, stars aspirate, the pollen whose sweet collision sounds eternally. For to praise 140 the world - he, solitary man - is breath to him. Until it has been praised, that part has not been. Item by exciting item air to his lungs, and pressured blood to his heart. they are pulsated, and breathed, until they map, 145 not the world's, but his own body's chart! And now in imagination he has climbed another planet, the better to look with single camera view upon this earth its total scope, and each afflated tick, 150 its talk, its trick its tracklessness - and this, this he would like to write down in a book! To find a new function for the declasse craft archaic like the fletcher's; to make a new thing; to say the word that will become sixth sense; 155 perhaps by necessity and indirection bring new forms to life, anonymously, new creeds O, somehow pay back the daily larcenies of the lung! These are not mean ambitions. It is already something merely to entertain them. Meanwhile, he 160 makes of his status as zero a rich garland, a halo of his anonymity, and lives alone, and in his secret shines like phosphorus. At the bottom of the sea. c. 1944/1945

1948

640 / Original Poems, 1937-1955

Portrait of the Poet as Landscape [Deleted Section] However, for bread and the occasional show, he finds him, kindler of copy, daily at desk. For mongers and martmen he swinks it, writing their war-whoops, hailing their heroes, thrust to his task: 5 Pirouette, pica; triumph, O twelve-point! Throw the sword in the scales, proud asterisk! Skop of the sales-force, bard of their booty, he offers to shoddy his shrilling, his gusto for gussets, to zippers his zest. With housewives he's homey, and pally with paters, a kinsman, 10 a con man, he butters his bosses, he jumps at their jests. A fighter with fables he is, and a queller with questions, chapman of chattels, hawker at hest. c. 1944/1945

1945

C. 1945/1945

Indian Reservation: Caughnawaga Where are the braves, the faces like autumn fruit, who stared at the child from the coloured frontispiece? And the monosyllabic chief who spoke with his throat? Where are the tribes, the feathered bestiaries? — 5 Rank Aesop's animals erect and red, with fur on their names to make all live things kin! Chief Running Deer, Black Bear, Old Buffalo Head? Childhood, that wished me Indian, hoped that one afterschool I'd leave the classroom chalk, 10 the varnish smell, the watered dust of the street, to join the clean outdoors and the Iroquois track. Childhood; but always, - as on a calendar, there stood that chief, with arms akimbo, waiting the runaway mascot paddling to his shore. 15 With what strange moccasin stealth that scene is changed! With French names, without paint, in overalls, their bronze, like their nobility expunged, the men. Beneath their alimentary shawls sit like black tents their squaws; while for the tourist's 20 brown pennies scattered at the old church door, the ragged papooses jump, and bite the dust.

642 / Original Poems, 1937-1955

Their past is sold in a shop: the beaded shoes, the sweetgrass basket, the curio Indian, burnt wood and gaudy cloth and inch-canoes 25 trophies and scalpings for a traveller's den. Sometimes, it's true, they dance, but for a bribe; after a deal don the bedraggled feather and welcome a white mayor to the tribe. This is a grassy ghetto, and no home. 30 And these are fauna in a museum kept. The better hunters have prevailed. The game, losing its blood, now makes these grounds its crypt. The animals pale, the shine of the fur is lost, bleached are their living bones. About them watch 35 as through a mist, the pious prosperous ghosts. c. 1945/1945

1948

The Provinces First, the two older ones, the bunkhouse brawnymen, biceps and chest, lumbering over their legend: scooping a river up in the palm of the hand, a dangling fish, alive; kicking open a mine; 5 bashing a forest bald; spitting a country to crop; for exercise before their boar breakfast, building a city; racing, to keep in shape, against the white-sweatered wind; and always bragging comparisons, and reminiscing 10 about their fathers' even more mythic prowess, arguing always, like puffing champions rising from wrestling on the green.

643 / 0.1945/1945 Then, the three flat-faced blond-haired husky ones. And the little girl, so beautiful she was named 15 to avert the evil of the evil eye after a prince, not princess. In crossed arms cradling her, her brothers, tanned and long-limbed. (Great fishermen, hauling out of Atlantic their catch and their coal 20 and netting with appleblossom the shoals of their sky.) And, last, as if of another birth, the hunchback with the poet's face; and eyes blue as the glass he looks upon; and fruit his fragrant knuckles and joints; of iron marrow; 25 affecting always a green habit, touched with white. Nine of them; not counting the adopted boy of the golden complex, nor the proud collateral albino, - nine, a sorcery of numbers, a game's stances. 30 But the heart seeks one, the heart, and also the mind seeks single the thing that makes them one, if one. Yet where shall one find it? In their history the cairn of cannonball on the public square? Their talk, their jealous double-talk? Or in 35 the whim and weather of a geography curling in drifts about the forty-ninth? Or find it in the repute of character: romantic as mounties? Or discover it in beliefs that say: 40 this is a country of Christmas trees? Or hear it sing from the house with towers, from whose towers ring bells, and the carillon of laws? Where shall one find it? What 45 to name it, that is sought? The ladder the nine brothers hold by rungs?

644 / Original Poems, 1937—1955

The birds that shine on each other? The white water that foams from the ivy entering their eaves? Or find it, find it, find it commonplace 50 but effective, valid, real, the unity in the family feature, the not unsimilar face? c. 1945/1945

1948

The Rocking Chair It seconds the crickets of the province. Heard in the clean lamplit farmhouses of Quebec, wooden, - it is no less a national bird; and rivals, in its cage, the mere stuttering clock. 5 To its time, the evenings are rolled away; and in its peace the pensive mother knits contentment to be worn by her family, grown-up, but still cradled by the chair in which she sits. It is also the old man's pet, pair to his pipe, 10 the two aids of his arithmetic and plans, plans rocking and puffing into market-shape; and it is the toddler's game and dangerous dance. Moved to the verandah, on summer Sundays, it is, among the hanging plants, the girls, the boy-friends, 15 sabbatical and clumsy, like the white haloes dangling above the blue serge suits of the young men. It has a personality of its own; is a character (like that old drunk Lacoste, exhaling amber, and toppling on his pins); 20 it is alive; individual; and no less an identity than those about it. And

645 / 0.1945/1945 it is tradition. Centuries have been flicked from its arcs, alternately flicked and pinned. It rolls with the gait of St. Malo. It is act 25 and symbol, symbol of this static folk which moves in segments, and returns to base, a sunken pendulum: invoke, revoke; loosed yon, leashed hither, motion on no space. O, like some Anjou ballad, all refrain, 30 which turns about its longing, and seems to move to make a pleasure out of repeated pain, its music moves, as if always back to a first love. c. 1945/1945

1948

Sonnet Unrhymed When, on the frustral summit of extase, - the leaven of my loins to no life spent, yet vision, as all senses, sharper, - I peer the vague forward and flawed prism of Time, 5 many the bodies, my own birthmark bearing, and many the faces, like my face, I see: shadows of generation looking backward and crying Abba in the muffled night. They beg creation. From the far centuries 10 they move against the vacuum of their murder, yes, and their eyes are full of such reproach that although tired, I do wake, and watch upon the entangled branches of the dark my sons, my sons, my hanging Absaloms. c. 1945/1945

1945

c. 1945/1946

Air-Map How private and comfortable it once was, our white mansard beneath the continent's gables! But now, evicted, and still there a wind blew off the roof? 5 we see our fears and our featherbeds plumped white on the world's crossroads. c. 1945/1946

1948

The Break-up They suck and whisper it in mercury, the thermometers. It is shouted red from all the Aprils hanging on the walls. In the dockyard stalls 5 the stevedores, their hooks rusty, wonder; the wintering sailors in the taverns bet.

647 / 0.1945/1946 A week, and it will crack! Here's money that a fortnight sees the floes, the smokestacks red! Outside The Anchor's glass, St. Lawrence lies 10 rigid and white and wise, nor ripple and dip, but fathom-frozen flat. There are no hammers will break that granite lid. But it will come! Some dead of night with boom to wake the wagering city, it will break, 15 will crack, will melt its muscle-bound tides and raise from their iced tomb the pyramided fish, the unlockered ships, and last year's blue and bloated suicides. c. 1945/1946

1948

The Cripples

(Oratoire de St. Joseph)

Bundled their bones, upon the ninetynine stairs St. Joseph's ladder - the knobs of penance come; the folded cripples counting up their prayers. How rich, how plumped with blessing is that dome! 5 The gourd of Brother Andre! His sweet days rounded! Fulfilled! Honeyed to honeycomb! Whither the heads, upon the ninetynine trays, the palsied, who double their aspen selves, the lame, the unsymmetrical, the dead-limbed, raise

648 / Original Poems, 1937-1955

io their look, their hope, and the idee fixe of their maim, — knowing the surgery's in the heart. Are not the ransomed crutches worshippers? And the fame of the brother sanatorial to this plot? God mindful of the sparrows on the stairs? 15 Yes, to their faith this mountain of stairs, is not! They know, they know, that suddenly their cares and orthopedics will fall from them, and they stand whole again. Roll empty away, wheelchairs, and crutches, without armpits, hop away! 20 And I who in my own faith once had faith like this, but have not now, am crippled more than they. c. 1945/1946

^94$

For the Sisters of the Hotel Dieu In pairs, as if to illustrate their sisterhood, the sisters pace the hospital garden walks. In their robes black and white immaculate hoods 5 they are like birds, the safe domestic fowl of the House of God. O biblic birds, who fluttered to me in my childhood illnesses - me little, afraid, ill, not of your race, 10 the cool wing for my fever, the hovering solace,

649 / 0.1945/1946 the sense of angels be thanked, O plumage of paradise, be praised. c. 1945/1946

1948

Frigidaire Even in July it is our winter corner, hill 70 of our kitchen, rising white and cool to the eye, cool to the alpenfinger. The shadows and wind of snowfall fall from its sides. 5 And when the door swings away, like a cloud blown, the village is Laurentian, tiered and bright, with thresholds of red, white roofs, and scattered greens; and it has a sky, and clouds, and a northern light. Is peopled. On its vallied streets there stands 10 a bevy of milk, coifed like the sisters of snow; and beaded bosoms of butter; and red farmhands; all poised, as if to hear from the distant meadow, there on the heights, with its little flowers of white, the cubes that seem to sound like pasture bells. 15 Fixed to that far-off tingle they don't quite hear, they stand, frozen with eavesdropping, like icicles. And there on the heights, the storm's electric, thriving with muffled thunder, and lightning slow and white! It is a private sky, a weather exclusive, 20 a slow, sensational, and secret sight. c. 1945/1946

1948

650 / Original Poems, 1937-1955

Grain Elevator Up from the low-roofed dockyard warehouses it rises blind and babylonian like something out of legend. Something seen in a children's coloured book. Leviathan 5 swamped on our shore? The cliffs of some other river? The blind ark lost and petrified? A cave built to look innocent, by pirates? Or some eastern tomb a travelled patron here makes local? But even when known, it's more than what it is: 10 for here, as in a Josephdream, bow down the sheaves, the grains, the scruples of the sun garnered for darkness; and Saskatchewan is rolled like a rug of a thick and golden thread. O prison of prairies, ship in whose galleys roll 15 sunshines like so many shaven heads, waiting the bushel-burst out of the beached bastille! Sometimes, it makes me think Arabian, the grain picked up, like tic-tacs out of time: first one; an other; singly; one by one; 20 to save life. Sometimes, some other races claim the twinship of my thought, - as the river stirs restless in a white Caucasian sleep, or, as in the steerage of the elevators, the grains, Mongolian and crowded, dream. 25 A box: cement, hugeness, and rightangles merely the sight of it leaning in my eyes mixes up continents and makes a montage of inconsequent time and uncontiguous space. It's because it's bread. It's because 30 bread is its theme, an absolute. Because

651 / c.i945/1946 always this great box flowers over us with all the coloured faces of mankind ... c. 1945/1946

X

948

M. Bertrand Oh, but in France they arrange these things much better! M. Bertrand who always, before kissing the female wrist rolls the r in charmante admits he owes everything to those golden Sorbonne years. 5 Returned now to our forest, he is sad and nostalgic; indeed, pained; he winces when his brother says icitte. O, he can never forget fair Paris, its culture and cuisine, particularly as he stalks deaf and hungry among the barbarians who never were seasick. 10 Still, he has one consolation - the visitor from abroad, the old classmate, the conferencier, perhaps, even a bearded maitre of the Academy. Then is he revived, like a dotard by the Folies Bergeres, revived, stimulated, made loquacious with argot, 15 and can't do enough for his guest, but would lavish on him jowl-kiss, hand-kiss, and other kisses Parisian. c. 1945/1946

!948

652 / Original Poems, 1937—1955

The Snowshoers The jolly icicles ringing in their throats, their mouths meerschaums of vapour, from the saints' parishes they come, like snowmen spangled, with spectrum colour 5 patching the scarf green, sash red, sky-blue the coat come to the crystal course. Their airy hooves unslung from their backs are ready to stamp their goodlucks on the solid foam. Till then, the saints all heralded, 10 they snowball their banter below the angular eaves. O gala garb, bright with assomption, flags on limb and torso curled furling of white, blue zigzags, rondures red! A candy-coloured world! 15 And moods as primary as their tuques and togs, of tingling cold, and the air rubbed down with snow and winter well-being! Like a slapdash backdrop, the street moves with colours, the zones and rhomboids moving 20 toward the enhancing whiteness of the snow. And now, clomping the packed-down snow of the street they walk on sinews gingerly, as if their feet were really swollen, eager for release 25 from the blinders of buildings; suddenly they cut a corner, and - the water they will walk! Surf of the sun! World of white wealth! Wind's tilth! Waves

653 / 0.1945/1946 of dazzling dominion 30 on which their coloured sails will billow and rock! c. 1945/1946

1948

The Sugaring For Guy Sylvestre

Starved, scarred, lenten, amidst ash of air, roped and rough-shirted, the maples in the unsheltered grove after their fasts and freezings stir. Ah, winter for each one, 5 each gospel tree, each saint of the calendar, has been a penance, a purchase: the nails of ice! wind's scourge! the rooted cross! Nor are they done with the still stances of love, the fiery subzeros of sacrifice. 10 For standing amidst the thorns of their own bones, eased by the tombs' coolth of resurrection time, the pardon, the purgatorial groans almost at bitter end, but not at end - the carving auger runs 15 spiral the round stigmata through each limb! The saints bleed down their sides! And look! men catch this juice of their agonized prime to boil in kettles the sap of seraphim! O, out of this calvary Canadian comes bliss, 20 savour and saving images of holy things, a sugared metamorphosis! Ichor of dulcitude shaping sweet relics, crystalled spotlessness!

654 / Original Poems, 1937—1955

And the pious pour into the honeyed dies 25 the sacred hearts, the crowns, thanking those saints for syrops of their dying and blessing the sweetness of their sacrifice. c. 1945/1946

1948

c. 1946/1946

Doctor Drummond It is to be wondered whether he ever really saw them, whether he knew them more than type, whether, in fact, his occupational fun the doctor hearty over his opened grip 5 did not confuse him into deducing his patients' health and Irish from his own. Certainly from his gay case-histories that now for two-tongued get-togethers are elocutional, 10 one would never have recognized his clientele. Consider this patrician patronizing the patois, consider his habitants, the homespun of their minds and motives, and you will see them as he saw them - as white natives, characters out of comical Quebec, 15 of speech neither Briton nor Breton, a fable folk, a second class of aborigines, docile, domesticate, very good employees, so meek that even their sadness made dialect for a joke.

656 / Original Poems, 1937—1955

2O One can well imagine the doctor, in club, in parlour, or in smoking car, building out of his practise a reputation as raconteur. But the true pulsing of their blood 25 his beat ignores, and of the temperature of their days, the chills of their despairs, the fevers of their faith, his mercury is silent. c. 1946/1946

*946

The Notary Next to the cure, he is hierarch, the true poet functional of this place, laureate of its lands. O, as longing's redacted, hope given witnesses, 5 its scarlet seal ambition, through him work the larger myths and motives, and the heart counts its beats on the margin, and our county lies cadastral on his hands! Formal in black, gold watch, and lyric collar, 10 he's ceremonial, a priest, a bard; money and love are his themes. He speaks, for all, the imprescriptible word; and with his name, sacred upon the roll, makes rich a date, and permanent a wish, 15 giving desire its deed, and the blessing of the hands to the English-measured dreams.

657 / 0.1946/1946 And with a flourish moves the immoveable, gratifies the unborn of the unborn! The certainties are his! 20 Yes, so to our custom dedicate and sworn, he it is makes all getting honourable, truly our poet, coining the bride her song, and making even out of the last will our cherished elegies! c. 1946/1946

1948

Political Meeting

(For Camillien Houde)

On the school platform, draping the folding seats, they wait the chairman's praise and glass of water. Upon the wall the agonized Y initials their faith. Here all are laic; the skirted brothers have gone. 5 Still, their equivocal absence is felt, like a breeze that gives curtains the sounds of surplices. The hall is yellow with light, and jocular; suddenly some one lets loose upon the air the ritual bird which the crowd in snares of singing 10 catches and plucks, throat, wings, and little limbs. Fall the feathers of sound, like alouette's. The chairman, now, is charming, full of asides and wit, building his orators, and chipping off the heckling gargoyles popping in the hall. 15 (Outside, in the dark, the street is body-tall,

658 / Original Poems, 1937—1955

flowered with faces intent on the scarecrow thing that shouts to thousands the echoing of their own wishes.) The Orator has risen! Worshipped and loved, their favourite visitor, 20 a country uncle with sunflower seeds in his pockets, full of wonderful moods, tricks, imitative talk, he is their idol: like themselves, not handsome, not snobbish, not of the Grande Alleel Un homme! Intimate, informal, he makes bear's compliments 25 to the ladies; is gallant; and grins; goes for the balloon, his opposition, with pins; jokes also on himself, speaks of himself in the third person, slings slang, and winks with folklore; and knows now that he has them, kith and kin. 30 Calmly, therefore, he begins to speak of war, praises the virtue of being Canadien, of being at peace, of faith, of family, and suddenly his other voice: Where are your sons? He is tearful, choking tears; but not he 35 would blame the clever English; in their place he'd do the same; maybe. Where are your sons? The whole street wears one face, shadowed and grim; and in the darkness rises the body-odour of race. c. 1946/1946

!948

659 / 0.1946/1946

Quebec Liquor Commission Store Nonetheless All Baba had no richer cave, nor lamps more sensitive Aladdin's thumb than this cave, and these lamps which, at the touch, evoke the growing slave, 5 and change the rag-poor world to purple-rich. 'O Vizier, wrapped in all knowledge and experience, bring me, bring me in a flower of air, the scent of the world's motion, the pollen, the fire, the fumes, of magnificence!' 10 'Your servant, my Lord, has done according to your desire! 'And brought you also the pleasures of the skin about the round, the sycophancy of glass, the palm's cool courtier, and the feel of straw, all rough and rustical, by some king's daughter donned; 15 and for your royal eyes, your Ishmael with rub and abracadabra and obeisance brings those forms and shapes, that harem opulence that my Lord dotes on; and, of the same scope their voices, like happenings 20 on cushions behind curtains, like whispers at the thrilled ear's lobe.' 'Well done! thou gurgling knave, and above all, well done, in the conjuring of those mischievous genii who nip at the paps of palate, hop on the tongue, in the throat make merry and fun! 25 Lithe, they go tumbling in the paunch's nets! And rung by rung, disporting, they climb into the brain's bazaar! Wonderful are their tricks and somersaults, such ingenuities as do make a king forget

66o / Original Poems, 1937-1955

the troubles that there are 30 even for kings, the rag-poor past, the purple that may set/ c. 1946/1946

1948

The Spinning Wheel You can find it only in attics or in ads, heirloom a grandmother explains, woodcut to show them native, quaint, and to be had at the fee feudal; but 5 as object it does not exist, is aftermath of autre temps when at this circle sat domesticity, and girls wearing the black and high-necked blouse at its spokes played house. 10 Now it is antique, like the fleur de lys, a wooden fable out of the olden time, — as if the epileptic loom and mad factory that make a pantomime out of this wheel do so for picturesqueness 15 only, and to achieve a fine excess, not for the dividend surely. No. Just to preserve romance, the rites, the wage-rates of old France. Symbol, it still exists; the seigneur still, 20 though now drab and incorporate, holds domain pre-eminent; still, to his power-foaming mill the farmer brings his grain his golden daughters made banality; and still, still do they pay the seigneury 25 the hourly corvee,

66i / 0.1946/1946

the stolen quotient of the unnatural yields of their woven acres and their linen fields. c. 1946/1946

1

94^

The White Old Lady The panic jangles repeated themselves every year. The neighbours, clutching the black cup, whispered Police! The Cote des Neiges place again! Lights come on, lights go off! She is here! 5 And every evening the sergeant, wearily: Police. And heard: She is standing at all of the windows at once. She is pulling down white blinds, but we see her shadow. Monstrosities go on in that house. The sergeant takes evidence. 10 Report: Someone anaemic is going whitely mad. Ditto: That dwelling is a smuggling place for lepers, a cache for diamonds. A smoke-filled den. Seek there your missing and dead — muffled by linens, cased in the white plaster wall. 15 Visitors, we know, have come unseen, and there's vice that can't be said. But every time the police came, stepped into the hall, there was only a white old lady, frail, like powder, with a pleasant smile, living alone, and no one 20 else at all. c. 1946/1946

*946

662 / Original Poems, 1937—1955

Sestina on the Dialectic Yes yeasts to No, and No is numinous with Yes. All is a hap, a haze, a hazard, a do-doubtful, a flight from, a travel to. Nothing will keep, but eases essence, - out! - outplots its plight. So westers east, and so each teaches an opposite: a 5 nonce-thing still. A law? Fact or flaw of the fiat, still - a law. It binds us, braided, wicker and withe. It stirs the seasons, it treads the tides, it so rests in our life there's nothing, there's not a sole thing that from its workings will not out. 10

The antics of the antonyms! From, to; stress, slack, and stress, - a rhythm running to a reason, a double dance, a shivering still.

Even the heart's blood, bursting in, bales out, an ebb and flow; and even the circuit within which its pulsebeat's 15 beam — man's morse - is a something that grows, that grounds, - treks, totters. So. O dynasties and dominions downfall so! Flourish to flag and fail, are potent to a pause, a panic precipice, to a picked pit, and thence - rubble rebuilding, - still rise resurrective, — 20 and now see them, with new doers in dominion! They, too, dim out. World's sudden with somersault, updown, inout, overandunder. And, note well: also that other world, the two-chambered mind, goes with it, ever kaleidoscopic, one 25 scape to another, suffering change that changes still, that focusses and fissions the to a.

663 / 0.1946/1946 When will there be arrest? Consensus? A marriage of the antipathies, and out of the vibrant deaths and rattles the life still? O just as the racked one hopes his ransom, so I 30 hope it, name it, image it, the together-living, the togetherwith, the final synthesis. A stop. But so it never will turn out, returning to the rack within, without. And no thing's still. c. 1946/1946

Meditation upon Survival At times, sensing that the golgotha'd dead run plasma through my veins, and that I must live their unexpired six million circuits, giving to each of their nightmares my body for a bed 5 inspirited, dispirited — those times that I feel their death-wish bubbling the channels of my blood I grow bitter at my false felicity the spared one - and would almost add my wish 10 for the centigrade furnace and the cyanide flood. However, one continues to live, though mortally. O, like some frightened, tattered, hysterical man run to a place of safety - the whole way run whose lips, now frenzy-foamed, now delirium-dry, 15 cry out the tenses of the verb to die, cry love, cry loss, being asked: And yet unspilled your own blood? weeps, and makes his stuttering innocence a kind of guilt O, like that man am I, bereaved and suspect, 20 convicted with the news my mourning breaks.

664 / Original Poems, 1937-1955

Us they have made the monster, made that thing that lives though cut in three: the severed head which breathes, looks on, hears, thinks, weeps, and is bled continuously with a drop by drop longing 25 for its members' re-membering! And, the torn torso, spilling heart and lights and the cathartic dregs! These, for the pit! Upon the roads, the flights - O how are you reduced, my people, cut down to a limb! 30 upon the roads the flights of the bodiless legs. Myself to recognize: a curio; the atavism of some old coin's face; one who, though watched and isolate, does go the last point of a diminished race 35 the way of the fletched buffalo. Gerundive of extinct. An original. What else, therefore, to do but leave these bones that are not ash to fill O not my father's vault - but the glass-case 40 some proud museum catalogues Last Jew. c. 1946/1946

1950

1946

At Home Orchids of music flutter from the keys. This air, it is a very spiritual air. The Doktor Hjalmar Schacht, Squarehead, cravatted, wingcollared, obese, 5 Murmurs Divine! Divine! and shifts, like ledgers, His buttocks overflowing in his chair. The pastor beside him swoons his eyelids down. It speaks of the very soul! O beautiful! In smiles the music ends. 10 The guests rise. Striped pants, gallant, stalk towards gowns, And cultured compliments float past the marble Of Goethe in the hall. O blond and bland, not a whit more innocent Is a sieve! 15 Cemented in the cellar It rots in lime ... And even That will nothing be in time ... How decorous and sweet the murderers live! 1946

666 / Original Poems, 1937—1955

Lowell Lev! [Version i] Mr. Lowell Levy, finds it difficult to distinguish between an aleph and a swastika. Nonetheless, he undertakes to edit a journal devoted to Judaica. Que faire? 5 He runs a series of articles, urbane and learned, on the Jewish delicatessen, the Jewish dairy. O Sinai and Pumbeditha and the Bronx and the Bronx.

1946

Portrait, and Commentary [Version 2 of 'Lowell Levi'] Rich and remote in panelled offices Or paunchy on the sands of Florida The absentee lords of Jewry, both Alien among their own, and alien 5 Among their Christian sons-in-law, Consider their status: Between the goy and the kike we are undone. Wherefore, a cunning one Said: Fiat! Let there be 10 Forthwith established for to teach the one A Jewish speech pianissimo, and t'other The credos of that great prestige-theology That ours has been A magazine!

667 / 1946

15 Thus Lowell Levi, who finds it hard to distinguish The four-shanked aleph from the swastika Is, for the roosters of bnai-Adam, made An editor: Eunuch maieutic of Judaica. 20 (But Lowell really doesn't give The kosher bristle of a swine For either what his sponsors believe, Or Zionist, or shaved divine: The love that Lowell has to give 25 Is, Trotsky, - only thine!) Within his sanctum, partisans polyglot Shake, to the sotto of their angst's refrain, Dialectic palmleaves over the citron brought Out of marrano Spain. 30 And slyly winding phylacteries About his slick Engelic notes Lowell sells Torah, sells it plain: Commodity of skins of goats. (The bosses in the Bermoothes, 35 Unvexed of Zion, lie at ease, While Lowell sets their Jewry straight To the undegenerate workers' state) The Western Union wire wails But where's the credo; its details: 40 What Judaism means to me? The monthly verity? So Lowell Levi prepares the authentic Jewish Series: and, first lesson, Leads with a tractate 45 O sages of Sura and Pumbeditha's wise! A tractate on the Brooklyn delicatessen.

668 / Original Poems, 1937—1955

Upon their sanded laps in Florida, Nostalgic barons read pastramic law, While from New York the next month's issue leaves. 50 Laughter ripples sleeves.

1946

To the Lady Who Wrote about Herzl Impudent female! salvaged none knows whence; Bighearted one, forgiving, loving again The poor duped Swabians; O learned hen Posteriorizing the eggs of existenz, — 5 Until but yesterday thy dowdy lore, Hegelian bosom, waddling mental gait, Thy fatidical pose and tones inflate Amused; but now they do amuse no more. Mine honoured Herzl's tomb thou didst assoil! 10 Riding thy freudian broomstick, raptured witch, Thou didst with droppings of thy hatred soil Our dead king's marble. Daughter of Belial, Thou didst survive! Thou, and thine owlish screech! While all our doves lie silent in that hell.

1946

669 / 1946

Wishing to Embarrass Me, but Politely Wishing to embarrass me, but politely, they compliment my mystique. They who see neither the shark in the glass of water 5 nor the tiger springing from the mote in the air, they are the realists! 1946

Wrestling Ring The inverted funnel pouring its light like alcohol upon the Roman arch of the wheeling torsos: stance, grapple, and grip; under their leather muscles as big as mice: about the square, 5 like the sex of stallions the round taut rope: all is vigor, mansmell, and potence. Now, look: See, as the favorite has the villain on the hip, spreadeagled, 10 luminous with sweat, light, and pain the little runt in the sixth row back - a sibling? hop on his seat. His small arms fill the arena; his anaemia

670 / Original Poems, 1937-1955

flows through the blue veins of the cigarette smoke; 15 the tatooer's needle his voice: Donnes-y-lal Donnes-yl Into his seat, he drops back exhausted.

1946

C. 1945/1947

Beaver

He lifts his middle-aged cabby-face from roots, hears the far ferment of the fall. The time! Soon drunk with juice of timber, he smiles logs: the joy of habitat. 5 Twigs, branches, bitten bole - they teeth him and tusk him; mud webs his feet, he shines as if with sweat; now in deep water builds his forest, fruited with fish, by currents breezed, by quivering quiet. Come frost, and ice his mud! Come flakeful fall 10 his herbage hibernate! Come flurrying months and whitely roof him over his crystal plinths: he waits the spring - a merman animal. c. 1945/1947

1952

672 / Original Poems, 1937-1955

Dominion Square

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Here in a sudden meadow dropped amongst brick our culture pauses to gather up the clues that shape dominion in its miniature, that show, in little more than a city block the composite land: its loved indigenous trees; lettered on lawn, some petals of its flora; and in its criss-cross paths the shape of a flag. Our values smile in this square, our [...], our modes: the thirty-storied limestone wedding-cake the Sun Life baked to sanctify its seed; the roofed apostles who bless in green their flock, and the men on benches who only rise to beg. Our dialects: the bronze of Bobby Burns beloved of the businessman his once a year, the caleche at the curb, rolled from old France and the hotel-door's foreign eloquence converge, as in a radio sound-room, here. But do not linger; but are bruited hence by streetcar through the angular city, by tunnel through mountain to the suburbs, by the trains that whistle from this terminus into the flat, the high, the dark, the sunlit distances. c. 1945/1947

C. 1947/1947

Elegy

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Named for my father's father, cousin, whose cry Might have been my cry lost in that dark land Where shall I seek you? On what wind shall I Reach out to touch the ash that was your hand? The Atlantic gale and the turning of the sky Unto the cubits of my ambience Scatter the martyr-motes. Flotsam-of-flame! God's image made the iotas of God's name! O through a powder of ghosts I walk; through dust Seraphical upon the dark winds borne; Daily I pass among the sieved white hosts, Through clouds of cousinry transgress, Maculate with the ashes that I mourn. Where shall I seek you? There's not anywhere A tomb, a mound, a sod, a broken stick, Marking the sepulchres of those sainted ones The dogfaced hid in tumuli of air. O cousin, cousin, you are everywhere! And in your death, in your ubiquity, Bespeak them all, our sundered cindered kin: David, whose cinctured bone Young branch once wreathed in phylactery! Now hafts the peasant's bladed kitchen ware;

674 / Original Poems, 1937-1955

And the dark Miriam murdered for her hair; 25 And the dark Miriam murdered for her hair; The relicts nameless; and the tattoo'd skin Fevering from lampshade in a cultured home, All, all our gaunt skull-shaven family The faces are my face! that lie in lime, 30 You bring them, jot of horror, here to me, Them, and the slow eternity of despair That tore them, and did tear them out of time.

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Death may be beautiful, when full of years, Ripe with good works, a man, among his sons, Says his last word, and turns him to the wall. But not these deaths! O not these weighted tears! The flesh of thy sages, Lord, flung prodigal To the robed fauna with their tubes and shears; Thy chosen for a gold tooth chosen; for The pervert's wetness, flesh beneath the rod; Death multitudinous as their frustrate spore! This has been done to us, Lord, thought-lost God; And things still hidden, and unspeakable more. A world is emptied. Marked is that world's map The forest color. There where thy people praised In angular ecstasy thy name, thy Torah Is less than a whisper of its thunderclap. Thy synagogues, rubble. Thy academies, Bright once with talmud brow and musical With song alternative in exegesis, Are silent, dark. They are laid waste, thy cities, Once festive with thy fruit-full calendar, And where thy curled and caftan'd congregations Danced to the first days and the second star, Or made the marketplaces loud and green To welcome in the Sabbath Queen; Or through the nights sat sweet polemical With Rav and Shmuail (also of the slain), O there where dwelt the thirty-six, - world's pillars! And tenfold Egypt's generation, there

675 / 0.1947/1947 Is nothing, nothing ... only the million echoes Calling thy name still trembling on the air.

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Look down, O Lord, from thy abstracted throne! Look down! Find out this Sodom to the sky Rearing and solid on a world atilt The architecture by its pillars known. This circle breathed hundreds; that round, thousands, And from among the lesser domes descry The style renascent of Gomorrah built. See where the pyramids Preserve our ache between their angled tons: Pass over, they have been excelled. Look down On the Greek marble that our torture spurned The white forgivable stone. The arch and triumph of subjection, pass; The victor, too, has passed; and all these spires At whose foundations, dungeoned, the screw turned Inquisitorial, now overlook They were delirium and sick desires. But do not overlook, O pass not over The hollow monoliths. The vengeful eye Fix on these pylons of the sinister sigh, The well-kept chimneys daring towards the sky! From them, now innocent, no fumes do rise. They yawn to heaven. It is their ennui: Too much the slabs and ovens, and too many The manshaped loaves of sacrifice! As thou didst do to Sodom, do to them! But not, O Lord, in one destruction. Slow, Fever by fever, limb by withering limb, Destroy! Send through the marrow of their bones The pale treponeme burrowing. Let there grow Over their eyes a film that they may see Always a carbon sky! Feed them on ash! Condemn them double deuteronomy! All in one day pustule their speech with groans, Their bodies with the scripture of a rash,

676 / Original Poems, 1937—1955

With boils and buboes their suddenly-breaking flesh! When their dams litter, monsters be their whelp, 100 Unviable! Themselves, may each one dread, The touch of his fellow, and the infected help Of the robed fauna with their tubes and shears! Fill up their days with funerals and fears! Let madness shake them, - rooted down - like kelp. 105 And as their land is emptying, and instructed, The nations cordon the huge lazaret, The paring of thy little fingernail Drop down: the just circuitings of flame, And as Gomorrah's name, be their cursed name! no Not for the judgment sole, but for a sign Effect, O Lord, example and decree, A sign, the final shade and witness joined To the shadowy witnesses who once made free With that elected folk thou didst call thine. 115 Before my mind, still unconsoled, there pass The pharaohs risen from the Red Sea sedge, Profiled; in alien blood and peonage Hidalgos lost; shadows of Shushan; and The Assyrian uncurling into sand; 120 Most untriumphant frieze! and darkly pass The shades Seleucid; dark against blank white The bearded ikon-bearing royalties All who did waste us, insubstantial now, A motion of the mind. O unto these 125 Let there be added, soon, as on a screen, The shadowy houndface, barking, never heard, But for all time a lore and lesson, seen, And heeded; and thence, of thy will our peace. Vengeance is thine, O Lord, and unto us 130 In a world, wandering, amidst raised spears Between wild waters, and against barred doors, There are no weapons left. Where now but force Prevails, and over the once-blest lagoons Mushroom new Sinais, sole defensive is

677 / c.i947/1947 135 The face turned east, and the uncompassed prayer. Not prayer for the murdered myriads who Themselves white liturgy before thy Throne Are of my prayer; but for the scattered bone Stirring in Europe's camps, next kin of death, 140 My supplication climbs the carboniferous air. Grant them Ezekiel's prophesying breath! Isaiah's cry of solacing allow! O thou who from Mizraim once didst draw Us free, and from the Babylonian lair; 145 From bondages, plots, ruins imminent Preserving, didst keep Covenant and Law, Creator, King whose banishments are not Forever, - for thy Law and Covenant, O for thy promise and thy pity, now 150 At last this people to its lowest brought Preserve! Only in thee our faith. The word Of eagle-quartering kings ever intends Their own bright eyrie; rote of parakeet The laboring noise among the fabians heard; 155 Thou only art responseful. Hear me, who stand Circled and winged in vortex of my kin: Forego the complete doom! The winnowed, spare! Annul the scattering, and end! And end Our habitats on water and on air! 160 Gather the flames up to light orient Over the land; and that funest eclipse, Diaspora-dark, revolve from off our ways! Towered Jerusalem and Jacob's tent Set up again; again renew our days 165 As when near Carmel's mount we harbored ships, And went and came, and knew our home; and song From all the vineyards raised its sweet degrees, And thou didst visit us, didst shield from wrong, And all our sorrows salve with prophecies; 170 Again renew them as they were of old,

678 / Original Poems, 1937-1955

And for all time cancel that ashen orbit In which our days, and hopes, and kin, are rolled. c. 1947/1947

1951

Song of Innocence About the Crematorium where the Jews Burn, the Nations sit in their pews, Watching the heavenly Carbonic Bands Cast shadows over the Bibles in their hands. 5 It shocks their Piety, this Altar, and they look Away, and into the good Book. Devotion done, they lift their eyes to see The sky clear, full of Grace again, smoke-free; And on the smoke-stack score-board - dots: 10 A Six and one-two-three-four-five-six Noughts. c. 1947/1947

Annual Banquet: Chambre de Commerce And as the orators, rewarded roars, scored, soared, bored The man of capital: You certainly have a wonderful country. Why don't you Exploit it?

679 / c.i947/1947 5 To which his neighbour and host Seeking in pocket and pouch Bosom and hip and thigh At last produced it, bold and double-column. 10

Quebec: The place for industry Cheap power. Cheap labour. No taxes (first three years). No isms (forever).

Verso, the guest beheld; and smiled: Photograph of Mr. & Mrs. Damase Laberge 15 on the occasion of their 25th wedding anniversary, surrounded by their children and grandchildren to the number of thirty-two; from left to right ... O love which moves the stars and factories ... c. 1947/1947

1948

Dress Manufacturer: Fisherman In his wandered wharf on the brake side of the lake; in boots bucolic; thatched and eaved with brim and circle of straw, he'll sit for hours, himself his boat's prow 5 dangling the thread of his preoccupation. Far from the lint and swatches, among lilies chinned upon glass, among the bulrushes his childhood only read, over cool corridors 10 pearled with bubbles, speckled with trout, beneath the little songs, the little wings,

680 / Original Poems, 1937—1955

his city ardours all go out into the stipple and smooth of natural things. And he becomes, at the end of his filament, 15 a correspondent of water and of fish, one who casts line and riches the glittering foolish spoon the rainbow fly to hide within the wish that for so many years beat from the heat 20 of his enterprise and city sky the simmering emphasis of his summer loss. Here he would sink the curbstones! And on the granite of his effort grow a moss! 25 Back to the hotel, tanned, percer-proud with the ransom of his youth a hero with private trout he's familiar in the kitchen, a fisherman all evening in the lobby kidded and praised; 30 is modest, but encourages talk; and knows with every compliment and trout his childhood summers from the water raised. c. 1947/1947

Filling Station With snakes of rubber and glass thorax, like dragons rampant, statistical, red with ambush, they ambuscade the highway.

1948

681 / 0.1947/1947 5 Only in the hinterland, and for neighbours, the extant blacksmith drives archaic nails into the three-legged horse. But on Route 7 the monsters coil and spit from iron mouths 10 potent saliva. (Beyond the hills, of course; the oxen, lyric with horns, still draw the cart and the limping wheels.) c. 1947/1947

1948

Hormisdas Arcand Hormisdas Arcand, about to found a new party manufactures him historic manifesto. Alas, he can not get beyond the principal first blast. It keeps repeating itself, like a youpin meal. Et, pour vrai dire, what more political is there to say after you have said: A bas les maudits Juifs! c. 1947/1947

1948

68i / Original Poems, 1937-1955

Krieghoff: Calligrammes Let the blank whiteness of this page be snow and majuscule the make of Cornelius: then tented A's inverted V's may circumflex and shade the paysage page 5 with French-Canadian trees; or equal the arrows of the frozen flow by the last minus of degrees stopped in their flight; or show the wigwams and the gables 10 of Krieghoff the pat petted verities. And any signs will do: the ladder H that prongs above the chimney; prone J's on which the gay sleighs run; the Q and her papoose; 15 crucifix Y; or bosomed farmwife B wanting an easel and the painter's flourish with alphabet make free, make squares, make curlecues of his simplicity. 20 But colours? Ah, the two colours! These must be spun, these must be bled out of the iris of the intent sight: red rufous roseate crimson russet red blank candid white. c. 1947/1947

1948

683 / c.i947//1947

Les Filles majeures Evenings, they walk arm in arm, in pairs, as if to emphasize their incompleteness, and friendly together make an ambiguous form, like a folded loneliness, 5 or like mirrors that reflect only each other. And in the daytime, they are aunts; they pet, they censor their sisters' children, take them for walks, help them with privacies, and buy them presents. It is baby talk 10 and precocity that is their topic, their event. Their life is like a diary, to be filled. Therefore they'll sit at concerts where music invents them love-affairs; or lectures - for the mind's eye; or, almost male, will tend 15 their gardens; or social service. Thus, the days hold. Sometimes, having found another grey hair they will put on the uniform of conventional dress with the single item florid, the single feather for the elusive one. Alas 20 always they return, and sighs the sisterly mirror. Thereafter they shield themselves, brood on, avoid, hate the entire vocabulary of love. The shine of left-handed rings makes them feel odd, and certain small words grieve 25 them, insult their spinsterhood. For them, for them the world lacks symmetry! And they themselves seem to themselves like vases, broken in half, the halves perversely

684 / Original Poems, 1937-1955

stood upon shelves 30 unfinished, and rich with flowers never to be. c. 1947/1947

1948

Librairie Delorme Among the penny arcades and the dime shows, attic above the dark racked secondhand stores its number; neighbour to cubicles in heat, hashjoints, vodvils, poolrooms - the scruffed doors 5 the derelict swings, the cop on the corner knows — Far from the pomp epopic of its themes, far from the pemmican West, out of the storm confederate, upon a city street: Canadiana: Librairie Delorme: 10 door grated: wooden stairs: the incunabulate dreams stacked: shadows catalogued. The runted past grows only the thickness of dust and greys frustrate the Intendants' enterprises, and Laval's — in brochures bandied. Though Jesuits relate, 15 and explorers claim, and statesmen think they last none come to listen, save the bibliophile; or Hollywood for manners; or the bright young candidate who'd show de facto false; an abbe, perhaps, beatified with sight 20 of green Laurentia kneeling to church-bell. Monsieur Delorme ... Stooped and with doctoral beard he is all anecdote and courtesy, one who loves bindings and the old regime that in his mind is gobelin'd fleur de lys 25 and in the chapel of his speech revered.

685 / c.i947/1947 Nonetheless seems at peace with the conqueror's state, is casual, diffident, a-political; and from his manner you would never dream he was a man was putting up for sale 30 his family heirlooms and his family plate. c. 1947/1947

1948

Lone Bather Upon the ecstatic diving board the diver, poised for parabolas, lets go lets go his manshape to become a bird. Is bird, and topsy-turvy 5 the pool floats overhead, and the white tiles snow their crazy hexagons. Is dolphin. Then is plant with lilies bursting from his heels. Himself, suddenly mysterious and marine, bobs up a merman leaning on his hills. 10 Plashes and plays alone the deserted pool; as those, is free, who think themselves unseen. He rolls in his heap of fruit, he slides his belly over the melonrinds of water, curved and smooth and green. 15 Feels good: and trains, like little acrobats his echoes dropping from the galleries; circles himself over a rung of water; swims fancy and gay; taking a notion, hides under the satins of his great big bed, — 20 and then comes up to float until he thinks the ceiling at his brow, and nowhere any sides.

686 / Original Poems, 1937—1955

His thighs are a shoal of fishes: scattered: he turns with many gloves of greeting towards the sunnier water and the tiles. 25 Upon the tiles he dangles from his toes lazily the eight reins of his ponies. An afternoon, far from the world a street sound throws like a stone, with paper, through the glass. Up, he is chipped enamel, grained with hair. 30 The gloss of his footsteps follows him to the showers, the showers, and the male room, and the towel which rubs the bird, the plant, the dolphin back again personable plain. c. 1947/1947

1948

Lookout: Mount Royal Remembering boyhood, it is always here the boy in blouse and kneepants on the road trailing his stick over the hopscotched sun; or here, upon the suddenly moving hill; 5 or at the turned tap its cold white mandarin mustaches; or at the lookout, finally, breathing easy, standing still to click the eye on motion forever stopped: the photographer's tripod and his sudden faces 10 buoyed up by water on his magnet caught still smiling as if under water still; the exclamatory tourists descending the caleches; the maids in starch; the ladies in white gloves;

687 / c.i947/1947 other kids of other slums and races; 15 and on the bridle-paths the horsemen on their horses like the tops of f's: or from the parapet make out beneath the green marine the discovered road, the hospital's romantic 20 gables and roofs, and all the civic Euclid running through sunken parallels and lolling in diamond and square, then proud-pedantical with spire and dome making its way to the sought point, his home. 25 home recognized: there: to be returned to lets the full birdseye circle to the river, its singsong bridges, its mapmaker curves, its island with the two shades of green, meadow and wood; and circles round that water-tower'd coast; 30 then, to the remote rhapsodic mountains; then, - and to be lost to clouds like white slow friendly animals which all the afternoon across his eyes will move their paced spaced footfalls. c. 1947/1947

M. le juge Dupre M. le juge Dupre has all the qualities. Especially gratitude. Exempli gratia: There are in Dupre's court -

1948

688 / Original Poems, 1937-1955

5 since Mtre. Hamelin of the law firm of Hamelin, Hamelin, Couillard & Foy got him and gave him his seat upon the bench there are in Dupre's court no cases ever lost 10 not ever, ever lost by Hamelin, Hamelin, Couillard & Foy. c. 1947/1947

Monsieur Gaston You remember the big Gaston, for whom everyone predicted a bad end? Gaston, the neighbour's gossip and his mother's cross? You remember him vaurien, always out of a job, 5 with just enough clinking coinage for pool, bright neckties, and blondes, the scented Gaston in the poolroom lolling in meadows of green baize? In clover now. Through politics. Monsieur Gaston. 10 They say the Minister of a certain department does not move without him; and they say, to make it innocent, chauffeur. But everyone understands. Why, wherever our Gaston smiles a nightclub rises and the neons flash. 15 To his slightest whisper the bottled rye, like a fawning pet-dog, gurgles. The burlesque queen will not undress unless Monsieur Gaston says yes. And the Madame will shake her head behind the curtain-rods 20 unless he nods.

689 / c.i947/1947 A changed man, Gaston; almost a civil servant, keeps records, appointments, women; speaks tough English; is very much respected. You should hear with what greetings his distinguished approach is greeted; 25 you should see the gifts he gets, with compliments for his season. c. 1947/1947

1948

The Mountain Who knows it only by the famous cross which bleeds into the fifty miles of night its light knows a night-scene; and who upon a postcard knows its shape 5 the buffalo straggled of the laurentian herd, holds in his hand a postcard. In layers of mountains the history of mankind, and in Mount Royal which daily in a streetcar I surround 10 my youth, my childhood the pissabed dandelion, the coolie acorn, green prickly husk of chestnut beneath mat of grass O all the amber afternoons are still to be found. 15 There is a meadow, near the pebbly brook, where buttercups, like once on the under of my chin upon my heart still throw their rounds of yellow.

690 / Original Poems, 1937-1955

And Carrier's monument, based with nude figures still stands where playing hookey 20 Lefty and I tested our gravel aim (with occupation flinging away our guilt) against the bronze tits of Justice. And all my Aprils there are marked and spotted upon the adder's tongue, darting in light, 25 upon the easy threes of trilliums, dark green, green, and white, threaded with earth, and rooted beside the bloodroots near the leaning fence corms and corollas of childhood, a teacher's presents. 30 And chokecherry summer clowning black on my teeth! The birchtree stripped by the golden zigzag still stands at the mouth of the dry cave where I one suppertime in August watched the sky grow dark, the wood quiet, and then suddenly spill 35 from barrels of thunder and broken staves of lightning terror and holiday! One of these days I shall go up to the second terrace to see if it still is there — the uncomfortable sentimental bench 40 where, - as we listened to the brass of the band concerts made soft and to our mood by dark and distance I told the girl I loved I loved her. c. 1947/1947

1948

691 / c.i947/1947

Parade of St. Jean Baptiste Bannered, and ranked, and at its stances fixed the enfilade with vestment colours the air. Roll now the batons of the tambours round ruminant with commencement, and now sound 5 annunciative, ultramontane, the fanfares of jubilee! It moves: festive and puissant the chivalry advances chief, law crouped and curvetting finish and force, undulant muscle and braid 10 O centaurs en gambade! They move as through a garden, moving between gay altitudes of flowers, populous of all the wards and counties burgeoning here: ribbons and countenances, joys and colours 15 nuances of meridian, the blue, the rose, the vert, the blond, all lambencies to this rich spectacle turned heliotropic, graceful and levitant: Quebec, its people: flotation of faces; badinage of petals: 20 profound from suburbs surfaced on the Real to spy Imagination. Applause! Ovation of hourras! There pass before the flowering faces, imaged, the animal fables, myths of the crayon'd class, 25 the nursery's voyage and discovery: redeemed and painted is the Indian; lake sirens chant again; and sorcery again makes princess out of Cendrillon, (by Massicotte, research; and courtesy 30 of Simpson's and of Eaton T. and Son) last! last! the coachmen of chasse-galerie.

692 / Original Poems, 1937-1955

Oh, all, - parents, their infant epaulettes Here all are dauphins of a vanished empery. The grand progenitor! Hebert! Salute 35 as acted en tableau revivified the pioneer fiat, the patrimonial geste deracinating forest into prairie! Surge, visions of farms the river parcelled out! Conjured, the parish parallelograms, 40 the chapel's verdant foyer! (Does not this scene, habitants of the fumed and pulverous city immured in granite canyons and constrict, does it not veil the eyes with memories sylvan, campestral? Does it not palpitate pain 45 current nostalgic away from the factory to the mountain liberties and large champaign?) Now, into their vision, from the parishes with gonfalons emergent Juvenal the schools and seminaries, potent with race: 50 name after name, catena of grand fame, tradition-orgulous. Martyr and saint chrysostomate their standards. Aspiration surrounds them, and the future dowers with power regenerate, augmentative: the nation. 55 The berceuses are its anthems; thus survives philoprogenitive Quebec; thus grants survival unto the spired culture elsewhere tomb'd. Yes, here with students and their cassock'd doctors, the angels of Aquinas dance their dances, 60 and march the pious mascots of St. Francis. Quebec, Quebec, which for the long blanched age infidelium partes - multiplied pagan its beasts and painted savages (while Rome was rounded with St. Peter's dome 65 and Europe vertical with tower and cross supported constellations) - is still rich

693 / c.i947/1947 of realms spiritual the Jesuits founded, and Sabbaths of the monks of Yamachiche. Crosses of clergy, luxe armorial, 70 still vivify with their insignia the evangelical air, and benedictions douce-digital from priest and eminence still quadrilate the inhospitable tense. And sudden! camaraderie and jokes. 75 Ablute and pompous, staid, the rotund mayor (remember in Maisonneuve his gestured discourse Cyrano, ne p'tit gars de Ste. Mane?) with chain of office now, and magistral, promenades, flanked by seniors of the city. 80 These are not allegorical; the people familiar, still, as if with candidates, cry out allusions, scandals; parodize the cliches and the rhetoric suave. But unconcerned and bland, the marked elect 85 march recognitions through the colonnade ineffably correct. Patronial, of recent heraldry: the piston sinistral, the scutcheon coin, blazon and bar of bank, - the seigneurie 90 of capital, new masters of domain. See, this is he, the pulp magnifico, and this the nabob of the northern mine; this man is pelts, and this man men allow factotum. To the servants of their wage, 95 le peup', the docile, the incognito paupers, they do offer the day's homage, but know their seasons appertain to them, they being loyal, inexpensive, liege. O who can measure the potency of symbols? 100 The hieratic gesture murdering grief? The gloss on suffering? The jewelled toy

694 / Original Poems, 1937-1955

that sports away quotidian the anguish? For the grey seasons and the frustrate heart, therefore, these rituals, which are therapy, 105 a ceremonial appeasement. O single and sole upon the calendar the baptist's day with rite and rapture tints dolor that for its annuair of days will dance, refract, this one day's images. no Departed is the enfilade; the people in groups chromatic through the boulevards disperse; spectators benched and poled, descend; the traffic gauntlets gesture; klaxons sound; all motion is pastelled; gala and gay 115 the picnic-loud tramway. It is a prelude for the pleiades that pyrotechnic will this night illume peres de famille idyllic and content, and in the dense boskage the ancient intimate experiment. c. 1947/1947

1948

Pastoral of the City Streets I Between distorted forests, clapped into geometry, in meadows of macadam, heat-fluff-a-host-of-dandelions dances on the air. Everywhere glares the sun's glare, 5 the asphalt shows hooves.

695 / c-1947/1947 In meadows of macadam grazes the dray horse, nozzles his bag of pasture, is peaceful. Now and then flicks through farmer straw his ears, like pulpit-flowers; quivers 10 his hide; swishes his tempest tail a black and sudden nightmare for the fly. The sun shines, sun shines down new harness on his withers, saddle, and rump. On curbrock and on stairstump the clustered kids 15 resting let slide some afternoon: then restless hop to the game of the sprung haunches; skid to the safe place; jump up: stir a wind in the heats: laugh, puffed and sweat-streaked. O for the crystal stream! 20 Comes a friend's father with his pet of a hose, and plays the sidewalk black cavelike and cool. O crisscross beneath the spray, those pelting petals and peas 25 those white soft whisks brushing off heat! O underneath these acrobatic fountains among the crystal, like raindrops a sunshower of youngsters dance: 30 small-nippled self-hugged boys and girls with water sheer, going Ah and Ah. II

And at twilight, the sun like a strayed neighbourhood creature having been chased 35 back to its cover

696 / Original Poems, 1937-1955

the children count a last game, or talk, or rest, beneath the bole of the tree of the single fruit of glass now ripening, a last game, talk, or rest, 40 until mothers like evening birds call from the stoops. c. 1947/1947

1948

Sire Alexandre Grandmaison When Sire Alexandre Grandmaison, Seigneur of Biche, read the final draft of the bill, placed by his secretary, (who watched such things,) upon his heirloom desk, he was desolate. 5 That day was a lost day, and Sire Alexandre outraged, forgot those lesser domains and fiefs: Quebec Paper Products, Ltd. Champlain Industries, Inc. Laurentian Cold Storage, Ltd. 10 La Societe de Fiducie, and subsidiaries of all of which he had been duly elected president. To think of it! The ancient rights attaching now commuted! King Louis' honour, which not even the English would touch 15 paid off at six per cent: pious ceremony reduced to legal tender at a banker's wicket! Mais, que voulez-vous? It was a parliament of grocers, notaries, farmers' sons who would

697 / c.i947/1947 20 crate custom, barter the fleur de lys for leeks. It was a too commercial age. c. 1947/1947

1948

Universite de Montreal

Faculte de Droit

Flaunting their canes, their jaunty berets, the students throng slick serpentine the street and streamer the air with ribbons of ribaldry and bunting song. Their faces, shadowed seminary-pale, 5 open, flash red, announce their epaulettes, escape from Xenophon and old Virgile. Gaily they wind and stagger towards their own and through the maze already see themselves silken and serious, a gowned guild 10 a portrait painter will one day make traditional beneath the Sign of the Code Napoleon. This, then, their last permitted Juvenal mood kicked up by adolescence before it dons the crown and dignity of adulthood. 15 Today, the grinning circle on the Place d'Armes, mock trial, thumbdown'd verdict, and, singsong, the joyous sentence of death; tomorrow, the good of the state, the law, the dean parting deliberate his beard 20 silvered and sabled with rampant right and wrong. Thus will they note in notebooks, and will con the numbers and their truths, and from green raw celebrants of the Latin Quarter, duly

698 / Original Poems, 1937—1955

warp and wrinkle into avocats. 25 The solid men. Now innocence and fun. O let them have their day, it soon will go! Soon are begun for haggler and schemer and electioneer the wizened one who is a library key, 30 the fat one plumped upon the status quo the fees and fetters of career. Soon they enter their twenty diaries, clocked and elaborate, and soon, too soon, begin to live to leave 35 en bon pere de famille, — a sound estate. c. 1947/1947

1948

Winter Night: Mount Royal Slowly, and flake by flake ... At the drifted frond of the terraces and ski-runs over me there falls a snow of sound: tinkle of frost minims of mercury 5 campanile cold Horseman and horse among the chandeliers parting the crystal twigs? Some belfry burst frozen, and fractured into chips of sound? The air itself 10 made little globes, their rounds ringing in Fahrenheit descant? White innocence the mountainside is mist, its bells as secret as the bells of its flowers.

699 / c. 1947/1947

Now nearer, and jollier, and fourtimed, canters 15 the bend of the road this jingle of this silver! Big-eyed, equestrian, trotting the nickle blossoms, the bells and hellos of his yoke and harness! Heraldic, guled, the sleigh in a flurry of sound 20 hooves upon snow the falsettos of water and bells cavalier passes before me, is festive, and passes beyond the curve of the road, the heels of its runners scrolling it into the mist. 25 They are now fainter, have no direction, lost. One would say the hidden stars were bells dangling between the shafts of the Zodiac. One would say the snowflakes falling clinked together their sparkles 30 to make these soft, these satin-muffled tintinnabulations. c. 1947/1947

1948

1947

O God! O Montreal! These were but innuendo: Louis Frechette, poet, assigning in bankruptcy, and Butler in the Gallery of Art (discoboli jockstrapped and brassiered nymphs) 5 Our century's explicit. The scale of wages of the municipal employees of the City of Montreal Concordia Salus ranks the librarian (assistant) just below 10 the first-class stableman. Whoa, Pegasus!

1947

1947

1948

Cantabile De litteris, et de armis, praestantibusque ingeniis

And when they brought him back the fibbiest fabricator of them all il miglior fabbro they didn't know what to do with him 5 at the customs he had had nothing to declare saving and except a number of synonyms, to wit: zhid, sheeny, jewboy, youpin, kike, yitt, shweef. and the ballad But bye and rade the Black Douglas 10 And wow but he was rough! For he pulled up the bonny brier And flang't in St. Mary's Lough. didn't know what to do with him ... hang him? old, exhausse, a poet, there was a question of ethics, moreover 15 one kuddent make a martyr of him, cood one? St. Ezra Benedict So the seven psychiatrists feigned insanity committed him.

702 / Original Poems, 1937-1955 U S U R A: that his offence 20 that he sought to extract an exorbitant interest from a limited talent, speculated in the culture exchanges passed off XP^0"00 XP^0"07^?01 25 the Dante coinage, Provencal, Chinese yen not as his own, but his for increment. It must be admitted, however, that as a pawnbroker he was distinguished. He invented a new way to ring a coin on the table 30 was expert in the bite for counterfeit, trafficked only in the best mdse. and to his friends gave discounts for the rest was fierce, bearded like the pard, like his Jew. Pound

Libra

£

USURA 35 The cantos? 'The art of conversation' said Tate (Allen) meaning small talk shouted. 80 of them 80 anecdote, persiflage, ideogram, traduction traductore — tradittore 40 all to the same if any effect — the syphilisation of our gonorera and Pound its thunder clap, a good role but the wrong actor. Don't you think said the lady from Idaho on tour at Rapallo that he will be remembered? Yes 45 As the author of a Gradus ad parnassum " a compiler of several don'ts " a perpetrator of ditto " a dropper-down of learning's crumbs and as the stoic of the empty portals.

703 / c.194-8

50 Otherwise, as Jimmy, quoting himself and poor Mr. Breen E.P.: EP 'EP. Est Perditus.

1948

1948

c. 1950/1950

Benedictions For that he gave to a stone understanding to understand direction. For that he made no slave for me. For that he clothes the naked with the nudities of beasts. For that he erects the contracted. 5 For that he smites me each dawn with a planet. c. 1950/1950

1

951

Stance of the Amidah O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall declare thy praise: God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob, who hast bound to the patriarchs their posterity and hast made 5 thyself manifest in the longings of men and hast condescended to bestow upon history a shadow of the shadows of thy radiance;

705 / c.i95°/195° Who with the single word hast made the world, hanging before us the heavens like an unrolled scroll, and the earth 10 old manuscript, and the murmurous sea, each, all-allusive to thy glory, so that from them we might conjecture and surmise and almost know thee;

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Whom only angels know Who in thy burning courts Cry: Holy! Holy! Holy! While mortal voice below With seraphim consorts To murmur: Holy! Holy! Yet holiness not know. Favour us, O Lord, with understanding, who hast given to the bee its knowledge and to the ant its foresight, to the sleeping bear Joseph's prudence, and even to the dead lodestone its instinct for the star, favour us with understanding of what in the inscrutable design is for our doomsday-good; O give us such understanding as makes superfluous second thought; and at thy least, give us to understand to repent. At the beginning of our days thou dost give - O! at the end, forgive! Deem our affliction worthy of thy care, and now with a last redeeming, Redeemer of Israel, redeem! Over our fevers pass the wind of thy hand; against our chills, thy warmth. O great Physician, heal us! and shall we ailing be healed. From want deliver us. Yield the earth fruitful. Let rain a delicate stalk, let dew in the bright seed, sprout ever abundance. Shelter us behind the four walls of thy seasons, roof us with justice, O Lord, who settest the sun to labour for our evening dish! Thyself do utter the Shma! Sound the great horn of our freedom, raise up the ensign of freedom, and gather from

706 / Original Poems, 1937-1955

45

50

55

60

the four corners of the earth, as we do gather the four fringes to kiss them, thy people, thy folk, rejected thine elect. Restore our judges as in former times restore our Judge. Blessed art thou, O Lord, King, who lovest righteousness and judgement. Favour them, O Lord, thy saints thy paupers, who do forgo all other thy benedictions for the benediction of thy name. O build Jerusalem! Anoint thy people David! Our prayers accept, but judge us not through our prayers: grant them with mercy. Make us of thy love a sanctuary, an altar where the heart may cease from fear, and evil a burnt offering is consumed away, and good, like the fine dust of spices, an adulation of incense, rises up. O accept, accept, accept our thanks for the day's three miracles, of dusk, of dawn, of noon, and of the years which with thy presence are made felicitous. Grant us - our last petition - peace, thine especial blessing, which is of thy grace and of the shining and the turning of thy Face. c. 1950/1950

1

951

Who Hast Fashioned Blessed art thou, O Lord, Who in Thy wisdom has fashioned man as Thou hast fashioned him: hollowed and antrious, grottoed and gutted, channelled; for mercy's sake gifted with orifice, exit, and vent! Did one of these only suffer obstruction, survives not 5 the hour that man! Thy will according, there drops the baneful excess: the

707 / c.i95°/195° scruff falls; from the pores surreptitious the sweat; and the nails of the fingers are cut; the demons are houseless. 10 Be blessed for the judgment of the eight great gates who dost diminish us to make us whole; for the piecemeal deaths that save; for wax and cerumen, which preserve all music, and for flux of the sinus, which gives the brain coolness, its space, and for spittle prized above the condiments of Asia; even 15 for tears. c. 1950/1950

1951

Of the Making of Gragers The following are the proper instruments wherewith Haman and all of that ilk may best be confounded:

5

10

15

clappers utterants & mutterants racketrakers funaphores hullabellows filippics titus-taps sonorosnorers fracasators clangabangs & clackacousticons drums and bimbamboomicores vociferators nazinoisicans palmapats gourds ratatats cymbals & stridors knuckleknacks & castanets brekekex ton' o' thunders datadiscords panpandemonia torquemadatumps borborigmi brontobronks chmelnizzicatos pharophonics hellodeons whistles & fee-fi-fo-fifers etceterows c. 1950/1950

1950

1952/1954

Epigrams [i] i. To Forgive Divine Even if in the gutter you were lying dying of thirst mouth open, tongue parched, I would want to, but wouldn't spit in your face. 2. As to Quantum 5 Seeing three on the left side, and on the right three, is it illegal to whisper six? 3. Caesar's Plagiarist The noble Antony issues from Cleopatra's chambers, says: 10 Vidi, vici, veni. Poor Caesar! now left with only alea est jacta — conquest.

7°9 / i952/*954 4. 'Farcie de Comme' O poet of the removeable glass eye Cyclops! 15 What a companion you might have been to Ulysses of the brand, Poet of new directions! 5. Snowfall... Eiderdown ... Cumulus ... Defeated the laureate's now ensconced in the cubicle 20 of an advertising agency where he invents beautiful appellations and suave epithets for toilet-paper. His fame runs from world's end to world's end. 6. Initiation I remember the old Coltoon, circumciser, in action. 25 The blood of his Judaisms still cries out. He is dead now. In his time he cut a wide swath. 7. Babe in the Woods The idealist is smitten humble and dumb 30 as suddenly he stumbles into a murmur of mumbled numbers of which he can not make out the sum.

710 / Original Poems, 1937—1955

8. Beatific Vision Avrohom, Yitzchok, and Yaacov, patriarchs; Chief of the prophets, Moses; 35 prophetaeque majores minoresque all at the golden board reclining their crowns atilt, their beards awry, all singing Yo-ho-ho and ho-ho-ho 40 sanna! 9. Aye, but a Man's Reach To the perfume that the rose dreams of, its own perfume is but a body-odour. 10. ?

This spinster neither spins 45 nor toils, yet is her thumb callous'd also. 11. Deja Vu Throwback and atavism of Mizraim: Nilotic Jew 50 I hear the hieratic on the air see shadows of embalmers, breathe flowers of sarcophagi. The landscape, however, is as it was: of pyramids, none.

7ii / 1952/1954 12. Cui Bono? 55 Who can fail to admire the self-mastery of X to whom, he says, it is a matter of indifference whether his poems are or are not taken up? 60 The gods, he says, eavesdrop. 13. The Mores the Pity Smile never on the ugly ones; they will mistake your compassion for passion. 14. From the Beyond Privy to the Eleusinian mysteries 65 Euphorias reports that its priests were so cleansed of the world they called themselves the dead. Euphorias also details their menus. 15. Canine Felicity The music of what sphere? 70 What does the dog hear that I can't hear? 16. Technique 'What wit, what wonder, winged words work!' He is troubled only to know is it alliteration or assonance?

/i2 / Original Poems, 1937-1955 *7-

75

All worship is doomed to schisms, heresies, disillusions. The reverend Reverend, therefore, called it luck When he found that his idol had had only one foot of clay.

18. Unveiling

80

And now the smiles fall to the floor like dentures, And the smiling eyes are removed from their sockets The face is poker-face.

19. Hard to be a Jew? Not for the Jew, said the gentile 85 But to be circumcised at forty! ...

20. They smote us hip and thigh; They razed our cities to the ground; Our fields they sowed with salt. We flourished.

21. Counsel 90 That man is too good: suspect his motives; That other is too evil: search out his impulses; Is simply good and evil: that is the norm.

713 / 1952/1954 22. Inarticulate The man said nothing, nothing at all, but sat 95 As in a brown study making interior noises. One moment was nasal, the next cleared his throat of its r's; but said nothing. Was still. He pursed his lips to a letter: no sound. He sighed. 100 O, the sorrow that susurrus spelled! 23. Recollection Strolling the Champs Elysee I have remembered you Jean Valjean, and your life in the sewers of Paris: not without envy. 24. From the Japanese 105 The birds twitter, excited, behind their copper wires. A horse has passed. 25. On Examining a Bill of Fare Quails before manna? 26.

You fear me; and with good reason. Did I have the power no I would carve your hearts out, and stuff the hollows With testicles, yours. 1952/1954

c. 1953/1955

Spinoza: On Man, on the Rainbow All flowers that in seven ways bright Make gay the common earth, All jewels that in their tunnelled night Enkindle and flash forth 5 All these, now in the sky up-thrust, To dazzle human sight Do hang but on a speck of dust, But dust suffused by light. c. i953/1955

1955

Epigrams [2] Dial B and L All honour to the memory of Alexander Graham Bell! Old Noah, he may have first planted the vine, but Alexander seeded a jungle! 5

Trellis and creeper and curling of wire, Boskage of copper and tendril of roof

And, what fruit! Did the grapes of old Noah tintinabulate? Not so those of Alexander Graham Bell 10 May they ring for him in hell! May they ring for him in hell's darkness and umber forever a wrong number! Ma Aleyk - No Evil Befall You His greeting is of the faith, like the muezzin's. The bazaars and the souks, they are as nothing 15 to his interest in your health. Wellah!

716 / Original Poems, 1937-1955

His smile is the hamzin for warmth, the simum for cordiality. And already I feel the sand in my eyes! Mais, c'est pas de mes oignons, gal This globe, this world, this onion of humanity! Unsheathe it, sheath by sheath 20 mask after mask even the core is unsheathable! pungency, bitterness, tears! Hommage Madame, I see that you have indeed considered the ant, and its antennae. 25 Why else should your clitoris be so apparent on your forehead? Apologia How was I to know, those months in my mother's womb, that exit meant ambush? Ritual The great tycoon is dead. The eulogies have been said. 30 And, look! they put pennies on his eyes. - To speed a resurrection?

717 / 1955

Pa/mam Qui Meruit O tribune, tribune manque, passed over in favour of an unworthier one, bear up, hold fast, political success 35 is a course in the callousing of disappointments. 1955

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POETRY TRANSLATIONS

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ARAMAIC

The Kaddish [Version i] Sanct and exaltate in the world which to His will He wrought be the great Name! May his reign come regnant 5 during your lifetime and during your days and during the life of all the House of Israel, right round speedily and at a near time and say ye Amen. 10 Cong. Be the name great blessed for all time, eterne, sempiternal, forever. Blessed, makarized, glorified, extolled and exalted, eulogized, lauded, most hallelujah'd be the Name of the Holy One blessed be He. 15 Yea, though He be above and beyond and worlds past the compass of all hymns and benedictions, all paean and praise and uttered solatium that here below we articulate,

722 / Poetry Translations

and say ye Amen.

20 Cong. May the name of the Lord be blessed from now to all time. May peace full-measured descend from heaven, bringing, preserving, life to us all, and to all of Israel and say ye Amen. Cong. My help is from the Lord who heaven and earth did make. 25 He who maketh peace in his altitudes may he make peace for us here below and for all Israel and say ye Amen. c. 1951/1952

The Kaddish [Version 2] (An experiment in translation)

Sanct and exaltate in the world which to his will he wrought be the great Name! May his reign come regnant during your lifetime and during your days and during the life of all the House of Israel, right round speedily and at a near 5 time, and say ye, Amen. Be the great Name forever blessed, eterne, sempiternal, world upon world.

723 / Aramaic

Blessed be, and glorified, and honoured high, and held aloft and much extolled, exalted, magnified, and 10 hallelujah'd the name of the Holy One, blessed be He: though he be high above all benedictions, hymns, doxologies, glorifications that are anywhere in the world uttered; and say ye, Amen. 15 O, acceptable to their Father who is in heaven be the prayers and supplications of the whole House of Israel; and say ye, Amen. May great peace descend from heaven; and life; for us, and all of Israel; and say ye, Amen. 20 Who maketh peace in his high places, peace may He bring, for us and for all of Israel; and say ye, Amen. c. 1951/1952

1952

HEBREW

SOLOMON BEN MOSES HA-LEVI ALKABEZ

O Site Most Kingly, O Royal Sanctum O site most kingly, O royal sanctum, Arise, go forth from among your ruins! Enough your sitting in the vale of sorrow! The Lord has readied His compassion. 5 Bestir you from your dust. Array you By grace of David, son of Jesse In this my people's beauteous garment! My soul, it knows redemption nearing! Arise! Arouse! Arise and waken! 10 For it has come at last, the dawning! Lift up your voice your song to utter; For on you is revealed God's glory. c. 1949/1949

1951

725 / Hebrew

CHAIM NACHMAN BIALIK

Beneath the Burden ... Beneath the burden of your love, Bowed down, I cannot lift me up! Ah, woe is me! I am become A penny shaken in your cup! 5 Why do you so besiege my hearth? What evil have I done? What good? I am no prophet, no, nor bard, I am a humble hewer of wood. A hewer of wood, a man of the axe, 10 Doing my day's work to the full: Dusk falls, my arm is weary, and The edge of my much-used axe is dull. Of a short day a journeyman, A labourer on your estates, 15 No time have I for jubilee, And no time now for your debates. How shall we show our countenance, And how the morrow greet? Depart! Each to summation of his life! 20 Each to the burdens of his heart! c. 1936/1936

1943

726 / Poetry Translations

The Chastisement of God The chastisement of God, is this His curse: That you shall your own very hearts deny To cast your hallowed tears on foreign waters, Your tears on luminous false threads to thread, 5 To breathe your breath in marble alien, And in the heathen stone to sink your soul. The teeth of the gluttons of your flesh drips blood But you shall feed them also your own souls: And Pithom and Rameses for those that hate you 10 Shall you erect, your children used as brick. Yea, and their cry, from wood and stone arising, Within the portal of your ear shall die. If one of these shall grow on eaglet's wings For ever from his eyrie shall you fling him; 15 And should he, mighty, thirsting the sun, soar upwards Not, not for you shall sunlight be revealed, And not on you effulgence glow, when his Pinions divide the clouds, a path for sun. For high upon crags, shall he lift up his scream; 20 The echo thereof shall not your ears attain. So shall you, one by one, the noblest spurn And so shall you at last remain bereaved, Your tent laid waste, and glory fled from your hearth, Calamity and terror shall be yours. 25 The foot of God shall spurn your threshold, and Joy shall not tap upon your windowpane. Seek you your ruins for prayer - you cannot pray; Summon consolatory tears - in vain; Withered shall be your heart, a cluster of grapes, 30 Shrunken, flung in a corner of the vat,

727 / Hebrew

Wherefrom the heart-rejoicing sap shall never rise Nor ever shall restore the soul that pines. Yea, you shall stir the hearth to find cold stones Where in the chilled ashes mews the cat. 35 In grief and sorrow shall you sit. Without The melancholy world; within you, dust. Dead flies in your windows you shall then behold. And in the desolate cracks, the spider's web: And you shall hear the shaking of the wall, 40 And in the chimney, wailing Penury. c. 1936/1936

1945

Come, Gird Ye Your Loins, and in Might Robe Yourselves Come, gird ye your loins, and in might robe yourselves! In the thick of the woods, in the caves of the rocks, There gathered the remnant of stout Maccabees. The singing of psalms, and the sword's ringing shocks 5 Woke forest and crag from their silence and peace. In the camp of the woods, in the dark of the cave Came succour and aid to the brave! And we, much enfeebled and ground in the dust, Let us beat on the hearts of our sons with our clamour! 10 Let the word of our God be our pillar and trust, And our God be our thundering hammer. Not yet have we squandered all strength in the fight The Lord is our might! Arise! to the aid of the people, arise!

728 / Poetry Translations

15 With what? Do not waver! With what comes to hand! With whom? Do not pause, for the man who doth grieve For the sake of his brother's pain, him let the band Gather up and recruit; to his kin let him cleave! Each sacrifice worthy, in all gifts rejoice! 20 The hour of peril permits of no choice! The salvage of good, and the remnant of light Which God in our hearts has still left, let us raise Let us gather together, to glow, brave and bright A banner, an ensign, for troublesome days! 25 They will rise, then, and join us, from east and from west A legion prepared, at its people's behest! c. 1936/1936

1

941

God Grant My Part and Portion Be ... Meek of the earth, humble in wit and works, Unknown and unseen dreamers, mute of soul, Stinted in speech, of beauty most abundant, Privily embroidering your lives 5 God grant my part and portion be with you! Like coral of the reaches of the sea, The pleasant savour of your minds lies hidden; And blooms your nobleness like berries wild Burgeoning in the shadow of a wood! 10 Unbidden, you are bountiful; and lavish Without a knowledge of munificence. O poets of most lovely silence, priests Amidst the hush and quiet of the Lord, No alien eye beholds your festivals 15 No, nor the days of mourning that are yours.

729 / Hebrew

The mighty and the mean, the saint and sinner You greet without knee-crooking, with the same Compassionate and comprehending smile. Tiptoeing slowly through the paths of life, 20 The heart awake, the ear alert, the eye Most watchful, for its very touch you shudder For beauty's least caress, you quake and tremble. You pass, and without pose or effort, sow That faith and purity that from you flows 25 Like azure from the dome of heaven, like Numberless shadows from the pleasant wood. Yea, skilled in silence, voiceless, without speech, Utters your mouth no arrogance, your hand Fashions no masterpieces, works of pride. 30 Desire and longing do within you fail. Your place is not with the array of seers, Nor in museums is your share and lot. Lonely and echoless your footstep dies. Howbeit, your life, the simple days of your life 35 Behold the vision superb, the work of art, Ye keepers of God's image upon earth! Daily, and in the brilliance of your eyes, Yea, in the wrinkles of your countenance The beauty of your lives does drop by drop 40 Flow into the hollow of the world As flows into the river's brimming heart The waters of a secret spring, unknown. As the Lord liveth, they will not be lost; Not the mere flutter of your eyelash, nor 45 The least accounted stirrings in your heart! But like the music of the spheres, they will Forever tremble in the vaulted sky And even at the end of days, when no Echo will be of Haiman and Jeduthun,

73o / Poetry Translations

50 Nor memory of the wisdom of those two: Cholcol and Darda, sages of the east, Even then these will still live and be revealed In the light and brilliance of some unknown's gaze, Or in the wrinkles of his countenance. c. 1936/1936

1943

The Lord Has Not Revealed Neither in the dreams of my nights has the Lord revealed Nor in oracles for me has He divined, In what place my last day will lay hold of me, And what the form and likeness of my end: 5 Whether within my tent, upon my couch I shall expire, My much-beloved children at my hand, Beside me in silence, come unto me, even to the last one, A guard of love and halidom at my bed, Counting, like treasures beyond price, 10 My final breathings, into the lap of God; Or whether, despised and reviled, cursed of God and of man, Spurned by my fellows, and from family fled, I shall in some forsaken sheepfold and on a heap of straw Where none shall witness the going of my soul 15 And no hand quiver over my quenched eyes, Breathe out my life, profaned and defiled; Or, whether, beset by hunger and thirst For life and all its pleasant ways, The contempt of my soul shall rise against the wrath of God, 20 And spurning the gift of His hand I shall fling, as one flings a dirty shoe From off the foot, my soul before His foot.

731 / Hebrew

May it not be that from long suffering I shall grow stale And from much silent waiting 25 My soul in bitterness shall be spilled out? Perhaps, like a pearl of an eternal glow With my last tear, my life shall also fall, Trembling, And after many generations shine 30 For eyes that never did behold me. It may be, like a moth about a flame Fluttering, shall my life depart, Or like that very flame before its oil is spent Convulsed in the agony of its death 35 For many days its sacrificial incense rising A blandishment for the eyes, Until of a sudden into the dark abyss, It falls forever quenched. Or will my death be like a sun before its setting: 40 Suddenly its own illumined pyre, Its flames in the clouds, its beacons on the mountaintops, And its dying rays A thing of wonder for a thousand eyes. Who knows but God may harden His heart against me 45 And in my very lifetime, I shall die: O, they will bind my soul in winding sheets of writing-paper, Inter me in the coffin of a bookcase, Where the mole will nightly nibble at my bones, And the rat out of the hole at my corpse gnaw. 50 Upon my own grave I shall place my foot And with my own mouth utter my own Kaddish. And it may also happen that my death shall come, Unsavory, insipid, in a manner not awaited, When like a hungry dog in a wintry night of storm 55 Behind some wall, the bitter cold shall take me,

732 / Poetry Translations

The soft snow cover me, a sombre stain, Efface a Man's shame, and the shame of his life, And the wind bear away, the tempest snatch The last gritting of my teeth, the curse of death. c. 1936/1936

1942

On My Returning A ghost of stubble, a leaf that flutters On holy books from page to page: Again I see the graybeard's features Anguish-shrivelled, wizened age. 5 Again I see the dry old woman, Plying needle, darning socks, Lips forever twitching, omen Oaths will issue when she talks. And as of yore, beside the oven 10 Still unmoved there sleeps the cat Dreaming, in his purring heaven, He strikes treaties with the rat. And as of yore, the spider spreading Webs within his darkened track 15 Where swollen flies find their last bedding, There in the same old western crack. You have not changed, by jot or tittle Ancient, old, of yesterday -

733 / Hebrew

20

O let me join you, big and little, Together let us rot away! c. 1936/1936

!937

The City of Slaughter [Version i] Arise and go now to the city of slaughter; Into its courtyards wend thy way; There with thine own hand touch, and with the eyes of thine head, Behold on tree, on stone, on fence, on mural clay, 5 The spattered blood and dried brains of the dead. Proceed thence to the ruins, the split walls reach, Where wider grows the hollow, and greater grows the breach; Pass over the shattered hearth, attain the broken wall Whose burnt and barren brick, whose charred stones reveal 10 The open mouths of such wounds, that no mending Shall ever mend, nor healing ever heal. There will thy feet in feathers sink, and stumble On wreckage doubly wrecked, scroll heaped on manuscript, Fragments again fragmented 15 Pause not upon this havoc; go thy way. The perfumes will be wafted from the acacia bud And half its blossoms will be feathers, Whose smell is the smell of blood \ And, spiting thee, strange incense they will bring 20 Banish thy loathing - all the beauty of the spring, The thousand golden arrows of the sun Will flash upon thy malison; The sevenfold rays of broken glass

734 / Poetry Translations

Over thy sorrow joyously will pass, 25 For God called up the slaughter and the spring together, The slayer slew, the blossom burst, and it was sunny weather! Then wilt thou flee to a yard, observe its mound. Upon the mound lie two, and both are headless A Jew and his hound. 30 The self-same axe struck both, and both were flung Unto the self-same heap where swine seek dung; Tomorrow the rain will wash their mingled blood Into the runnels, and it will be lost In rubbish heap, in stagnant pool, in mud. 35 Its cry will not be heard. It will descend into the deep, or water the cockle-burr. And all things will be as they ever were. Unto the attic mount, upon thy feet and hands; Behold the shadow of death among the shadows stands. 40 There in the dismal corner, there in the shadowy nook, Multitudinous eyes will look Upon thee from the sombre silences — The spirits of the martyrs are these souls, Gathered together, at long last, 45 Beneath these rafters and in these ignoble holes. The hatchet found them here, and hither do they come To seal with a last look, as with their final breath, The agony of their lives, the terror of their death. Tumbling and stumbling wraiths, they come, and cower there. 50 Their silence whimpers, and it is their eyes which cry Wherefore, O Lord, and why? It is a silence only God can bear. Lift then thine eyes to the roof; there's nothing there, Save silences that hang from rafters 55 And brood upon the air: Question the spider in his lair! His eyes beheld these things; and with his web he can A tale unfold horrific to the ear of man:

735 / Hebrew

A tale of cloven belly, feather-filled; 60 Of nostrils nailed, of skull-bones bashed and spilled; Of murdered men who from the beams were hung, And of a babe beside its mother flung, Its mother speared, the poor chick finding rest Upon its mother's cold and milkless breast; 65 Of how a dagger halved an infant's word, Its ma was heard, its mama never heard. O, even now its eyes from me demand accounting, For these the tales the spider is recounting, Tales that do puncture the brain, such tales that sever 70 Thy body, spirit, soul, from life, forever! Then wilt thou bid thy spirit - Hold, enough! Stifle the wrath that mounts within thy throat, Bury these things accursed, Within the depth of thy heart, before thy heart will burst! 75 Then wilt thou leave that place, and go thy way And lo The earth is as it was, the sun still shines: It is a day like any other day. Descend then, to the cellars of the town, 80 There where the virginal daughters of thy folk were fouled, Where seven heathen flung a woman down, The daughter in the presence of her mother, The mother in the presence of her daughter, Before slaughter, during slaughter, and after slaughter! 85 Touch with thy hand the cushion stained; touch The pillow incarnadined: This is the place the wild ones of the wood, the beasts of the field With bloody axes in their paws compelled thy daughters yield: Beasted and swined! 90 Note also, do not fail to note, In that dark corner, and behind that cask

736 / Poetry Translations

Crouched husbands, bridegrooms, brothers, peering from the cracks, Watching the sacred bodies struggling underneath The bestial breath, 95 Stifled in filth, and swallowing their blood! Watching from the darkness and its mesh The lecherous rabble portioning for booty Their kindred and their flesh! Crushed in their shame, they saw it all; 100 They did not stir nor move; They did not pluck their eyes out; they Beat not their brains against the wall! Perhaps, perhaps, each watcher had it in his heart to pray: A miracle, O Lord, - and spare my skin this day! 105 Those who survived this foulness, who from their blood awoke, Beheld their life polluted, the light of their world gone out How did their menfolk bear it, how did they bear this yoke? They crawled forth from their holes, they fled to the house of the Lord, They offered thanks to Him, the sweet benedictory word, no The Cohanim sallied forth, to the Rabbi's house they flitted: Tell me, O Rabbi, tell, is my own wife permitted? The matter ends; and nothing more. And all is as it was before. Come, now, and I will bring thee to their lairs, 115 The privies, jakes and pigpens where the heirs Of Hasmoneans lay, with trembling knees, Concealed and cowering, - the sons of the Maccabees! The seed of saints, the scions of the lions! Who, crammed by scores in all the sanctuaries of their shame, 120 So sanctified My name! It was the flight of mice they fled, The scurrying of roaches was their flight; They died like dogs, and they were dead! And on the next morn, after the terrible night

737 / Hebrew

125 The son who was not murdered found The spurned cadaver of his father on the ground. Now wherefore dost thou weep, O son of man? Descend into the valley; verdant, there A garden flourishes, and in the garden 130 A barn, a shed, - it was their abbatoir; There, like a host of vampires, puffed and bloated, Besotted with blood, swilled from the scattered dead, The tumbril wheels lie spread Their open spokes, like fingers stretched for murder, 135 Like vampire-mouths their hubs still clotted red.

140

145

150

155

160

Enter not now, but when the sun descends Wrapt in bleeding clouds and girt with flame, Then open the gate and stealthily do set Thy foot within the ambient of horror: Terror floating near the rafters, terror Against the walls in darkness hiding, Terror through the silence sliding. Didst thou not hear beneath the heap of wheels A stirring of crushed limbs? Broken and racked Their bodies move a hub, a spoke Of the circular yoke; In death-throes they contort; In blood disport; And their last groaning, inarticulate Rises above thy head, And it would seem some speechless sorrow, Sorrow infinite, Is prisoned in this shed. It is, it is the Spirit of Anguish! Much-suffering and tribulation-tried Which in this house of bondage binds itself. It will not ever from its pain be pried. Brief-weary and forespent, a dark Shekinah Runs to each nook and cannot find its rest; Wishes to weep, but weeping does not come;

738 / Poetry Translations

Would roar; is dumb. Its head beneath its wing, its wing outspread Over the shadows of the martyr'd dead, Its tears in dimness and in silence shed. 165 And thou, too, son of man, close now the gate behind thee; Be closed in darkness now, now thine that charnel space; So tarrying there thou wilt be one with pain and anguish And wilt fill up with sorrow thine heart for all its days. Then on the day of thine own desolation 170 A refuge will it seem, Lying in thee like a curse, a demon's ambush, The haunting of an evil dream. O, carrying it in thy heart, across the world's expanse Thou wouldst proclaim it, speak it out, 175 But thy lips shall not find its utterance. Beyond the suburbs go, and reach the burial ground. Let no man see thy going; attain that place alone, A place of sainted graves and martyr-stone. Stand on the fresh-turned soil. 180 Such silence will take hold of thee, thy heart will fail With pain and shame, yet I Will let no tear fall from thine eye. Though thou wilt long to bellow like the driven ox That bellows, and before the altar balks, 185 I will make hard thy heart, yea, I Will not permit a sigh. See, see, the slaughtered calves, so smitten and so laid; Is there a price for their death? How shall that price be paid? Forgive, ye shamed of the earth, yours is a pauper-Lord! 190 Poor was He during your life, and poorer still of late. When to my door you come to ask for your reward, I'll open wide: See, I am fallen from My high estate.

739 / Hebrew

I grieve for you, my children. My heart is sad for you. Your dead were vainly dead; and neither I nor you 195 Know why you died or wherefore, for whom, nor by what laws; Your deaths are without reason; your lives are without cause. What says the Shekinah? In the clouds it hides In shame, in agony alone abides; I, too, at night, will venture on the tombs, 200 Regard the dead and weigh their secret shame, But never shed a tear, I swear it in My name. For great is the anguish, great the shame on the brow; But which of these is greater, son of man, say thou Or liefer keep thy silence, bear witness in My name 205 To the hour of My sorrow, the moment of My shame. And when thou dost return Bring thou the blot of My disgrace upon thy people's head, And from My suffering do not part, But set it like a stone within their heart! 210 Turn, then, to leave the cemetery ground, And for a moment thy swift eye will pass Upon the verdant carpet of the grass A lovely thing! Fragrant and moist, as it is always at the coming of the Spring! The stubble of death, the growth of tombstones! 215 Take thou a fistful, fling it on the plain Saying, The people is plucked grass; can plucked grass grow again?' Turn, then, thy gaze from the dead, and I will lead Thee from the graveyard to thy living brothers, 220 And thou wilt come, with those of thine own breed, Into the synagogue, and on a day of fasting, To hear the cry of their agony, Their weeping everlasting. Thy skin will grow cold, the hair on thy skin stand up,

740 / Poetry Translations

225 And thou wilt be by fear and trembling tossed; Thus groans a people which is lost. Look in their hearts - behold a dreary waste, Where even vengeance can revive no growth, And yet upon their lips no mighty malediction 230 Rises, no blasphemous oath. Are they not real, their bruises? Why is their prayer false? Why, in the day of their trials Approach me with pious ruses, 235 Afflict me with denials? Regard them now, in these their woes: Ululating, lachrymose, Crying from their throes, We have sinned! and Sinned have we! 240 Self-flagellative with confession's whips. Their hearts, however, do not believe their lips. Is it, then, possible for shattered limbs to sin? Wherefore their cries imploring, their supplicating din? Speak to them, bid them rage! 245 Let them against me raise the outraged hand, Let them demand! Demand the retribution for the shamed Of all the centuries and every age! Let fists be flung like stone 250 Against the heavens and the heavenly Throne! And thou, too, son of man, be part of these: Believe the pangs of their heart, believe not their litanies: And when the cantor lifts his voice to cry: Remember the martyrs, Lord, 255 Remember the cloven infants, Lord, Consider the sucklings, Lord, And when the pillars of the synagogue shall crack At this his piteous word

741 / Hebrew

And terror shall take thee, fling thee in its deep, 260 Then I will harden My heart; I will not let thee weep! Should then a cry escape from thee, I'll stifle it within thy throat. Let them assoil their tragedy, Not thou, — let it remain unmourned 265 For distant ages, times remote, But thy tear, son of man, remain unshed! Build thou about it, with thy deadly hate Thy fury and thy rage, unuttered, A wall of copper, the bronze triple plate! 270 So in thy heart it shall remain confined A serpent in its nest - O terrible tear! Until by thirst and hunger it shall find A breaking of its bond. Then shall it rear Its venomous head, its poisoned fangs, and wait 275 To strike the people of thy love and hate! Leave now this place at twilight to return And to behold these creatures who arose In terror at dawn, at dusk now, drowsing, worn With weeping, broken in spirit, in darkness shut. 280 Their lips still move with words unspoken. Their hearts are broken. No lustre in the eye, no hoping in the mind, They grope to seek support they shall not find: Thus when the oil is gone, 285 The wick still sends its smoke; Thus does the beast of burden, Broken and old, still bear his yoke. Would that misfortune had left them some small solace Sustaining the soul, consoling their gray hairs! 290 Behold the fast is ended; the final prayers are said. But why do they tarry now, these mournful congregations?

742 / Poetry Translations

Shall it be also read, The Book of Lamentations? It is a preacher mounts the pulpit now. 295 He opens his mouth, he stutters, stammers. Hark The empty verses from his speaking flow. And not a single mighty word is heard To kindle in the hearts a single spark. The old attend his doctrine, and they nod. 300 The young ones hearken to his speech; they yawn. The mark of death is on their brows; their God Has utterly forsaken every one. And thou, too, pity them not, nor touch their wound; Within their cup no further measure pour. 305 Wherever thou wilt touch, a bruise is found. Their flesh is wholly sore. For since they have met pain with resignation And have made peace with shame, What shall avail thy consolation? 310 They are too wretched to evoke thy scorn. They are too lost thy pity to evoke, So let them go, then, men to sorrow born, Mournful and slinking, crushed beneath their yoke. Go to their homes, and to their hearth depart 315 Rot in the bones, corruption in the heart. And when thou shalt arise upon the morrow And go upon the highway, Thou shalt then meet these men destroyed by sorrow, Sighing and groaning, at the doors of the wealthy 320 Proclaiming their sores, like so much peddler's wares, The one his battered head, t'other limbs unhealthy, One shows a wounded arm, and one a fracture bares. And all have eyes that are the eyes of slaves, Slaves flogged before their masters; 325 And each one begs, and each one craves:

743 / Hebrew

Reward me, Master, for that my skull is broken Reward me for my father who was martyred1. The rich ones, all compassion, for the pleas so bartered Extend them staff and bandage, say good riddance, and 330 The tale is told: The paupers are consoled. Avaunt ye, beggars, to the charnel-house! The bones of your fathers disinter! Cram them within your knapsacks, bear 335 Them on your shoulders, and go forth To do your business with these precious wares At all the country fairs! Stop on the highway, near some populous city, And spread on your filthy rags 340 Those martyred bones that issue from your bags, And sing, with raucous voice, your pauper's ditty! So will you conjure up the pity of the nations, And so their sympathy implore. For you are now as you have been of yore 345 And as you stretched your hand So will you stretch it, And as you have been wretched So are you wretched! What is thy business here, O son of man? 350 Rise, to the desert flee! Thy cup of affliction thither bear with thee! Take thou thy soul, rend it in many a shred! With impotent rage, thy heart deform! Thy tear upon the barren boulders shed! 355 And send thy bitter cry into the storm! c. 1936/1937

1948

744 / Poetry Translations

In the City of Slaughter [Version 2]

(In memoriam: The Martyrs of the Kishineff pogrom)

Arise, and go now — go to the city of slaughter! Into its inner courtyards make your way. There, with your own hands, touch, with your own eyes see splashed red! On brick, on tree, on fence, on stone, on clay, 5 The clotted blood and spilled brains of the dead! Proceed thence through the sacked city, the split walls reach, Where wider grows the hollow and greater grows the breach: Pass over the shattered hearths ... these broken walls ... Burnt brick ... and stripped foundations ... O, these reveal 10 The open mouths of such wounds as no mending Shall ever mend, nor healing ever heal! Litter of feathers ... bed-clothes ... rubble ... shards ... Wrecked household ware ... torn parchment ... trodden tome ... (What hopes lie tattered here! Scattered what garnered hoards!) 15 Breakage and fracture ... fragments again fragmented ... Pause not upon this havoc. Go your way. Though half their blossoms will be bloodied feathers, Though all their fragrance be the smell of blood, Still will the trees about you stand bright with sprig and spray ... 20 Their scents will stink in your nostrils, but Put down disgust, for, surely, not All things here are polluted ... still Do the golden shafts of sunlight spill

745 / Hebrew

25

Their sunshine on whatever's ill. The prisms of the broken glass Still gaily bid your anguish pass For God called up the slaughter and the spring together: The slayer slew, the blossom burst, and it was sunny weather!

You will fly this scene: you will come to a yard: observe its mound. 30 Upon the mound lie (headless) 2: A dog, a Jew. The one axe struck both down, and both were cast On to this common midden. To-night the pigs will root here at their strange new mast! 35 To-morrow the rains into the runnels will Dissolve this mingled flux to make one flood With feculence and swill. Not ever will be heard the voice of that blood! It will descend into the earth, will water the cockle-burr. 40 And all things will be as they were before ... As though they never were. You stumble up to an attic, stair by stair ... Over its shadows Death's still greater shadow broods. Here, from a darkened nook, from a covert corner, there, 45 A thousand eyes, from their murky quietudes, Pair and pair, Upon you fix their endless stare. The spirits of the martyrs are these souls, Made small with fear ... huddled together ... 50 Beneath these eaves ... in their ignoble holes! The hatchet found them here, and to this place they come To seal with a last look Their death, its shame; their life, its odium! Tumbling and stumbling ghosts, they cower here. 55 Their eyes beg, and their silence is worse than cry: Wherefore, O Lord, and why?

746 / Poetry Translations

This is a silence only God can bear. Survey this sanctum. Your eyes at the rafters stop. Nothing ... Even the damp has dripped its last cold drop. 60 But the spider - there! His eyes saw all these things! Let him weave witness And the tales bear: A tale of cloven belly, feather-stuffed ... Of nostrils skewered ... skulls smashed ... lives outsnuffed ... 65 Of slit throats dangling from the beams ... Of the spared babe, found warm at its mother's teat, The mother, speared, still feeding it ... Of how a dagger halved a child's last word: Its ma — was heard, its mama never heard. 70 O, even now his eyes from me demand accounting For these the tales the spider is recounting, Tales that do puncture the brain, such tales as sever Spirit from body and both from life forever! Here you will say to your heart: Enough! 75 Here you will stifle your anger, here you will try To sink down deep these things accursed, To make them small in your heart - lest your heart burst! You will leave that place. You will go your way. But see 80 The world is as it was, the sun still shines, It is a day like any other day. Into the dark, then, into the cellars of the town! There where the virginal daughters of our folk were fouled, Where seven heathen flung each woman down, 85 And fought to pre-possess, possessed them, and bespawled: The daughter in the presence of her mother, The mother in the presence of her daughter, Before slaughter, during slaughter, and after slaughter!

747 / Hebrew

90

Touch with your hands these sheets defiled, and touch These pillows incarnadined: Here did the stallions ramp it! This was the wild boars' couch! Here did your daughters swoon as the rabble Feasted here, and swined!

But the cream of the spectacle! ... In that dark corner, 95 Beneath that empty mortar, and from behind The broken staves of that cask, there crouched and watched Husbands ... bridegrooms ... brothers ... Watching Sister ... sweetheart ... wife ... 100 Each struggling, fighting, fluttering ... debauch'd! These - men - were - not - struck - blind! Saw shame, reaped rape, but, cautious, held their cry, Safe-silent, whimpered not, nor whined ... Debased, dishonor'd, they saw it all; 105 Self-hushed they lay, though racked; They did not move, nor stir, but stared Unseeing at the fact; They did not pluck their eyes out; they Preserved their minds intact, no Why, each one found it in his heart to pray: Work miracle, O Lord! - and spare my skin this day! Each dam who lived on, though ravished, who from this violence rose, Knew that within and without, from lappet and head to the toes, Pollution was hers, and smutching, and the light of her day at its close. 115 As for the men They crawled forth from their holes, they fled to the house of the Lord, They offered their thanks to Him, who was their Saviour and Sword. Their Cohanim sallied forth, to the Rabbi's house they flitted:

748 / Poetry Translations

120

Tell me, O Rabbi, say: Is my own wife still permitted? ... The episode ends. All things return to course. Things are not better than they were before, nor worse.

Come, now, and I will show you their hide-aways and lairs The privies, jakes, and pigpens where the heirs Of the Hasmoneans hid, and trembled at the knees 125 The scions of the lions! The sons of the Maccabees! And show you the dark refuge where the grandsons of the saints By twenties and by thirties did, cowering, abide, Declaring God's name sanctified, His glory magnified! A scuttering of rats — such was their scutter, 130 A scurrying of pismires was their flight. Like dogs, they lay dead in the gutter ... And, the next morning, after the dread night, The son who was not murdered found The cadaver of his father on the ground. 135 You weep? You cannot suffer this, nor stay? Gnash with your teeth, O son of man, and melt away! The city falls to a trough, and in that trough There is a park, and amidst that park's sweet green, A barn-like strange erection - a shed? - a stable? 140 Still stands — it was their abattoir — serene. Here like a coil of lizards, puffed and swollen, Like a cycle of vampires, still enlarged with suck, Involved and cogged, a wreckage of wild wheels Lies sunk in muck. 145 The hubs are bloodied, their felloes bent and buckled, Their spokes, like menace, stuck. Enter not yet. At sundown ... when the sun In blood and fire down the sky is rolled. Then enter — You will find yourself at terror's 150 Centre and heart; its circle will enfold You round about, terror

749 / Hebrew

Against the walls in darkness hiding Hovering from the rafters, horror, Terror through the silence sliding. 155 Did you not hear, from beneath the rutted wheels A stirring of crushed limbs? Broken and maimed Their bodies move a hub, a spoke Of the circular yoke [...] c. 1953/1953

*953

The Dance of Despair [Version i] Muppim and Huppim! Strike blows on your drums! Milalai, Gilalai - and set the fifes level! And pluck ye the catgut, the fiddle that strums! And be ye of good cheer! - and go to the devil! 5 There's no fish and no flesh, there's no bread and no cake! Shall we then eat our hearts out? O dancers, awake! For God's in His heaven, and He can do all; For His sake let's trip it in loud madrigal! Let the wrath of our souls and our heart's burning flame 10 Set all legs a-dancing, both lusty and lame, The dance that will be like to thunder and levin To shudder man's earth, and to startle God's heaven! Muppim and Huppim There's no milk and no honey; of wine, not a drop: Console you, console you, green gall fills the cup!

...

750 / Poetry Translations

15 So toast it To Life, and then quaff to the dregs Like men, and not palsied; then toss ye your legs, Go to, to the dance, to the dance with a will, The thrill on your faces, your voices a-thrill, So none will be wiser, nor friends, neither foe 20 Of your heart's final throb and your heart's last throe! Muppim and Huppim ... Without shirt, without shoe, without raiment or gown It is a small matter; for clothes wear you down! Wherefore, plumeless and plucked, let us - eagles - aspire And rise ever higher and higher and higher, 25 In the teeth of ill-luck and bad omen to fly Through the fury of tempest, the storm's raging cry! For shoeless or shod, you will go to your doom: Shod or shoeless, the dance always ends at the tomb. Muppim and Huppim ... Kith and kin, flesh and friends - woe, alas, there are none! 30 Who, then, is that body that you will lean on? So join you your fellow, and dancing aright, You will know strength and power, and glory and might. In one hurly-burly let all be enrolled, The dark hair of young men, the white of the old, 35 And let the dance whirl and the circle go Hither and yon, back and forth, to and fro. Muppim and Huppim ...

751 / Hebrew

No land nor estate, and no rafter nor roof: But keep you from fear, and from terror aloof. For wide is the world, and far-flung; wherefore, blessed 40 Who found for His people this much-scattered rest; And blessed He who roofed the wide world with His sky, Stuck the sun on a nail for a candle on high. And bless Him for every small favour and grace O praise Him with trumpets! With madrigals, praise! Muppim and Huppim ... 45 No glory, no splendour, foundation, nor truth! Has a cork stopped the welkin? Forfend it, forsooth! Our guardian, He sleeps not, forgets not our woes: He'll feed us, as He feeds His dogs and His crows! With leaping and hopping we will overcome 50 The errors we made in the mystical sum. And our paean of plagues and our dance of death Will shrive us of sin and of profane breath. Muppim and Huppim ... No pity, no right, no revenge, no reward, Must silence ensue then? The dumb have the word. 55 Give speech to the ankle; let leg and shank pour Their eloquent wrath on the stones of the floor. And let your dance circle, enkindling a fire Each footstep a faggot, the dance a great pyre! And thus, as the dance swells, and rises and falls, 60 You will shatter your skulls on the stones of the walls.

752 / Poetry Translations

Muppim and Huppiml Strike blows on your drums! Milalai, Gilalai - and set the fifes level! And pluck ye the catgut, the fiddle that strums! And be ye of good cheer! — and go to the devil! c. 1936/1937

1948

Dance of Despair [Version 2] Cry, Muppim and Huppim! Strike blows on your drums! Milalai! Gilalai! - to lips set the fife! Pluck wild at the catgut, with fingers, with thumbs! A wedding! ... Your father takes Lilith to wife! I

5 A wedding? No fish? Nor no meat? Neither bread nor yet cake? Shall we feast on our hearts, then? ... No. Dancers, awake! There's a God still in heaven, omnipotent there For His sake let's kick them, our feet in the air! Let the wrath of our souls and our heart's burning flame 10 Set all legs a-dancing, both lusty and lame, A dance that will be like as thunder and levin To shudder man's earth and to startle God's heaven!

753 / Hebrew II

There's no milk and no honey, of wine not a drop! But still there is liquor - there's gall in the cup! 15 Now, steady the hand, and drink down to the dregs! L'chaim! L'chaim! ... And again to your legs, To your legs, to the dance, to the dance with a will, The thrill on your faces, your voices a-thrill, So none will be wiser, nor friend, nor yet foe, 20 Of your heart's final throb and your heart's last throe! Ill

Without shirt, without shoe, without raiment or gown This is a small matter: for clothes wear you down! Wherefore, plumeless and plucked, let us — eagles - aspire And rise ever higher and higher and higher 25 In the teeth of ill-luck, of bad omen to fly Through the fury of tempest, the storm's raging cry! For shoeless or shod, we go towards the same doom: The very last step of the dance is ... the tomb. IV

Kith and kin, comrades, friends, - they are gone, there are none. 30 Whose, then, is the body that one may lean on?

754 / Poetry Translations

Your partner's - who partners your dance for this hour And brings you new strength and new might and new power! In one hurlyburly, then, let be enrolled The dark hair of young men, the white of the old, 35 And let the dance whirl and the circle go About and reverse, back and forth, to and fro! V

Neither lot nor yet plot, neither rafter nor beam! But fear not! Things are not as ill as they seem! For wide is the world, and far-flung; wherefore, blessed 40 Who found for His people this much-scattered rest; And blessed is He who nailed sun up on high And gave us for shelter the sheltering sky! O bless Him for every small favour and grace! O praise Him with trumpets! With madrigals, praise! VI

45 No glory! No splendour! The truth, too, is hid! Has a cork sealed the fountains of grace? ... God forbid! Our guardian, He sleeps not, forgets not our woes: He'll feed us, as He feeds - His dogs and His crows! So, leaping and hopping, let us overcome 50 The errors we made in the mystical sum,

755 / Hebrew

As our paean of plagues, as our jubilant shins Ablute us, acquit us, absolve us our sins! VII

No justice! No mercy! Reproof, nor reward! Must silence ensue then? ... The dumb have the word. 55 Give speech to the ankle; let leg and shank pour Their eloquent wrath on the stones of the floor; And let the dance circle, on legs or on crutches, To kindle, inflame whatsover it touches; And thus, as the dance swells, and rises, and falls, 60 Go shatter your skulls on the stones of the walls! Cry, Muppim and Huppim! Strike blows on your drums! Milalai! Gilalai! — to lips set the fife! Pluck wild at the catgut, with fingers, with thumbs! A wedding! ... Your father takes Lilith to wife! c. 1953/1953

*953

Seer, Begone [Version 1} 'Seer, begone!' One of my kind flees not! Slowly to walk, this I have learned from my herds. Nor has my tongue learned phrases finely wrought: Like the heavy blows of an axe, so fall my words.

756 / Poetry Translations

5 And if my strength is spent - 'tis not mine the fault! Yours is the guilt and you must bear the sin. My hammer found no anvil to cry halt; Wood that was rotten took my sharp axe in. Tis nothing. I make peace with this my fate. 10 I gird in my belt the rude tools of my art, A day-labourer, unpaid his wage and rate, Quietly as I came, I now depart. Unto my valley and my tent I go. I make a covenant with trees this day. 15 And as for you, who are corruption, know To-morrow the storm carries you away. c. 1936/1937

0 Thou Seer, Go Flee Thee - Away [Version 2 of 'Seer, Begone'] 'Fly! Run away!' Not such as I do run. 1 followed cattle, they taught me to walk slow. Slow comes my speech, my words come one by one The strokes of an axe they come down, blow by blow. 5 The strokes fell false? ... Not mine, not mine the blunder. Yours was the fault the strokes were falsely sunk: My hammer struck, and found no anvil under; My axe struck punk. No matter; I accept my fate, retire, 10 And gird my gear about my loins once more: A hired man, but cheated of his hire I will return - at my pace - to my door;

757 / Hebrew

And there, in the deep forest, will strike root With the great sycamore, and there hold firm; 15 But unto you, - rot, fungus, trodden fruit I prophesy - the whirlwind and the storm! c. 1953/c. 1955

When the Days Shall Grow Long And it shall come to pass when the days shall grow long And every day shall be like yesterday, and like the day before, Days that are merely days, little in profit and great in trouble, Then shall weariness lay hold of man and beast alike. 5 At twilight a man shall go forth, meditating, to the sea's edge, And behold, the waters shall not turn back, Wherefore he shall yawn and be wearied. He shall fare forth to the Jordan; lo, it shall not be driven back; He shall yawn, he shall be bored. 10 Orion and the Pleiades he shall behold; but they shall not stir from their places, Boredom shall encompass him, Wherefore they shall sit them down, man and beast, and grow mouldy together, And the burden of their lives shall be heavy upon them; Out of great desolation, a man shall pluck the hairs from his head, 15 And the cat shall lose its whiskers. Then lonesomeness shall rise up, Of its own self rise, like stale mushrooms in the bole of a rotted tree. Lonesomeness shall fill up hollow and crack, Like vermin snuggling in rags. 20 And it shall come to pass that when a man

758 / Poetry Translations

Shall repair to his tent at dusk to break his bread And shall dip his crumb and his herring in vinegar, Then shall lonesomeness take hold of him; When he shall drink his cup, lukewarm, stagnant, 25 Longing shall suddenly be his; And when he shall fling his shoe and sock into a corner near the bedpost, He shall be sick with longing. They shall sit, then, man and beast together; longing shall consume them; From great longing a man shall moan in his dreams, 30 The cat shall lament, and a scratching upon the tin roof shall be heard. Then hunger shall appear; A hunger mighty and great, unlike any before, Not hunger for bread or bard, but hunger for the Messiah! Every morning, with the blossoming of the sun, shall rise 35 Man from his bed, from the privacy of his tent, Broken by the sleepless tossings of the night, sated with dreams, empty-souled, The web of troubled sleep still upon his lashes, terror of the night still in his bones, And still the ululating of the cat in his ears, and the tattoo of his claws digging in his brains and entrails, And he shall hasten to the windowpane; he shall wipe off its vapour; 40 He shall hurry to his threshold; he shall roof his eyes with the palm of his hand; He shall lift his unwashed eyes, fevered, and hungry for salvation, Regarding the lane beyond the wall, the heap of rubbish near his house, And he shall seek his Messiah! His wife shall wake from beneath the sheets, 45 Unkempt of hair, low-spirited, scrawny and peaked,

759 / Hebrew And shall remove her shrivelled breast from the mouth of her sucking child, And she shall mightily hearken: Is that the sound of the Messiah's tread? Did you not hear the braying of his ass? 50 Yea, even a child from the cradle shall lift up its head, And a rat from his hole shall peep: 7s that the sound of the Messiah's tread? Did not the bells upon his ass's harness jingle? And the maidservant panting at the kettle in the scullery 55 Shall poke out her besmirched face: Is that the sound of the Messiah's tread? Did you not hear the blast upon his ram's horn? ... c. 1936/1937

^948

The Word Fling, O prophet, the coal of fire from thine altar; Cast it before the crass, the lewd; Upon it let them roast their meats, and heat their kettles, And warm the palms of their hands! 5 Fling also unto them, the spark of thy heart; and let it kindle The cigarette between their teeth, and light The crafty smile that lies in ambush underneath mustache, The snare that lies in waiting in their eyes. Behold them strut, these gentlefolk, behold them go 10 Twittering the prayers that you taught them. They suffer your anguish, yea, they hope your hope - they long For the destruction of your very altars: Whereupon they will make haste to the ruins, snout among the ruins, Carry away the broken stones,

760 / Poetry Translations 15 To sink them in the floor of their hearths, place them in the garden-wall, Set them, monuments on cemeteries! And if among the shards they will discover Your charred heart Why, to the kennels they will fling it! c. 1936/1937

Thy Breath, O Lord, Passed Over and Enkindled Me [Version i] Thy breath, O Lord, passed over and enkindled me. Thy fingertips did briefly pluck my heart-strings. I held me back; the storm in my heart I spoke not. My heart on itself enfolded, my song not flowing from my throat. 5 Wherewith shall I enter thy temple, how shall my prayer be clean ? For my speech, O Lord is unworthy, and is profanity's self. There is no word unbefouled, and that to the very root, No phrase which besmirched lips have left unuttered and clean. No syllable left unsaid in the very house of shame. 10 I have seen them, the white doves, at dawn, soar heavenwards, And then at dusk return, dark ravens schooled in dirt, An ugly caw in their throats, and carrion in their beaks. Loud drumming words have beset me, harlots surrounding me They glitter with false jewels, pretty themselves with [...] 15 The paint is thick on their eyes, and rottenness in their bones They fondle the children of lust, the bastards of thought and pen. Impudent, false they all are, proud-tongued and empty of heart

761 / Hebrew

Like thorn and like wildgrass they grow; there is no fleeing from them. And daily with spilling of slops, with pouring of cesspool 20 Their odour assaileth the nose of him who pours out his heart Alone in his room, and who seeks to cleanse the breath of [...] Whither to flee from their stench, and where from the horde to hide Where is the seraph to cleanse my lips with a coal of fire. I shall go to the birds of the field, that twitter the coming of dawn 25 I shall rise, I shall go to the tots, the children that play in the gates [...] go in their midst I shall learn, their [...], their laughter, I Shall wash my speech in their purity, be clean with the breath of their mouths c. 1936/c. 1937

A Spirit Passed before Me [Version 2 of Thy Breath, O Lord, Passed Over and Enkindled Me'] A spirit passed before my face, it dazzled me; for an instant your fingertip, O Lord, quivered the strings of my heart. I stood there humbled, hushed, all ardor quelled. My 5 heart curled within me; my mouth could not muster a psalm. And, in truth, with what was I to come into the Temple? And how could my prayer ever be pure? For my speech, O Lord, is altogether abhorrent, has 10 become a broth of abomination. There is not a word in it that has not been infected to

762 / Poetry Translations

the root; not a phrase but heard and it is mocked, not a locution but it has boarded in a house of shame. My doves, my pure doves, that I had sent forth at dawn 15 towards the sky, at dusk they came back, and, behold, they were crows! From their throats there issued the rook's cawing; their beaks stank of carcasses; naturalized of the dungheaps, my doves! 20

It encompasses me, this cluttering rampage of language, it surrounds me, like a wreathing of harlots gone out on the town. They glitter their gewgaws and gauds, they preen themselves, their eyes are fucus'd red, rot is in their bones. 25 This is their grace.

And at their skirts there trail the imps of incest, bastards of the pen, the get of fancy, words monstrous, arrogant, loathsome, a flux from empty-cockled hearts. As the wildgrass they grow, they multiply like the 30 thistle, there is no escape from them. Daily, as the gutters are swept and the urinals emptied, their fetor, too, rises and corrupts the air, penetrates even to the man shut solitary in his room, unsabbaths his peace. Where shall I run from this stench? Where shall I hide 35 from this jangle? Where is the seraph and his gleed shall cauterize my lips? Only in the twittering of the birds, twittering at sunrise, or in the company of little children, playing in the street 40 their simple games, only there may I be cleansed. I will go, therefore, I will mingle with them, I will join

763 / Hebrew

in the aleph-bais of their talk and their lessons: and in that clean breath feel clean again. c. 1953/c. 1955

Upon the Slaughter Heavenly spheres, beg mercy for me! If truly God dwells in your orbit and round, And in your space is His pathway that I have not found, Then you pray for me! 5 For my own heart is dead; no prayer on my tongue; And strength has failed, and hope has passed: O until when? For how much more? How long? Ho, headsman, bared the neck - come, cleave it through! Nape me this cur's nape! Yours is the axe unbaffled! 10 The whole wide world - my scaffold! And rest you easy: we are weak and few. My blood is outlaw. Strike, then; the skull dissever! Let blood of babe and graybeard stain your garb Stain to endure forever! 15 If Right there be, - why, let it shine forth now! For if when I have perished from the earth The Right shine forth, Then let its Throne be shattered, and laid low! Then let the heavens, wrong-racked, be no more! 20 - While you, O murderers, on your murder thrive, Live on your blood, regurgitate this gore! Who cries Revenge! Revenge! - accursed be he! Fit vengeance for the spilt blood of a child The devil has not yet compiled ...

764 / Poetry Translations

25 No, let that blood pierce world's profundity, Through the great deep pursue its mordications, There eat its way in darkness, there undo, Undo the rotted earth's foundations! c. 1936/0. 1937

Stars Flicker and Fall in the Sky Stars flicker and fall in the sky, All melts in the gloom, part to part. Darkness falls on the world, and falls The shadow across my heart. 5 Dreams flicker and wane and fall; Hearts blossom, and burst, and fade: O, look in my heart and see The ruin time has made! All pray for the light, the light! 10 All pray for the rising sun. But weary and dark are these prayers Each ending as it was begun! O, how the long nights drag on! O even the moon cannot keep 15 Awake, but weary, must yawn, Waiting for day and for sleep. c. 1953/c. 1955

1-94%

765 / Hebrew

IMMANUEL (BEN SOLOMON) OF ROME

The Prescription

Summoned to attend this beautiful lady, eight days ailing, I found the subject couched on a bed of ivory, clothed in fine linen, reclining on purple. I was proceeding — courteously and in my best bedside manner — To take her pulse when in a great access of modesty this lady ups 5 And claps cloth to wrist! I was not a little annoyed; I would even the score; wherefore Upon her swathed wrist I further placed a brick, and having called for fire-tongs, Went through a pantomime of probing with them The brick that held the cloth that hid the wrist. 10

15

20

Then I cried out: O this lady is most seriously ill! Treatment delayed too long, There is no time to be lost now! I prescribe For immediate preparation - but immediate! Wolf's horn; tincture of marble; three scruples of moonlight; Hen's milk (the hen a year old); one mob's eye; the gall of a pigeon; the plume Of a red raven, and To be added thereto, shadow, and of galbanum the mere odour. Do not forget, moreover, the frog's tail, the dash of ostrich-milk, the murmuration of a dove. The above Mollified with the oil of two cloves of pomegranate, and

766 / Poetry Translations

Boiled in a vessel of wax, then Sprinkled upon the skins of flayed ants Is to be applied at sunset to the abdominal region. Should the ailment resist such medication, 25 Make use of the following: The plucked beard of an infant, so scorched in the waters of the Mare Rubrum That the fumes thereof rise to the lady's delicate nostrils. It is important that with the hairs - black - of the palm of her hand You degratinate her tongue. 30

Such is my diagnosis, and such my prescription, Remedy drawn from the pharmacopoeias of experts: My authors are Hippocrates, Razzi, Avenzohar, and other eminences of science. c. 1953/c. 1955

MICAH JOSEPH LEBENSOHN

Wine 'And wine maketh glad the life ...' Ecclesiastes 10.19 Like an arrow shot To Death from Birth: Such is your lot, Your day upon earth.

767 / Hebrew

5 Each moment is A graveyard board For moments that Come afterward. Now Death and Life 10 Like brethren act: Beneath the sky They made their pact. So Void and Vita Destroy, create; 15 Now swallow up, Regurgitate. The past is past; The future lies Still overcast; 20 The present flies. Who shall rejoice Us, scatter woe, Make sweet our life And bring Death low! 25 My hearties, wine! Wine scatters woe, Makes glad the life, And brings Death low! c. i937/1937

1937

768 / Poetry Translations YEHUDA HALEVI

To Jerusalem the Holy In sooth, what savoure hath now food for me? How can I hie me to the sote feste The while that I in western londe be, And my forweped herte is in the east? 5 In what wyse, eek, shall I my vow express, Zion, mine oath to thee, how shall I show Sith thou art bound in bond of heathenesse And I in Maurish fetters am laid low? - The splendour and richesse of alle Spain, 10 Y-wis it is a smal thing in mine eyn Whan that I long for to behold agayn Even the pore duste of thy shende shrine! c. 1936/1936

Bear Thou, O Wind, My Love Bear thou, O wind, my love Upon thy wing And bring it at the cool Of evening 5 To him of whom I ask Remembering The days before we went Awandering And swore our love forever 10 Convenanting

1948

769 / Hebrew

Beside the apple-tree That blossoming spring. c. 1936/c. 1938

Lord, Hele Me, Y-wis I Shal Be Heled Lord, hele me, y-wis I shal be heled! Lat not thine anger brennen, nor me y-brent, My medecin, or stronge or weak, been thine My lechecraft, or good or ill, Thine is the choice, and no physician's And of thy lore is if fair or foul. Certes it is not on mine lechecraft that I lean, But only on thine healing, O my lord. c. i936/c. 1938

Ode to Zion 1

Grieving for them, thy captive sons who are The last sheep of thy flock, O Zion, take, Accept from them their greeting from afar, Their greeting and their longing and their ache. 5 Receive the homage of thy vassal, whose Tears, like the dew of Hermon, seek thy hills, Where he would be a jackal, all night long Wailing thy bitter news,

770 / Poetry Translations

Where he would dream away thy manacles, 10 And be the harp melodious for thy song! 2

Peniel! Bethel! Manhanayim! sod Where walked thy saints, where rests the Immanence, Whose gates are open to the gates of God, Whose light is not the light of firmaments 15 But the illumination of the Lord! Shrines holy! Where I would pour out my soul As was the spirit of the Sacred One Upon you once out-poured, How have you fallen to an evil dole, 20 Where slaves now lord it from your sullied throne!

3

Thy ruins, thy waste places, and thy void, Thy dwellings rendered rubble and small rock, The chambers of thy cherubim destroyed Yea, there, though bleeding, barefoot, would I walk, 25 I will cut off my hair, and that day curse That flung thy crowned ones among heathen foes; I'll fast, for food and drink must surely reek When I behold the curs, Tearing the lion's litter, and day shows 30 The eagle bleeding from the raven's beak! 4 O Zion, altogether beautiful! Thy sons rejoice them in thy time of peace. And in thy sorrow, their cup, too, is full. They weep thy ruins, yet they never cease 35 From striving towards thee from captivity. They bend the knee unto thy gates, thy sons, Scattered on mountains, driven over seas, Remembering, Zion, thee, Yearning to touch the plinth of thy shattered stones 40 O but to touch the boughs of thy palm-trees!!

771 / Hebrew

5 Can Shinar and Pathros equal thee for glory? Can Urim and Thummim be surpassed by spells? With whom compare thy kings, thy prophets hoary, Thy Levites and thy singers? All things else 45 Will pass away - idol, idolater Only thy crown is for eternity! Thou art God's dwelling place, His goodly booth! O none is happier Than he who with thee waits thy dawn to see 50 Thee once again as Thou wast in thy youth! 6 God granted that I might go wandering Where He to seer and prophet was revealed. God gave me wings that I might fly; and fling My broken heart upon thy broken field. 55 O, I will fall upon my face, and kiss The very stones, so blessed in thine earth; I will take hold of thee, thy clods, thy soil, Thy very dustiness, And hold it as a thing of extreme worth 60 Prized above rubies, and the richest spoil.

c. ±936/c. 1938

O Dove beside the Water Brook O dove beside the water brook On whom my eyes delight to look! Lo, silver may be found and mined The like o' my dove one cannot find

1948

772 / Poetry Translations

5 So fair, so beautiful a gem Like Tirzah, like Jerusalem. Why fareth she upon the way To rest in different tents each day When in my heart a dwelling is [...] 10 Her breasts which wrought on me such spell The wizards of Mizraim well Might learn therefrom new magic duty Have tricked me, kept my heart for booty. Consider the precious gem how that 15 It pales, it blushes, shades, goes bright And wonder that from this one heaven There flash illuminations seven. Convert the adder's bane to honey Though many a wight does wed for money 20 I do not take, but give to thee My heart a double dowerie. c. 1936/c. 1938

O Heighte Sovereign, O Worldes Prys O heighte sovereign, O worldes prys Of the greete King most wonder fair citee My soul y-bannyshed by weste, flies The mappemounde for to seken thee!

773 / Hebrew

5 Whan I remembre me thy whilom glorie Thine honour gone, thy wonnyngen to-broke Swich pitee and swich routhe been in that storie My tonge y-parched is, my throte achoke. God yif me egle's wings for to flee! 10 Than wolde I soore, ever onward thrust To raughten the plot of thy sanctitee And water with my teeres they sacred dust. Al be thy King is gon, and in the plas Of Gilead's bawme, is serpent's baneful rage 15 And snak and scorpioun on public ways Yet have I longed for this pilgrimage. Swich pilgrimage is certes stoniness. O then wolde I thy very stones kiss Then sweeter than honey that fro the flowers drips 20 Shal be the taste of this erth upon my lips! c. 1936/c. 1938

Rubaiyat of Yehuda Halevi i From him whom Love's sweet anguish now destroys, Wherefore withold the heralds of thy choice, O lovely one? Dost thou not know that he Desires but the greeting of thy voice? 2

5 Since parting, parting now divides our days Stay yet a while; let me regard thy face;

774 / Poetry Translations

I know not if my heart remains with me, Or with thee wanders forth upon thy ways. 3 0 may my dreams into thy dreams take flight! 10 I charge thee, by the life of love, keep bright, As I have kept, the nights of our desire, The memory of the days of our delight. 4 A sea of tears between us, O dear heart! 1 seek to cross; I fail. Do thou but start 15 Towards it, and I swear the waters would Before the falling of thy footsteps, part. 5 Surely I shall, even from the grave's distress, Inquire of my darling's happiness. O grant it me that in that tomb I hear 20 The tingling of the bells upon her dress! 6 Wherefore deniest thou my blood is shed? Thy hands have shed my heart's blood; I have bled. And this my word two witnesses confirm: Thy cheeks of scarlet, and thy lips of red. 7 25 A smile upon thy lips: the ruby glows Over the row of pearls! The sun's light grows Upon thy face, but when thy raven hair Thereon is spread, night comes, and daylight goes! 8 Some do adorn themselves with charms, man-made; 30 But thou in glory and splendour art arrayed; Beauty and grace the raiment of thine eyes, Than silk which clothes thee finer, than brocade.

775 / Hebrew

9 Between the honey of thy kisses, and The gall of parting, it doth take its stand, 35 My heart which thou hast made into thin plate, And torn to shreds, and cut in many a strand! 10 My spikenard and my myrrh upon thy breast My honey on thy lips, I do request From fate but these two gifts: the scarlet thread 40 Upon thy lips, the girdle of thy waist. 11 Thy voice I cannot hear, but hear I do Upon my heart thy footsteps passing through O from those footsteps may I gather up The blossoms so besprent with my heart's dew! 12 45 Daughters and sons wish freedom's sweet release To be thy slaves, thy handmaidens; and these, These much desire to be thy kith and kin: The Sun and Moon, the Plough, the Pleiades!

c. 1936/1938

1946

776 / Poetry Translations Poets of the Yishuv

ABRAHAM BROIDES

Upon the Highway I I know the path of camels in the sand; The burden of the heavy hump of woe; The tryst with the Messiah. I know the labour in the quarries, the 5 Cleaving of ancient boulders, and I know The tryst with the Messiah. II

Good is the sanctuary of mine eastern sun, To wed my lips unto the lips of wells, To bless the Creator. 10 And good to hunger among friends, and eat The green tomato and the sooted bun, And bless the Creator. c. 1931/1931

1931

777 / Hebrew URI ZVI G R E E N B E R G

Kings of the Emek What is the crown of kings, and what the glory That troubadours have sung in seventy tongues To royalty ensconced in palaces? What is the marvel of blue blood in kings? 5 The time has come for men to stand erect, Though shoeless, in a tattered gaberdine, And know the benison of fingers ten, The worth of native soil to simple men: By heart let young men con this Hebrew epic; 10 The splendour of the barefoot pilgrimage Of this most modern age; For we have seen the red of Hebrew blood Streaming through fields and making soft the glebe Gentiles who sowed in joy, in gladness reaped ... 15 Now do we know fertility of a desert Now do we know why monarchs of the Emek Are not arrayed in purple ... c. 1931/1931

1946

778 / Poetry Translations

Mother Jerusalem

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10

15

20

25

30

I have left my comrades, and the four ells of my youth I have abandoned. I kissed the parched lips of no mother, and the hand of a father I pressed not. My way lay before me upon the sea, for dawn had risen on the waters, and the Lord beckoned to the sailor from the sea towards Jerusalem. Jerusalem - the Holy City! Suzerain of the soul's domain! Source of red blood in the veins! Shrine of prayer for the forsaken! City of Splendour and the vision of the dying! The Shekina looks down from a casement. The Shekina weeps upon crags. Yet to me, O Jerusalem, thou art the body of my mother, lacerated; every stone a limb lopped off, and its blood, ever flowing, never seen - the soul's blood! Thy head was, and is not; the skull is shattered. Upon thy neck they have yoked a mosque, House of Glory for the Moslems, even as a winding sheet over a dead body, a winding sheet in which the blood below has been sponged. Upon thy shoulders, Ephraim died, the minion in his purple, and Benjamin, in his silk, he who made choice of the moon. And the sunsets in Gischala were bloody with thy blood. A wall, terrible it is, encircles thy poverty, it has the darkness of stones, and thy silence was a great crying, heard of the lunatic and the saint in his agony. As of yore the sun still stands in its strength, as in the days of the Temple. In no wise shall you make her small; her day is long for thy torture. Behold we stand in the furnace, and are burnt so that thou may'st live.

779 / Hebrew

I stood upon the ramparts; the last legion of Beth-David, children of Europe, a riddle most maddening. And as I saw in the waste of the fields no vineyards, but thy shame, and the abomination that is on thy hem, and the terror that cometh with night. And the anguish whispering in the blood of thine hands - for 40 the prophecies of thy prophets were fulfilled - alas, the woe! Then was the desire in me to bellow like a bull: Jerusalem, how dost thou suffer this terror and this shame, and dost not tumble down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, as 45 into a grave?

35

If I regard the city with closed eyes, a marvel let it be. Would that I could stand here until the end of time and regard it with closed eyes, yea, and be silent; would that I could bring my lips to hers, parched as the lips of 50 my mother who is one. One wall of the Temple is there for me: quietly I murmur to its stones, city and mother Jerusalem! At night - a shuddering ... On strange ladders they mount to you, thy moon-sick ones - yea they are sick with 55 love. They clamber up this wall; they walk on its stones as on coals! Is this indeed Jerusalem? And they fall into the darkness between the chasm of cold rocks. It irks me that I entered thy gates in no golden tallis even as the High Priest entered towards dusk, when the stars 60 went forth upon the roofs to sing of love. And it irks me when Jews walk within thy gates, no psalms upon their lips, and their arms not raised like menorahs. c. 1931/1931

1940

780 / Poetry Translations

JUDAH KARNI (VALOVELSKI)

Be There No Altar Be there no altar, then upon high places I offer up my humble sacrifice; And be the city asleep with a thousand faces I sound the loud alarum of my sighs. 5 Be there no temple, I will mightily shatter The remnant of this much-demolished wall; Be there no holy water, I will spatter Upon this city the swift blood of my skull. Nor priest, nor prophet — assuredly I shall 10 Lay hands on leper, perjurer, pariah, Saying: Art thou the one whom men do call Messiah? c. 1931/1931

1932

Make Blind, O Sun of Jerusalem Make blind, O Sun of Jerusalem, and shrivel The pupils of mine eyes; for I desire Never to see these barren crags, the evil Fallen upon the heritage of my sire. 5 Smite me, O Sun of Jerusalem, with fever! Like a dead fondling let me roll upon

781 / Hebrew

The refuse of the Lord, and of his cities. With wildernesses I shall not be one. Slay me at mid of day before the vision 10 Of mine own people; with my ultimate breath Let me undo Jerusalem's sad derision, If not in my life, at least upon my death. c. 1931/1931

1932

With Every Stone Set me in breaches of the wall, with stone; Establish me with mallets; let me be A hostage for my folk; let me atone The sin of them who let this ruin be. 5 How good to know I am a stone with stones Of Jerusalem; how good to bind my soul Unto this wall! Should humbler be my bones Than this my spirit, kin to my people's goal? With stone of Jerusalem take me and fling 10 All in this rampart; set your lime thereon. Then, from the crumbled walls let my bones sing To the anointed one. c. 1931/1931

*934

782 / Poetry Translations

DAVID SHIMONI (SHIMONOVITZ)

The Glory of the Homeland The moon set; the sky darkened; and the stars Gained splendour as if pumiced once again. It was, as if this while, the moon gone down, Their usurped realm was vindicated; and 5 The conflagration of their beauty rose. Quick was their lustre; all about was silence, Save for the murmur, when the ear inclined To hearken to the music of the spheres. They wove their golden lace on pale-blue samite 10 The wondrous scripture of their blaze they writ In such wise that eternity revealed Its secrets ... The youth regarded them, these festive heavens, In silence sucked their beauty, drank their light 15 And sought to make them in his soul, a soul ... Quoth the poet. My soul most greatly humbled in this land: Nature unwound its scroll - I could not read, Strange alphabet! and syntax esoteric! 20 Truly was I ensorceled by this beauty, Yet hardly had my bird-heart quivered, hardly Had glory filled me, but I knew my soul To be sojourning still in lands of exile ... The palm-tree I beheld; the poplar-tree 25 Drew me with its sad beauty. Winter cast A spell on me; I dreamed of wastes of snow. My self most greatly humbled, it knew not That nature makes no haste to drop the veil, Showing her face to strangers.

...

783 / Hebrew

30 My labours I began. In Galilee We paved roads. I crushed stones. The sun Glowed down upon me on my quarried rocks. The sun glowed, but the sun dried not my sweat ... Upon my right, the hills; upon my left 35 The thundering of waves; I heeded neither. Weary, forespent was I; a very infant At this hard labour, yet withal no laggard. No time to raise my eyes to heaven, and No time to marvel at my green environs ... 40 Only of nights in dreams there shone before me The hills of Galilee, its skies; I heard The sound of many waters, and in waking My heart rejoiced at dawn, and it was glad. I passed on to Judaea, planted trees 45 In Kiriath Ya'arim, in Rehoboth herded, In Bair Tobia I broke soil; in Gederah I was a watcher, and in Petach Tikvah I led clear water to the golden groves. Mine the first fruits. And then a teamster, I! 50 I ceased to brood on nature and her beauty. When suddenly one night while I was sitting Before the stable-door, I felt I knew, The cataract had fallen from my eyes, The magic of the night grew kin to me, 55 It stood revealed, most lofty and most near, After a long estrangement, known to me. I now regard the sky, though lofty, near, The pangs of exile I recall; recall The ecstasy of revelation; and 60 My heart brims over, I am spent with joy, Drunken with glory ... c. 1931/1931

1935

784 / Poetry Translations ABRAHAM SHLONSKY

Behold

Behold my country — the carcass of a savage, Its hide is parchment - parchment for a Torah Upon which the eternal quill Has writ the word of God. 5 Where is the aborigine who may read This scroll of Genesis? Where is he, worthy to don tallis In answer to the summoning of the Torah? Perhaps these are the camels 10 That wandered in the wilderness Out of the paths, well-trodden of the Lord ... That now do scratch their humps Against the feet of the Heavenly throne ... Behold the camels of Gilboa lying down! 15 Strike well, O sun of Tammuz, upon my scaly land! We will draw from the udders of the night The milk of dew. c. 1931/1931

1946

785 / Hebrew

Sabbath The funnels of the ship have ceased to smoke. No more the mermaid weeps upon the ocean. The Sabbath skies descend on earth which broods, Like an old beldam at her long devotion. 5 For they are seven, the days within the week, And seven the branches of the tall menorah. And he who lights the candelabra, he Will pour the oil that spreads its golden aura. O pour the oil; regard what joy, what song 10 From this thy golden goblet has been poured On roofs, on pleasaunces, on desert sands! Behold thy hand has spilled this thing, O Lord! Do you recall our singing, in strange ships When, for thy name's sake, we sailed to thy shore: 15 'When Jews will come to Palestine Joy will try each man's door.' Have you forgotten? Behold your hand stretched out. Stretched out to welcome us upon our way. O, surely we will take the highest seat 20 At the great feast of thy great Sabbath-day. c. 1931/1931

1931

786 / Poetry Translations MORDECAI TEMKIN

Unfavoured I am not favoured with the arms Of conquerors and homeland pioneers, Yet at a distance I do take my place, My arms outstretched, 5 These my white arms. Humbled indeed am I when these arms rest, These delicately-veined arms rest upon my knees, And when before me, A forest of bruised arms bear gifts: 10 The pale wounds of the land. Yet none will know. My ear attends. A faithful steed, I snort at every sound Heard from the farthest parasangs 15 The sound of bright staves driven into land Forsaken. Such is the covenant of the land. Yea, and at the blows of hammers Upon thy gates, Jerusalem, 20 I tremble, I arise, I rise from off my couch to greet the guests. No man can know that lowliness of love When empty are the lover's hands. So, even as a beggar at a garden-fence 25 In the fields of Jezreel, I stand forlorn. c. 1931/1931

1931

787 / Hebrew

RACHEL (RACHEL BLUWSTEIN)

Now Such Am I ... Now such am I; as quiet As waters in a pool, as calm; Loving unfestive peace, the eyes of little children, And the poems of Francis Jammes. 5 Once long ago, my soul arrayed in purple, I stood on mountain peaks, And was as one with the great winds And with the eagle's shrieks! 10

Once long ago - ah, that was long ago! Times change; times pass away. And now Behold me, me today! c. 1937/1937

Rachel Her blood flows in my blood; Her voice in mine is heard, Rachel, great ancestress, Keeper of Laban's herd. 5 My house is small for me, The city strange, since her

1946

/88 / Poetry Translations Wide robes were fluttered in The desert air.

10

Wherefore I shall keep fast Unto my chosen ways Knowing my very limbs Hold memories of those days! c. 1937/1937

1946

Kinnereth It may be these things never did occur. Perhaps, somehow, I never did arise at break of day To do labour in the garden 5 With the sweat of my brow; Did never, in the long and fiery days Of harvest time, High on the wagon laden with its sheaves, Lift up my voice in rhyme; 10 Did never bathe within the blue And quiet of your stream, O my Kinnereth, O Kinnereth mine! Were you, indeed? Or did I dream a dream? c. i937/!937

1

951

789 / Hebrew

Dawn A jug of water in the hand, and on My shoulder - basket, spade, and rake. To distant fields, — to toil - my path I make. Upon my right, the great hills fling 5 Protecting arms; before me - the wide fields! And in my heart, my twenty Aprils sing ... Be this my lot, until I be undone: Dust of thy road, my land, and thy Grain waving golden in the sun! c. i937/:t937

*946

The Childless One Would that I had a little boy, A wise lad, and with raven locks, To take him by the hand, and walk Slowly upon the garden-walks. 5 And 'Uri' would I call my son, A delicate name, and full of joy, A name that is a sunbeam - such The name of my small winsome boy. Yet 10 Yet Yet For

shall I grow bitter, like Mother Rachel ... shall I pray, like Hannah in Shiloh ... shall I wait him.

c. 1937/^937

1946

YIDDISH

MORDECAI ETZIONY

The Prayer of a Physician

(Dedicated to the memory of Rabbeinu Moses-ben-Maimon)

To Thee, O great Arcane, Creation's Force and Source, Of nature Fons et Origo, Prime Mover! 5 - O be-Thou-what-Thou-be! To Thee, in my dire helplessness, I make my prayer. Not for the sake of fame desired, Nor yet for fortune's sake, 10 But for the sake of those who in delirium cry, And those who in their agony lie broken, I do address myself to Thee. O, not - forfend it! - that I envy Thy might And of Thy wisdom am jealous, 15 I plead, but for the sake of flesh that is wounded,

791 / Yiddish

And limbs that move not I send my prayer to Thee. Thou who hast poured of Thy wisdom Upon the heads of Pasteur, Hippocrates, 20 And on Maimonides, Fount of philosophy, Accept my plea! Do make sharp my senses That without error or confusion 25 They may perceive. Make clear to my sight The body's eloquent flaws, its diagnostic rash, And from my hearing Let not the least stutter of the pulse 30 Escape. Make them strong and hale, The twelve-score-and-eight members of my frame! Teach them to serve me Altogether and in harmony: 35 When I fare forth to the sick-bed, Let them not tremble, my hands; Nor my feet, stumble. So that I choose, straightway, and without doubt, The remedy to follow the disease, 40 Make straight my judgement, Make straight my judgement that I may know, And keen my perception that I may recognize Each illness in its particularity. Let no invalid by my error be undone. 45 To others' pain, make sensitive my soul, And to another's anguish open my heart. And O - if the healing of mine enemy is in my hand, Cleanse me of hatred.

792 / Poetry Translations

Preserve me, Thou great Healer, 50 From envying my fellow his leechcraft, His scope and reach. May his insight and inventions bring Joy and well-being Also to me. 55 Source of all Truth! Aid me against stiff-neckedness and pride. Teach me humility to know The angle of my own shortsightedness. And never let — O never let 60 An ill man through my error be undone, Nor through that error, Thy holy name be soiled. And grant, grant that the courage and self-sacrifice, Which shone up through the lives Of Koch, Ricketts, and Noguchi, 65 Illumine also my dark path. c. 1947/1947

1947

JACOB GLATSTEIN

The Eleventh: In Memory of Isaac, Son of the Tailor Not Abraham did this altar build; Not his own father his death willed. It was that knave, that Rasha, who Out of the prayerbook led this Jew. 5 O God, for that he was to a pious mother born His flesh by combs of iron will be torn.

793 / Yiddish

A humble tradesman it was the Teuton-Tartar Elected to make saint and martyr. How good it is that from the holy script he never strayed: 10 For now he is himself into the prayerbook prayed, Himself a part of the machzor made! The son of a tailor, he Is now himself intoned into our sacred liturgy! Of him all future generations will make encomium. 15 Open, ye, therefore, a way: To the ten martyrs, the eleventh is come! c. 1947/1947

1947

The Gifted One The Lord, He endowed him with herds and with flocks, And children, bright and yet orthodox, Capacious trousers, a vest armorial, And all for himself a privy marmoreal. 5 Also He gave him, munificently A largess of talent, from cap-a-pie So shaking the palmleaf and citron, God's praise he intones. For he has, and possesses, and has, and owns. The palms, like rhymes, about his mansion grow. 10 It is with sadness, smug and satisfied, This poet lathers his muzzle to and fro. With him on Sabbaths visiting critics are at ease, Caressing his well-bred vulgarities. O, his cows are Jewish! 15 And they read Holy Writ, his roosters solemn! With a defunctive myrtle-branch he tickles his spinal column.

794 / Poetry Translations Hosannahs, therefore, and praises! A plague the envious ones! For he has, and possesses, and has, and owns. An ogre, he marches over the world, valleys and hills. 20 His pockets jingle with coinage, and crepitate with bills. He grows fatter and grosser, and slobbers and slavers, And with fondling rhymes Commiserates all the poor not-havers, Winking the while to the God he enthrones, 25 For he has, and possesses, and has, and owns. c. 1947/1947

1947

Smoke Up from the chimney of the crematory Spirals a Jew towards the Lord of Glory; And as his smoke is volatiled Upward there curl his wife and child. 5 O there in the skyey cenotaphiums There weep and wander their sacred fumes. Lord God, where Thou art sought All of us also there are - not. c. 1947/1947

1947

795 / Yiddish

MOYSHE LEIB HALPERN

Portrait of the Artist Small freckles constellate my face; Among my black hairs, white ones run; I am not handsome; I am not An Adonis, lovely one. 5 Platyrhine nose and devil's brow. My lips are lupine in intent; Howbeit those my eyes are blue, Are blue and most benevolent. My feet are motionless before 10 The dancers in their madrigal, To music both my big ears are Appreciative as a wall ... But with a heart that hammers out My song, I sing me as I please, 15 While to its tempo the world hops, The world hops to my liturgies ... The eagle has his mighty wings, Behold I have my mighty arms! And life is struggle? I have blood 20 That answers to its loud alarms ... c. 1932/1932

1932

796 / Poetry Translations

Canticum Canticorum

5

10

15

20

25

30

This song is greater than all others: In the beginning there were three brothers. One of the dreamy eyes, One sturdy as an oak, And one who stalked about, his head bent by a yoke. He of the dreamy eyes Unto himself did take the moon; The sturdy one Mortgaged the sun; For the yoked head remained the darkness without noon. Therefore he wept with a great weeping. It roused from his eternal snore Kalibabi, the philosopher, Who lit his lantern, and Went groping for such time among the starry band That on his magic stone of wisdom he engraved To wit: that somewhere, and not far from any place Upon the road which neither curves nor straight lines trace, Doth someone sit who is not wholly there ... Who weeps, the wherefore he is not aware ... Yea, from that day - even as numberless the hairs upon the head, So are those years unreckon'd The yoked head wanders in the darkness, and With weeping fills the land. Now we, the sages of the world, who hear him weep, Do turn the flame about the sigil, and about, Deciphering, in haste before the illiterate sleep, That somewhere, and not far from any place Upon a road which neither curves nor straight lines trace, Doth someone sit, who is not wholly there, Who weeps, the wherefore he is not aware ... c. 1932/1932

1932

797 / Yiddish

The Last Song Since men ceased to put their faith in God, Love, too, kept from them her ecstasies: Wherefore they flung themselves in water, Hung themselves upon the limbs of trees. 5 So the sky now spurned the blue of river; In the woods the lone bird sang no song; In the field those things now lay abandoned: Ploughshare and pastoral-flute and harvest-prong. Thus the sweet earth wasted into desert. 10 And the roads which once were, now were not. So the prophet sat on a stone, lonely. Till the prophet into stone was wrought. c. 1932/1932

1945

Ki-Ki Flying he comes, the little dwarf Ki-Ki Upon the wings of the bird, Flutter-flea. Then hearing of the poet and his weeping, He brings him a small letter in his keeping . 5 This letter coming from the Morning Land, Writ in the very Empress's own hand, Sends to the poet from her royal heaven, Love and regards, and love, and kisses seven

798 / Poetry Translations

Then dreaming of his luck, this bard doth sigh 10 And wakes to pen his queen a sweet reply, Ordering that his letter should be given To the good empress in her royal heaven ... Wherefore he nods, the little dwarf Ki-Ki Unto his bird of dawn, fleet Flutter-flea; 15 And they both fly, through air and cloud full-riven, Into the red dawn, into the royal heaven. c. 1932/1932

1932

The Golden Parrot The sun will climb over and under the hill, Then Love will come peacefully unto her own. Then Love will come peacefully unto her own, To Loneliness sitting upon a gold stone, 5 Weeping, and weeping alone. The sun will go over and under the hill. Then the Gold Parrot will fly through the air, Then the Gold Parrot will fly through the air, And on her bright wings will bear us there, 10 Where Longing bids us fare ... The sun will go over and under the hill, Then Night will appear and will sing lu-lu, Then Night will appear and will sing lu-lu, To eyes that are weary, to eyes that sue 15 For sleep and for naught to do. c. 1932/1932

1932

799 / Yiddish

Conceit Curious A curious thought: As I gaze on my pen, And stare at my hand, and watch it write, It seems that I have died to-night ... Died in the house of this heathen dame, 5 And left as the ruin of my defeat A pen and a song on a written sheet. The song, perhaps, is not complete. Where is it? Upon the threshold it lies, Flown through the window, as the wind flies. 10 To-morrow, perhaps, you will come to me, And wait for my greeting-cry to you, And step on my song with your waiting shoe ... You will be wrathful, and curse, perhaps, And leave me a note beneath my door, 15 Saying: I shall not come any more ... c. 1932/1932

Last Will and Testament When I will die, then let my hearse Be the bound body of a horse, And let my corpse ride on its way Escorted neither night nor day, 5 Until my flesh, until my bone,

1932

8oo / Poetry Translations Will fall in shreds on grass and stone. And you who at my side, for naught, Your days as sacrifices brought, Destroy the things I need no more. 10 I have left your roof and door. Imagine only that there was An evil dream which soon did pass. Nobody here beheld me go; And I was never here below ... c. 1932/1932

1932

LEIB JAFFE

We Are a Generation, Heaven-Doomed We are a generation, heaven-doomed, To seek, to burn, to bow, to bend Yet never reach our end. Ours is a land in which the very stones 5 Are moistened with the marrow of our bones, Where youth and nature hold eternal feud, And where the rocks are with rich blood bedewed. For he who dwelt here, and who breathed here Never thereafter, with satiety 10 Was happy, nor with the smug placid mood. Here hearts are laden with tempestuous ache, Here strength is of a sacrificial worth, So that both soul and body a firm union make With our parched earth.

8oi / Yiddish 15 Ours is a land where all who long and seek Do raise aloft their arms in faith and pride, And they are crucified. We are the sons of heroes and of leaders Who never reach the goal, who watch from heights 20 Forlorn and distant, at the last ray of living, Our land of struggle, and its Pisgah sights! Yes, we shall climb, and ever climb again Happy, yet sad; in doubt, yet full of faith, And though we fall, we shall forever rise, 25 Still higher climbing, the sun's splendour in our eyes ... c. i933/1933

*933

You Walk upon Your Sunlit Roads You walk upon your sunlit roads Contented and most happy; yet Who knows that I have made these stones Moist with my blood and sweat? 5 You walk upon your sunlit roads, Youth jubilant, in dancing bands; You walk beneath the shade of trees Planted with mine own hands. Who knows the names of those who burned 10 Their lives upon these fevered lands? Who on sharp thorns and briars pierced Their hands, their hearts and hands?

8o2 / Poetry Translations

Who knows them? Tis of little point, My life is given, my very blood 15 That it be radiant for you, For you that it be good.

c. i933/*933

1933

H. LEIVICK (LEIVICK HALPERN)

No More Tears There are no more tears, No more mirth. They are weak. Weak are the righteous, The wicked are weak. 5 Their bodies are whipped, Welted and barred. So who fears flogging Flatters the guard. We are all of us shadows 10 The cell-mates of pain. Do you fear the silence? Rattle your chain I c. 1945/1945

1945

803 / Yiddish

The Windows Are Grated The windows are grated, And frozen the walls. At the door hangs a lantern; Its light lifts and falls. 5 And under cheap sack-cloth Is warm blood and bone. I stare at a single Dot on cold stone. So all is forgotten, 10 In far reveries — Who knows but that maybe I earned my release. Or maybe I died, and This lamp at the door 15 Is burning to show that — What I am no more? c. 1945/1945

1945

804 / Poetry Translations MANI-LEIB (MANI-LEIB BRAHINSKY)

Sunset The sun goes down. Put on your white robe, Loosen your tresses, and Bind your brow with a band. 5 Let not dust stain your sweet soul any more, And step three steps beyond your dusty door. In sorrow look at the west; in silence twine Your aching fingers into a suppliant sign; And curve your lips into a smile that cries: 10 This day dies ... The sun will sleep. The sun will sleep. For sleep It must! and if you long to weep, why, weep. The sun will sleep. c. 1944/1944

1944

JACOB ISAAC SEGAL

And This I Know And this I know: It is a devil's play, And a pursuit of wether by fierce whelp, Where far more terrible than an army of words, Is that wild syllable, the keen one: Help!

805 / Yiddish

5 For he who comes with aid and comfort, comes Attired in festal robes, and neatly says The most heroic words, the finest thoughts, The most compassionate of sentences. Pity is taught in all the copy-books; 10 All children know what thanks a good deed bodes; Wherefore devoutly children will do right By beggars crawling on the public-roads ... They throw to them their mother's daily pennies, And forthwith they are proud of what they've done; 15 There gleam before the blind eyes of the beggars Coins that are golden, chiselled from the sun ... So in good children's dreams Elijah comes, The prophet comes to watch them in their sleep: A hoary-bearded shepherd shepherding 20 A flock of stock-blind sheep ... c. 1931/1931

Autobiographical At last I tore me from their fetters; Again to you my steps I turned: A very pauper, and in tatters, From the last threshold spurned. 5 Assuredly you come on my way, I hear the echo of your tread; There is no soul upon the highway; And Summer nods her weary head .

1941

806 / Poetry Translations The grass is silent, dead all things are; 10 The feeble wind lies where it must; A sparrow of a sickly colour Breathes from earth a sickly dust ... I too - no more that soaring eagle In the bright splendour of this trance 15 No more the daily I.J. Segal — Stand still before your countenance ... No dazzlement afflicts my vision; No trembling takes hold of my knees; Here I can make but one decision: 20 I fall in silence on my knees. c. 1931/1931

Goats There lie two goats On grass in the sun. From behind a tree A hare doth run 5 Towards them; it stops, That sly little hare. The comrade goats Sit and stare.

10

They twist their beards This way and that: What creature is this? Mouse or cat?

1

941

8o/ / Yiddish

Their goatees quiver, Shake without halt 15 The hare makes an artful Somersault And lo! a wonder! Mystery! The hare is now 20 Behind the tree! c. 1931/1931

A King Beyond the farthest oceans There lives a king most holy, Who bears himself towards all men Humble, meek, and lowly ... 5 From hearth to hearth he wanders, In villages and cities, And rocks the children's cradles, And sings them his own ditties ... And when they fall asleep from 10 The telling of his fables, He drives into the pasture The goats from their stables. He sits upon a knoll. He Watches the goats chewing, 15 And broods on metaphysic Of his own brewing ...

808 / Poetry Translations Oh, it is an honour, And a joy most subtle To be a folk's monarch 20 And tender of its cattle! O, but these are glories, And not unseemly trucklings, To be a folk's monarch And guardian of its sucklings! c. 1931/1931

King Rufus To a king who had A red little beard, A red little horse Was most endeared. 5 And also red Were his jerkin and hose; The monarch loved A red, red rose. And crimson apples 10 The monarch sought For cooking in His scarlet pot. In fine, a royal Person warm in 15 Vestments that were Wholly carmine.

*939

809 / Yiddish

When one beheld him Journey his course Upon his fleet little 20 Russet horse He seemed to crackle He seemed to be An ever burning Granary ... 25 Scarlet, rufous, Roseate, What a fiery Potentate! c. 1931/1931

Confession For whom am I these things recounting? For my most welcome guest, Reb Death, Who comes to ask of me accounting For my exhaled and squandered breath; 5 For all my doubts and hesitations, And all my foolish fears and sighs, And for those sorrowful collations Over the which I spent my eyes. I never did become a scholar, 10 And no doubt never grew more smart, While all the wise ones and the learned Came riding from the public mart,

1939

8io / Poetry Translations Each boasting profit-making cinches, And at the inn caroused all night 15 With wine and unspiritual wenches. Even God's warden shut lips tight When he, with optics very pious Beheld, and winked right over it And sat him down, in cunning silence 20 To ponder over Holy Writ. These things I know, for I have seen them. But do not count me among those Who cavil at their bitter portion, And grumble of their throes and woes. 25 Of course, I have been hurt by these things By seeing the sated rich men kick Good folk about, while they go pompous Behind silk stomach, and golden stick. But I, I certainly have gathered 30 The little that to my way came And with my measured days, allotted, Played the right proper bitter game. And now the little period passes: What is the change that I owe you? 35 O write it down among the grasses, Hard by the wall, and writ in dew. My son will grow up, the pauper-dauphin, And he will pay my debt, no fear, Pay for the skimpy scantling coffin, 40 And for the final glass of beer. c. 1940/1940

!94O

8n / Yiddish

Old Gold Even as a great country withers, and goes to rot, A peaceful folk is broken, falls at last Such was the falling of that poor small hut, My grandfather's. His memory be blessed! 5 Seven the generations beneath that roof, And the roof was bent, and let in rain and day. Baggage and bag I took, and warp and woof, And, the lost exile, fared forth on my way. The cat with the silver spotting sensed and knew 10 And followed me to every broken pane; And the last guest, a Lithuanian Jew And my grandfather's gnarled and crooked cane; And the sweet morning psalmody of yore That dozed upon the balcony; and the 15 Old Vienna shawl my old grandmother wore, Grey silk, with blue and scarlet blossomry; And wonderful tales about the Baal Shem Tov, And wisdom out of pious books, the whole Residuum which once so richly throve, 20 Its song, its melody, its secret soul. And the dear folksong ambled after me Riding upon that little golden goat Which shook its beard in the golden lullaby And shook the crib in the marvellous anecdote. 25 The ship in the harbour waited, and did brood; Upon the masts hung seagulls, timorous;

812 / Poetry Translations And on the shore the silent twilight stood; It entered in that waiting ship with us. c. 1940/1940

1

94°

Reb Zorach Rabbi Joshua ben Chananya polishes needles, Benedict de Spinoza grinds in glass, And Rabbi Jochanan the Cobbler cobbles. Also Reb Zorach of Chutarl, Koretz, 5 Opens his little shop of Torah-ware. Somehow he is afraid to pass the public street, Afraid of the posts, the stones upon the bridge And even of the first encountered dogs, Huddling behind a wall, conspirators. 10 His hand shivers. Into the keyhole he pushes the icy key, Reb Zorach, merchant of Torah, retail only: A little alphabet wisdom; Scrap-bags of suckling pilpul; 15 Also a few nursery verses To be taken by dead-tired Cabbalists Prior to sleeping. Reb Zorach complains: 'The rich Gamaliel Before the Sanhedrin poked small fun at me, 20 And at my merchandise, my Torah-stock, My extra-special, so he bandied, stock ../ 'But Hillel, that good man, spoke up for me: "God's light shines on the threshold of his door; His honest hand is the holy scales of God!" '

8i3 / Yiddish 25 Nevertheless, Reb Zorach will close shop And take the seventeen knapsacks of the poor And go upon the highways of the world. Only that good man Hillel will ask for him Naming his name in piety, and even 30 Making a golden parable for his grace. For otherwise than others saw his life In the copper ringing of the scholar's penny, Will Hillel perceive the matter ... c. 1940/1940

1

94°

Song World, I would take and lift thee up A sheep lost in the dell, And bear thee to the high hill-top, To the golden well! 5 Surely I know thy tiredness, Thy tongue, a parched and thirsty thing; I, too, am weary and athirst, And can find no spring.

10

O, high upon the sunlit hill The well is cool and deep. The sun laves her bright face in it, Before she goes to sleep.

But from the hills there always fall The cold and mournful shadows, 15 The dying rays of spotted red Upon the valley's meadows.

814 / Poetry Translations

World, I would take and lift thee up A sheep lost in the dell, And bear thee to the high hill-top, 20 To the golden well! c. 1940/1940

1

94°

War They are still full of wrath, the many gods, Wrathful the one against the other god. The God of Water against the God of Flame, The God of Language against the God of Wisdom, 5 The God of Yesterday against To-morrow's And He, the Lord of Truth against the One of Falsehood! The God of Lies shows two sharp oxen-horns, But the horns of the God of Truth are small and sorry. The God of Beauty, with the antlers of a deer 10 Stands in a quiet wood, as in a dream, And wonders at the light of the young day. He drinks the dew in with his mild brown eyes. But the God of Death, that sable haggard hunter, Hidden behind a tree, has drawn his bow. 15 O, all the trees and saplings hold their breath! My good, my much-beloved brothers, tell me, What shall one do, what shall one think of doing, To calm the bitter quarrel of the gods? How shall one bring these enemies together 20 That they may see each other, and perhaps, Find love and favour in each other's eyes?

8i5 / Yiddish Have we not many books, all cramm'd with wisdom, And scrolls replete with phrase and talisman? Are they not still extant, the testaments 25 Of those great sages who did keep them clean Within the precincts of Thy holy Law? May we not, therefore, in this field of wisdom Discover some sign, some omen that may bring Some little peace, and halt the bloody quarrel 30 Of these, the greater and the lesser gods? c. 1940/1940

1

94°

Speak to Your People, Therefore, in This Wise Speak to your people, therefore, in this wise: To bear your burden, and to share your grief; Make parables in your twilit synagogues; Weave there your legends of most pure belief. 5 To ignore your tatters - the shoes polished Intent only upon your brilliancies; In your humblest see Akiva, and in Your loneliest a saint to recognize; To reconcile myself to your low estate; 10 To follow your footsteps, seek your alley-ways, And there to rent myself, a teacher of children, And teach your children the sung 'aleph-bais'; To leave to the lofty brows their pompous tomes, Research to the proud, the birth-proud smug patrician; 15 To be preserved from silken wealth; to go In humble raiment on a humble mission.

816 / Poetry Translations A simple follower of the Baal Shem Tov, Mere murmurer of the verses of his Psalms And for the sake of his great love of a Jew 20 To bring to the faint and hurt, their salves and balms.

c. 1945/1945

JEWISH FOLK-SONGS Shall I Be a Rabbi?

Shall I be a rabbi? Here I cannot meddle. Shall I be a merchant What have I to peddle? 5 Now the fodder has run out Oats and hay I am without; And the wife's a nasty lip And I want a brandy-nip; I behold a stone 10 Sit me down, and moan ... Shall I be a shochet? That is for my betters ... Shall I be a teacher? I know not my letters ... 15 And the horse a stubborn beast, And the wheels they are not greased And the wife's a nasty lip And I want a brandy-nip;

1945

8i/ / Yiddish I behold a stone 20 Sit me down, and moan ... c. 1929/1929

*936

Come You Here, Philosopher Come you here, philosopher, You kitten-brained wise-acre, Sit down near the Rebbe's desk, And catch some wisdom, fakir. 5 A steamboat you devised for us, And boast about the notion; The Rebbe spreads his kerchief out And spans the sea and ocean ... A railway you have fashioned, and 10 You brag and use your odd words ... The Rebbe smoothes his gartel down, And makes a voyage Godwards ... A telephone invented, you Grow proud in what you've given 15 The Rebbe shakes the myrtle branch, The sound is heard in heaven ... Do you know what the Rebbe does Alone within his study? He soars above, and there says grace 20 Before the heavenly body ... c. 1929/1929

1

93°

818 / Poetry Translations

Charm Little goat, little colt, pussy-cat, Charmed words most entrancing Father beats up mother; and The children set a-dancing ... 5 Father on his tours has gone; Mother sleeps in bed alone; Father comes back from his travel; Mother cries in pain of travail ... c. 1929/1929

1946

Tear Not Your Hair, My Sweetheart Tear not your hair, my sweetheart, Weep not your bitter tears, The Czar takes me away now Only for three short years ... c. 1929/1929

819 / Yiddish

And When One Burns - One Burns Brandy And And And One

when one burns - one burns brandy, when one bakes - one bakes bread, when one dies, lies dead ...

5 Waxen candles Drop their grime; And when one dies, one Dies in time ... c. 1929/1929

*946

On the Attic Sleeps a Roof On the attic sleeps a roof, Decked with shingles, split and small; In the cradle dreams a child Naked with no clothes at all ... 5

Hop, hop, even so, From the thatch the goat pulls straw, Hop, hop, even so ...

In the attic stands a crib, Where a spider makes his bed, 10 O, he suckles on my blood, And my life hangs on his thread ...

820 / Poetry Translations

Hop, hop, even so, From the thatch the goat pulls straw, Hop, hop, even so ... 15 On the roof the rooster crows, And his comb is fiery-red Let my wife go borrow, and Let her buy the children bread ... 20

Hop, hop, even so, From the thatch the goat pulls straw, Hop, hop, even so ... c. 1929/1929

*946

Yoma, Yoma, Play Me a Ditty Yoma, Yoma, play me a ditty, What does our young girl crave? 'This young girl wants new shoes that won't hobble her, We must go and tell the cobbler/ 5 No, mother, no My will it is not so, You know not what I know ... Yoma, Yoma, play me a ditty, What does our young girl crave? 10 'The little girl wants a brand-new bonnet, We will buy, and she will don it.' No, mother, no My will it is not so, You know not what I know ...

821 / Yiddish

15 Yoma, Yoma, play me a ditty What does our young girl crave? 'This young girl craves for a handsome sweetheart; Let the Shadchan ply his neat art ../ Yes, mother, yes, 20 You now make the right guess. You know what I confess ... c. 1929/1929

*946

Hush! Hush! Hush! Hush! let a silence fall Rebbe will dance God's madrigal ... Hush! Hush! be, Chassidim, quiet, Rebbe knows a dance, and he will try it ... 5 And when the Rebbe hops, The four walls hop in rhyme. Let us all clap hands in right good time ... And with the Rebbe's legs The table-legs dance too ... 10 Stamping, let us keep the measure true ... And when the Rebbe sings His holy benediction, Satan becomes an empty fiction ... c. 1929/1929

1932

822 / Poetry Translations

We Ask Our Boarding-Mistress We ask our boarding-mistress — When will you set the table? She strolls here, she strolls there, We might as well talk Babel ... 5 We tell our boarding-mistress The dinner hour's nearing She strolls here, she strolls there, She is most hard of hearing ... Our boarding-mistress tells us 10 Eat children, eat in plenty ... And to herself she murmurs — Each glutton crams for twenty ... c. 1929/1929

Song of Wine Good liquor, prized and ever unshent, I bow to you as to an ancient, O you, full bumper, I will cherish. Without you, I am doomed to perish. Tra-la-la, la-la, la-la 5 Tra-la-la, la-la, la-la Tra-la-la, la-la, la-la Tra-la, la-la, la-la

^946

823 / Yiddish

For when the Shadchan met my grandad, 10 His purpose almost went unended. They chaffered dowry for my mother In vain the argument and pother Until a goblet interposed — The happy match was made and closed. 15 Indeed, forthright, there was the bridal, We guzzled all night long wine, mead, ale. From our deep glasses we did cozen Loud healths for bridegroom and for his chosen, Through liquor mother was made wife, 20 And it was liquor gave me life. I still recall my circumcision The wine-glass then served its odd mission. The guests cried 'Good luck. May his holler Become the speech of Rabbi-scholar.' 25 And that is why it pleases me To quaff these goblets lustily. At my Bar-Mitzvah I orated, And spoke of wine, and highly rated It, I told that 'twas not just we 30 Who drank it, His Russian Majesty Did likewise. Brethren, rich and poor, Right here is wine, there glasses, pour. And I recall at my espousals There were most heathenish carousals; 35 And when they broke the destined platter, We all bibbed wine, and none drank water, And though I was the bridegroom, I Permitted not my throat to dry. When I was wedded, I remember 40 Wine made blood fire, and bone an ember, The Rabbi said his benediction, -

824 / Poetry Translations

The contents of the cup was fiction, And I stood by, and licked my cup, I licked it down, I licked it up. c. 1929/1929

The Golden Parrakeet From a foreign land has fluttered hither The golden parrakeet The golden parrakeet She has lost in her flight a golden feather 5 Alas, for sore deceit. 'Tis not for sorrow of the feather As for the parrakeet As for the parrakeet Tis not my son-in-law [...] 10 As bitter as 'tis - O mother love, A bird upon the sea A bird upon the sea So in my husband's house, O mother, Bitterer me. 15 As bitter as 'tis, O mother dear, A bird without a nest A bird without a nest So bitter it is to be, O mother, A mother-in-law's guest. c. 1929/1929

*944

825 / Yiddish

When I Knead the Dough When I knead the dough She cries — too much water! When I chop the fish She screams — it is bitter. 5 When I make the bed She yells - far too high! When I heat the oven There is smoke in her eye. When I walk slowly: 10 'Look, how she rolls!' When I walk quickly: 'She ruins her soles.' c. 1929/1929

I Go upon the Balcony I go upon the balcony To look upon the town. There lights a little featherling Hopping up and down.

*944

826 / Poetry Translations

5 Beautiful the little bird, More beautiful its flight. It drops a letter from its beak. I read, to left from right. I scan the first small line; I read 10 My true love is to bed; I scan the second line; I read My true love, he is dead. O gather together the lasses, O maidens fair arise, 15 Let every sweetheart help me To weep out my eyes ... c. 1929/1929

Once upon a Time; This Once upon a time; this Story is sad and blue-ish For it beginneth with a Monarch who was Jewish. 5 Lulunka, my bride Lulunka, my chick I lost so great a love, my Heart is sore and sick. Upon a time there was a 10 King who had a queen; the Queen possessed a vineyard Lulunka, my child.

*946

827 / Yiddish

A tree stood in the vineyard A branch hung from the tree, 15 And in the nest between the branches A bird lived happily. Alas, the king died ere his day, The queen, she pined and peaked away; The branch fell down to earth, at last, 20 The bird forsook the nest. O where is there that ladder Of a thousand rungs and spars? And where is there that wise man To count me the stars ... 25 O where is there that wise man Who shall count my wounds for me And where that sure physician To heal my heart for me? c. 1929/1929

Better a Hebrew Teacher Better a Hebrew teacher Though he be a hothead, Than a college student With his pants half-rotted. 5 Better a bible-tutor With half-a-dozen tots, Than a medical doctor, His hat split in nine spots.

828 / Poetry Translations Better a Talmud student 10 Though not of the first water, Than an apothecary Who fries his meat in butter. c. 1929/1929

!946

O My Mother Sent Me O my mother sent me To have a hen undone; Whereupon I fell in love With the Shochet's son. 5 But O, is that a Shochet's son, a handsome and a brave, May I perish for his bones; I am his very slave ... 0 my mother sent me To ask a Kosher-query, The Rabbi fell in love with me, 10 While expounding theory. But O was that a Rebbele, a handsome and a brave, 1 perish for his skull-cap's point; I am his very slave ... c. 1929/1929

1932

829 / Yiddish

On the Hill, over the Hill On the hill, over the hill The pairs of doves have flown And hardly have I caught my breath My youthful years are gone. 5 O harness me, goodfellows, My sable horses, haste And we will ride in hot pursuit And maybe overtake in rout The fugitive years of youth. 10 I overtook them on the bridge After many a mile O years, my years, return to me Sojourn with me awhile. Assuredly we shall not stay, 15 You are a churlish host, For in your days of youth you should Have made of us the most. c. 1929/1929

Gone Is the Yesterday Gone is the yesterday Nor yet has dawned the morrow. Left is a tidbit of to-day, Betray it not with sorrow.

830 / Poetry Translations

5 Quaff a thimble brandy While living and while dancing For with God's will, in heaven, There is no drink-dispensing. c. 1929/1929

And at My Prayers I Will Quiver And at my prayers I will quiver, And make fantastic motions For love of the Rebbe and his worthies My heart is all emotions. 5 Oh, oh, Rebbenu, I stand and I shiver While in my heart there burns a flame. I will be a Chassid, pious and ecstatic And worthy of the name. In the mikva I will dip me, 10 In wintry twenty below zero, And conquer planets for the Rebbe. I will be a hero. And in the hottest heats of summer Will wear a shawl of silken spangles, 15 A caftan I will buy, and wear it, A cap of seventeen angles. c. 1929/1929

831 / Yiddish

Asks the World an Old, Old Question Asks the world an old, old question: Tra-la-tra-ri-di-di-dam Comes the answer Tra-di-ri-di-lai-lum 5 But if you will, why twist the logic? Trai-dam Still remains the old, old question Tra-la-tra-ri-di-di-dam Comes the answer 10 Tra-di-ri c. 1929/1929

And When Messiah Will Come And when Messiah will come Our life will trip in carols; And wine and brandy will be Guzzled from the barrels! 5 And when Messiah will come We will not be conscripted, And all our foes will perish, Apostates not excepted! And when Messiah will come 10 On holy land we'll pray,

832 / Poetry Translations And all our foes, their tails between Their legs, will slink away. c. 1929/1929

*939

O What Do You Wish, My Dearest Child O what do you wish, my dearest child, That I find you a cobbler's apprentice? No, father, it is not becoming. A cobbler's apprentice now hammers his leather, 5 And now beats his wife, in fair or foul weather. No, father, it is not becoming! A tailor's apprentice sews one to the other His patches and curses his wife's father's father. A journeyman-carpenter hammers his casket, 10 And if his wife hungers for food, she must ask it. A baker's apprentice bakes bread upon bread; Thrice daily his wife must declare herself dead. A scholar-lad sits all day long, and he squeezes His benches; his wife dines and sups on diseases. 15 A merchant makes money from fauna and flora, And kisses his wife, like a holy Torah. c. 1929/1929

1944

833 / Yiddish

Tell Me, Pretty Maiden, O Hearken Pretty Maiden 'Tell me, pretty maiden, O hearken pretty maiden In that far country what will you do?' 'Through the village I will wander, gather linen I will launder, Just to be with you/ c. 1929/1929

What Is Loftier than a House? What is loftier than a house? What is nimbler than a mouse? You addle-pate, you dolt, you fool, You have no brains behind your skull 5 For smoke goes loftier than a house And a cat is nimbler than a mouse. What is deeper than a well? What is bitterer than gall? You addle-pate, you dolt, you fool, 10 You have no brains behind your skull For Torah is deeper than a well And Death is bitterer than gall. c. 1929/1929

834 / Poetry Translations

When He Has Frolicked for a Little When he has frolicked for a little He will learn Torah, jot and tittle; The child will con his daily verses, And we will hear the town rehearse his 5 Sweet merits; and at his own wedding Acute Responsa he'll be threading. The whole world will eke out a pleasure From bridegroom, bride, and dowry-treasure. A dowry-purse of worth exceeding, 10 And such a family of breeding! The groom will dwell there, without payment, For three good years, in food and raiment. c. 1929/1929

!944

Lovely Am I, O Lovely, and Lovely Is My Name Lovely am I, O lovely, and lovely is my name; Matchmakers seek to wed me to rabbis of great fame; How much a rabbi knows, 'tis true, no other knows, ButJ am to my mother her dearly-cherished rose. 5 Water in the chamber, and sticks in the shed, If I do not like a lad, he'll have these on his head. c. 1929/1929

1944

835 / Yiddish

I Sit Me Down upon a Stone

I sit me down upon a stone; I weep; I sorrow; I make moan; For all the virgins get them spouses But only I remain alone. 5 Alackaday! O star of sorrow, When shall I become a bride, On this day? or on the morrow? Surely I am not so funny; And all the world knows, we have money! c. 1929/1929

!944

CHASSIDIC FOLK-SONGS

L'chayim, Rebbe!

L'chayim, Rebbe! A happy week to you! And every Chassid echoes it: You! You! With liquor we're not niggardly, Let us drink anew! 5 Through prayer we have won ourselves a right good week and new, Through prayer we have won ourselves a right good week and new, A right good week and new! c. 1946/1946

836 / Poetry Translations

Oy, Our Rebbenu Oy, our Rebbenu! Gewald, our Rebbenu! The good Lord giving Health and living For his dwelling we'll be leaving 5 Oy, our Rebbenu! Gewald, our Rebbenu! Oy, our Rebbe Oy, Oy, Oy, Oy, Oy, Oy, Oy, Oy, Oy, Oy Then, gewald, our Rebbenu! Oy, our Rebbenu! Oy, our Rebbe! Gewald, our Rebbe Oy, our Rebbe! Gewald, our Rebbe 10 Oy, our Rebbenu! Gewald, our Rebbenu! Oy, our Rebbenu! Gewald, our Rebbenu! c. 1946/1946

God Willing, at the Rebbe's Gewald! Gewald! Gewald! Gewald! Gewald! My good brother, my dear brother, My good brother, my dear brother, When - when - will we see each other? 5 When - when - will we see each other? O, if health and living Be of God's giving, At the Rebbe's court, we will See us again

837 / Yiddish

10

O, if health and living Be of God's giving, At the Rebbe's court, we will See us again

Gewald! Gewald! Gewald! Gewald! Gewald! 15 My good brother, my dear brother, My good brother, my dear brother, When - when - will we drink together? When - when — will we drink together? 20

25

O, if health and living Be of God's giving, At the Rebbe's court, we will Quaff it again O, if health and living Be of God's giving, At the Rebbe's court, we will Quaff it again

Gewald! Gewald! Gewald! Gewald! Gewald! My good brother, my dear brother, My good brother, my dear brother, 30 When - when - will we dance together? When — when — will we dance together?

35

O, if health and living Be of God's giving, At the Rebbe's court, we will Hop it again. O, if health and living Be of God's giving, At the Rebbe's court, we will Hop it again. c. 1946/1946

838 / Poetry Translations

Myerka, My Son Myerka, my son, Myerka, my son, O Myerka, my son Do you realize before whom you stand? Do you realize before whom you stand? Lifnei melech malchei hamlochim! 5 Dear Father! Before the King of the kings of all kingdoms! Dear Father! Lifnei melech malchei hamlochim! Dear Father! 10 Myerka, my son, Myerka, my son, O Myerka, my son, What will you petition from Him? What will you petition from Him? Bonai, chaye mezonay — Dear Father, 15 For the daily bread of my house, and for children! Dear Father! Bonai, chaye mezonay Dear Father! Myerka, my son, Myerka, my son, O Myerka, my son 20 Do you know, then, in truth, who you are? Do you know, then, in truth, who you are? Hineni he-oni mi-ma-as ... Dear Father! A pauper in deeds, so behold me, 25 Dear Father! Hineni he-oni mi-ma-as. c. 1946/1946

839 / Yiddish

A Thou Song

5

10

15

20

Reboinoi shel Olam O Lord of the World, Reboinoi shel Olam, Reboinoi shel Olam, Reboinoi shel Olam, Tis a thou-song I'll sing thee ... Thou ... Thou ... Thou ... Thou ... Ay eh emtzoeko, v'ayeh lo emtzoeko? O, where shall I find Thee? And where, where art Thou not to be found? Thou ... Thou ... Thou ... Thou ... For where I fare - Thou! Or here or there — Thou! Only Thou! None but Thou! Again, Thou! Ever Thou! Thou ... Thou ... Thou ... Thou ... Do things go well - Thou! Forfend it, ill - Thou! Ay, Thou, Thou, Thou, etc. Eastward, Thou! Westward, Thou! Northward, Thou! Southward, Thou! Thou! Thou! Thou! Thou! Thou! The heavens, Thou! And earth, Thou! Skyscape, Thou! Landscape, Thou! Thou, Thou, etc. Whither I turn me, Where I tarry - Thou! Thou! c. 1946/1946

840 / Poetry Translations

Levi Yitschok's Kaddish

5

10

15

20

Good morning to you, Reboinoi shel Olam! I, Levi Yitschok ben Soreh of Berditchev Come to you with a lawsuit brought by Yisroel, your people. What grudge do you hold against your people Israel? Why do you always pick on Yisroel your people? For is aught ado, then: Speak to the Children of Israel! For is something up, then: Bid thou the Children of Israel! A thing to be done, then: Address thou the Children of Israel! Dear Father, sweet Father in heaven How many nations does the world boast? The Persians! Babylonians! The Edomites! The Muscovites maintain that only their monarch is monarch! The Germans do maintain that only their kingdom is kingdom! And the Englishmen do hold that only their empire is empire! And I, Levi Yitschok ben Soreh of Berditchev, say: Yisgadal, v'yiskadash, shrnai rabah! And I, Levi Yitschok ben Soreh of Berditchev, say: Lo ozuz mimkomi — I will not abandon my plea Ere an end is decreed An end to our wandering fate! Yisgadal, v'yiskadash, shmai rabah! c. 1946/1946

841 / Yiddish

M'laveh Malkeh O, brother, say, What is that day We love, and do enjoy all, When humble Jew, and good Jew, 5 The pious one, the true Jew Deems himself right royal! O humble Jew and good Jew Thinks himself right royal! The Sabbath day 10 Is that day — Be you, therefore, jolly! Dance you, therefore, brother, Alone, and altogether For Sabbath day is holy! 15 For it is clear Tis crystal-clear The bride is Sabbath, surely! The bridegroom, brother, Is none other 20 Than all of sacred Jewry! c. 1946/1946

842 / Poetry Translations

Thou Hast Chosen Us Thou hast chosen us from among all nations, And Thou hast loved us, and lavished favour on us Oy, gewald! Oy, gewald! Hast loved us, and lavished favour on us, lavished favour on us 5 Oy, gewald! Oy, gewald! And Thou hast raised us above all nations, And with Thy laws hast blessed and hallowed us Oy, gewald! Oy, gewald! Hast raised us above all peoples; and with Thy precepts sanctified us, with Thy Holy Law! 10 Oy, gewald! Oy, gewald! c. 1946/1946

O There, O There, Where Is Our Holy Rebbe [Version i] O there, O there, where is our holy Rebbe Where is our holy Rebbe O there great faith is found O there great faith is found 5 The glory and the faith enduring ever! O there, O there, where is our holy Rebbe Where is our holy Rebbe O there are blessings to be found O there are blessings to be found 10 The blessings and the wisdom enduring ever!

843 / Yiddish O there, O there, where is our holy Rebbe Where is our holy Rebbe O there is greatness found O there is greatness found 15 The grandeur and greatness enduring ever! O there, O there, where is our holy Rebbe Where is our holy Rebbe There is eloquence found There is eloquence found 20 Knowledge and eloquence enduring ever! c. 1946/1946

Where Our Good Rebbe Is to Be Found [Version 2 of 'O There, O There, Where Is Our Holy Rebbe'] O there, O there, where our good Rebbe is to be found, O there great faith, great faith is found! There is the glory, and there the faith beyond compare! O there, O there, where our good Rebbe is to be found, 5 O benedictions there abound! There is all wisdom, and benedictions blessing all! O there, O there, where our good Rebbe is to be found, O there is exaltation found! Mightiness there, and exaltation to great heights! 10 O there, O there, where our good Rebbe is to be found, Great eloquence, its sacred sound! There is the Judgment, and the speech that does endure! *951/*955

844 / Poetry Translations

The Rebbe, He Wanted [Version i] The Rebbe, he wanted to go to the city Alas, he had no horse. So he issued an order to all his Chassidim And soon he had horses, of course. 5

And when our Rebbe rides, our Rebbe rides, there ride Chassidim, the whole of his lot Who from this favour get a pleasure that as yet Mithnagdim certainly have not Certainly have not.

10 The Rebbe, he wanted some beef for his dinner, Alas, of beef there was none. So he issued an order to all the town's cattle In an hour his steak was well done. 15

And when our Rebbe eats, our Rebbe eats, there eat Chassidim, the whole of his lot Who from this favour get a pleasure that as yet Mithnagdim certainly have not Certainly have not.

The Rebbe, he wanted some honey for licking 20 But honey, alas, there was not. So he issued an order to all the bees buzzing In an hour, his honey was brought.

25

And when our Rebbe licks, our Rebbe licks, there lick Chassidim, the whole of his lot Who from this favour get a pleasure that as yet Mithnagdim certainly have not Certainly have not.

845 / Yiddish

Our Rebbe, he wanted some snuff for to sniff at But no one, it seems, had the stuff. 30 So he issued an order to all the Turk fezzes In a trice, there was snuff - and enough!

35

And when our Rebbe sniffs, our Rebbe sniffs, there sniff Chassidim, the whole of his lot Who from this favour get a pleasure that as yet Mithnagdim certainly have not Certainly have not. c. 1946/1946

The Rebbe, He Wanted [Version 2] The Rebbe wished to journey up to the city, But he didn't own a horse, So he issued a decree to all his Chassidim The horses appeared, in due course! 5

And when our Rebbe rides, our Rebbe rides, there ride With him our Chassidim, ho! Who from this favour get that kind of pleasure that Mithnagdim surely cannot ever know. Cannot ever know!

10 The Rebbe wanted beefsteak for his next dinner In the kitchen, there was none, So he issued a decree to all the town's cattle In one hour, his steak was well done!

846 / Poetry Translations

15

And when our Rebbe eats, our Rebbe eats, there eat With him our Chassidim, ho! Who from this favour get that kind of pleasure that Mithnagdim surely cannot ever know. Cannot ever know!

The Rebbe wanted honey for his sweet licking 20 But such honey, he had not, So he issued a decree to all the bees buzzing, In one hour, his honey was brought!

25

And when our Rebbe licks, our Rebbe licks, there lick With him our Chassidim, ho! Who from this favour get that kind of pleasure that Mithnagdim surely cannot ever know. Cannot ever know!

The Rebbe wished for Turkish tobacco for sniffing, But it seems, none had the stuff! 30 So he issued a decree to all the Turk fezzes In one hour, there was snuff — and enough!

35

And when our Rebbe sniffs, our Rebbe sniffs, there sniff With him our Chassidim, ho! Who from this favour get that kind of pleasure that Mithnagdim surely cannot ever know. Cannot ever know! 1951/1955

847 / Yiddish

In God's Good Time In God's good time, and the Messiah appearing What will happen to our Rebbe, God-fearing? Of wine and brandy, there will be great showers To be guzzled by those Chassidim of ours! 5 Oy, vay! God grant we see that day! The trees, they will blossom with cakes in bunches! Meerschaums and pipes one will break from their branches, And from their leafage, one will snip and cut 10 Good Turkish tobacco for the saintly lot! Oy, vay! God grant we see that day! And a cow one will take, not any whichever, But one descended from the Red Heifer 15 And harness her neat for the Rebbe's driving In God's good time, and the Messiah arriving! Oy, vay! God grant we see that day! His coach upholstered with parchment, not leather, 20 And its wheels well built out of right good cedar And the axle made of the wood called gopher, And the whip - eight tzitzis dangled from a shofar. Oy, vay! God grant we see that day! 25 Not bricked and mortared is the Rebbe's regal House but built out of tsholent and kigel And his chair adorned with parchmentry Oy, vay, God grant that we see that day!

848 / Poetry Translations

Oy, vay! God grant we see that day!

30 1951/1955

A Burglary At my Rebbe's, there did happen, there did happen At my Rebbe's, at my Rebbe's, there did happen A burglary. Seven shirts as big as swatches 5 Oi, oi! Four in tatters, Three with patches A burglary! 10

At my Rebbe's, there did happen, there did happen At my Rebbe's, at my Rebbe's, there did happen A burglary.

Seven candelabra taken, Oi, oi! Three were legless, 15 Four were broken A burglary! c. 1946/1946

849 / Yiddish

Tell Us, Rebbenu Tell us, Rebbenu! What will happen when the Messiah comes? When the Messiah comes, we will banquet and feast it! And what will we eat upon this festival day? 5 The Wild Ox and Leviathan! The Wild Ox and Leviathan! The Wild Ox and Leviathan! Will we eat upon this festival day. Now tell us, Rebbenu, 10 What will we drink upon this festival day? Wine Preserved from of Yore Wine Preserved from of Yore Yes, wine preserved from of yore, will we drink And the Wild Ox and Leviathan 15 Will we eat upon this festival day. Now tell us, Rebbenu, Who'll teach us Torah on this festival-day? Moishe Rebenu Moishe Rebenu 20 Moishe Rebenu He will instruct us And the Wild Ox and Leviathan Will we eat upon this festival-day. 1951/1955

850 / Poetry Translations

Yoshka, Yoshka Yoshka, Yoshka, harness the horse, and Let us rush right over To the fair; for if the nag halts We'll not get rid of him, not ever ... 5 The Rebbe he bade us drink and dine Drinking brandy, and not wine. La, la, etc. Repeat. Yoshka, Yoshka. 1951/1955

Oy, Vey, Rebbenu Oy, vey, Rebbenu I stand here, and shiver! I stand here, and shiver! Before the Rebbe, and his Chassidim 5 I am all a-quiver! I am all a-quiver! And at my prayers, I will shake me And make all kinds of motions And make all kinds of motions 10 Before the Rebbe and his Chassidim I am all emotion! I am all emotion!

851 / Yiddish

O, to the mikveh, I will hurry Even in the coldest weather 15 Even in the coldest weather 0 for the Rebbe and his Chassidim, 1 perish altogether ... I perish altogether ... 1951/1955

Our Rebbe, the Miracle-Worker, Once Our Rebbe, the Miracle-Worker, once Fared forth on the ocean wide The voyage should have taken seasons Rebbe, he made it in a single night! 5

For when our Rebbe sails For when our Rebbe sails All his Chassidim, they sail, too. And what did then their eyes behold? What no one else did ever view!

10 The ship fell in great peril, but Rebbe prayed and blessed her out And scoffers who disbelieve this truth, Be their names rubbed and blotted out. 15

For when our Rebbe sails For when our Rebbe sails All his Chassidim, they sail, too. And what did then their eyes behold? What no one else did ever view!

852 / Poetry Translations The Rebbe waved with his sleeve, and with 20 Holy look about him looked And lo! from the sea there sprang a fish Already boiled-and-cooked!

25

That fish that was not hooked, O boiled it was, and cooked, Spiced with horseradish, rich and red! It leapt upon the Rebbe's plate, And thence into his gullet fled!

Although the atheists who scoff, In their disbelief persist 30 Do you, still ask for further proof That our Rebbe is involved in this?

35

For when our Rebbe sails For when our Rebbe sails All his Chassidim, they sail, too. And what did then their eyes behold? What no one else did ever view! c. 1946/1946

And When Our Rebbe Walks And when our Rebbe walks, And when our Rebbe walks All the Chassidim, they walk, too And when our Rebbe eats, 5 And when our Rebbe eats All the Chassidim, they eat, too

853 / Yiddish

And when our Rebbe drinks, And when our Rebbe drinks All the Chassidim, they drink, too 10 And when our Rebbe sleeps, And when our Rebbe sleeps All the Chassidim, they sleep, too c. 1946/1946

Our Rebbe [Version i] Our Rebbe went into the desert Oi, our Rebbe, our Rebbe And caught him a fish there, the wizard, Oi, our Rebbe, our Rebbe 5 And he took the fish home to his lady Oi, our Rebbe, our Rebbe And the Rebbitzin, she made it ready, Oi, our Rebbe, our Rebbe 10

Ready, and very digestible Oi, our Rebbe, our Rebbe For the Chassidim who sat at his table, Oi, our Rebbe, our Rebbe

But suddenly one heard a loud screaming Oi, our Rebbe, our Rebbe 15 And the Rebbe awoke from his dreaming, Oi, our Rebbe, our Rebbe. c. 1946/1946

854 / Poetry Translations

Our Rebbe [Version 2] Our Rebbe, he went forth into the desert Oi, our Rebbe, our Rebbe, And caught him a fish there, the marvellous wizard, Oi, our Rebbe, our Rebbe. 5 So he took that fish back home to his lady, Oi, our Rebbe, our Rebbe, She scaled it, and cleaned it, and made it all ready, Oi, our Rebbe, our Rebbe. All ready, and seasoned, and palatable 10 Oi, our Rebbe, our Rebbe, To all the Chassidim who sat at his table, Oi, our Rebbe, our Rebbe. But suddenly there was heard a loud screaming, Oi, our Rebbe, our Rebbe — 15 And the Rebbe he woke from his glorious dreaming, Oi, our Rebbe, our Rebbe! 1951/1955

My Noddle It Is Humming My noddle it is humming With my Rebbe's din and drumming I heard such subtleties and such rare lore. Patiently, every tenet

855 / Yiddish

5 Of his, I will explain it And miracles and marvels and much more. O, you'll marvel and you'll wonder At each tale that I will render, Marvel, Jews, so favoured and so blessed. 10 Metatron, prince in heaven, there There at my Zaddik's parks his luggage! Doubt it at your peril if you dare! Oy vey! Oy, vey, blessed who saw these wonders spread 15 For only our Chassidim's eyes, Who saw our Rebbe's happy face, Shining forth its godly grace! The doubter doubts, it is above his head. 1951/1955

The Train God willing, after Sabbath I'll to the Rebbe again, And there will picture and tell him About the iron train. 5

O but it has a whistle, Loud, and past all choking! Below, it pours out water, Above, it flies out smoking! S ...

856 / Poetry Translations 10 Coals - bright - burning It deems a food delicious, And right hot boiling water The soupiest of dishes! A German, he must be who 15 Conducts this kind of trip A coachman, a strange coachman Who doesn't have a whip! Rebono shel Olam, His schedule do confound 20 So that never on the Sabbath Will his wheels go round! c. 1946/1946

How Fares the King? Rabosai, Rabosai, scholars for this task: Here's a query, here's a query. Ask it, ask! Answer, then, my query; answer: 5 How does the King drink tea? One takes a loaf of sugar, and one bores a little hole in it, and one pours hot water into it, and one stirs, and one stirs ... O, in this wise, in this wise, in this wise, does the King drink tea!

857 / Yiddish 10 Rabosai, Rabosai, scholars for this task: Here's a query, here's a query. Ask it, ask! Answer, then, my query; answer: How eats the King potatoes? 15

One builds a bulwark of butter, and a soldier-boy with his shooting-toy, shoots through the butter a hot potato, — which strikes the King plum in his open mouth! O, in this wise, in this wise, in this wise, eats the King potatoes!

Rabosai, Rabosai, scholars for this task: 20 Here's a query, here's a query. Ask it, ask! Answer, then, my query; answer: How sleeps the King at night? One fills a bedroom with feathers, one flings therein His 25 Majesty, and three battalions stand and shout: Sha! 1951/1955

The Rebbele, the Gabbai'le, the Cantor'l, the Shamash'l The Rebbele, the Gabbai'le, the Cantor'l, the Shamash'l Every holy vessel will be hopping! Shout, then, shout again, All, with might and main: 5 The Rebbele himself soon will hop it!

858 / Poetry Translations The Rebbele, the Gabbai'le, the CantorT, the Shamash'l Every holy vessel will be hopping! The Rebbele, the Gabbai'le, the Cantor'l, the Shamash'l Every holy vessel will be hopping! 1951/1955

Tsig, Tsigitsapel Who maketh a statement, he, he must prove it! A miracle happened, and I'll tell you of it. Tsig, tsigitsapel, etc. This miracle happened on Hoshana Rabah: 5 A goat, it was foaled, in the barn of the Gabbai; And the Rebbe he ordered it cleaned and well curried, And then, without questions, to the mikveh hurried. Chassidim behind him, the Rebbe before When lo! the goat leaped, and it was no more! 10 Chassidim did hunt it in seven directions And even Cohanim left their benedictions, And after them Doba the merchantess jumped it Behind her the Rebbe's plump helpmate plumped it. At last, to the goat's tail, the Shochet traced him, 15 Who - saving your grace - there soundly disgraced him! 1951/1955

859 / Yiddish

Miracles and Wonders The Rebbe comes, The Rebbe comes, The Rebbe has arrived now! Ay, ay, ay, ay 5 Ay, ay, ay, ay Miracles and wonders ... Ay.

Our Rebbe he does wonders Even in the water He enters it a dry man 10 And he comes out much wetter, Ay, ay, ay, ay Ay, ay, ay, ay Miracles and wonders ... Ay.

The Rebbe, he does wonders 15 And I'm not merely talking: There comes to him a blindman, And he sets him a-walking, Ay, ay, ay, ay Ay, ay, ay, ay 20 Miracles and wonders ... Ay.

c. 1946/1946

86o / Poetry Translations

Akavyah ben M'halallel Akavyah ben M'halallel sayeth: Consider thou, therefore, three things, And thou wilt be saved from error and sinning. Consider and know 5 Whence didst thou come into being, being and life? And whither, and whither, and whither Thou art destined to go, thou art destined to go. To a place of dust, of dust and worms, of worms and death corruption! And before whom thou art destined to give account and reckoning 10 Before the King of the kings of all earth's kingdoms — Blessed be He! Akavyah, Akavyah ben M'halallel says this: ben M'halallel sayeth. 1951/1955

Omar Adoishem 1'Ya-akoiv! Said the Lord, the Lord, to Jacob Yes, father, yes, Hast thou not promised us:

861 / Yiddish

Fear not, my loyal Jacob! 5 Yes, father, yes. Why, then, are we driven so, Father mine, Why, then, are we harried so, Father mine, When will it end, end, O when? Chose the Lord, the Lord, his Jacob 10 Yes, father, yes, Hast thou not promised us: Fear not, my loyal Jacob! Yes, father, yes. Why, then, are we driven so, Father mine, 15 Why, then, are we harried so, Father mine, When will it end, end, O when? Raised the Lord, the Lord, his Jacob Yes, father, yes, Hast thou not promised us: 20 Fear not, my loyal Jacob! Yes, father, yes. Why, then, are we driven so, Father mine, Why, then, are we harried so, Father mine, When will it end, end, O when? 1951/1955

862 / Poetry Translations

Bar Yochai Bar Yochai, Bar Yochai, Bar Yochai, blessed art thou. With blessed oil, with oil of rejoicing, did thy comrades well anoint thee 5 Bar Yochai, Bar Yochai, Bar Yochai, blessed art thou. (repeat) c. 1946/1946

The Rebbe Elimelech When our Rebbe Elimelech Wished to have himself a frolic Wished to have himself a frolic Elimelech 5 He did doff his robes of prayer And did don - what he did wear And he sent for his fiddlers, for both.

10

When the fiddle-fiddling fiddlers did fiddle-fiddling fiddle They fiddle-fiddling fiddled it, did they. When the fiddle-fiddling fiddlers did fiddle-fiddling fiddle They fiddle-fiddling fiddled it, did they. When our Rebbe Elimelech Wished to have himself a frolic Wished to have himself a frolic

863 / Yiddish

15

20

Elimelech He did duly say Havdala With his shamash Reb Naphthali And he sent for his string-men, for both. And the catgut-plucking string-men, they did pluck the catgut, string-men, They most pluckingly did shiver it, did they. And the catgut-plucking string-men, they did pluck the catgut, string-men, They most pluckingly did shiver it, did they.

When our Rebbe Elimelech Wished to have himself a frolic 25 Wished to have himself a frolic Elimelech His phylacteries, he wound them; And his spectacles - he found them, And he sent for his drummers, for both. 30

And the drumming-thumping drummers, they most thumpingly did drum it, They most thumpingly did boom-boom it, did they! And the drumming-thumping drummers, they most thumpingly did drum it, They most thumpingly did boom-boom it, did they! 1951/1955

864 / Poetry Translations

Yonder! Yonder! I

O do you know the land where the citron's growing Where the goats nibble bokser like grass, like grass, Where wine like water is ever flowing, And roasted ducks and goslings through the bright air pass? 5 And with those palmleaves And with those palmleaves Roofs are covered gaily And almonds, and almonds On dry sticks blossom daily. 10

O thither, thither, there, Oy, Rebenu, Gewald, gewald, There I would fare, would fare, would fare, O, even now Fare, would fare, O even now!

15

II

O do you know the land where our own Messiah Will come to us riding upon his white steed And where he will blow on his mighty ram's horn And wake the dead and have them, them and the living freed? 20 And he will lead us, And he will lead us, Lead his loved Yisroel

865 / Yiddish

Into the land Into the land 25 Now held by Yishmoel. c. 1946/1946

Vesomachto And do you rejoice upon your feast-day, And be you but rejoicing ever La-la-la-la-la And do you rejoice upon your feast-day 5 And be you but rejoicing ever La-la-la-la-la et seq.

c. 1946/1946

LATIN

HORACE

Of the Ancient House of the Clinii [Version i] Of the ancient house of the Clinii, prince, patron through whom alone my name has currency, myself status, Maecenas, to-day, 5 to-day vocation is my theme. Now, some there are for whom the chariots are the obsession they know all about the Olympics, including the records of dust raised: the turning wheels, the turn of the track accomplished, the King's Plate won - this, this sets them high, ichor in their veins, 10 gods. Others go for the trophies of politics, the honorary degree, the dignified sinecure, and even, perhaps the freedom of a city.

867 / Latin There's also the wheat-king - him only his granary 15 bursting with cornucopia will satisfy (of — the bushel in a wet year, and in a drought ah ...) As for the farmer - try and get him away from his muds and manures to cleave in a Cyprian bottom the clear Myrtoan water. Why not all the gold of Attalus will tear him away from his hoe! 20 The landlubber merchant, seasick, by the sou'wester has no eyes for the beauty of the Icarian sea he dreams the city, can't get back to it fast enough things maritime are much too green. Then there's the connoisseur - give him his Massic 25 a proper milieu (a sacred stream) a convenient shade (branches of arbutus) and he'll lie there all day long with limbs outstretched felicity! The camp, music of wind-instruments, drums, 30 and war, that great frustrator of maternity is there anything else the soldier thinks about? Well may his wife wait for him, but the huntsman under the cold sky has other game in mind - a hind the dogs are baying at, 35 a wild-pig, aye, of the breed of Lake Fucinus snorting its net. And I, too, O Prince, must confess my weakness. It is the ivy-chaplet, that's what is in me mania, the laurels raising me to the gods, granting me the company of nymphs and satyrs 40 away from the masses,

868 / Poetry Translations that is, of course, as long as Euterpe grants me the freedom of the flute as long as Polyhymnia continues to extend me my barbitos. Yes, mania is the word, and if you, O Maecenas, would also deign to count me as of the elect 45 surely I shall rise, I shall grow, head among the stars I shall pluck me constellations for my laurels! -L955

Of the Ancient House of the Clinii [Version 2] Of the ancient house of the Clinii, prince, O Maecenas, patron through whom alone my name has currency and myself status, to-day 5 my theme's vocation. Now some there are for whom the chariot is the idee fixe; these know all about the Olympics, including the record of dusts raised, the turn of the wheel, the turn of the track accomplished 10 the King's Plate won - this, this sends them high, ichor in the veins, gods. Others go for the trophies of politics: the honorary degree, the dignified sinecure, perhaps, even the freedom of a city.

869 / Latin

15

And there's the regratteur — him only his granary, crammed with all Africa, will somewhat appease. Obsession, possession, cornucopia bursting his barns!

But, one will ask, how about the farmer, sweating on his soil? Well, try to part him from his muds and manures! 20 Give him a choice, Yes, even to cleave in a Cyprian bottom the clear Myrtoan water! I say, not all the gold of Pergamus will tear him away from his hoe! ... Sea-sickness, that's what he fears, just like the landlubber merchant caught with his chattels on the Icarian sea. (Sou'wester!) 25 who groans for his city, his beautiful city, and bending over the rail avers things maritime as much too green. O various is man and his tastes various! *955

To Lydia What have you done to the man, Lydia? What kind of love is it That has turned our Sybaris into a wreck, a changeling? I, I knew him when. There wasn't a finer-looking man-about-town on the Campus Martius!

8/o / Poetry Translations 5 In the field there wasn't a man could sit in the saddle like he! The horses of Gaul - those wild ones! - they brooked him master! And who doesn't remember him on the beach by the Tiber? Or exercising in the palestra - what a body, what a stance! But look at him now. 10 He's more scared of the wrestler's oils than of snake-blood; and he won't put his hand to a weapon — he! — who could throw his discus, and his javelin, right up with the champions, and farther! You've made him a claustrophobe, that's what you've made him, an introvert! 15 You have turned him, who once was like Achilles in his glory, into that earlier Achilles, you know, whom his mother, the sea-goddess Thetis dressed up like a woman, skirt, ribbons and all, fearing the slaughter of Troy, and the fate that awaited her son. That's what you've done! 20 O Lydia, by all the gods! *955

To Leuconoe This is the one taboo - to think of to-morrow! O Leuconoe Life expectancy is for agents of insurance to dope out, not us. Olympus is a gate one cannot crash.

871 / Latin

5

As for going to the astrologers out of Babylon that's the numbers racket all over again.

Take it as it comes, then, and as the day goes that's it! Is this winter our last? Will Jupiter give us another? 10 The winds blow, the breakers break against the Tyrrhenian rocks. It's all as uncertain as the weather. Be wise, girl, and mix yourself another drink but not with hope, not as much as a jigger of hope. And do it now. Time, as they say, flies. Grab what you can to-day. 15 To-morrow - that's the original gyp.

1955

To L. Munatius Plancus Let the Bureaux de Tourisme and Chambers of Commerce proclaim the attractions of each their metropolises. Let the public relations council of the city of Rhodes 5 super-colossolize its Colossus; Mytilene, cash in on the credit of Sappho. Let the same functionaries have their word, too, about the hotels of Corinth (with exposures on two seas!) about the vintage of Thebes (cellared by Bacchus himself!)

872 / Poetry Translations

10 about the Temple of the Ephesian Diana, that great specific for the troubled mind! also Delphos and Apollo! The vales of Thessaly! 15

I hear that the publicity man for the city of Athens (Urbs Palladis Athenae) is composing, in terms at once erudite and lyrical, its baedeker in fourteen volumes! That should get him remission of taxes!

There is also a versatile one who is writing about both Argos and Mycenae: 20 it is said that he brings to his labours two incomparable qualities: an admiration for its nouveaux-riches, a love of horses. Nonetheless I, I'm staying put. Of course Lacedaemon has its lovely resorts, 25 beyond doubt the plains of rich Larissa are delectable country, but me, I'm happy where I am, here by the waters of the resounding Albunae by the romantic cataracts of Anis, in the beautiful groves of Tiburnus 30 (by the gods! they've got me doing it) here in the orchards of the thousand streams ... *955

ABBREVIATIONS TEXTUAL NOTES EXPLANATORY NOTES APPENDICES INDEX OF TITLES INDEX OF FIRST LINES

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Abbreviations

The following abbreviations in the textual and explanatory notes conform to Usher Caplan's 'Bibliography and Index to Manuscripts/ in The A.M. Klein Symposium, ed. Seymour Mayne (Ottawa: University of Ottawa Press 1975), p. 89, with some additions. WORKS BY KLEIN

Books and Pamphlets H HNJ HPC p PFC RC ss SVP

The Hitleriad. New York: New Directions 1944 Hath Not a Jew .... New York: Behrman's Jewish Book House 1940 Huit poemes canadiens (en anglais). Montreal: [Canadian Jewish Congress 1948] Poems. Philadephia: The Jewish Publication Society of America 1944 Poems of French Canada. [Montreal: Canadian Jewish Congress

1947] The Rocking Chair and Other Poems. Toronto: The Ryerson Press 1948 The Second Scroll. New York: Alfred A. Knopf 1951 Seven Poems. [Montreal: Canadian Jewish Congress 1948]

Volumes in the Collected Works BS

LER

Beyond Sambation: Selected Essays and Editorials 1928-1955. Ed. M.W. Steinberg and Usher Caplan. Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1982 Literary Essays and Reviews. Ed. Usher Caplan and M.W. Steinberg. Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1987

876 / Abbreviations Stories

Short Stories. Ed. M.W. Steinberg. Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1983

Published Volumes Containing Klein's Handwritten Revisions HN/rev previ prev2

revised copy of Hath Not a ]ew ... [MS 2744] revised copy of Poems [MS 2745] revised copy of Poems [MS 2746]

Bound Typescript Volumes 22S GH

GHP P32 P34 SP

xxu Sonnets (1931) [MS 1464-89] Gestures Hebraic (1932) [MS 1490-1592] Gestures Hebraic and Poems (1932) [MS 1733-1953] Poems (1932) [MS 1593-1732] Poems (1934) [MS 1954-2040] Selected Poems (1955) [MS 2041-116]

Periodicals CF c/c MJ

Canadian Forum Canadian Jewish Chronicle Menorah Journal

Anthologies Efros Klinck and Watters Leftwich Schwarz Smith

Israel Isaac Efros. Selected Poems of H.N. Bialik. New York: Histadruth Ivrith of America 1948 Carl F. Klinck and R.E. Watters. Canadian Anthology. Toronto: Gage Press 1955 Joseph Leftwich. The Golden Peacock. Cambridge, Mass.: Sci-art Publishers 1939 Leo W. Schwarz. A Golden Treasury of Jewish Literature. New York: Farrar and Rinehart Inc. 1937 A.J.M. Smith. The Book of Canadian Poetry. Chicago: University of Chicago Press 1943

REFERENCE WORKS

Caplan

Usher Caplan. 'A.M. Klein: An Introduction.' Dissertation. State University of New York at Stony Brook 1976

877 / Abbreviations JE LOTD OED s

The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York and London: Funk and Wagnalls Co. 1906 Usher Caplan. Like One That Dreamed: A Portrait of A.M. Klein. Toronto: McGraw Hill Ryerson Ltd. 1982 The Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford: Oxford University Press 1928. Solomon Spiro. Tapestry for Designs: Judaic Allusions in 'The Second Scroll' and 'The Collected Poems of A.M. Klein.' Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press 1984

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Textual Notes

O R I G I N A L POEMS, 1937-1955 BLUEPRINT FOR A MONUMENT OF WAR. CF 1J (Sept. 1937), 208-9.

15 for] ed.; of CF 70/71 line space supplied by ed. 71/72 line space supplied by ed.

OF DAUMIERS A PORTFOLIO, i. New Frontier 2, 4 (Sept. 1937), 10-11 (NF)*; 2. MS 24643-4, revised tearsheets of NF (NFrev). 98 there] NFrev; they NF BARRICADE SMITH: HIS SPEECHES, i. MS 2498-9, a typescript [section x] (MSI); 2. MS 2195-206, a typescript [sections i-ix] (MS2); 3. MS 2207-12, a typescript [sections vm-x] (MS3); 4. CF 18 (Aug. 1938), 147-8 [sections i-n]*; (Sept. 1938), 173 [sections HI-IV]*; (Oct. 1938), 210 [sections v-vn]*; (Nov. 1938), 242-3 [sections vm-x]*. Submitted to Canadian Forum, 25 June 1938 [letter of acknowledgment, 30 June 1938, MS 58]. MS2 groups together three sets of typescripts which differ slightly from one another in format: MS 2195-200 [sections i-iv]; MS 2201-4 [sections v-vn]; MS 2205-6 [sections vin—ix]. The typescripts contain numerous minor revisions to accidentals, which are incorporated into CF. 10 a Emily] MS2; Emily CF 41 next] the next MS2 44 be] ed.; be? MS2, CF

73 dwellings, -] MS2; dwellings - CF 74/75 no line space in MS2; line space in CF 151 of] for MS2, MS}

160 crucibles] crucible MS2, MS} 194 Now] MSI, MS}; Now, CF

88o / Textual Notes pp 470—80 203/04 line space in MSI; page break in MSJ; no line space in CF 206 typesetter] typesetters MSI 213 from] for MSI, MS} 245 king.] MSI, MS}; king, CF OF CASTLES IN SPAIN, i. CF 18 (June 1938), 79*; 2. a typescript in the Joseph N. Frank papers, Public Archives of Canada (F). F was sent by Klein to Joseph Frank in a letter dated 5 Aug. 1938, in which he explains that, since he has only one copy of the poem, he is sending Frank a 'transcript' of CF. In a letter to Sam Abramson, dated 4 June 1938, Klein says that the poem was composed 'several months ago.' In the same letter he says that all three poems in the sequence are dedicated to Abramson (not just the first, as in CF). In F the dedication is written in immediately after the main title. CHILDE HAROLD'S PILGRIMAGE, i. Opinion 8, 8 (Sept. 1938), 15-16 (o); 2. cjc, 18 Nov. 1938, p. 6; 3. Judaean Annual 10, 8 (June 1939), 7-10 (/); 4. HNJ, pp. 6-13* [version i]; 5. HN/rev* [version 2, 90-163]; 6. MS 2248-51 (MS)* [version 2, 1-89]. The reading 'sick' [66] occurs only in HNJ. The other versions of the poem which contain the relevant passage, o and cjc, have 'pimp.' On the assumption that this change, which adversely affects the sense, was forced on Klein by his publisher, I have restored 'pimp' in version i. MS, which breaks off partway through line 90, is based on HNjrev. Version 2 follows MS for 1-89 and HNjrev for the rest. HAf/rev retains 24-35 anc^ 65-7, which are omitted in MS. The two sets of notes which follow list variants from HNJ in o, cjc and /, and variants from MS in HNjrev for the section [1-89] where the two texts overlap.

Version i 20 sores;] o, cjc, j; sores. HNJ 33 doorman] Briton o, j ; agent cjc 65-8 not in j 66 pimp] o, cjc; sick HNJ 77 so much as say] say so much as cjc 88 you,] o, cjc, j; you HNJ 156 Not] Nor cjc Version 2 i Of yore yclept] 'Yclept of yore HNjrev 9 Shunted ... Hebrew] Bewildered, and a man who has been HNjrev 24-5 not in HNjrev

881 / Textual Notes pp 481-8 47 an ignoble] of the Marxian HNjrev 59 choler] gospels HNjrev 90 Is it, perhaps, - I (seek) [...] MS 93 punctiliousness] punctf?] HNjrev TO THE CHIEF M U S I C I A N , A PSALM OF THE B R A T Z L A V E R , A P A R A B L E . 1. MS 2677,

a typescript (MSI); z. New Directions 8 (1944), 198; 3. MS 2678, a typescript (MS2); 4. P, p. 35*. In a letter to Joseph Frank, 5 Aug. 1938, Klein reports that he is 'at work on a poetic rendition of Rabbi Nachman Bratzlaver's "Tale of the Seven Beggars" '; lines 9-14 of TO THE CHIEF MUSICIAN, A PSALM OF THE BRATZLAVER, WHICH HE WROTE DOWN AS THE STAMMERER SPOKE are quoted in 'Lillian Freiman: a Tribute/ c/c, 8 Nov. 1940, p. 3. Hence the assigned date of composition, c. 1938/1940, for all the 'Bratzlaver' poems. Heading preceded by 'Psalm XLI' in MSZ, and by 'Psalm xxix' in P TO THE CHIEF M U S I C I A N , A PSALM OF THE B R A T Z L A V E R , W H E N HE C O N S I D E R E D

HOW THE PIOUS ARE OVERWHELMED, i. the unrevised typescript for MSirev (MSI); 2. MS 2685-6 (MSirev); 3. MS 2688-9, a typescript (MS2)*; 4. MS 2687, a revised copy of the first page of MS2 [1-18] (MS2rev)*. For the date of composition see note to TO THE CHIEF MUSICIAN, A PSALM OF THE BRATZLAVER, A PARABLE.

Since the second page of MS2rev, containing 19-31, is missing, MS2 is the copytext for these lines. Heading 'Guerdon of Wit' MSI; preceded by 'Psalm 178' in MSirev, and by 'Psalm xxxvi' in MS2, Mszrev the Bratzlaver] Rabbi Nachman altered to the Bratzlaver MSirev Pious] Learned altered to Pious MSirev 14 sighs and sighs] sighs and sighs and sighs all other versions OF REMEMBRANCE, i. MS 2679-80 (MSI); 2. the unrevised typescript for MS2rev (MS2); 3. MS 2681-2 (MS2rev); 4. c/c, 24 Oct. 1947, p. 6; 5. ss, pp. 191-3*. For the date of composition see note to TO THE CHIEF MUSICIAN, A PSALM OF THE BRATZLAVER, A PARABLE.

Heading preceded by 'vn' and by 'Psalm 181' in MSI, and by 'Psalm XLIII' in MSZ, Mszrev Heading successively (a) 'To the Chief Musician, a Psalm of the Bratzlaver, to Bring to Remembrance' (b) To the Chief Musician, a Psalm of the Bratzlaver, a Psalm of the Beginning of Things' MSI; same as (b) in MSZ, Mszrev, c/c 10 O infant swaddled in its tomb! c/c 15 conception of the breed] conception, bard of breed c/c 17 O distant memory] Sweet recollection c/c

882 / Textual Notes pp 489-93 20 odour of fruit] fruit's smell altered to odour of fruit MSI 21 O] Pure c/c 25 No thing] Nothing all other versions TO THE CHIEF M U S I C I A N : A PSALM OF THE B R A T Z L A V E R , T O U C H I N G A G O O D

GARDENER, i. MS 2683-4, a typescript (MS); 2. P, pp. 37-9*. Klein defended the reading 'filth' in 30 [i July 1943], but the Jewish Publication Society insisted it be changed [3 Dec. 1943] and he was forced to comply [15 Dec. 1943]. The original reading has been restored. For the date of composition see note to TO THE CHIEF MUSICIAN, A PSALM OF THE BRATZLAVER, A PARABLE.

Heading preceded by 'Psalm XLIV' in MS, and by 'Psalm xxxi' in P 18 Now] Yea MS 30 filth] MS; words P TO THE CHIEF M U S I C I A N , A PSALM OF THE B R A T Z L A V E R , WHICH HE WROTE DOWN

AS THE STAMMERER SPOKE, i. MS 2690, a typescript (MS); 2. c/c, 8 Nov. 1940, p. 3 [9-4]; 3. P, p. 36*. For the date of composition see note to TO THE CHIEF MUSICIAN, A PSALM OF THE BRATZLAVER, A PARABLE.

Heading preceded by 'Psalm xm' in MS, and by 'Psalm xxx' in P 9 truly] soothly MS, c/c 12 found] find c/c 14 Of worthy deed and meritorious act. MS, c/c IN RE S O L O M O N W A R S H A W E R . 1-2.

C/C, 19 Apr.

1940,

p. 3 [75-104] (c/Cl);

galleys for MJ, given by Klein to Leo Kennedy (LK); 3. MJ 28, 2 (Summer 1940), 138-42; 4. Smith, pp. 391-5 (si); 5. p, pp. 49-55* [version i]; 6. c/c, 27 Feb. 1953, p. 4 [75-89] (cjcz); 7. previ; 8. prev2; 9. MS 2345-52 (MS); 10. the unrevised typescript for sprev (SP); 11-12. Klinck and Watters, pp. 385-9 (KW); Smith, 3rd ed. (1957), pp. 352-6 (52)* [version 2]; 13. SP 2082-9 (sprev). The texts can be divided into two distinct groups: (i) c/ci, LK, MJ, si, P, and cjcz; (2) previ, prev2, MS, SP, KW, S2, sprev. The texts in the second group probably date from 1953 at the earliest, since C/C2, which appeared in that year, reproduces the earlier unrevised version, p was revised in 3 closely related stages, previ contains numerous revisions to 1-93 [pp. 49-52]. The rest of previ is unrevised, with a few minor exceptions. prev2 follows the revisions in previ very closely, and adds many new ones to the second half of the poem. However, at some point Klein decided to make additions to the poem which were too extensive to be written into the margins. MS contains complete drafts of three passages, which become 83-104, 116-69, an£l 177~9^ in version 2; MS also contains

883 / Textual Notes pp 494-500 preliminary sketches for 166-9 and 184-91. The three drafts are numbered, and corresponding numbers in prev2 indicate the passages they are to replace: 83-115, 127-38, and 145-8. Once Klein had decided to replace these passages entirely, he erased the initial revisions he had made to them in prevz. The conflation of prev2 and MS is the basis of SP. srrev contains nine revisions, of which six appear in KW and not in 52; two appear in sz and not in KW; and one appears in neither. KW and sz are probably based on separate carbon copies of SP, which Klein revised on different occasions, without including revisions from the earlier version (whichever one it was) in the later. He did, however, in both cases, copy the revisions into the master copy of SP, as well as adding one more revision at a later date. All nine revisions in srrev - substantives and, as far as can be determined, accidentals - occur in Klein's 1955 McGill reading, which must, therefore, be based on a later revision of SP than are KW and 52 (despite the 1957 publication date of 52). The reading itself contains a number of variants from sprev, but they are all of the kind that could easily arise at a public reading, and Klein is almost certainly reading from sprev as we have it. Line spacing in version 2 follows SP, rather than sz, which is erratic; in several cases, when errors in S2 result in impossible readings, the correct readings have been silently restored from the earlier versions. The two sets of notes that follow list variants from p in the first group of texts, and from S2 in the second. Not noted in the second set are: passages left unrevised in previ; the initial revisions in prev2 to the passages later replaced from MS; the preliminary sketches in MS. All the texts contain an inconsistency which has been allowed to stand: in 63 'the S.S. man arrived'; in 159 (version i)/i97 (version 2) 'the S.S. men departed.' 'Men' is altered to 'man' in the McGill reading. Version i 30/31 page break in MJ; line space in all other versions except P 69 those mirrored in] the objects of all other versions 87 sounded] founded si 92 although I do] albeit I all other versions 97 risen;] all versions except p; risen: p 103 twittering;] all versions except P; twittering: P 104 juvenescent] brightly plumaged all other versions 112 Yes] Aye all other versions 140-1 lycanthropous, / Leader] lycanthropous / Leader all other versions Version 2 6 in rags disguised] sprev, McGill reading; disguised in rags previ, prev2, SP, KW, in rags, disguised S2 37 fingerprint,] all versions except 52; fingerprint! 52 54 my] our altered to his previ

884 / Textual Notes pp 501-7 84-8 The gardens, that were Babylon, that terrace is gloom; / And Egypt, Egypt, scarcely now recalled / By that lone star that sentries Pharaoh's tomb ... / Sounded on sand, Karthago, by water walled ... previ 93 Pride of old triumph. Powers ... they were ... once! previ 124 gleed] all versions except 52; greed 52 128 Sought out the king my father's God, His words, His ways, srrev, KW, McGill reading 134 fur!] all versions except 82; fur! ... sz 145 possible,] possible MS, SP, KW 185-91 Who does not know the modes of his statecraft? / Here motive is appetite; and oestric hate / Pregnator of its every imp and graft. / All love here is venereal ... Banned ... Or bait ... / The skulk and pounce of the forest / Here are norm, / Whence love's the aberration, love the treason, / Overt and covert, fact, style, form! deleted in MS 194 greets the] clots to sprev, McGill reading FOR THE CHIEF PHYSICIAN. 1. Opinion 11, 12 (Oct. 1941), 28 (o); 2. P, p. 9*.

Accepted for publication by Opinion, 18 Nov. 1940 [MS 115]. Heading preceded by 'Psalm 161' in o, and by 'Psalm VH' in P GRACE BEFORE POISON, i. the unrevised typescript for POMS (MSI); 2. Poetry archives (POMS); 3. Poetry 58 (Apr. 1941), 6-7 (Po); 4. the unrevised typescript for MS2rev (MS2); 5. MS 2691-2 (MS2rev); 6. New Directions 8 (1944), 197; 7. c/c, 24 Oct. 1947, p. 6; 8. ss, pp. 190-1*. Receipt acknowledged by E.K. Brown, 12 Nov. 1940 [MS 113]. POMS is part of a group of typescripts stamped 'Jan 22 1941.' Heading preceded by 'Psalm 154' in MSI, POMS, Po, and by 'Psalm x' in MS2, Mszrev Heading To the Chief Musician upon Shoshannim. A Song of Loves' all other versions 8 And] illegible in MSI; Yea, POMS, Po MASCHIL OF ABRAHAM: A PRAYER WHEN HE WAS IN THE CAVE. i. Reconstructionist 6, 18 (10 Jan. 1941), 12 (R); 2. P, pp. 2-3*; 3. prev2; 4. previ. Submitted to Reconstructionist, 21 Nov. 1940 [MS 117]. Heading preceded by 'Psalm 152' in R, and by 'Psalm n' in P, previ, prev2 11-12 That proved, by minus and by plus, / The vacuum ubiquitous, previ 14 age] fear previ 15 scientist] sciolist prevz, previ 19—20 not in previ 24/25 Surely I cannot, nor desire / To speak, as rabbi or as friar. R

885 / Textual Notes pp 507-10 25 How shall I] How else, then, R 29-32 not in previ 33 For I would that they knew, as I, previ 34 undebatable] first and final R 36 simple] not in previ 39-40 And ... / Do] That will complete the theorem, / And R A PRAYER OF A B R A H A M THAT HE BE F O R G I V E N FOR BLASPHEMY. I. MS 2566 (MS);

2. MJ 29 (Autumn 1941), 280*. Submitted to Menorah journal, 5 Dec. 1940 [MS 119]. Heading preceded by 'Psalm 166' in MS, MJ A PRAYER OF THE AFFLICTED, WHEN HE IS O V E R W H E L M E D .

1. the Unrevised

typescript for MSrev (MS); 2. Opinion 11, 12 (Oct. 1941), 28*; 3. MS 2567 (Msrev). Accepted for publication by Opinion, 18 Nov. 1940 [MS 115]. Msrev appears to date from the early fifties. Heading preceded by Tsalm 160' in all versions 5 And ... fine] The times are good Msrev A PSALM FOR FIVE HOLY P I L G R I M S , Y E A , SIX ON THE K I N G ' S HIGHWAY. 1. MJ 29

(Autumn 1941), 280-1; 2. p, p. 19*. Submitted to Menorah Journal, 5 Dec. 1940 [MS 119]. Heading preceded by Tsalm 167' in MJ, and by 'Psalm xiv' in P 8 rainbows] rainbow MJ 16 Not taste, touch, smell, sound, sight, his bait, MJ A PSALM OF A B R A H A M C O N C E R N I N G THE A R R O G A N C E OF THE SON OF MAN.

i. MS 2592, a typescript (MSI); 2. MJ 29 (Autumn 1941), 283*; 3. MS 2593, a typescript (MS2). Submitted to Menorah Journal, 5 Dec. 1940 [MS 119]. Heading preceded by 'Psalm 171' in MSI, MJ, and by 'Psalm xxxv' in MSZ 16 grand,] MSI, MSZ; grand MJ A PSALM OF A B R A H A M OF THAT W H I C H WAS V I S I T E D UPON HIM. 1. the Unrevised

typescript for MSirev (MSI); 2. MJ 29 (Autumn 1941), 284; 3. MS 2594 (MSirev); 4. MS 2595, a typescript (MS2); 5. cjc, 21 Nov. 1952, p. 4*; 6. MS 2596, a revised copy of MS2 (MS2rev); 7. MS 2571 (MS3); 8. SP 2092. Submitted to Menorah Journal, 5 Dec. 1940 [MS 119]. cjc has 'know' in 3, but this has been emended to 'hear/ the reading in all other versions. 'Hear' makes better sense; the typesetter probably misread 'I hear him' in 3 as 'I know him/ through confusion with 'I know his' in 2.

886 / Textual Notes pp 510-13 Heading preceded by Tsalm 173' in MSI, MJ, and by 'Psalm xxxv' in MSirev, MS2; The Prowler' MS}, SP Was Visited] Is Visited MSI, MJ, MSirev, MSZ, MS2rev 3 hear] all versions except c/c; know c/c 7 successively (a) Or by the whorling of an inky thumb, (b) Or by the whorled impress of a thumb, Mszrev; same as (b) in MS}, SP 8 a strange new] its sombre MSI, MJ, MSirev, MS2; its metal Mszrev, MS}, SP 11-12 successively (a) Shall I fling open a window, and shout Police! I I do not dare. He's of my very own kin. (b) But still I dare not cry out, shout Police!.. / I know him. He's my very own flesh and blood, (c) But still I dare not cry out, shout Policel.. I Because I know him. And he's my own kin. MS2rev; (c) altered to (d) Should I then run to a window, and shout Policed. I I dare not. For I know him. My own kin. MS}; same as (d) in SP A PSALM OF A B R A H A M , PRAYING A G R E E N OLD A G E . 1. the Unrevised typescript

for Msrev (MS); 2. MJ 29 (Autumn 1941), 283-4*; 3- MS 2597 (Msrev). Submitted to Menorah Journal, 5 Dec. 1940 [MS 119]. Heading preceded by 'Psalm 172' in MS, Msrev, and by 'Psalm 171' in MJ 5 birds'] Msrev; birds MS; bird's MJ A PSALM OF A B R A H A M , TO BE WRITTEN D O W N AND LEFT ON THE TOMB OF

RASHI. i. Opinion 10, 7 (May 1940), 10 (o); 2. p, pp. 42-3; 3. c/c, 10 Apr. 1953, p. 10*; 4. previ; 5. SP 2110-11. Heading 'Epistle to Be Left on the Tomb of Rashi' o; preceded by 'Psalm xxxiv' in p, previ 8 Law] all versions except c/c; law c/c 17-19 not in previ, SP 26—32 Much that is dim, / Inscrutable past all the targumim. / Ours is a time, great rabbi, like your time, / A time of murder and despising of life. / It is a flood age. Giant wickedness, / Constrict in dearth - the world is not enough / Makes room with slaughter of lives deemed excess. / It is the age that evildom begat. / The cry of blood goes up, but no one hears. / O we do long for rest and Ararat / As all our arks are floated out on tears, previ, SP 28 these days,] p; these days o, c/c 30 mere glut] the glut o, P 39 youth,] o, SP; youth p, c/c, previ 43/44 line space in all versions except c/c 47 seed,] P, previ, SP; seed o, c/c A PSALM OF A B R A H A M , TOUCHING HIS G R E E N PASTURES. 1. Poetry archives

(POMS); 2. a typescript in the Ralph Gustafson papers, University of Saskatchewan Library; 3. Poetry 58 (Apr. 1941), 6 (Po); 4. P, p. 5*.

887 / Textual Notes pp 513-17 Receipt acknowledged by E.K. Brown, 12 Nov. 1940 [MS 113]. POMS is stamped 'Jan 22 1941.' Heading Tsalm 151' POMS, Po; preceded by 'Psalm iv' in P A PSALM OF A B R A H A M , WHEN HE WAS S O R E PRESSED. 1. Opinion 11, 12 (Oct.

1941), 28 (o); 2. P, p. 4*. Accepted for publication by Opinion, 18 Nov. 1940 [MS 115]. Heading preceded by 'Psalm 159' in o, and by 'Psalm in' in P A PSALM OF A B R A H A M , WHICH HE MADE BECAUSE OF FEAR IN THE NIGHT. 1. MJ

29 (Autumn 1941), 281-2; 2. First Statement i, 14 (1943), i (FS); 3. P, pp. 44-5*; 4. previ. Submitted to Menorah Journal, 5 Dec. 1940 [MS 119]. Heading preceded by 'Psalm 168' in MJ, and by 'Psalm xxxv' in P, previ 4 An] A previ 11 carmined] its carmined MJ, FS 21 angel's drinking-cup] angels' drinking-cups FS A PSALM OF JUSTICE, AND ITS SCALES. 1. MJ 29 (Autumn 1941), 282; 2. P, p. 29*;

3. previ; 4-5. SP 2091; MS 2599, a copy of SP (MS). Submitted to Menorah Journal, 5 Dec. 1940 [MS 119]. Heading preceded by 'Psalm 169' in MJ, and by 'Psalm xxm' in P, previ; 'Psalm of Justice' SP, MS, McGill reading 3-4 Armed with a sky-blue blueprint in my hand, / Safe combination in my memory, MJ 6 is mis-weighed] was mis-weighed previ, SP, MS, McGill reading A PSALM OF R E S I G N A T I O N . 1. MJ 29 (Autumn 1941), 285; 2. CJC, 1O Apr.

1953,

p. 10*. Submitted to Menorah Journal, 5 Dec. 1940 [MS 119]. Heading preceded by 'Psalm 175' in MJ 4 but say] say MJ A PSALM, TO BE P R E S E R V E D AGAINST TWO WICKED WORDS. 1. MS 2603, 3

typescript (MSI); 2. MS 2604, a revised copy of MSI (MSirev); 3. P, pp. 12-13*; 4- JTCVI; 5. prev2. Submitted to Jewish frontier, 4 Dec. 1940 [MS 118]. Heading preceded by 'Psalm 163' in MSI, and by 'Psalm ix' in P, previ, prev2 3 at ... terrible] with a vicarious previ 4 When I behold the beggar, looked askance, MSI, MSirev spurned] humbled previ 6 his fellow's] that great man's previ

888 / Textual Notes pp 517-22 7 beg my daily] come to beg my previ 11 Thou who know'st] You who know men's previ 12 Know'st] Know that previ 14-15 all ... parts] all that must debase previ 15 even ... noblest] were I even of noble prev2 20 Lord] O Lord MSI, Msirev A PSALM TO TEACH HUMILITY. 1. MJ 29 (Autumn 1941), 284-5; 2 - p> P- 33*'

3. SP 2056. Submitted to Menorah Journal, 5 Dec. 1940 [MS 119]. Heading preceded by Tsalm 174' in MJ, by 'Psalm xxvn' in P, and by 'Psalm xxxix' in SP S H I G G A I O N OF A B R A H A M WHICH HE SANG UNTO THE LORD. 1. Opinion 11, 12

(Oct. 1941), 28 (o); 2. P, p. 30*. Accepted for publication by Opinion, 18 Nov. 1940 [MS 115]. Heading preceded by 'Psalm 158' in o, and by 'Psalm xxiv' in P A SONG OF DEGREES, i. Reconstructionist 7, 3 (21 Mar. 1941), 6; 2. P, p. 6*; 3. previ. Submitted to Reconstructionist, 21 Nov. 1940 [MS 117]. i doth get] gets previ 6-8 His teachers - the beasts of the field! previ TO THE CHIEF B A I L I F F , A PSALM OF THE KING'S WRIT. 1. MS 2673, 3 typescript

(MSI); 2. MJ 29 (Autumn 1941), 282-3*; 3- MS 2^74/ a typescript (MS2). Submitted to Menorah Journal, 5 Dec. 1940 [MS 119]. Heading preceded by 'Psalm 170' in MSI, MJ, and by 'Psalm xxxvn' in MS2 TO THE CHIEF MUSICIAN, AL-TASCHITH, MICHTAM OF ABRAHAM; WHEN ONE SENT, AND

THEY WATCHED THE HOUSE TO KILL HIM. i. Poetry archives (POMS); 2. Poetry 58 (Apr. 1941), 7-8; 3. MS 2675-6 (MS); 4. New Directions 8 (1944), 198-9 (ND)*.

Receipt acknowledged by E.K. Brown, 12 Nov. 1940 [MS 113]. POMS is part of a group of typescripts stamped 'Jan 22 1941.' Heading preceded by 'Psalm 155' in POMS, P, and by 'Psalm LX' in MS 6/7 line space in ND, but in no other versions TO THE CHIEF M U S I C I A N , A PSALM OF I S R A E L , TO B R I N G TO R E M E M B R A N C E .

i. Opinion 11, 12 (Oct. 1941), 26 (o); 2. P, p. 32*: Accepted for publication by Opinion, 18 Nov. 1940 [MS 115]. Heading preceded by 'Psalm 157' in o, and by 'Psalm xxvi' in P

889 / Textual Notes pp 523-7 TO THE CHIEF MUSICIAN, WHO PLAYED FOR THE D A N C E R S . 1. MS 2693, a

typescript (MSI); 2. p, p. 17*. Submitted to Jewish Frontier, 4 Dec. 1940 [MS 118]. Heading preceded by 'Psalm 165' in MSI 10-11 praised ... fathom] told its wonder; aye, / But no man has told MSI TO THE P R O P H E T S , M I N O R AND M A J O R , A PSALM OR SONG. 1. Opinion 11, 12

(Oct. 1941), 28 (o); 2. P, p. 31*. Accepted for publication by Opinion, 18 Nov. 1940 [MS 115]. Heading preceded by 'Psalm 162' in o, and by 'Psalm xxv' in P A B E N E D I C T I O N FOR THE NEW M O O N . 1. MS 2233-4 ( M S )^ 2 - p> P- 2 6*-

Heading preceded by 'Psalm xxvm' in MS, and by 'Psalm xxi' in P 2/3 The moon glows in the sky, / And for the sons of men, there glows the circle in the brain! before line space in MS 11 mariners ... of] men who go down to the sea in MS 12 precedes line 10 in MS 12/13 no Hne sPace in MS A PRAYER OF ABRAHAM, AGAINST MADNESS, i. Jewish Frontier 9, 4 (Mar. 1942), 8 (/F); 2. P, pp. 27-8*; 3. previ. Heading 'A Psalm of Abraham on Madness' /F; preceded by 'Psalm xxn' in P, previ 17—20 Who sit, each docile in his cell / When yet a narrower cubicle, / The nightmare brain, the daydream skull / Constrict them new degrees of hell. previ 23-4 He knows his wife and child no more. / He is unclean, and fearsome, weird! Jf 27 grace, Thy] previ; grace, thy JF, p mortal] fatal previ A PSALM OF A B R A H A M , WHEN HE HEARKENED TO A VOICE, AND THERE WAS

NONE. i. MS 2572 (MSI); 2. the unrevised typescript for SP (MS2); 3. First Statement i, 14 (1943), 2 (FS); 4. MS 2598 (MS3); 5. p, p. i*; 6. prev2; 7. previ; 8. SP 2112. Heading 'Psalm' MSI, MS2, SP; preceded by 'Psalm 182' in MS}, and by 'Psalm i' in P, prevz, previ 5 these] the MS2, FS, SP I] One MSI, MS2, FS, SP

6 to ... doubt] to resolve the involved doubt prev2; will resolve the blotted doubt previ, SP 8 When] And MSI, MS2, FS, SP

890 / Textual Notes pp 528-30 A PSALM OF TIME AND THE F I R M A M E N T . MS 2602.

Heading preceded by Tsalm 176' A SONG FOR W A N D E R E R S . P, p. l8.

Included among the psalms in the original MS of Poems. Klein altered 'Nor of travelled roads' to 'Not of travelled roads' in 16 at the suggestion of the Jewish Publication Society [letter to JPS, 15 Sept. 1943]. A PSALM OF ABRAHAM, CONCERNING THAT WHICH HE BEHELD UPON THE

HEAVENLY SCARP, i. MS 2587-8 (MSI); 2-3. MS 2589-90, a typescript (MS2); a typescript in the Klein papers, Canadian Jewish Congress Archives (MS3); 4. a typescript in the Ralph Gustafson papers, University of Saskatchewan Library (MS4); 5. Poetry archives (POMS); 6. Poetry 59 (Mar. 1942), 315-16 (Po); 7. Smith, p. 396 (s); 8. New Directions 8 (1944), 196 (JVD); 9. P, pp. 7-8; 10. previ; 11. />rev2; 12. SP 2080-1; 13. Klinck and Waiters, p. 384 (KW)*. Submitted to Poetry, 13 Aug. 1941. MS3 is included in a set of lecture notes dated 28 Oct. 1941. The reading 'gutter' [20] occurs in all versions of the poem before P. For P, Klein was forced to change 'gutter' to the innocuous 'pavement,' by his publishers, the Jewish Publication Society, despite his strenuous objections. Although Klein let the new reading stand in later versions of the poem based on P, the original has been restored for the reasons given by Klein in his letter to the JPS defending 'gutter,' dated i July 1943: 'In stanza 4, the word "gutter" is underlined, and your reader suggests "wall or street," - but no; the correct word is "gutter" which is more picturesque and which emphasizes the humiliation of the "gentle violinist." ' No heading in MSI; heading preceded by 'Psalm vm' in MS2, MS}, and by 'Psalm vi' in P, previ, prevz; 'Upon the Heavenly Scarp' POMS, Po, s, ND i that] the eighth MSI 4 seraphic] angelic altered to seraphic MSI 6 where] when MSI, MS2, MS}, MS4, POMS 7 his] the MSI, MSZ, MSJ, MS^, POMS, Po, s, ND, P 9 imp] saint MSI 10 thinking] if he thought MSI 11 successively (a) But singing, jubilant, pointed a quivering wing (b) But pointing to the earth and its [...] (c) Only he psalmodied, and mischievously (d) Only with every (paean and every) Te Deum MSI 12 He pointed to the earth, its unspeakable horde. MSI abhorred] unspeakable MSI, MSZ, MS}, MS4, POMS, Po, s, ND, P; abhorred previ, prev2, SP 14/15 (He saw the violinist whose frenzied bars / Beat on the gates of heaven, with such wild [...]) MSI

891 / Textual Notes pp 530-4 15 He saw a pious man tear at his scars, altered to He saw a man tear at his flogged scars. MSI 16 And] He MSI 20 Such] That MSI gutter] MSI, MS2, MS}, MS4, POMS, Po, s, ND; pavement p, previ, prevz, SP, KW 24 before ... dry] spilt, before it is yet dry altered to before it is quite dry MSI 26 ceased ... earth] successively (a) he sang no more (b) sang no more (c) ceased pointing to the earth MSI 27 now ... flaw'd] who'd spied the earthly sod MSI, MS2, MSJ, MS4, POMS, Po, s, ND, P 29 And the good] And then the altered to And the good MSI 30 Sent the two Sodom angels down back to earth, altered to Sent the two angels of Sodom down to earth. MSI A PSALM OR P R A Y E R - P R A Y I N G HIS P O R T I O N WITH BEASTS. 1. MS 2573-4 (MS1);

2. MS 2575 [17-20] (MS2); 2. Hebrew Union College Monthly 29, 4 (Apr. 1942), 15 (HUC); 3. First Statement i, 14 (1943), 2; 4. P, p. 34*. Submitted to Hebrew Union College Monthly, 5 Aug. 1941 [MS 147]. Heading 'Psalm' MSI, HUC; preceded by 'Psalm xxvm' in P 6 the child Isaac] Isaac altered to the child Isaac MSI 17 successively (a) And teach me, [...] (b) And dearer than all these friends I bless [...] (c) O let me befriend [...] (d) Above all teach me the blessedness MSI 18 dear] (that) saintly MSI 20 hallow it] break its silence MSI B A L L A D OF Q U I S L I N G S . 1. MS 2156-7 (MSl); 2. MS 2158-9, 3 typescript (MS2);

3. Saturday Night 56 (30 Aug. 1941), 25 (SN); 4. cjc, 17 Apr. 1953, p. 4*. Receipt acknowledged by Saturday Night, 22 Aug. 1941 [MS 148]. 7 be not] may not be all other versions 13 damned] SN; damned all other versions 16 with] who brings us altered to with MSI whose shadow's] a-standing all other versions 21 and be] and he be all other versions BALLAD OF THE DAYS OF THE MESSIAH. 1. MS 2l6l-2 (MSl); 2. MS 2163-4 ( MS2 );

3. MS 2165-6, a typescript (MS3); 4. Hebrew Union College Monthly 29, i (Nov. 1941), 13 (HUC); 5. c/c, 5 Dec. 1941, p. 12; 6. p, pp. 61-2*. 7 O Leviathan] Leviathan MSI 10 good] fish altered to good MSI 13 Yea] MS2, MS}, HUC, c/c; And MSI; Yes P good ... good] saints, for the saints altered to good, for the good MSI 15 ruddy] sacred MSI

892 / Textual Notes pp 534—9 blood] gas MSI -\-j Aged ... been] successively (a) Kept and aged for so long (b) [?] and aged for so long (c) aged for so long, as it has been MSI 20 Messiah's falling herald] the good Messiah's herald MSI; Messiah's herald MS2, MS}, HUC, CJC

21 Tis] HUC, cjc; Hear, MSI; Tis, MSZ, MS}, p 25-30 altered from stanza 2 to stanza 5 in MSI BALLAD OF THE DREAM THAT WAS NOT DREAMED. MS 2167-8.

17 It seems] Methinks altered to It seems 22 A] The altered to A BALLAD OF THE EVIL EYE. 1. MS 2169-70 (MSl); 2. MS 2171-2, a typescript (MS2)*, BALLAD OF THE N U R E M B E R G TOWER CLOCK. 1. MS 2173-4 ( MS1 ); 2"3-

Ms 21

75>

a typescript (MSZ); the unrevised typescript for MS3revi and MS3rev2 (MS3); 4. MS 2178-9 (MS3revi); 5. MS 2180-1 (MS3rev2); 6. MS 2176-7 (MS4); 7. Saturday Night 57 (8 Nov. 1941), 10 (SN); 8. cjc, 24 Mar. 1944, p. 4*. Receipt acknowledged by Saturday Night, 22 Aug. 1941 [MS 148]. 8 heiled ... heiled] hailed, and they hailed MSZ, MS}, MS}revi 10 from] MSI, SN; for all other versions 11 words] voice altered to words MSI 12 Drowned out] Annulled SN 13 they] it altered to they MSI shouted, even] defying heaven in margin in MS}revi 14 clock] (tower) clock MSI 23 O in that] in that last SN BALLAD OF THE N U R S E R Y RHYMES. 1. MS 21&2 (MSl); 2. MS 2183, a typescript

(MS2); 3. CF 21 (Nov. 1941), 244; 4. cjc, 24 Mar. 1944, p. 4 (cjci); 5. MS 2184, a revised tearsheet of CF (cfrev); 6. cjc, 24 Oct. 1952, p. 4*. Submitted to Poetry, 13 Aug. 1941. 2 the cities] cities MSI, MSZ, CF, cjci • 4 his] its CFrev 6 He wandered] Wandering all other versions 11 his] forall other versions 14 in] from altered to in MSI 15 all the bridges that were] London bridge that was all all other versions 16 bloods of the race of man] blood of an Englishman all other versions 19 bombed] cracked altered to bombed MSI 20 moon ... its] hornets of the moon's honeyed altered to moon, and the hornets on its MSI

893 / Textual Notes pp 539—42 BALLAD OF THE THWARTED AXE. 1. MS 2185-6 (MSl); 2. MS 2187-8 (MS2); 3. MS

2189-90, a typescript (MS3); 4. CF 21 (Oct. 1941), 244; 5. c/c, 24 Mar. 1944, p. 4; 6. P, pp. 59-60*. Submitted to Poetry, 13 Aug. 1941. Heading Ballad] The Ballad MSI Subheading not in MSI, MSZ, MSJ German] German's c/c 3 on a writ] in a book altered to on a writ MSI 6 sparking] hardy MSI 10 The body, manacled,] The corpse in the dock MSI 18 lust, and warped lore] lust and lore MSI 22 He weaves] Has woven you altered to He weaves MSI 25 robe] robes MSI, MSZ 26 red-lined] successively (a) little (b) fatal (c) red-lined MSI; red-lined altered to little red-lined MSZ; little red-lined MSJ, CF, c/c 27 blows] reads altered to blows MSI 32 any judge's] the most terrible MSI 33-6 MSI has two versions of this stanza. The first is: The business of the court is done. / The motions have been made. / And justice reigns, according to / The set rules of the trade. The second, incomplete version, added to the right of the first, is: The business of the court is done / The pantomime [...] / And sawdust blots the red ink of / The (still) bleeding documents. 33 The business of the court is done altered to The court is done (now) with its assize MSZ 38 thorough] the altered to the lean MSI BALLAD OF THE WEREWOLVES. 1. MS 219! (MSl); 2. MS 2192 (MS2); 3. MS 2193,

a typescript (MS3); 4. MS 2194, a revised copy of MS3 (MS3rev)*. Receipt acknowledged by Canadian Forum, i Oct. 1941 [MS 148-A]. 3 Chest] Breast MSI 8 It is the ichor of the Trinity! MSI; It is champagne [...] altered to Tis good strong rum for Our trinity! MS2 10 swig] taste altered to swig MS2 12 Skoal] Drink MSI; Drink altered to Skoal MS2 the] sleep's MSI 19 here's] here is MSI OF THE F R I E N D L Y SILENCE OF THE MOON. 1. MS 2493 (MSl); 2. MS 2494 (MS2);

3. the unrevised typescript for MS3rev (MS3); 4. MS 2496, a typescript (MS4); 5. MS 2497, a revised version of MS4 (MS4rev); 6. MS 2495 (MS3rev)*. Submitted to Poetry, 13 Aug. 1941.

894 / Textual Notes pp 542-4 Heading 'The Ballad of the Mortal Moon' MSI; 'Ballad of the Mortal Moon' altered to 'Of the Friendly Silence of the Moon' US2 2 Slip] Sheathe all other versions 8 His cross-bones are seen plain altered to As the metre ticks in his brain. MSI; The metre ticks in his brain. MS2, MS}, MS4, MS^rev 9-10 follow 11—12 in MSI and originally in MSZ 9 your sulphurous] that poisonous MSI; that sulphurous altered to your sulphurous MS2

15 It is the moon] Tis moonlight that MSI 16 creep] deep all other versions POLISH VILLAGE, i. MS 2534 (MSI); 2. MS 2535 (MS2); 3. Saturday Night 58 (31 Jan. 1942), 3 (SAT)*. Receipt acknowledged by Saturday Night, 22 Aug. 1941 [MS 148]. 6 Why] MSI; why MSZ, SN 11 man] MSI, MSZ; Man SN SENNET FROM GHEEL. i. MS 2613 (MSI); 2-3. MS 2614, a typescript; MS 2616, a typescript; 4. Poetry archives; 5. Poetry 59 (Mar. 1942), 316-17; 6. MS 2615, a typescript; 7. New Directions 8 (1944), 195*. Submitted to Poetry, 13 Aug. 1941. 13 Zuruck] Back altered to Zuruck MSI our] the altered to our MSI Y E H U D A H A L E V I , HIS P I L G R I M A G E . 1. MS 5408-13 [298-357] (MSl); 2. MS

5411-13, a typescript [298-357] (MS2); 3. c/c, 19 Sept. 1941, pp. 9-12 (cjci); 4. the unrevised typescript for MS3rev (MS3); 5. MS 2727-37 (MS3rev); 6. MS 2712-26, a typescript (MS4); 7. c/c, 9 May 1941, p. 3 [338-47] (c/C2); 8. P, pp. 65-82*; 9. c/c, 12 Dec. 1947, p. 4 [298-357] (c/cj); 10. c/c, 20 Aug. 1948, p. 4 [298-357] (c/c/). MSI, MS2, c/Cjj, and c/c^ consist of Klein's translation of Yehuda Halevi's ODE TO ZION, which was probably completed earlier than the rest of the poem. In the title, the spelling 'Halevi' of cjci, rather than 'Ha-Levi/ has been followed, since the former is used throughout the body of the poem in all versions. Klein altered 'her' to 'she' in 286 of P, at the suggestion of the Jewish Publication Society, but he commented that it was a 'somewhat pedantic correction, since popular usage justifies the other' [letter to JPS, i July 1943]. Heading Halevi] cjci; Ha-Levi all other versions 2 his] the cjci 6 By mere remembrance of that wondrous tale! c/ci 18 the pale ... bold] jongleur and the princess he consoled c/ci; the pale princess and jongleur bold MS}, MSjrev

895 / Textual Notes pp 546—57 stanza 8 not in cjci, MS}, MSjrev 82 Still] Yet all other versions 126 Alas, that that was long ago, so many years agone! all other versions 149 beggar, ... a] beggar in tatters, yea, an unknown all other versions 170 I am forsaken in this den, forlore, all other versions 191 Conjured] Conjure cjci 205 across the perilous] yea, and across the all other versions 266 there] yea, all other versions 270 T'was [sic] vain to seek a dream in the illumined air cjci 286 she] her all other versions 297 song] a song cjci 303 thy hills] the hills cjc} 304 he] I altered to he MSI 306 Where he] Or I altered to Or he MSI; Or he MSZ 313 where] MSI, MS2, MS}, MS}rev; Where cjci, MS^, p, cjc}, c/c/ 321 there,] MSI, MSZ; there all other versions bleeding] naked MSI, MSZ 331 They ... they] Weeping thy ruins, they do MSI; Weeping thy wine, they do MSZ 332 striving towards] longing for altered to striving toward MSI; striving toward MSZ captivity.] MSI, MSZ; captivity, all other versions 333 bend the knee] genuflect MSI, MSZ 335 Remembering,] MSI, MSZ; Remembering all other versions 347 thou] MSI, MSZ, cjci, MS}, MS}rev, M$4, cjcz; Thou p, cjc}, c/c/ 348-57 follow 317 in MSI, MSZ 348 granted] grant me MSI, MSZ might] may MSI, MSZ 350 gave] give MSI, MSZ might] may MSI, MSZ 354 thee] them MSI, MSZ 362 But ... not] Alas, not so was it all other versions 368 knows] know all other versions 378 charmed] MS}, MS}rev; charmed cjci, MS4, p IN M E M O R I A M : ARTHUR ELLIS, i. MS 2317-21 (MSI)* [version i]; 2. MS 2326-8 (MS2); 3. MS 2322-5 (MS3); 4. MS 2330-2 (MS4); 5. the unrevised typescript for MS5rev (MS5); 6. MS 2339-41 (MS5rev); 7. the unrevised typescript for Ms6revi and Ms6rev2 (Ms6); 8. MS 2333-5 (Ms6revi); 9. the unrevised typescript for MS7rev (MS7); 10. Circle 7-8 (1946), 59-60 (c)* [version 2]; 11. MS 2336-8 (Ms6rev2); 12. MS 2342-4 (MS7rev); 13. MS 2308-12 (Ms8); 14. MS 2313-6 (MS9); 15. SP 2100-2* [version 3].

896 / Textual Notes pp 557-64 The texts can be divided into four distinct groups, largely on the basis of variants in stanzas i, 3, and 5: (i) MSI, MS2, and MSJ. The date 1941 has been assigned to this group, since SP, a much later version, is dated 1941, which probably refers to the original date of composition as Klein recalled it many years later. 'Early draft' has been pencilled into MS3 in what appears to be a later hand. (2) MS4, MSJ, MS5rev, Ms6, Ms6revi, MS/, and c. (3) Ms6rev2, a typescript with numerous minor revisions not adopted in later versions. (4) Ms/rev, Ms8, MS9, and SP. Ms8 consists of a number of preliminary sketches for 1-6. MS9 is a complete draft, with two versions of stanza i, the second marked 'June 15/54 draft.' Version i has been emended in a few instances, since punctuation in MSI is incomplete and 59 is missing one word: 'task' has been supplied from MS2MS4- The following list includes important variants from c [version 2] which do not occur in either MSI [version i] or SP [version 3]. 10 with ... bandied] Hearkening lore of MS^, MSJ, MSjrev, Ms6 11 swift embarrassed] horizontal MS^, MSJ 16 Death;] MSJ, MS^, MSJ, MSjrev, Ms6, MsSrevi, MS/, Ms6rev2; Death MSI, MS2; Death: c; Death ... MSyrev, MS$, SP 17 And loosened their ties for comfort and for fun. MS2 21-2 noose, / the] ed.; noose / the Ms6revi, MS/, c; not in other versions 22 That was to give their victims sepulture; MS2; That was to bring their victims sepulture; MSJ; That hastened their deeds to their sepulture; Msq, MSJ, MSjrev, Ms6, Ms6revz 28 Your] all versions except c; You c 29 In crime and clue, - and Innocence was fake. MS2, MSJ, MS^, MSJ, MSjrev, Ms6 32 trite ... gastronomy] secrets eavesdropped near eternity, MSJ; trite confession, dawn's eternity MS^/, MSJ, MS^rev, Ms6 35 I drank the listen of your pilgrimage. MS2 36 Tempted and charmed and simply sickened me. MSJ; Tempted; and now I say it, - sickened me. MS^, MSJ, MSjreu, Ms6; intrigued, and at the same time, sickened me. Ms6rev2 48 Each death was, piecemeal, your death-punishment. MSJ; And each death, piecemeal was your punishment. MS^, MSJ 50-2 successively (a) All generation follows your red trade. / We eat our bread with blood. Our portioned meat / Is cannibal, (b) All generation is of your calling. We / In blood devour[?] our bread. Our portioned meat / Is cannibal. (c) All generation is of your calling. We / Are cannibal again. Our portioned meat / Is our enormity. MSJ A U T O B I O G R A P H I C A L . 1. MS 2131-4 (MSl); 2. Smith, pp. 398-400; 3. MS 2135-7,

a typescript (MS2); 4. cf 23 (Aug. 1943), 106; 5. Chicago Jewish Forum 3 (Winter 1944-5), 102-3; 6- ss, pp. 123-6*; 7. MS 2138-40 (MS2rev); 8. MS 2141-4, a typescript (MS3); 9. SP 2113-6.

897 / Textual Notes pp 564-8 In a letter dated 12 Jan. 1943, A.J.M. Smith reports that he has received back the manuscript of his anthology, including AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL, for correction; hence the assigned date of composition, c. 1942/1942. Stanzas 2 and 3 were originally reversed in MSI. MSI contains the marginal notation 'Copy for Smith.' Heading 'Autobiography' cr 4 loutish] lumbering MS2rev, MSJ, SP 31 From [...] altered to Fiery from Volhynia's murderous hordes - MSI 35 dropping on] falling upon altered to dropping on MSI 41-4 Beard in my fingers curled. / O memory of unsurpassed love, / Love leading sleepy child / Past the slain ogres to a winged world Mszrev, MSJ, SP 53 with its clover, and] still with clover, still MS2rev, MS}, SP 54 pillow'd] sail-blown Mszrev, MS}, SP 55 successively (a) A small boy thought the couch of jubilee, (b) On which my land-locked dreams put out to sea. MS2rev; same as (b) in MS}, SP 76 innocence] early innocence MSI 81 Childhood's first chalks and pastels of event MS2rev, MS}, SP COME TWO, LIKE SHADOWS, i. MS 2252 (MSI); 2-4. the unrevised typescript for MS2rev (MS2); MS 2254 (MS3); Poetry archives (POMS); 5. Poetry 61 (Feb. 1943), 595*; 6. MS 2253 (MS2rev); 7. MS 3473-4 (MS4); 8. MS 2255, a revised copy of MS3 (MS3rev); 9. SP 2093. Submitted to Poetry, 31 Aug. 1942. i yesterday] yesterdays MSjrev, SP 5 last,] MS2rev, MSjrev, SP; last all other versions 9 man] shadow MS4 12 fleshless] all soul MSjrev, SP 14 successively (a) Agapic of doctrine, and of praxis high, (b) Decent in doctrine, and in praxis high. MSjrev; same as (b) in SP 20 shaven] razor'd MSjrev, SP DENTIST. 1. MS 2259-60 (MSl); 2. MS 3486-9 (MS2); 3. MS 226l-2 (MS3); 4. the

unrevised typescript for MS4revi and MS4rev2 (MS4); 5. MS 2263-4 (MS4revi); 6. MS 2267-8, a typescript (MS5); 7. Preview 20 (May 1944), 12 (Pr)*; 8. MS 2265-6 (MS4rev2). MS2 occurs in a semi-fictionalized diary entry dated Oct. 1942. MS4rev2 appears to date from the early fifties. 12 I see him clear, as in meridian, altered to I see it clear, as in meridian, MS^revz 13 successively (a) Unfogged and plain, (b) His might and main, MS4rev2; same as (b) in McGill reading 15 his] the MSI, MS2; his altered to that MS4rev2; that McGill reading 16 This] The MSI, MS2, MSJ, MS4, MS^revL, MS4rev2, McGill reading

898 / Textual Notes pp 568—71 17 drugged] sterile MSI, MSZ 19 among the ivory] within that toothery MS4rev2 20 Distorts] Still twists MSI, MS2, MS}, MS4, MS4revi, MS4revz, McGill reading 21 keeps ... unexpressed] deems my groan a scientific jest MSI, MSZ; keeps my wrath in gurgles, unexpressed MSJ, MS4; keeps my gargled havoc unexpressed MSJ 24 exhalations] pyorrhea MSI, MSZ; pyorrhea altered to exhalations MS} 25 tinsel] joggling us^revz, McGill reading 28 on his] for my altered to on his MSI 29 Pity ... cries] But no! But no! MSI, MSZ; But no! Too good MS}, MS4 31 in ... unmolar'd] unmolar'd, and uncrumbled MSI; unmolar'd and uncrumbled altered to in lumps, uncut, unmolar'd MSZ DESIDERATUM.

1. MS 2269-70 (MSl); 2. MS 2273, 3 typescript (MS2);

3. Contemporary Verse 8 (June 1943), 3; 4. New Directions 8 (1944), 194-5*; 5- MS 2274 (MS2rev); 6. MS 2271-2 (MS3); 7. SP 2063-4. Submitted to New Directions, 3 Nov. 1942 [MS 194]. 10 edicts] prescripts MS}, SP 18 Then, then where stood but one sole worshipper MS}; altered to Then, there where stood but one sole worshipper SP 19-20 thirteen ... craves] thirteen, singing of their staves, / would run their thirteen and six hundred chores MS}, SP 20 immortality] an ubiety Mszrev 24 thrive] MS}, SP; thrives all other versions 30-1 ejaculate ... micturate] ingest ... digest Mszrev, MS}, SP 32 is king and served by vassals! MSI, MSZ; successively (a) knows no dependence, lives! (b) knows no dependence, living liege to none, / is paramount, suzerain, sole! (c) no-meek dependence knows, is liege to none, / is paramount, suzerain, sole! Mszrev; same as (c) in SP ET j'AI LU TOUS LES LIVRES. 1. MS 3464 (MSl); 2. MS 2287 (MS2)*.

MSI occurs in a semi-fictionalized diary entry dated 26 Sept. 1942. 6 And] Nor the altered to Even MSI 10 To] Into altered to to MSI GIRLIE SHOW. i. MS 2294-5 ( MS1 )/ 2 - MS 34^9/ 349*~2 (MS2); 3. the unrevised typescript for MS3rev (MS3); 4. MS 2296-7 (MS3rev)*. MS2 occurs in a semi-fictionalized diary entry dated Oct. 1942. 7 Himself] And he all other versions 9-10 Who are these fleeing dancers, then, and who / These fauns with beard of fingers, whistling lewd applause? altered to Who are these dancers, then, and these fauns who / With beard of fingers, whistle lewd applause? MSI

899 / Textual Notes pp 571-4 11 breasts] bubs all other versions 14 As] And altered to As MSZ 20 un-named] nameless MSI, MS2 28 pizzicato on] played upon a sole MSI; played upon a sole altered to pizzicato for MS2

30 34 35 38 40

renew] renew (again) MSI feathers] (furs or) feathers MSI city] urban MSI The chorus-girls about their queen are spun MSI And once more] And all other versions

THE G O L E M , i. MS 2298 (MS); 2. Opinion 15, 7 (June 1945), 8 (o); 3. cjc, 13 July 1945, p. 9*. Submitted to Poetry, 31 Aug. 1942. 4 muck.] MS; muck o, cjc 18 Bohemia's] of Europe's altered to Bohemia's MS 22 doing? How] doing, and altered to doing? How MS 24-5 o and cjc combine what are two lines in MS; cjc does not have italics. LOVE. i. MS 2405 (MSI); 2. the typescript for MS2revi, MS2rev2 (MS2); 3. MS 2409 (MS2revi); 4. MS 2408 (MS2rev2); 5. MS 2406, a typescript (MS3); 6. New Directions, 8 (1944), 199 (ND)*; 7. MS 2407, a revised copy of MS3 (MS3rev); 8. MS 2126 (MS4). Submitted to New Directions, 3 Nov. 1942. MS3rev and MS4 appear to date from the early fifties. Heading {'Post-Coitus') MSI; untitled in MS2, Mszrevi, Mszrevz, MS}; {'Homo') MS}rev; 'Amo ... Amas ... Et Cetera' MS^ 1-2 Love ... / O] Love! MS^ 2 half angel] MSI, MS2, Mszrevi, Mszrevz, MS4; halfangel MS}, MSjrev; half-angel ND 3 Uncleanest of] Uncleanest, MSI, MS2 four-saxon-littered] four-littered saxon MS^ 4 Foul euphemism] A sudden singing altered to Love! sudden singing MS4 6 To hide] That hides Msjrev, MS^ 10 Saith the Canticum: it hath a most vehement flame. MSjrev; It hath, saith the many-wived one, a most vehement flame, altered to It hath, saith Solomon, a most vehement flame. MS4 15 testiculate] testiculate altered to attest the call of MS^ 20-2 What is the profit that is to be had? / The word is glibly said, and done the joys: / After coitus, every man is sad. MSI, MS2; same in Mszrevi except for 22 22 And after, always,] And always after MS2revi

900 / Textual Notes pp 574-6 MY DEAR P L U T O P H I L A N T H R O P I S T . MS 3475-6.

Occurs in a semi-fictionalized diary entry dated Sept. 1942. Heading supplied by ed. 17-18 originally followed 26 PAWNSHOP, i. MS 3492-4 [1-40] (MSI); 2. MS 2513-14 [1-40] (MS2); 3. First Statement 2, 12 (Apr.-May 1945), 26-8 (FS); 4. Accent 5, 4 (Summer 1945), 195-6 (A); 5. RC, pp. 22-3*; 6. MS 2515-16, revised tearsheets of A (Arev). MSI occurs in a semi-fictionalized diary entry dated Oct. 1942. Arev appears to date from the early fifties. i this] the FS 4 relict] relicts MSI 6 chattels ... glow] chattels, both their shame and woe. MSI; chattels, both their thrill and throe. MS2 7 phosphor ... stalk] fleshless poor stalk through MSI, MSZ; minds of the poor who stalk FS, A 9 antitheses] O many a year MSI, MSZ 12 above] upon altered to above MSZ 14 dropping their snared bag of exotic toys. MSI; dropping the snared bags of exotic toys. MSZ, FS, A, Arev 21 Trinkets of wanhope, salvage of their plight, MSI; altered to Frustration's trinkets, salvage of their plight, MS.2 Oh] So FS, A; Thus altered to And Arev 22 laid on the counter, sorry inventory; MSI; laid on the counter, final invent'ry: MS2

23 (a) family] the family all other versions the widow's] a widow's MSI 24 the birthday gifts - those jewels of memory - MSI; the birthday gifts; the cups of victory; MSZ, FS, A, Arev 25 (d) ... special,] the workman's tools; the MSI, MS2; the unpensioned tools; the FS, A, Arev 26 en bloc: watch] old hero's medal altered to the hero's medal MSI; the hero's medal MS2, FS, A, Arev 27 medal] watch; lens all other versions 28 rich] O all other versions 31-2 Whose ... this] This is the house built by das Kapital: / it thrusts from MSI, MS2

35-7 Monument unintended, on its plaque / decipher still the name of architect, / one Adam Smith whose world of wondrous wealth MSI, MSZ; That entrepreneur is rusted from his plaque. / Was his name Adam? Was his trade a smith / who thought a mansion to erect of wealth FS; The architect is

901 / Textual Notes pp 576-9 rusted from his plaque / anonymous, but stands his monolith, / the mansion he erected to house wealth Arev 38-40 breaks bankrupt into pawnshop bricabrac. / This is the house elect, / shrine of the let-do liberty of stealth. MSI, MSZ 39 myth,] FS; myth all other versions 40 stealth?] stealth. Arev 41 parthenon] pantheon Arev PENULTIMATE CHAPTER, i. MS 2517 (MSI); 2. the unrevised typescript for MS2rev (MS2); 3. MS 2520 (MS2rev); 4. MS 2519, a typescript (MS3); 5. CF 23 (May 1943), 36; 6. MS 2518, a revised copy of MS3 (MS3rev); 7. MS 2521, a revised tearsheet of CF (CFTCV); 8. cjc, 17 Apr. 1953, p. 4*; 9. SP 2098-9. Submitted to Poetry, 31 Aug. 1942. 2 blithely] gaily MSI, MSZ 9 fauna'd] fauna's SP 10 quickened,] quickening MSI, MSZ 13 winged] MSI, MSZ, Mszrev, MS}, MSjrev; winged CF, CFrev, cjc, SP 19 horrific stare of] gape of the altered to horrific stare of MSI 20 land, -] MSI, MSZ, Mszrev, MSJ, MS}rev; land - CF, CFrev, cjc, SP 24 The mammoths had inherited their own! MSI, MS2; successively (a) (The mammoths, circa 1941) (b) The mammoths, circa nineteen forty one (c) The mammoths (circa 1941) ... MSzrev; same as (c) in MSJ, CF, MS}rev, SP; 6 written above the 4 of 1941 in CFrev THAT LEGENDARY EAGLE, DEATH. 1. MS 2669, a typescript (MSl); 2. CF 23 (Sept.

1943), 127; 3. cjc, 17 Apr. 1953, p. 4*; 4. MS 2668 (MS2). Submitted to Poetry, 31 Aug. 1942. CF and cjc have no line spaces. Heading 'That Legendary Eagle' MSZ 8 My last gasp, and last whisper of my blood?.. MSZ 11 the eagle] his eagle MSZ 12 (Lost in the skies? Dead on the ocean floor?) MSZ 13 I therefore aimed] And therefore aimed MSI, CF; And aimed, therefore MSZ VARIATION OF A THEME, i. the unrevised typescript for Msirev (MSI); 2. Preview 5 (July 1942), 1-2 (Pr); 3. New Directions 8 (1944), 193-4*; 4. MS 2705 (Msirev); 5. MS 2704 [1-15] (MS2). Msirev and MS2 appear to date from the early fifties. Heading 'Finger Exercises' written in above in Msirev of] on all other versions 1 bleaseful] blissful altered to bliss-ful Msirev; bliss-ful MSZ 2 him ... a] his soft names and manes in Msirev, MSZ

902 / Textual Notes pp 579-84 rhyme] rhymn all other versions 3 And trumpeted, vault-face, his quietus breath MSZ 7 Barow] Barrow all other versions 9 Cher Noel] Hatchment MSZ 11 marked for deletion in MSirev; Mr. X. Hume, the P.M.; that palled Russ MS2 Suo] Suey MSI, Pr 12 Undone Checkofsky] Ne-colei Hell-ytch Pr Ripper] Spector MSZ 13 Harry Carey] Hari Kari Msirev; Harry Kari MSZ 16 marked for deletion in MSirev; not in MSZ 28 wrot] rot MSirev 30 embrass] homebrass MSirev 31 Acain] O Cain MSirev 32 it seems] seems it MSirev THE HITLERIAD. i. a typescript in the Lavy Becker papers, Public Archives of Canada (B); 2. First Statement 2, i (Aug. 1943), ii-3 [1-109] (fsi); 3- first Statement 2, 3 (Oct. 1943), 4-7 [303-451] (FSZ); 4. The Hitleriad (1944) (H)*; 5. MS 6017-25, a typescript [40-8, 50-3, 152-61, 258-9, 412-27, 529-66, 594-630, 685-end] (MS); 6. cjc, 4 Oct. 1946, pp. 6-7 ['The Dock at Nuernberg': The Testimony' (702-31), 'Goering' (332-45), 'Ribbentrop' (347-60), 'Rosenberg' (321-30), The Lesser Fry' (361-95), The Little Man Who Was Not There' (54-71, 226-90, 297-302)]. B was sent by Klein to Joe Dainow on 27 Aug. 1943; Dainow sent it to Lavy Becker on 3 Sept. 1959. B contains a few minor revisions which are mostly incorporated into FSI, FSZ, and H. Neither B nor FSI is divided into numbered sections. MS was used for a reading at the Jewish Public Library of Montreal soon after the publication of H. One page is missing from MS, between MS 6017 (p. 4 in the typescript) and MS 6018 (p. 6); MS 6017 ends with 161, and MS 6018 begins with 258. In a letter to Ralph Gustafson, dated i Apr. 1942, Klein writes that he has 'got about four hundred lines of [THE HITLERIAD] done'; hence the assigned date of composition, c. 1942/1943. 4 indicting] I indict B, FSI 5 for ... to] as I perpetrate the B, FSI 6 Spurning ... preferred] Forsaking freshness of thy B, FSI 18 until ... more] and all hell's Terrors roar B, FSI 22-3 hate, / ... prompt] hate / Of wickedness sit in B, FSI 50 mustache, the] mustache, with spittle ever wet, / O that mustache, the B, FSI 92 died; and] died. How B, FSI 96 Doctrine ... and] For he spurned doctrine, B, FSI 99 bookworm] bookworms B

903 / Textual Notes pp 584-94 103 Linz-ery.] B; Linz-ery FSI, H 106 Wherefore] A boor B, FSI 116 Yet is it] And it is B 126 Meanwhile] As yet B 129 (The hanging picture was prophetical) B 137-8 At this point the bright light becomes obscure. / Some say he worked; but they won't say for sure. B 142-3 case ... scaffolding] case, his work was on / A scaffold, and may end as 'twas begun! B 145 Blame ... survival] And blame his long age B 146—7 He slept together with the flophouse poor; / He ate the handouts at the kitchen-door; B 153 apocalypse] great event B 172 then ... untaught] in that war, the B 173 as an] a good B 175/76 It's true that Hitler wears an Iron Cross, / The spoils of war. / He never had it, Sirs, until he had / All Germany's iron ore. B 178 This] The B 190 primed] kind B 217 their] its B 237 Though] For although B 245 advised] B; advised H, cjc 253 intelligence:] B; intelligence; H, cjc 260 Add] Note B 261 choicest] ugliest B 266 When] Where B 266-7 scapegoat ... cosmopolitan,] whipping-boy / To win the plaudits of the hoi polloi B 285 Inflation ... sharp] Inflation, reparation, heat-waves, B 287 theorem] reasons B its] their B 288 sneer] cry B 289 Yelp] Cry B 293 heil] jeer B 297 - the authentic curse - ] what was much worse B 301 The ... shown] Showing the knave B 315 him, shouting its] him, to shoot his B; him. Shooting its FSZ 340 pref'rably] B, FSZ; preferably H 343 (daggers)] not in FSZ 384 Kultur's] the kultur'd altered to kultur'd B; kultur'd FSZ 402 emperyl Holy See altered to empery B 425 The ... had] Hitler, it seems, did have B, FSZ

904 / Textual Notes pp 595—602 436-8 not in B, FS2 450 Plotting for] To bring to B, FS2 452 us ... let] these remain anonymous. Let B 472 moulting ... the] breaking down of B 482 biblic] mighty B 483-4 for ... leviathans] avenging, / The dreadnaughts grim B 485 engines] birds B 503 those] these B 508 palsied] senile B 512 To try] Trying B 516 That] The B 521 This] The B 531 Is ... of] Are known to sorrowing altered to Is known to sorrowing B 536 was ... in] had no place within B 547 were these] not in B 547/48 Not this his sin. The Hottentot / Is not expected to be polyglot, / Nor yet the Hun / A paragon - B 557 cloth ... spun] much too overdone B 573 Bismarckian] A corporal's napoleonic B 574/75 He mounted to his Berchtesgaden height / And looked on Austria, - and coveted. / Peaceful the little lands lay there - for spite / To see him frustrated. B 582 the ... his] his creeds, his evil B 584 a petty] petty altered to a petty B 587-8 follow 591 in B 592 quarry ... and] booty, sauced with B 593 whiskers ... stalked] chops, and looked about B more.] more: / Plunder and spoils! B 594-8 Behold the continent, and there behold / His battered victims binding up their wounds, - / The once-free men, in slavery now sold: B 605-7 not in B 608-9 Norway ... / Explosive!] And Poland plundered, and Norway despoiled / And B 611—30 His whip in Jugoslavia was coiled, / And Hellas he new-ordered into hell, / And France - / Here was a prize, and also sweet revenge! / Prostrated France, that too soon fell, / Her head beneath the victor's arrogant stance! B 626 Domremy] ed.; Domremy H, MS 637 triumvirate:] ed.; triumvirate; B, H 639-46 Count up his prey, attempted and achieved, / The lands he crushed, the continents bereaved, / Nor yet forget that he could also stoop / To cheat his partners, and his friends to dupe, B 647 He ... Magyarland] Making of Hungary B

905 / Textual Notes pp 602-8 649-51 And why not stoop? B 656 blood ... honour] honour - overtaxed - he B 671 ceased] closed altered to ceased B 673 named for beasts] chanting Spring B 678 Honoured were sires of adulterous seed. B 679 Madman ... personal] Fuehrer - speak it not - named God a B foe,] B; foe. H 692 open] not in B 698 bones] ghosts B 700 beat ... padded] haunt human B 705 phantoms] spectres B 716 uninterred] B; uninterred H, MS 725 wounded ... broken] ghostly whisper and with spectral B 730 multitude] multiple cjc 730-1 Its doom against this culprit, thrice-accursed: / An end, an end forever to this sordid thing! B 737 Bold] Foul B 746 Gesturing ... ungagged] And so-long-silent Truth B 759 To human brotherhood,] not in B ACTUARIAL REPORT, i. MS 2117-18 (MS); 2. Preview 12 (Mar. 1943), 7-8 (Pr); 3. CF 23 (June 1943), 60; 4. cjc, 17 Apr. 1953, p. 4*; 5. MS 2119, a revised tearshe of CF (cfrev); 6. SP 2103-4. Line spacing follows CFrev and SP. These agree with MS and Pr, with the exception of 17/18, which is ambiguous in both cases, and 29/30, which is a page break in MS and a line space in Pr. Line spacing in cjc is erratic, and CF has no line spaces, 19 Funereal] Tabulate CFrev, SP 23 we] that we cprev, SP 24-5 and bad luck / Remote] and / Bad luck remote crrev, SP 25 battlefields] battlefield MS, Pr 27 rations,] MS, CFrev, SP; rations Pr, CF, cjc 28 in fine,] Pr; (and) in fine MS; in fine CF, cjc; in brief, CFrev, SP 31 death are] Death to have been CFrev, SP bodyguard] bodyguards MS 32 motley] assisting CFrev, SP 38 magi] the magi MS, Pr AND IN THAT D R O W N I N G INSTANT. 1. MS 2127-8 (MSl); 2. the Unrevised

typescript for MS2rev (MS2); 3. MS 2600 (MS2rev); 4. Opinion 13, 12 (Oct. *943)' 17; 5- ss, pp. 195-7*.

906 / Textual Notes pp 608-16 Heading 'A Psalm of That Which Is Remembered at the Moment of Drowning' MSZ; 'Psalm vni' added in Mszrev 16 an] this all other versions NOT ALL THE PERFUMES OF ARABIA, i. MS 2487 (MSI); 2. the unrevised typescript for MS2rev (MS2); 3. MS 2489 (MS2rev); 4. Contemporary Verse 8 (June 1943), 4-5; 5. Opinion 14, 2 (Dec. 1943), 13* [version i]; 6. c/c, 21 Nov. 1952, p. 4* [version 2]. Version i 5 truly shuddering] shuddering altered to truly shuddering MSI 8 vein] brain MSI, MSZ ADDRESS TO THE C H O I R B O Y S . 1. MS 2353-5 (MSl); 2. MS 212O-1, a typescript

(MS2); 3. Opinion 14, 7 (May 1944), 5 (o); 4. c/c, 18 Aug. 1944, p. 9*; 5. MS 2122-3 (MS2rev). MS2rev appears to date from the early fifties. Line spacing follows o rather than c/c, which is erratic. Heading Address to] Instruction for MSI 24 stayed] stayed too long Mszrev 26 not in Mszrev 27 defied] at wavering length defied Mszrev 28 day,] all versions except c/c; day. c/c 33 unfaith] the unfaith MSI 36 hears] lies, and hears MSI 40 sealed:] all versions except c/c; sealed; c/c 43 water ... death] water, or death by beast of the field, MSI 44 ferocious beast] other ends untimely MSI 52/53 page break in MSI; line space in MSZ, Mszrev; no line space in o, c/c 54 sorrow ... suffering] anguish - pain, majestic altered to tumulous sharp suffering MSI BASIC ENGLISH, i. MS 2213-15 (MSI); 2. MS 22153 (MSia); 3. the unrevised typescript for MS2revi and MS2rev2 (MS2); 4. MS 2219-21 (MS2revi); 5. the unrevised typescript for MS3rev (MS3); 6. MS 2216-18 (MS3rev); 7. CF 24 (Sept. 1944), 138*; 8. MS 2228 (cfrev); 9. MS 2222-4 (MS2rev2); 10. SP 2065-7; 11. MS 2225-7 (sprev). MSia consists of an incomplete variant of stanza 8 on the verso of MS 2215. Subheading not in MSI, MSZ, Mszrevi, MS}, MSjrev; For Winston Churchill Mszrevz, SP, sprev 20 Sticks] Blobs MSjrev 31 such] these MSI, MSZ, Mszrevz, SP, sprev, McGill reading

907 / Textual Notes pp 616-19 33-4 So ... deal] With these poor counters dragoman himself / Closing his deal MSI, MS2, MS2rev2, SP, srrev, McGill reading; successively (a) With such poor counters dragoman himself / Closing his deal (b) Possibly with such-like shrewdly [...] (c) Perhaps, in this voice, dragoman himself / Closing his deal (d) So dragoman himself, perhaps, and thus / Close his shrewd deal MS2revi 34-5 but ... / Gestures,] and this rest certain, only / After deleted alternative in MS2revi 35 head-shakes] (and) head-shakes MSI 46-7 The Latin music, Greek perception, French / Finesse? Where are the thunders of our voice? MSI, MS2; successively (a) The basso of the Latin, or the tone / Hellenic? Where, the thunders of our voice? (b) The storm of Latin, lightning [...] (c) The Hellenic music or the Latin storm? / Where are the thunders of our choric voice? MS2revi 50 water] waters MSia 51-3 These ... / Are] No compliment. / Is bread and water / Diet MSia 54 fronded] painted altered to fronded MSI 56 skimmed] loud altered to skimmed MSI 62 splendors] splendor MSI, MS2 strictures] dullness MSI, MSZ BREAD, i. MS 2240 (MSI); 2. Preview 19 (Mar. 1944), i (Pr); 3. Contemporary Poetry 5, i (Spring 1945), 3 (CP); 4. RC, p. 14*; 5. MS 2241, a typescript (MS2); 6. SP 2051, a copy of MS2. SP contains a number of markings indicating phrasing and emphasis, probably intended for Klein's McGill reading. Heading 'A Psalm for the Breaking of Bread' CP i breaking] bounty altered to breaking MSI; bounty CP 3 at the feast-times] thrice at mealtimes altered to at the feast-times MSI 4/5 no line space in MSI, Pr, CP 5 daily rises] rises altered to daily rises MSI 7/8 line space in MSI, Pr, CP 17 Bakers most priestly] Most priestly bakers altered to Bakers most priestly MSI; Bakers, white, priestly CP 18 White ... ovens] O Levites at your altar'd ovens MSI, Pr; Serving the altar'd ovens, Levites CP COMMERCIAL BANK. i. the unrevised manuscript for MSrev (MS); 2. Preview 19 (Mar. 1944), i; 3. MS 2256 (Msrev); 4. RC, p. 26*. 8 berries,] all versions except RC; berries RC THE G R E E N OLD AGE. i. the unrevised typescript for MSirev (MSI); 2. MS 2299

908 / Textual Notes pp 619-22 (MSirev); 3. MS 2300, a typescript (MSI); 4. Preview 22 (Dec. 1944), 10-11; 5. Accent 5, 4 (Summer 1945), 197; 6. RC, p. 24*. i years,] a// versions except RC; years RC THE LIBRARY, i. MS 2387-9 (MSI); 2. MS 2396-7, a typescript (MS2); 3. the unrevised typescript for MS3revi (MS3); 4. Preview 22 (Dec. 1944), 10 (Pr); 5. c/c, 21 Nov. 1952, p. 4*; 6. MS 2398-9, a revised copy of MS2 (MS2rev); 7. MS 2394-5 (MS3revi); 8. MS 2392-3, a revised copy of MS3 (MS3rev2); 9. MS 2390-1 (MS4); 10-11. SP 2096-7; MS 2400-1, a carbon copy of SP (MS5). Pr is based on MS3; c/c, though published later, is based on the earlier MS2. 1 beside] all versions except c/c; besides c/c 2 amor intellectualis] deathless things altered to amor intellectualis MSI 4 red] (tinted) red MSI 5-6 seventh-generation ... / dumb] seventh-generational lackeys stood / dumb MSI, MS2, MS}, Pr, MS2rev, MSjrevi; butlers of the seventh generation stood / dumb MSjrev2; butlers of the seventh generation / stood dumb MS4, SP, MS5

7 was air in] was in MSI 8 not in Msjrev2, usq, SP, MS$ 9 sweetness and light. MSI; pursuit of the perfect, / and sweetness and light, / saccharine, tungsten. MS^., SP, MSJ 10 sensitive] very sensitive MS}rev2; most sensitive MS^., SP, MSJ his gestures fine] his gestures very fine MSjrev2; delicate his gestures MS^, SP, MSJT 11-13 nne ••• neatly] monogrammed. He wore / the culture of the best schools, the latest in ethics, / neatly MS^., SP, MSJ 12 to wit,] not in MSI 14-15 had ... disease] caressed his forehead, / and soothed weltschmerz MS^, SP, MS^

16 pure reason] progressive altered to pure reason MSI 19 at all,] 'in the premises,' MS^, SP, MS$ 20 His sweetness [?], his light had picked up thunder rejected revision in MSI 23 it was] not in MS}rev2, MS4, SP, MSJ As ... boards] indented half-line in MS}rev2, MS4, SP, MSJ 25 cement] the cage Msjrev2, MS^, SP, MS$ 26 roared] all versions except MS2, c/c; reared MS2, c/c MONTREAL, i. Preview 21 (Sept. 1944), 3-5 (Pr); 2. RC, pp. 29-31*; 3-4. MS 2439-41, a typescript (MS); SP 2071-3, a carbon copy of MS. 33 hushed] O Pr 36-7 and ... issuant] tonnerre / Frappant from foundry Pr 42 pauvrete] Pr; pauvrete all other versions

909 / Textual Notes pp 622-7 44 infancy] enfancy Pr NI LA MORT NI LE SOLEIL. i. a typescript in the A.J.M. Smith papers, University of Toronto Library (s); 2. Contemporary Poetry 5, i (Spring 1945), 3; 3. c/c, 24 Oct. 1952, p. 4*; 4. MS 2486 (MS); 5. SP 2095. s was included in a letter from Klein to A.J.M. Smith, dated 14 Jan. 1944. Heading On] After SP de] de altered to le due de MS; le due de SP 8 Bright worlds] all versions except c/c; Brightworlds c/c A PSALM T O U C H I N G G E N E A L O G Y . 1. MS 2293 (MSl); 2. MS 2293 (MS2); 3. Pr, p.

46; 4. MS 2605, a typescript (MS3); 5. Chicago Jewish forum 3 (Spring 1945), 162* (c). Although MSI and MS2 are on the same sheet [MS 2293], some time probably intervened between them since they are written in different ink. The typescript of Pr was submitted later than the other typescripts for the Poems volume, on 11 July 1944; hence the assigned date of composition, c. 1944/1944. The reading 'begat' has been restored in 2. It is the form used in Klein's source [Jeremiah 16.3], as well as the form he uses in his commentary on the poem (see explanatory note to 2). Heading 'Genesis' MSI; no heading in MS2; preceded by 'Psalm xxxvi' in Pr 2 begat] MSI, MS2, Pr; begot MS}, c 6 All day, in exit and in entrance, pull altered to In exit and in entrance they do pull MSI SPRING EXHIBIT. 1-2. MS 2654, a typescript; MS 2655, a typescript; 3. New Directions 8 (1944), 195*. EPITAPH. 1. MS 2285 (MSl); 2. MS 2286 (MS2)*.

Handwriting, style, and subject matter link EPITAPH and a number of other poems to Klein's 'Raw Material' file [MS 3454-558], which dates from c. 1942^. 194 3 blessed] sheltering blessed MSI; (sheltering) blessed MS2 4 the] his MSI; his altered to the MS2 8 herald's ... murderers'] successively (a) speech, the sennets, and the (b) herald's sennets, and ruffians' (c) herald's sennets, and murderers' MSI LES VESPASIENNES. i. MS 2381-2 (MSI); 2. the unrevised typescript for MS2revi (MS2); 3. MS 2383-4 (MS2revi); 4. MS 2385-6, a revised copy of MS2 (MS2rev2); 5. SP 2107-8*. For the date of composition see note to EPITAPH [c. 1942/c. 1944]. 6 effigies] the saints MSI, MS2, MS2revi 21 amputate] skirted MSI, MS2

910 / Textual Notes pp 627-35 22 those wishful drawings and rhymes - MSI, MS2, MS2revi 27 public square] square, the little winds MSI, MS2, MS2revi OF T R A D I T I O N . MS 2501.

For the date of composition see note to EPITAPH [c. 1942^. 1944]. POST-WAR P L A N N I N G .

1. MS 2562 (MSl); 2. MS 2563 (MS2); 3. MS 2564, 3

typescript (MS3)*. For the date of composition see note to EPITAPH [c. 1942/c. 1944]. 5-6 and y—8 reversed in MSI; originally reversed in MS2 6 Stitched open with bullets, with knives, or with acid, his girth? MSI SAGA THE FIRST. MS 26l2.

For the date of composition see note to EPITAPH [c. 1942/c. 1944]. SONG WITHOUT MUSIC. 1. MS 2644 (MSl); 2. MS 2645 (MS2)*.

For the date of composition see note to EPITAPH [c. 1942^. 1944]. 2 mewsick] miosic MSI; miosic altered to mewsick MS2 10 utters] unclear; could be letters T A I L P I E C E TO AN A N T H O L O G Y .

MS 2660.

For the date of composition see note to EPITAPH [c. 1942/c. 1944]. TRIBUTE TO THE B A L L E T MASTER.

1. MS 2698-9* [version l]; 2. MS 2700* [version

2]-

For the date of composition see note to EPITAPH [c. 1942/c. 1944]. PORTRAIT OF THE POET AS LANDSCAPE, i. the unrevised typescript for Msrev (MS); 2. First Statement 3, i (June-July 1945), 3-8 (FS); 3. MS 2556-61, revised tearsheets of FS (fsrev); 4. RC, pp. 50-6*; 5. MS 2546-55 (Msrev); 6. sp 2044-50. MS and FS contain seven sections, the third of which is deleted in later versions. It is printed separately in this edition. An outline of the poem [MS 7594] contains a reference to Hans Natonek, whose In Search of Myself(1943) Klein comments on in a note dated 5 Dec. 1943 [MS 3557]; hence the assigned date of composition, c. 1944/1945. Heading Landscape] a Nobody MS, FS 22 culture] cultures FS, Fsrev, Msrev, SP 24 one] our MS 28 the witness missing from the courthouse roll. MS; a being incognito and lacunal. FS; a being incognito, lost, lacunal. Fsrev; successively (a) a vanished

9ii / Textual Notes pp 635-42 bystander, a nothing at all. (b) incognito, vacuate, lacunal. (c) incognito, lost, lacunal. Msrev 31 world] worlds FS, rsrev, Msrev, SP 33 think] do think FS, Fsrev 35 just like a poet] and shifts euphoric Msrev, SP 45 Dear] O all other versions 49 like shaken tinfoil] the vowels of heaven SP 61 one:] all versions except RC; one; RC 67 Thus] O all other versions 88 symbols ... concave] shadows out of Plato's cave Msrev, SP 98 upon the reservation introvert. MS, FS 99-100 He ... on] And he does not understand it, and is full / of a sad conjecture, muscling in MS, FS; He does not understand this, and is full / of pains and frowns and muscles in Fsrev 104 Wigged] O wigged all other versions 113-14 cuckolded ... successful] betrayed by the cinema troubadour / making his plagiary Msrev, SP 116 Pride,] O all other versions 120 The;] MS, Msrev, SP; The: FS, Fsrev, RC 128 merkin] ego's Msrev, SP 134 n th ] MS, FS, Fsrev, Msrev; nth RC, SP 142 been. Item] been lived. O item all other versions 148 this] the all other versions 149 its total scope, its synthesis olympic, MS, FS; of its total scope, saturnine focus, Fsrev 150 its ... tracklessness] fields where no negatives can live MS, FS, Fsrev 152 declasse] ed.; declasse all versions 156 forms] form FS, Fsrev 163 sea.] sea .... Msrev; sea ... SP INDIAN RESERVATION: CAUGHNAWAGA. i. MS 2306-7, a typescript (MSI); 2. the unrevised typescript for POMS (MS2); 3. Poetry archives (POMS); 4. Poetry 66 (Sept. 1945), 318-19 (Po); 4. RC, pp. 11-12*. In a letter dated 12 July 1945, Marion Stobel of Poetry asked Klein to change 'alimentary' in 18. Klein suggested replacing the line with 'Beneath the sufferance of their shawls.' See explanatory note to 18. 5 Rank] O all versions except RC 6 kin! -] MSI, POMS, Po; punctuation illegible in MS2; kin' - RC 18 alimentary] elementary MS2 19 sit ... squaws] Their squaws, sit like black tents MSI 24 burnt ... and] The burnt wood, MSI 25 trophies ... traveller's] History scalped as trophies for a MSI

912 / Textual Notes pp 642-5 28 a] the MSI 32 now] not in MSI

THE PROVINCES, i. MS 2568-70 (MS); 2. Northern Review i, i (Dec. 1945-Ja 1946), 27-8 (ATR); 3. KC, pp. 2-3*. 13 Then] And, then MS, ATK 32 Yet] O MS, NR 44-5 What ... sought?] Fixed in their faith? / Heaped in their hopes? Wrought in their [...] works? MS; Fixed in their faith? / Heaped in their hopes? Wrought in their wit and works? NR 47 that] they MS, NR THE ROCKING CHAIR, i. MS 2606-7 before the addition of MS3 (MSI); 2. MS 2608 [29—32] (MS2); 3. a revised version of 29—32 added to MS 2607 (MS3); 4. MS 2609 [25-32] (MS4); 5. Nation 161 (6 Oct. 1945), 341; 6. RC, p. i*; 7-8. SP 2068-9; MS 2610-11, a copy of SP (MS5). MSI and MS2 are on a single folded sheet. After writing out the complete poem (MSI), beginning on the outside fold (MS 2606) and finishing on the right half of the inside fold (MS 2607), Klein circled 29-32 as unsatisfactory and tried out a number of versions of the passage on the left side of the inside fold (MS2). He then copied a new version of the passage (MS3) back into the original MSI; crossed out the whole of the final stanza, including the added passage; and, finally, rewrote the whole stanza, in its present form, on a separate sheet (MS4).

16 dangling above] successively (a) about the (b) dangling about (c) dangling above MSI 29—32 It is the poor man's Louis Quatorze, his seat / in the trough of time, it moves, and does not move; / O, it is like an old ballad which does always repeat / the same refrain, something about an unforgettable first love! MSI; successively (a) O, in the trough of time a dreamer's seat / which seems to move, and does not move, yet moves [...] (b) O, it is like an old ballad [...] (c) O it is music; like an old French ballad / which [...] (d) Truly, it is like a ballad, all refrain / which from its [...] (e) O, like some antique ballad, all refrain / which turns about its longing, and always moves / from longing back to longing a [...] (f) O, like some antique ballad, all refrain / which turns about its longing, and moves / to make a pleasure out of repeated pain / it seems to go back, again and again, to a first love MS2; O like some antique ballad, all refrain / which turns about its longing, and seems to move / to make a pleasure out of repeated pain / it moves, as if always back to a first love. MSJ SONNET UNRHYMED.

1. MS 2647 (MSl); 2. MS 2648 (MS2); 3. MS 2649, 3 typescript

913 / Textual Notes pp 645-51 (MS3); 4. Accent 5, 4 (Summer 1945), 197*; 5- MS 2650, a revised copy of MS3 (MS3rev); 6. SP 2094. 1 frustral ... extase] height of barren ecstasy altered to frustrate height of ecstasy MSI 2 life] growth MSI 10 murder] age MSI 12 although tired] although wearied MSI; though sleep-laden Msyev, SP 13 dark] darkness MSjrev, SP AIR-MAP, i. Poetry archives; 2. Poetry 70 (July 1947), 178; 3. we, p. 5; 4. SVP, p. 5; 5. HPC, p. 10; 6. RC, p. 19*. THE BREAK-UP, i. Poetry archives; 2. Poetry 70 (July 1947), 179; 3. we, p. 6; 4. SVP, p. 6; 5. HPC, p. 11; 6. RC, p. 25*. THE CRIPPLES, i. Poetry archives (PoMs); 2. Poetry 70 (July 1947), 177-8; 3. we, p. 3; 4. SVP, p. 4; 5. HPC, p. 9; 6. KC, p. 4*. Klein insisted on the spelling 'ninetynine' in a letter to Frank Flemington, his editor at Ryerson Press, 6 Mar. 1948. See explanatory note to i. i ninetynine] POMS; ninety-nine all other versions 7 Whither] all versions except RC; whither RC ninetynine] POMS; ninety-nine all other versions 11 the surgery's] their surgery's all other versions 15 Yes] O all other versions FOR THE SISTERS OF THE HOTEL DiEU. i. Poetry archives; 2. Poetry 70 (July 1947), 178; 3. PFC, p. 4; 4. SVP, p. 5; 5. HPC, p. 10; 6. .RC, p. 6*; 7. MS 2291 (MS); 8. SP 2070, a carbon copy of MS. SP contains a number of markings indicating phrasing and emphasis, probably intended for Klein's McGill reading. 8 fluttered to me] over me fluttered MS, SP, McGill reading FRIGIDAIRE. i. Poetry archives (POMS); 2. Poetry 70 (July 1947), 180-1 (Po); 3. PFC, p. 8; 4. SVP, p. 8; 5. HPC, p. 13; 6. RC, p. 18*; 7. SP 2074; 8. MS 2292, a carbon copy of SP. 17 And there] O, there POMS, Po, PFC, SVP, HPC GRAIN ELEVATOR, i. Poetry archives; 2. Poetry 70 (July 1947), 175-6; 3. PFC, p. 2; 4. SVP, p. 3; 5. HPC, p. 8; 6. RC, p. 7*. M. BERTRAND. i. MS 2436 (MS); 2. Poetry archives; 3. Poetry 70 (July 1947), 179-80; 4. PFC, p. 7; 5. SVP, p. 7; 6. HPC, p. 12; 7. RC, p. 41*.

914 / Textual Notes pp 651-60 No heading in MS 5 Returned now] Now, returned all other versions 16 hand-kiss] all versions except RC; hand kiss RC THE SNOWSHOERS. i. MS 2639; 2. Queen's Quarterly 54 (Winter 1947-8), 412; 3. RC, p. 5*; 4. SP 2076-7. Mentioned in the draft of a letter, 30 July 1946 [MS 313]. THE SUGARING, i. MS 2658-9, a typescript; 2. RC, p. 10*. DOCTOR DRUMMOND. i. MS 2280-1, a typescript (MSI); 2. MS 2278-9, a typescript (MS2); 3. CF 26 (Sept. 1946), 136*. 11 patrician patronizing the] patrician, his MSI 19 made] makes MS2 THE NOTARY, i. MS 2490-1, a typescript; 2. RC, p. 42*. Mentioned in the draft of a letter, dated 30 July 1946 [MS 313]. 10 ceremonial, a priest,] ed.; ceremonial a priest, MS; ceremonial a priest RC 17 And ... flourish] A wonder-worker! MS 18 gratifies] and gratifies MS 19 His, his are the certainties! MS 22 truly] he is MS POLITICAL MEETING.

1. CF 26 (Sept. 1946), 136; 2. RC, pp. 15-16*; 3. SP 2078-9.

Heading (For Camillien Houde)] not in CF 23 Allee] ed.; Allee all versions 27 on himself] at himself SP 31 Canadien] Canadian CF 38 shadowed and] grsve, wordless, CF QUEBEC LIQUOR COMMISSION STORE, i. a typescript in the Earle Birney papers, University of Toronto Library (CPMS); 2. Canadian Poetry Magazine 10, 2 (Dec. 1946), 19-20 (CP); 3. RC, pp. 27-8*. Mentioned in the draft of a letter, 30 July 1946 [MS 313]. CPMS was submitted to Canadian Poetry Magazine on 16 Oct. 1946. Heading 'Quebec Liquor Commission' CPMS, CP 17 those] CPMS, CP; these RC 21 thou gurgling knave] my sudden and slick man CPMS, CP 25 Lithe] O CPMS, CP And] O CPMS, CP THE SPINNING WHEEL, i. a typescript in the Earle Birney papers, University of

915 / Textual Notes pp 661-3 Toronto Library (CTMS); 2. Canadian Poetry Magazine 10, 2 (Dec. 1946), 20-1; 3. /?c, p. 17*. CPMS was submitted to Canadian Poetry Magazine on 24 Oct. 1946. THE WHITE OLD LADY. 1. MS 2/o6; 2. CF 26 (Sept. 1946), 136*. SESTINA ON THE DIALECTIC. 1. MS 2619 (MSl); 2. MS 2617-18 (MS2); 3. MS

2626-7, a typescript (MS3); 4. MS 2628-9, a revised copy of MS3 (MS3revi); 5. MS 2630-1, a second revised copy of MS3 (MS3rev2); 6. the unrevised typescript for MS4revi and MS4rev2 (MS4); 7. MS 2622-3 (MS4revi); 8. MS 2620-1 (MS5); 9. MS 2624-5 (MS4rev2); 10. MS 2632-3 (Ms6); 11. SP 2632-3, a revised copy of Ms6*. Mentioned in the draft of a letter, 30 July 1946 [MS 313]. MSI consists of rough sketches for 29-33. m MS3revi the end words ('with,' 'a/ 'to,' 'out/ 'so,' 'still') are listed at the bottom of the page and marked in the text. MS2 is laid out in sestina format. 3 eases] ease its MS2, MS}, MS}revi, MS}rev2, MSq, MS4revi, MSJ outplots] outplot MS2, MS}, MSjrevi, MS}rev2, MS4, MS4revi, MSJ 6-7 binds ... withe] binds us length and breadth and width MS2, MS}; queried in MSjrevi; braids us in wicker and withe altered to binds us braided wicker and withe MS}rev2 10 slack,] MS2, MS}, MS}revi, MS}rev2, MSJ, MS4revi, MS4rev2; slack MSJ, Ms6, SP 13 heart's blood, bursting] MSJT, MS4rev2; blood in the bay bursts MS2, MS}, MS}revi, MS}rev2, MS4, MS4revi; heart's blood bursting Ms6, SP 14 circuit] bower MS2, MS}, MS}rev2, MS4, MS^reui, MSJ; queried in MS}revi pulsebeat's] pulsebeats MS2, MS}, MS}revi, MS}rev2, MS4, MS4revi 16 grounds, -] MS2, MSJ; grounds - all other versions 19-20 rise ... them] resurrective, rise! See them, now MS2, MS}, MS}revi, MS}rev2, MS4, MS4revi; above altered to rise resurrective, - and now see them MSJ 22-3 updown ... well] inout, overandunder, updown. Note MS2, MS}, MS}revi; inout, updown, overandunder. Note MS}rev2, MS^, MS4revi; updown, inout, overandunder. Note altered to updown, inout, overandunder. And note well MSy 24-5 ever ... another] ding-dong, crazy carol, Hegel to Hyde MS2, MS}, MS4, MS4revi; Hegel to Hyde queried in MS}revi; ding-dong, crazy carol, Heckyll to Hyde MS}rev2; ding-dong, crazy carol, Hegel to Hyde altered to ever kaleidoscopic, one scape to [...] MSJ 27 Consensus] Accord MS2, MS}, MS}revi, MS}rev2, MS4, MS4revi; Accord altered to Consensus MSJT 30 hope it, name it] hope and, name and altered to hope it, name it MS2 30-1 image ... stop] successively (a) together living the golden hyphen: with. / At last [...] (b) together of the golden hyphen: with. At last [...] (c) exorcise

916 / Textual Notes pp 663-5 it, the shimmering of the golden hyphen: with. / At last O lyric synthesis! (d) exorcise it, the shimmering synthesis, expanse and vistasf?] to lyric heights upraised. Love's last, (e) exorcise it, the lyric synthesis, the uplands within which all flaws are overshone! MSjrevz; same as (e) in MS4, MS^revi MEDITATION UPON SURVIVAL, i. MS 2423-4 (MSI); 2. MS 2427-8, a typescript (MS2); 3. MS 2431-2, a revised version of MS2 (MS2revi); 4. MS 2429-30, a second revised version of MS2 (MS2rev2); 5. MS 2425-6, a typescript (MS3); 6. Contemporary Verse 32 (Summer 1950), 9-10 (cv)*; 7. MS 2433-4, a revised tearsheet of cv (cvrev). Mentioned in the draft of a letter, 30 July 1946 [MS 313]. cvrev appears to date from the early fifties. 2 run plasma] plasmic run Mszrevi 3 unexpired] unachieved Mszrevi six] five MSI, MS2, Mszrevi 8 successively (a) I do grow bitter at my false felicity - (b) I cannot help but curse my false felicity — (c) I do besmear my luck with irony — Mszrevi 11 However, one continues] But, of course, one continues MSI, MSZ; But one continues, of course, Mszrevi 14 dry,] MSI, MSZ, Mszrevi, Mszrevz, MS}; dry cv, cvrev 15 cry out] cry MSI, MSZ, Mszrevi die,] all versions except cv; die. cv 16 cry love] MSI, MSZ, Mszrevi, Mszrevz, cvrev; cry, love MSJ, cv 20 my mournings taken for secret merrimakes! MSI, MSZ, Mszrevi; successively (a) my heart convicted by the pulse it takes (b) convicted in the news my sobbing breaks (c) convicted with the news my mourning breaks. Mszrevz 22 the severed] First, severed MSI, MS2 26 And] Then MSI, MSZ 27 and the] not in Mszrevi 28 Upon] While - Mszrevi 33-4 originally reversed in MSI 37-8 else ... ash] else but to depute / my bones that are not ash - and wire - MSI, MSZ, Mszrevi; else but to depute / my bones that strangely are not ash Mszrevz 39 the glass-case] the case of glass MSI, MSZ, Mszrevi, Mszrevz; a glass-case cvrev 40 successively (a) that waits me in some anthropological institute? (b) that waits them in some anthropological institute? (c) - tagged JEW - in some anthropological institute? MSI; same as (c) in MSZ, Mszrevi, Mszrevz; lit up in some museum, and marked: Jew cvrev AT HOME. \. MS 2129

(MSl); 2. MS 2130,

a typescript (MS2)*.

Closely related to an article by Klein on the Nuremberg Trials, The Herrenvolk/

917 / Textual Notes pp 665-8 published 3 May 1946 [BS, pp. 257-8]; hence the assigned date of composition, 1946. 3 The] Herr altered to The MSI 7 The ... him] The pastor at [...] altered to The pastor beside him MSI 8 It ... O] Beautiful! Beautiful! O too altered to It speaks of the very soul! O MSI 10 Striped pants] Frock-coat altered to Striped pants MSI towards] to altered to towards MSI 13 not a whit] and aryan, not altered to not a whit MSI LOWELL LEVI. i. MS 2410 (MSI)* [version i]; 2. MS 2536 (MS2); 3. MS 2537-9 (MS3); 4. MS 2540-2 (MS4); 5. MS 2543-5, a typescript (MS5)* [version 2]. MS2 consists of a sheet of rough sketches. These are not noted among the variants. The 'tractate on the Brooklyn delicatessen' referred to in 46 appeared in the Mar. 1946 issue of Commentary, hence the assigned date of composition, 1946. Version i i finds ... to] cannot altered to finds it difficult to MSI 5-6 of ... dairy.] on delicatessens in the Bronx, altered to of articles, urbane and learned, / on the Jewish delicatessen, the Jewish dairy. MSI Version 2 3-5 both / ... their] alien / Among their own, and alien among / Their altered to both / Alien among their own, and alien / Among their MS} 7 we] we altered to they MS} 9 Fiat!] not in MS} 12 credos ... prestige-] splendour of the pure altered to prestige of pure MS} 16 the swastika] the swastika altered to a swastika MS} 17 the] these altered to the MS} 29/30 And Lowell winds phylacteries altered to (And Lowell sells the Torah as / Commodity of skins of goats / Winding,} MS} 31 slick Engelic] editorial MS} 32 plain:] as MS} 38 But, says Western Union, the promised faith? MS} 39 not in MS} 41 not in MS} 47 laps] thighs altered to laps MS} TO THE LADY WHO WROTE ABOUT HERZL. 1. MS 2694 (MSl); 2. MS 2695; 3. MS

2696, a typescript*. For the date of composition see explanatory note. Heading Lady] Dame MSI i salvaged none] come from God altered to salvaged none MSI 2-3 Bighearted ... Swabians] successively (a) Declaring thy love for all the sons of

918 / Textual Notes pp 668-72 men / Including the humbled fritz (b) Bighearted one, forgiving, loving again / The German masses (duped) (c) Bighearted one, forgiving, loving again / The poor duped Swabians MSI 4 Posteriorizing the] Cackling the fragile altered to Posteriorizing the MSI 6 waddling mental] the waddling of thy altered to waddling mental MSI 7 pose and] pose, thy altered to pose and MSI 8 they do] it does altered to they do MSI 11-12 with ... marble] the droppings of thy hate uncoil / Over our glory MSI 13 thine owlish] thy eldritch altered to thine owlish MSI WISHING TO E M B A R R A S S ME, BUT POLITELY. MS

2410.

On the same sheet as LOWELL LEVI; hence the assigned date of composition, 1946. Heading supplied by ed. WRESTLING RING. i. MS 2411 (MSI); 2. the unrevised typescript for MS2rev (MS2); 3. MS 2711 (MS2rev)*. MSI is on the verso of LOWELL LEVI [MS 2410]; hence the assigned date of composition, 1946. 4 about] and about MSI 5 rope] ropes MSI 11 sixth] seventh MSI 15 and his voice is a needle altered to the tatooer's needle his voice MSI 16 Donnes-y-la! Break him a leg! Make him a cripple! MSI BEAVER, i. MS 2229, a typescript (MSI); 2. MS 2230, a revised copy of MSI (MSirev); 3. cjc, 21 Nov. 1952, p. 4*. MSI contains the address of Klein's law office from 1941 to 1949, 276 St James W. The poem was therefore composed considerably earlier than its 1952 date of publication, and in its style and theme it is close to the poems included in RC; hence the assigned date of composition, c. 1945/1947. 3 juice] the juice MSI, MSirev 5 bole] MSI, MSirev; hole cjc 7 now in deep] and in MSI, MSirev forest] small forest MSI, MSirev 9 not split in MSI, MSirev 10 not split in MSI, MSirev 11 and] will MSI, MSirev over] at MSI, MSirev 12 he waits] waiting MSI, MSirev DOMINION SQUARE. MS 2282.

919 / Textual Notes pp 672-81 DOMINION SQUARE is closely related to the poems included in RC; hence the assigned date of composition, c. 1945/1947. 11 the] (and) the 13 bronze] bust altered to bronze 15 caleche] ed.; caleche ELEGY, i. New Palestine, 4 Apr. 1947, pp. 106-7 (NP); 2. cjc, 25 Apr. 1947, pp. 8—9; 3. MS 2283-4, a revised tearsheet of NP (NPTCV); 4. ss, pp. 127-34*. 11 Daily I] And daily NP, cjc 12 Through clouds] And through a cloud NP, cjc 16 sepulchres ... ones] sepulchre of that sainted one NP, cjc 17 tumuli] tumulus NP, cjc 19 death, in] death and NP, cjc 20-1 kin: / David] kin / Now dust or mould: David NP, cjc 25 not in NP, cjc 26 The relicts] And relicts NP, cjc 27 Fevering] Glowing NP, cjc 106 the huge] this huge NP, cjc 113 witnesses] witness cjc 119 sand; -] NP, cjc; sand; NFrev, ss SONG OF INNOCENCE, i. the unrevised manuscript for MSI rev (MSI); 2. the unrevised typescript for MS2rev (MS2); 3. the unrevised manuscript for MS3rev (MS3); 4-6. MS 2640 (MSirev); MS 2642 (MS2rev); MS 2641 (MS3rev); 7. SP 2090*. SONG OF INNOCENCE is closely related to ELEGY and to Klein's translation of Glatstein's SMOKE, both dated c. 1947/1947. 3/4 - How many on a smokestack top can dance? - MSI, MSZ, MS}; marked for deletion in MSirev, Mszrev 4 Bibles] Evangels rejected revision in Mszrev 10 Noughts] all versions except SP; noughts SP ANNUAL BANQUET: CHAMBRE DE COMMERCE. RC, p. 49. DRESS MANUFACTURER: FISHERMAN, \. Contemporary Verse 22 (Fall 1947), 3-4 (cv); 2. RC, pp. 20-1*. 11 not in cv 22 curbstones] curbstone cv FILLING STATION. RC, p. 48. HORMISDAS ARCAND. 1. MS 2305; 2. RC, p. 46*.

920 / Textual Notes pp 681—8 2 manufactures him historic] is manufacturing his altered to manufactures him a MS 5 blast] paragraph MS 7 Et] And MS 8 say] be saidaltered to say MS you have] you've altered to you have MS

KRIEGHOFF: CALLIGRAMMES. RC, p. 13. LES FILLES MAJEURES. RC, p. 47. LIBRAIRIE DELORME. RC, p. 44. LONE BATHER. RC, pp. 37-8.

LOOKOUT: MOUNT ROYAL, i. MS 2402-4 (MS); 2. RC, pp. 33-4*. Some illegible variants in 30-4 of MS have not been noted. No heading in MS 5 mandarin mustaches] beard and whiskers MS 6 at ... finally] finally, at the look-out MS 8 the better to watch the motion and the sight MS 9 tripod] three-legged stand MS 11 not in MS 14 slums and races] races MS 21-3 successively (a) laid out in parallels and diamonds (b) the parallels, the squares, the diamonds (c) the leading parallels, the lingering square, / the a[...] (d) the parallels, the lingering square, / topped by stone angles, and the definitive dome (e) parallels, square, and dome MS 24 O next year's [...] altered to the picture book of the next grade, extended / and read to that last word, his home, (there,) MS 27 its singsong ... curves] its mapmaker curves and parallels altered to its singsong bridges, its mapmaker curves MS 29 water-tower'd] shining island MS 30 mountains] distances altered to mountains MS M. LE JUGE DUPRE. 1. MS 2305 (MSl); 2. MS 2435, 3 typescript (MS2)*.

MSI has been assigned a date of c. 1947/1947, since it is on the same sheet as HORMISDAS ARCAND.

3 Exempli] ed.; Exempla MSI, MS2 3-5 Exempli ... Mtre.] successively (a) Exempla gratia: Mtre. Hamelin [...] (b) Exempla gratia: / since Mtre. Hamelin / organizer of electoral victories /

921 / Textual Notes pp 688-96 Mtre. fcj Exempla gratia: / There are in Dupre's court / since Mtre. Hamelin / organizer of electoral victories / Mtre. MSI MONSIEUR GASTON. i. MS 2437-8 (MS); 2. Contemporary Verse 22 (Fall 1947), 5; 3. RC, p. 43*; 4. SP 2075. No heading in MS 5-6 one line in MS 5 clinking coinage] coinage MS 8—9 baize? / In] baize - / he's in MS 12 chauffeur] chauffeur, you know MS 21 Gaston; almost] Gaston, since almost MS 23 is very] And is MS 24 distinguished approach] approach MS 25 you] and you MS gets] gets at Christmas MS THE M O U N T A I N . RC, pp. 35-6.

PARADE OF ST. JEAN BAPTiSTE. i. MS 2504-8, a typescript (MS); 2. CF TJ (Feb. 1948), 258-9; 3. MS 2509-10, revised tearsheets of CF (CFTCV); 4. HPC, pp. 14-16*. PARADE OF ST. JEAN BAPTISTE was included in the original typescript of RC [letter to Frank Flemington, 6 Mar. 1948]; hence the assigned date of composition, c. 1947/1947. In 95, a comma has been added after 'le peup'' to conform to the reading in MS. MS originally had 'the mass,'; the words, though not the comma, were x'd out, and 'le peup" was typed in above the line. When MS was transcribed, the comma was missed, and it therefore does not appear in the later versions. 15-16 blue, / ... blond,] crrev; blue / the rose the vert the blond MS; blue / the rose, the vert, the blond, CF, HPC 31 galerie] MS; gallerie CF, CFrev, HPC 33 Here all] All here MS, CF 34 Hebert] ed.; Hebert MS, CFrev, HPC; Herbert CF 108 days] MS; day CF, CFrev, HPC PASTORAL OF THE CITY STREETS, i. the unrevised typescript for Msrev (MS); 2. RC, pp. 39-40*; 3. MS 2511-12 (Msrev). 19 O] Now, Msrev SIRE A L E X A N D R E G R A N D M A I S O N .

No heading in MS

1. MS 2637-8 (MS); 2. RC, p.

45*.

922 / Textual Notes pp 696-707 2-3 placed ... heirloom] which his secretary / who watched such things, placed on his MS 10 Societe] ed.; Societe MS, RC Fiducie] Fiducie, Inc. etc. etc. MS 11 had been duly elected] was MS 13 attaching now] attaching to the family estate MS 16 pious] and pious MS 18 Mais] Ah MS 20 crate custom] crate old custom and MS 21 Certainly His Eminence, Mgr. Desbaillets should hear about it - / the next thing you know these Voltaires would be planning / a blasphemous commutation of the tithe. / Spiritual values were in retreat. This / was a too commercial age. MS UNIVERSITE DE MONTREAL. \. MS 2701-2, a typescript; 2. RC, pp. 8-9*. WINTER NIGHT: MOUNT ROYAL. RC, p. 32. o GOD! o MONTREAL! i. MS 2502, a typescript (MS); 2. Contemporary Verse 22 (Fall 1947), 4 (cv)*. For the date of composition see explanatory note. Heading Montreal!] MS; Montreal cv 2 Frechette] ed.; Frechette MS, cv 4 nymphs)] MS; nymphs), cv CANTABILE. Northern Review 2, 3 (Sept.-Oct. 1948), 30-1 (NR). For the emendation to 51 see explanatory note to 50-1. 51 E.P.: EP] ed.; E.P.: E P NR BENEDICTIONS. SS, p. 190. STANCE OF THE AMIDAH. 1. MS 2656-7 [1-56] (MS); 2. SS, pp. 193-5*.

21 39 40 56

bee] newt altered to bee MS to labour] in travail MS our] my altered to our MS a burnt offering is] is our burnt offering altered to a burnt offering is MS

WHO HAST FASHIONED. SS, pp. 189-90.

OF THE MAKING OF GRAGERS. i. MS 2500, a typescript (MS); 2. c/c, 3 Mar. 1950, p. 7*. Most of the nonce-words (or first versions of them) in 3-11 were written by Klein

923 / Textual Notes pp 707-14 into the end paper of The Purim Anthology, ed. Philip Goodman (Jewish Publication Society of America 1949). Lines 12-15, which appear to have been added as an afterthought to MS, are partly based on the following list of names, also in the end paper: 'Pharaoh, Antiochus, Titus, Torquemada, Chmelnitzki, Hitler.' The layout of MS has been followed, rather than that of c/c, which is garbled. 11 datadiscords] that-and-this-cords x'd over and replaced by datadiscords in MS 11/12 tin-panic x'd over in MS EPIGRAMS [i]. i. MS 7325 [nos. 8, 6], 7345 [no. 4] (MSI); 2. MS 7353-61 (MSZ)*. MSI is contained in a notebook dated 'June 4, 1952'; MS2 in a notebook dated 'January 5, 1954.' The passage in MSI corresponding to no. 4 is entitled 'Variation on a Theme'; the passages corresponding to nos. 6 and 8 have no titles. Heading supplied by ed. 13 poet of] poet, with MSI 14-17 What a comrade you would have been to Catullus MSI 15 you ... been] added in MSZ 25-7 The ... time] not in MSI 27/28 And the bambino, knees up, parted, face crumpled / Crying his short cry. MSI 35/36 And saints sundry and designate MSI 36/37 Jewels scattered like breadcrumbs MSI 38 all singing] Singing MSI 40 sanna] Hosanna MSI; Hosanna altered to sanna MSZ 46-7 callous'd / also.] successively (a) callous'd. / Is her clitoris also? (b) callous'd, / that is to say, / her thumb also, (c) callous'd / also. MSZ 68 details] describes altered to details MSZ 71 winged] (his) winged MSZ 81 are] added in MSZ SPINOZA: ON MAN, ON THE RAINBOW, i. HJv/rev, flyleaf (HN/TCVI); 2. Hjv/rev, p. 34 (HN/rev2); 3. the unrevised typescript for sprev (SP); 4. SP 2109 (sprev)*. Replaces section vn of OUT OF THE PULVER AND THE POLISHED LENS in mv/rev. Heading 'On the Rainbow' HNjrevi; 'On Man, on the Rainbow' HNjrevz, SP 1 All flowers that] Blossoms that are HNjrevi 2 successively (a) All jewels th[...] (b) That dance [...] (c) That colour [...] earth (d) All flowers [...] (e) All the bright flowers of the earth HNjrevi 3 All] And HNjrevi their tunnelled night] the [...] night HNjrevi 4 Enkindle and] Their hues HNjrevi

924 / Textual Notes pp 714—23 5 successively (a) All gems [...] (b) All [...] (c) Now in the sky [...] thrust (d) No up the sky [...] thrust HNjrevi 6 human] all of HNjrevi 7 Do hang but on] Hang but upon HNjrevi EPIGRAMS [2]. i. MS 2275-6 [except for 'Ritual/ Talmam Qui Meruit'] (MSI)*; 2. MS 2277 ['Ritual/ Talmam Qui Meruit'] (MSZ); 3. MS 2276 ['Ritual/ Talmam Qui Meruit'] (MS3)*. MSI is dated 'July 28, 1955.' 'Ritual' and Talmam Qui Meruit' were roughed out in MS2, probably the next day, and then added to the bottom of MS 2276, where they are dated 'July 29, 1955.' Heading supplied by ed. 12/13 Ma ... You] Ma Aleyk altered to Ma Aleyk - No Evil Befall You MSI 27/28 no heading in MSZ 28-9 The eulogies have been said. The great tycoon is dead. MS2 31/32 Ethics altered to Palmam Qui Meruit MS} 34 political success] politics MSI; success in politics altered to political success MS}

POETRY TRANSLATIONS THE KADDISH. 1. MS 2358 [l—ll] (MSl); 2. MS 2359 [12-13] ( MS2 )>' 3-

MS

2361

(MS3)* [version i]; 4. MS 2360 [10-15, 19l (MS4); 5- c/c, 24 Oct. 1952, p. 4* [version 2]. MS2 consists of lists of words to be used in translating 12-13. The final list contains the words used in MS3Version i 11 for ... forever] forever, eterne, sempiternal, for aye altered to forever, eterne, sempiternal, indesinent and alteration cancelled in MSI; successively (a) forever (b) forever, eterne, sempiternal, for aye (c) for all time, eterne, sempiternal, forever MSJ 12 most] yea, altered to most MS} Version 2 6-7 repeated in cjc 8-10 successively (a) Be kyriate and aggrandized his numen in the world [...]; (b) Be kyriate and aggrandized in the world [...] (c) Benedict, lauded [...] (d) Benedict and gloriate, lauded, exalted, extolled [...] (e) Benedict and hallelujah'd, gloriate, exalted, extolled, formosal magnified and lauded be his sanct name; MS4 13 glorifications ... anywhere] and solations that is MS4 18 May there be abundant peace [...] MS4

925 / Textual Notes pp 724-5 O SITE MOST K I N G L Y , O ROYAL SANCTUM. 1. CJC, J Oct. 1949, p. 8; 2-3. MS 59/9

(MSI); MS 7408 (MS2); 4. ss, p. 117*. MSI and MS2 are contained in undated notes for lectures Klein gave after returning from his trip to Israel in 1949, and before publishing ss. 3 sorrow] sorrows MSI, MS2 7 garment] garments MSI, MSZ 9 Arise! Arouse! Arise] Arise! Arise! Arise c/c; Arise, arise, arouse MSI, MS2 10 at last] at length c/c, MSI, MSZ Chaim Nachman Bialik. An essay by Klein, 'Chaim Nachman Bialik, 1873-1934' [LER, pp. 13-19], contains quotations from a number of his Bialik translations (including passages from some translations for which we have no complete versions). The MS of the essay is in the National Archives of the Canadian Jewish Congress, Montreal (photocopy in PAC, Klein Papers, vol. 35), and the essay forms part of a mimeographed pamphlet, Chaim Nachman Bialik, issued by the Hadassah Organization of Canada. Although the pamphlet is undated, it can be no later than 1937, when the essay was published in Canadian Zionist 5, 3 (June 1937), 35-6, 43. The essay was reprinted in c/c, 7 July 1939, pp. 3, 14. The two printed versions differ slightly and were probably set from two different hand-corrected copies of the pamphlet. A related set of lecture notes, dated 4 July 1942, is in the Klein Papers, MS 6888-96. In addition to the essay on Bialik, the Hadassah pamphlet contains Klein's translations of several complete poems by Bialik. For three of these poems - BENEATH THE BURDEN, GOD GRANT MY PART AND PORTION BE . . . , and THE LORD HAS NOT

REVEALED - there are published versions dating from 1936, which, on the basis of textual evidence, predate the versions in the pamphlet. (In the case of a fourth poem published in 1936, THE CHASTISEMENT OF GOD, the evidence is unclear.) Therefore, the pamphlet can be no earlier than 1936. Translations first appearing in the Hadassah pamphlet have been assigned a date of composition of c. 1936/1937. Four of Klein's translations of Bialik are not represented in the pamphlet: SEER, BEGONE; STARS FLICKER AND FALL IN THE SKY; THY BREATH, o LORD, PASSED OVER AND ENKINDLED ME; and UPON THE SLAUGHTER. The MS for SEER, BEGONE is On the

verso of the MS for THE WORD, which is quoted in the pamphlet; it has therefore been assigned the same date of composition, c. 1936/1937. THY BREATH, o LORD appears to be part of the same set of MSS as SEER, BEGONE and THE WORD (the group contains a number of fragmentary translations as well) and has been assigned the more tentative date, c. 1936^. 1937. There is no MS for UPON THE SLAUGHTER, which appears only in Efros, but stylistically it closely resembles the other translations, and the MS for THY BREATH, o LORD contains a reference to -its title, in Hebrew; it, too, has been assigned a date of c. 1936^. 1937. STARS FLICKER AND FALL IN THE SKY is in a different category. It is represented by

926 / Textual Notes pp 725—7 a single MS which appears to date from the early fifties, a period when Klein extensively revised or entirely retranslated several earlier Bialik translations: IN THE CITY OF SLAUGHTER (originally THE CITY OF SLAUGHTER); DANCE OF DESPAIR

(THE DANCE OF DESPAIR); o THOU SEER, GO FLEE THEE - AWAY (SEER, BEGONE); and A SPIRIT PASSED BEFORE ME (THY BREATH, O LORD). In Style, 3S Well 3S in

handwriting (except for DANCE OF DESPAIR, for which there is no MS), these translations are closely related. Since IN THE CITY OF SLAUGHTER and DANCE OF DESPAIR were published in 1953, the others in the group have been assigned a date of composition of c. 1953/c. 1955. In the notes to the Bialik translations the following abbreviations are used: BI - MS version of the Bialik essay B2 — version of the essay included in the Haddasah pamphlet Bza - translations of complete poems included in the Haddasah pamphlet B} - version of the essay in Canadian Zionist 5, 3 (June 1937), 35-6, 43 34 - version of the essay in cjc, 7 July 1939, pp. 3, 14 B$ - MS 6888-96, lecture notes (4 July 1942) BENEATH THE BURDEN ... i. MS 5334, a typescript (MSI); 2. MS 5333, a typescript (MSI); 3. ]udaean 9, 8 (May 1936), 61; 4. Opinion 6, 9 (July 1936), 17; 5. BI, p. 4 [1-8]; 6-7. B2, p. 3 [1-8]; B2a, p. 8; 8. B}, p. 36 [1-8]; 9. 84, p. 3 [1-8]; 10. BJT, p. 4 [1-8]; 11. cjc, 10 July 1942, p. 4 [5-6]; 12. Jewish Frontier 10, 8 (Aug. 1943), 22*. 3 Ah] Oh MSI 8 humble] simple BI, B2, B}, 64, 05, cjc 15 No ... I] Now is no time MSI THE CHASTISEMENT OF GOD. i. MS 5335-6, a typescript (MS); 2. Canadian Zionist 3, 4 (Sept. 1936), 7 (cz); 3-4. MS 5337, a revised tearsheet of cz (czrevi); a second revised tearsheet of cz (czrevi); 5. BI, p. 7 [1-6]; 6-7. B2, p. 6 [1-6]; B2«, pp. 11-12; 8. 53, p. 43 [1-6]; 9. 64, p. 15 [1-6]; 10. Jewish frontier 9, 5 (May 1942), 12 (JF); 11. 65, pp. 6-7 [1-3, 5-8]; 12. cjc, 10 July 1942, p. 4 [1-8, 21-4]; 13. Herzl-Bialik Memorial Book, mimeographed pamphlet issued by Zionist Organization of Canada (June 1945), pp. 36-7*. 7 drips] drip JF 16 Not, not] No, not JF 26 tap upon] tap JF windowpane.] MS, JF; windowpane, all other versions 33 Yea] MS, JF; Yes all other versions 37-8 You shall see in your windows the dead flies / The spiders weaving in the desolate cracks, MS 40 Penury] Destitution czrevi

927 / Textual Notes pp 727-33 COME, G I R D YE Y O U R L O I N S , AND IN M I G H T ROBE YOURSELVES. 1. B2d, p. 17;

2. Canadian Zionist 5, i (Apr. 1937), 5; 3. c/c, 18 July 1941, p. 8 (cjci}*; 4. By, p. 7 [1-13]; 5. c/c, 10 July 1942, p. 4 [8-13] (c/C2). Heading supplied by ed. 10 pillar and] hope and our c/C2 GOD GRANT MY PART AND PORTION BE ...

1. MS 5339~4O, a typescript (MS);

2. Judaean 9, 8 (May 1936), 61 (/); 3. BI, p. 5 [36]; 4-5. B2, p. 4 [36]; Bza, pp. 7-8; 6. Opinion 6, 9 (July 1936), 17 (o); 7. 63, p. 36 [36]; 8. 64, p. 14 [36]; 9. c/c, 17 Apr. 1942, p. 3 [36, 10-15]; 1O- B5' P- 5 [36]; n- c/c, 10 July 1942, p. 4 [27-9, 33-6]; 12. Jewish Frontier 10, 6 (June 1943), 20-1 (/f)*. No heading in MS 12 O poets] Poets MS 17 crooking,] all versions except JF; crooking JF 27 Yea] all versions except JF; Yes JF 32 museums] museum MS, / 34 your life] life o 53 In ... and] Revealed in the o THE LORD HAS NOT REVEALED, i. the unrevised typescript for Msrev (MS); 2. MS 5390-2 (Msrev); 3. Canadian Zionist 3, 4 (Sept. 1936), 7 (cz); 4. MS 5338, a revised tearsheet of cz (czrev); 5. BI, pp. 7-8 [26-30, 46-7, 50-1]; 6-7. B2, p. 6 [26—30, 46-7, 50-1]; B2fl, pp. 10-11; 8. BJ, p. 43 [26-30, 46-7, 50-1]; 9. 84, p. 14 [26-30, 46-7, 50-1]; 10. Jewish frontier 9, 4 (Apr. 1942), 10*. No heading in MS 2 for ... divined] has he divined for me MS; has he divined Msrev 11 of man] Man Bza 16 life] soul MS, Msrev 22 the foot] my foot MS, Msrev 26 like a pearl] a pearl B2, BJ$, 84 ON MY RETURNING, i. B2fl, p. 9; 2. Canadian Zionist 3, 9 (Feb. 1937), 93*. THE CITY OF SLAUGHTER, i. MS 5341-53 [except 128-75] (MS1); 2 - BI / P- 7 [25~6]; 3. B2, p. 6 [25-6]; 4. BJ, p. 43 [25-6]; 5. 34, p. 14 [25-6]; 6. c/c, 2 Oct. 1940, pp. 9-11 [except 128-75] (c/ci); 7. MS 5374-86, a typescript [except 128-75] ( MS2 ); 8. c/c, 10 July 1942, p. 4 [90-8, 121-6], p. 4 (c/C2); 9. Jewish Frontier 9, 8 (Aug. 1942), 16-19 [except 128-75] (/f); 1O- tne unrevised typescript for MS3rev (MS3); 11. MS 5361-73 [except 128-75] (MS3rev); 12. MS 5387-8, a typescript [128-75] ( MS 4); *3- Efros, pp. 114-28 (E)* [version i]; 14. c/c, 13 July 1951, p. 3 [15-26] (c/cj); 15. MS 5354-60, 5326 [1-158] (MS5)* [version

928 / Textual Notes pp 733-4 2, 82-158]; 16. c/c, i May 1953, p. 4 [1-81] (c/cf); 17. MS 5389, a revised tearsheet of c/C4 (c/C4rev)* [version 2, 1-81]. MS2 represents a later stage of revision than c/ci, which is very close to the earliest version, MSI. However, MS2 is based directly on MSI, rather than on cjci, since it retains a number of accidentals from MSI which are missing in cjci. Also, MS2 contains one meaningless reading, 'secret shame dooms' [200], which could only have arisen from a misreading of Klein's revision of MSI. MS3 is a copy of JF, differing from it only in a few typographical errors. Evidence for this chronology (rather than the reverse) is certain peculiarities in MS3 which must have resulted from a misunderstanding of the format of JF: in JF the opening words of several sections are capitalized, and the initial letter is a large capital; to allow for this capital, the line below is indented. MS3 faithfully reproduces the capitalization and the no longer necessary indentation. MS5 was intended for periodical publication, almost certainly for publication in c/c: the section corresponding to C/C4 ends with the note '(To be continued),' and the next section, which is incomplete and was never published, begins with the note '(continued from last week).' The last page of MS5, MS 5326, is filed separately from the rest in the Klein papers, but it is clearly part of the same manuscript. The Klein papers contain four sheets of notes (MS 5322-5) concerning individual words and phrases, indicating possible translations and biblical parallels. The copy-text for version 2 is c/c^rev (rather than c/C4) for the published section of the poem [1-81], since it corrects the numerous typographical errors in c/C4; variants in MS5 for this section are noted under version 2. MS5 is the copytext for the unpublished section of version 2 [82-158]. In version i, line spaces omitted in the copy-text (E), presumably for reasons of space, have been restored, following MSI. The reading 'courtyards' [2] in MSI, MS5, c/c^, and c/c^rev, has been followed, rather than 'courtyard' in all other versions: it makes better sense and is the correct translation of the Hebrew original. Version i Heading The City[ In the City MSI, cjci, MS2 2 courtyards] MSI, MSJ, c/C4, cjcqrev; courtyard all other versions wend] MSI, cjci, MS2, JF; wind MS}, MS}rev, E 17 its blossoms] the blossoms MSI, cjci 18 Whose] Their MSI, cjci 19 And, spiting thee,] Unto thy nostrils this all other versions 21 sun] all versions except E; sun, E 22 Will bid thy melancholy to be gone; all other versions 24 Will bid thy sorrows pass; all other versions 27 observe its] and note a MSI, cjci

929 / Textual Notes pp 734-9 41 Multitudinous ... will] The multitudinous eyes that MSI, cjci 42 silences] all versions except E; silence E 44 at long last] after agonies altered to at long last MSI 47 as with their] and with a altered to as with their MSI 49 wraiths] thither altered to spirits MSI; ghosts cjci and cower there] a silent band altered to and cower there MSI 50 Their ... and] It is their silence asks; MSI, cjci 55-6 brood ... / Question] brooding in the air / Go then, and question MSI, cjci 65 Of] And MSI, cjci an infant's] that infant's MSZ, JF, MS}, MSjrev 67 its] his all other versions 88 axes] axe MSI, cjci 90 also,] all versions except E; also E 96-8 Watching - these heroes! - / The ignominious rabble tasting flesh, / Morsels for Neros! MSI, cjci, MSZ, CJC2, JF, MS}; Watching / The ignominious rabble portioning their flesh. MSjrev 103 Perhaps ... watcher] Indeed, each wretch then MSI, cjci, MSZ, JF, MS} 109 thanks] their thanks all other versions no sallied forth,] went forth, and MSI, cjci Rabbi's house they] Rabbi's MSI, cjci 114 lairs,] all versions except E; lairs E 131 bloated] swollen MS4 136-7 descends ... flame] will set / Bleeding her clouds, and flaming gore MS4 139 ambient] ambience MS4 158-9 Brief-weary ... nook] Death-weary and forespent, black Immanence, / It is flung down MS4 162 wing outspread] wings outspread MS4 163-4 dead, / ... silence] dead. / Its tears are MS4 172 dream.] MS^; dream, E 177 thy] your MSI 178 sainted ... stone] saintly graves and martyr's stone all other versions 183 long to bellow] bellow cjci 191-2 Hence, if you come to my door to ask for your reward / It shall be opened to you, and you shall see that Lord / Fallen from high estate, all other versions 195-6 for ... cause.] nor for whom. / Even as was your life, so reasonless was your doom, all other versions 200 secret shame] dreadful dooms altered to secret shame MSI; secret shame dooms MSZ 201 My] God's MSI, cjci, MSZ, JF, MS} 207 blot] burden altered to blot MSI 209 But] And cjci

930 / Textual Notes pp 739-45 214 tombstones] tombstones dost thou see MSI, cjci 225-6 And fear and trembling will take hold of thee: / In such wise does a people cease to be. MSI, cjci, MS2, JF, MS} 233 trials] trial MSI, cjci 235 denials] denial MSI, cjci 238 Crying] Crying Peccavi MSI, cjci, MS2; I have sinned JF, MS}, MS}rev 239 not in other versions 249—50 Let their fists beat / The heavens and the heavenly [...] altered to Let fists be flung like stone / Against the heavens and the heavenly Throne. MSI 255 Bend down from Thy great mansions in the sky MSI, cjci, MSZ, JF, MS}; Remember the cloven infants and their cry! MS}rev 259 shall] will JF, MS}, MS}rev thee,] and all other versions 260 will not] shall not all other versions 284 oil is] tallow's MSI, cjci, MS2, JF, MS} 297 And] But MSI 301 brows] brow MSI 303 pity] greet MSI, cjci, MS2, JF, MS} 307 For] But MSI, cjci 318 then meet] again meet altered to then meet MSI; meet cjci 339 And] Your customer, and all other versions 341 with] in your MSI, cjci 342 nations] stranger MSI, cjci, MS2, JF, MS}; gentile MS}rev 343 their] his all other versions 351 replaced by 354 in JF, MS} Thy] MSI, cjci, MS2; The MS}rev, E 353 And feed thou thy heart to rage, as to a worm! MSI, cjci, MS2, JF, MS} 354 Thy] And O thy MS}rev Version 2 no subheading in MS$ 3 see - splashed] see it - MSJ 4 tree ... stone,] hedge, on mortar, and MS$ 8-9 walls ... these] walls, - and know / These stripped foundations, these burnt bricks MSJT 14 garnered] treasured MSJ 15 Breakage and fracture ...] not in MSJ 29 You will fly] Flying MSJ 36 this ... one] their mingled blood to single altered to their mingled blood to make one MSJ 37 With feculence] With sewage and with feculence MSJ 39 earth, will] deep, or MS$

931 / Textual Notes pp 745-50 44 Here, from] Here in MSJ 45 murky] sombre MS$ 47 stare] silent stare MSJ 50 their] these MSJ; the c/o/ 54 here.] MSJ; here c/c/reu 55 beg ... than] implore, there silence is a MSJ 58 Survey ... eyes] Lift up your eyes to the roof, - MSJT 59 damp ... cold] droppings have dropped their ultimate altered to mildew has dropped its final MSJ 60 But the] The MSJ 64 Of nostrils nailed ... smashed skulls ... lives snuffed ... MS$ 66 spared babe] babe found MSJ 72 as] they MSJT 73 Spirit ... both] Your body ... spirit ... soul ... MS$ 74 Here] Then MS$ 75 here you will] then will you MS$ 76 sink down deep] sink, to hide MSJ 77 Deep in your heart before your heart will burst! MSJ 78 You ... will] Then will you leave that place, and MSJ 80 world] earth MSJ THE DANCE OF DESPAIR, i. B2fl, pp. 15-17; 2. Canadian Zionist 5, 3 (June 1937), 38 (cz); 3. cjc, 19 Apr. 1940, p. 6 (cjci); 4. Jewish frontier 9, 9 (Sept. 1942), 21 (/F); 5. c/c, 7 Apr. 1944, p. 6 (c/C2); 6. E/ros, pp. 214-17 (E)* [version i]; 7. c/c, 24 Apr. 1953, p. 4 (c/Cj$)* [version 2]. The following notes list variants from E in all versions except c/cj, which is printed in full. In all versions except E, the eight-line sections are numbered, and there is no refrain between sections. Heading not translated in B2a, cz, cjci 1, 61 Muppim] Cry, Muppim all other versions 2, 62 and ... level] to lips set the fife all other versions 4, 64 A wedding: your father takes Lilith for wife! all other versions 5 there's ... cake] no, nor bread, neither cake all other versions 11 that ... to] which will be like the B2a, cz, cjci; will be like the JF, cjC2 13 of ... drop] no trickle of wine all other versions 14-16 Console thee, the full cup of gall is still thine! // The arm must not quiver as you cry wassail, / And quaff it until all your limbs almost fail, - all other versions 17 Go to,] And then all other versions 19 friends] friend B2a, cz 20 Of your] Of our all other versions

932 / Textual Notes pp 750-60 28 The very last step of the dance is the tomb ... all other versions 29 friends] friend Bza, cz 41 He ... His] is He who built roof, his blue all other versions 53 no revenge] and no meed all other versions 57-8 enkindling ... pyre!] a dance of your might / To kindle environs, refulgent and bright; all other versions SEER, BEGONE, i. MS 5393 (MSI)* [version i]; 2. MS 5395 (MS2)* [version 2]. Version i 10 rude] few altered to rude MSI Version 2 15 rot ... fruit] O rot and fungus altered to rot, fungus, trodden fruit MSZ WHEN THE DAYS SHALL GROW LONG. 1. MS 5402-3, a typescript; 2. B2O, pp.

13-14; 3. Canadian Zionist 4, 10 (Mar. 1937), 103 (cz); 4.cjc, 27 Dec. 1940, p. 13; 5. Jewish frontier 10, 6 (June 1943), 20; 6. E/ros, pp. 206-8*. cz and c/c have the subheading '(From the visions of the last prophets),' translated from the original. 14 hairs] hair c/c 15 And the whiskers of the cat shall grow bald, all other versions 17 bole] limbs all other versions 26 into] to all other versions 29 moan] murmur all other versions 37 web] sand all other versions 38 brains] brain all other versions 43 his] the cz, c/c 45 low ... peaked] bruised of flesh, sour in breath all other versions THE WORD. i. MS 5394*; 2. BI, p. 5 [6—8]; 3. B2, p. 4 [6-8]; 4. BJ, p. 36 [6-8]; 5. 34, p. 14 [6-8]; 6. 85, p. 5 [6-8]. THY BREATH, O LORD, PASSED OVER AND E N K I N D L E D ME. 1. the Unrevised

manuscript for MSirev (MSI); 2. MS 5396 (MSirev)* [version i]; 2. MS 5397-8 (MS2); 3. MS 5399-400 (MS3)* [version 2]. The revisions to MSI seem to have been added at a later date. MS2 consists of an incomplete rough draft of MS3- In MS3, 19-25 were originally in the past tense. In revising these lines, Klein missed 'were' in 23. This has been emended to 'are' for the sake of consistency. Version i Heading supplied by ed.

933 / Textual Notes pp 760-8 i over] over me MSI 3 the ... heart] not in MSI 4 not flowing] unflowing MSI 5 how] and how MSI 7 There] Here MSI 8 besmirched lips] the lips of the foul MSI 13 Loud] The MSI 17 proud-tongued] proud of tongue MSI 22 Whither to] Where shall I MSI 23 fire] flame MSI 26 [...] go] I shall go MSI their [...]] their speech MSI 27 speech] lips MSI Version 2 14 had sent] sent altered to had sent MSJ 17 the rook's cawing] the cawing of rooks altered to the rook's cawing MSJ 27 get] naturals altered to get MSJ 27-8 monstrous ... cockled] impudent, arrogant, from the empty cockles of their altered to monstrous, arrogant, loathsome, a flux from empty-cockled MSJ 36-7 and ... lips] successively (a) shall scald my lips with his coal (b) shall cauterize my lips with his coal (c) and his gleed shall cauterize my lips MS} UPON THE SLAUGHTER. Efros, pp. 112-13. STARS FLICKER AND FALL IN THE SKY. MS 5401.

Heading supplied by ed. THE PRESCRIPTION. MS 2987-8.

The date of composition, c. 1953/c. 1955, has been assigned on the basis of handwriting and of the poem's inclusion in material for the unfinished novel The Golem, which dates from this period. 24 ailment] patient altered to ailment WINE. Schwarz, pp. 598-9. Yehuda Halevi. Klein's copy of the bilingual edition of Selected Poems of Jehudah Halevi, ed. Heinrich Brody, trans. Nina Salaman (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society of America 1924), now in the Montreal Jewish Public Library, contains two unpublished translations, BEAR THOU, o WIND, MY LOVE and o DOVE BESIDE THE WATER BROOK, in Klein's hand, and is dated 1936 in the same hand. This edition includes the originals of all the Halevi poems which Klein translated, and it is

934 / Textual Notes pp 768-73 cited by him in a list of poems by Halevi [MS 5404], including LORD, HELE ME; o HEIGHTE SOVEREIGN; ODE TO ZION; and TO JERUSALEM THE HOLY. On the basis of the date of Klein's copy, and of the dates of publication of TO JERUSALEM THE HOLY (1936) and RUBAIYAT OF YEHUDA HALEVI (1938), a date of composition of c. 19367 c. 1938 has been assigned to the unpublished translations and to ODE TO ZION, which was first published in 1941 as part of YEHUDA HALEVI, HIS PILGRIMAGE, but which clearly antedates the rest of the poem. TO JERUSALEM THE HOLY. i. Canadian Zionist 3, 5 (Oct. 1936), 23 (cz); 2. Reconstructionist 4, 9 (17 June 1938), 16 (R); 3. c/c, 20 Aug. 1948, p. 4*; 4-6. MS 5842 (MSI); MS 5846-7 (MS2); MS 5980 (MS3); 7. ss, pp. 93-4 [9-12]. MSI, MS2, and MS3 are included in notes for lectures Klein gave after returning from his trip to Israel in 1949, and before publishing ss. MSI and MS2 are both dated 21 Feb. 1950; MS3 is undated. No heading in MSI, MS2, MS}, ss 7 thou art} cz, R, MSJ; thou are c/c; I am MSI, MS2 8 I in] in the MSI, MS2 12 thy] your cz BEAR THOU, o WIND, MY LOVE. In Klein's copy of Selected Poems of Jehudah Halevi, p. 56. 1-6 Bear thou, O wind, my greeting on thy wing, / And bring it, at the cool of dusk, to him / Of whom I ask but his remembering on the opposite page 3 bring it] ed.; bring 7 The] Of altered to The L O R D , HELE ME, Y-WIS I SHAL BE HELED. MS 5405.

Heading supplied by ed. ODE TO ZION. The copy-text is c/c, 20 Aug. 1948, p. 4. For further details see textual notes to YEHUDA HALEVI, HIS PILGRIMAGE. o DOVE BESIDE THE WATER BROOK. In Klein's copy of Selected Poems of Jehudah Halevi, pp. 66-7. 5 So ... beautiful] So beautiful, so fair altered to So fair, so beautiful O HEIGHTE S O V E R E I G N , O WORLDES PRYS. MS 5406-7.

The MS contains numerous rough notes and revisions, especially for 17-20. Heading supplied by ed. RUBAIYAT OF YEHUDA HALEVI. i. Reconstructionist 3, 20 (11 Feb. 1938), 10-11 (R); 2. c/c, 16 Aug. 1946, p. 8*.

935 / Textual Notes pp 773-81 Heading Rubaiyat] The Rubaiyat R 11 kept,] R; kept c/c 16 footsteps] footstep R 30 art] R; are c/c 43 those] these R 44 besprent] ed.; bespent R, c/c UPON THE HIGHWAY. Jewish Standard, 11 Sept. 1931, p. 154. KINGS OF THE EMEK. i. Judaean 4, 4 (Jan. 1931), 6; 2. c/c, 6 Feb. 1931, p. 22; 3. Schwarz, pp. 642-3; 4. c/c, 9 Aug. 1946, p. 7*. MOTHER JERUSALEM, i. Judaean 4, 6 (Mar. 1931), 8 (/); 2. Jewish Standard, 11 Sept. 1931, p. 154 (/s); 3. c/c, 11 Oct. 1940, p. 7*. Lines 45-6, 51-2, and 58-60 are missing in the copy-text. Because the missing passages are necessary to the sense, they have been restored. Heading 'Jerusalem' / 26 poverty,] /, js; poverty c/c 31 her ... day] it small; its day / 35 a riddle most] /; a riddle not /s; riddle not c/c 43 dost] /, /s; does c/c 48 yea, and] /; yea. And js, c/c 50 one] /, js; in c/c 61 me] me too js gates, no] /; gates no /s, c/c BE THERE NO ALTAR, i. Judaean 4, 4 (Jan. 1931), 6 (/); 2. c/c, Feb. 1931, p. 22; 3. Opinion i, 7 (18 Jan. 1932), 10 (o)*. 3 be] /, c/c; by o 8 this city] these stones /, c/c MAKE BLIND, o SUN OF JERUSALEM, i. Judaean 4, 4 (Jan. 1931), 6; 2. c/c, 6 Feb. 1931, p. 22; 3. Opinion i, 7 (18 Jan. 1932), 10*. WITH EVERY STONE, i. Jewish Standard, 11 Sept. 1931, p. 154 (is); 2. Opinion i, 11 (15 Feb. 1932), 7 (o); 3. Judaean 7, 7 (Apr. 1934), 56 (/)*. i stone;] /s, o; stone / 5 with stones] js, o; with stone / 7 bones] /s, o; bows / 10 lime] js, o; time / thereon.] /s; thereon o, /

936 / Textual Notes pp 782—9 THE GLORY OF THE HOMELAND, i. Jewish Standard, 11 Sept. 1931, pp. 152, 154 (/si); 2. Opinion i, 24 (16 May 1932), 15 (o); 3. Judaean 7, 7 (Apr. 1934), 56 (/); 4. Jewish Standard, Oct. 1935, p. 20 (/S2)*. JS2 lacks line spacing; the line spacing of the other versions has been restored. 2 splendour] splendours all other versions 11 that eternity revealed] shall eternity reveal / 20 ensorceled] ed.; enscorceled jsi, jsz; ravished o; enscorched / 23 lands] land o, j 46-7 reversed in jsz 51 while] when / 52 I felt I knew] I felt, I knew o BEHOLD, -i. ]udaean 4, 4 (Jan. 1931), 6; 2. cjc, 6 Feb. 1931, p. 22 (c/ci); 3. Opinion i, 7 (18 Jan. 1932), 13 (o); 4. Schwarz, pp. 643-4; 5. c/c, 9 Aug. 1946, p. 7 (c/cz)*. 2 is parchment] is a parchment o 14/15 no line space in cjC2 SABBATH. Jewish Standard, 11 Sept. 1931, p. 152. UNFAVOURED. Jewish Standard, 11 Sept. 1931, p. 152. NOW SUCH AM i ... i. Jewish Standard, May 1937, p. 4; 2. typescript in the Canadian Jewish Congress archives; 3. Schwarz, pp. 644-5; 4- CJC> 9 Aug. 1946, p. 7*. RACHEL, i. Jewish Standard, May 1937, p. 4; 2. typescript in the Canadian Jewish Congress archives; 3. Schwarz, p. 645; 4. c/c, 9 Aug. 1946, p. 7*. KINNERETH. i. Jewish Standard, May 1937, p. 4; 2. typescript in the Canadian Jewish Congress archives; 3. Schwarz, p. 645; 4. c/c, 9 Aug. 1946, p. 7; 5. ss, p. 98*. No heading in ss 4 labour] my labour all other versions 11 your] thy all other versions DAWN. i. Jewish Standard, May 1937, p. 4 (js); 2. typescript in the Canadian Jewish Congress archives; 3. Schwarz, pp. 645-6; 4. c/c, 9 Aug. 1946,

P-7*. 8 road] roads js THE CHILDLESS ONE. i. Jewish Standard, May 1937, p. 4; 2. typescript in the

937 / Textual Notes pp 790-802 Canadian Jewish Congress archives; 3. Schwarz, p. 646; 4. c/c, 9 Aug. 1946, P- 7*-

THE PRAYER OF A PHYSICIAN. Canadian Medical Association Journal 56 (1947), 100-1. THE ELEVENTH: IN MEMORY OF ISAAC, SON OF THE TAILOR, c/c, 7 Feb. 1947, p.

7THE GIFTED ONE. C/C, 7 Feb. 1947, p. 7-

SMOKE, c/c, 7 Feb. 1947, p. 7. 7 art] ed.; are c/c 8 All of us] ed.; All of c/c PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST. C/C, 9 Sept. 1932, p. 5. CANTICUM CANTICORUM. C/C, 9 Sept. 1932, p. 5.

21 head,] ed.; head, c/c THE LAST SONG. i. c/c, 9 Sept. 1932, p. 5; 2. Jewish Observer 4, i (Dec. 1945), 93 (*>)*. 2 too,] c/c; too /o 3 flung] did fling c/c 5 sky] c/c; sky, /o 11 Sat the prophet, on a stone, and lonely, c/c KI-KI. c/c, 9 Sept. 1932, p. 5. THE GOLDEN PARROT. C/C, 9 Sept. 1932, p. 5.

CONCEIT CURIOUS, c/c, 9 Sept. 1932, p. 5. LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT. C/C, 9 Sept. 1932, p. 5. WE ARE A G E N E R A T I O N , HEAVEN-DOOMED.

C/C, 26 May 1933, p. 8.

YOU WALK UPON YOUR SUNLIT ROADS, c/c, 26 May 1933, P- 8. NO MORE TEARS. ]ewish Observer 4, i (Dec. 1945), 93.

938 / Textual Notes pp 803-10 THE WINDOWS ARE GRATED. Jewish Observer 4, i (Dec. 1945), 93. Heading supplied by ed. SUNSET. Jewish Observer i, 3 (Jan. 1944), 21. AND THIS i KNOW. i. MS 5431-2 (MS); 2. Leftwich, p. 403; 3. Canadian Jewish Yearbook (1940-1), p. 145*. MS is part of a group of manuscripts including KING RUFUS, which was published in 1931; hence the assigned date of composition, c. 1931/1931. AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL, i. MS 5429-30 (MS); 2. Leftwich, p. 404 (i); 3. Canadian Jewish Yearbook (1940-1), p. 144 (C/Y)*. MS is part of a group of manuscripts including KING RUFUS, which was published in 1931; hence the assigned date of composition, c. 1931/1931. 8 weary] wearied MS, L 9 all things] things all MS 12 earth] the earth MS, L 20 I fall in] MS, z.; If all is C/Y GOATS. MS 5427 (MS). MS is part of a group of manuscripts including KING RUFUS, which was published in 1931; hence the assigned date of composition, c. 1931/1931. A KING. i. MS 5425-6 (MS); 2. Leftwich, pp. 405-6*. MS is part of a group of manuscripts including KING RUFUS, which was published in 1931; hence the assigned date of composition, c. 1931/1931. KING RUFUS. i. MS 5428; 2. YMffA Beacon 6, 14 (i May 1931), 37 (Y); 3. Leftwich, pp. 404-5*. 18 journey] journey on Y CONFESSION, i. c/c, 23 Oct. 1940, p. 4* (c/ci); 2. MS 5433, a revised tearsheet of cjci (c/cirev); 3. c/c, 12 Mar. 1954, p. 3 [1-12, 25-36] (c/C2). 3 Who comes] Come now C/C2 7 those] these c/C2 11-12 ones ... from] ones, the connivers, / Lorded it in C/C2 12 from] through cjcirev 27 while they go] themselves all C/C2 28 golden] gold C/C2 34 change that] small change cjcirev, cjcz 36 It will be paid, whatever's due. cjcz Hard] Near cjcirev

939 / Textual Notes pp 810—15 writ] write cjcirev OLD GOLD. i. c/c, 23 Oct. 1940, p. 4 (c/ci)*; 2. MS 5433, a revised tearsheet of cjci (c/cirev); 3. c/c, 12 Mar. 1954, p. 3 [1-8, 21-8] (cjcz). 2 A ... broken,] And a peaceful tribe is broken, and C/C2 4 grandfather's. His] grandfather's, whose cjcirev, cjC2 6 bent] cracked c/C2 7 I took, then, bag and baggage, warp and woof, c/C2 8 the ... fared] the lost exile, went cjcirev; a lost exile, went cjC2 21 And] O, cjC2 22 little golden] famous little c/C2 23 lullaby] melody c/C2 25 and did brood] twilight-hooded c/C2 27 And on] Upon c/C2 27-8 stood; / ... in] brooded ... / Then ... slid into C/C2 REB ZORACH. C/C, 23 Oct. 1940, p. 4.

SONG. i. c/c, 23 Oct. 1940, p. 4 (cjciY'< 2 - MS 5433/ a revised tearsheet of cjci (cjcirev); 3. c/c, 12 Mar. 1954, p. 6 [1-12, 17-20] (c/C2); 4. MS 25168, a revised tearsheet of C/C2 (c/C2rev). In cjcirev and C/C2 all second person pronouns are plural. 2 A sheep] You sheep cjcirev; Like a sheep C/C2 3 bear] carry cjczrev 6 Lamb fallen to the ground! C/C2 7 weary] tired cjC2rev 8 And have no water found. c/C2 10 The] That c/C2 11 laves her bright] washes her cjcirev, cjC2 18 A sheep] Sheep c/C2 19 bear] carry c/C2 WAR. i. c/c, 23 Oct. 1940, p. 4 (c/ci)*; 2. MS 5433, a revised tearsheet ofcjci (cjcirev); 3. c/c, 12 Mar. 1954, p. 3 [7-15] (c/C2). 9 The God] And the God c/C2 11 And wonders] And, wondering c/C2 11-12 day. / ... his] day. / Drinks in the dew with his great cjcirev; day, / Drinks the dew in with his large c/C2 SPEAK TO YOUR PEOPLE, T H E R E F O R E , IN THIS WISE. C/C, 2 Nov. 1945, p. l6.

Heading supplied by ed.

940 / Textual Notes pp 816-17 Jewish Folk-Songs. The title for this collection of twenty-seven translations has been taken from Klein's essay of that name (see below). The collection is contained in an untitled notebook [MS 5557-94]. Three of the translations (o MY MOTHER SENT ME; COME YOU HERE, PHILOSOPHER; and HUSH! HUSH!) are also

in typescript [MS 5551-3]. The second of these was published in the Judaean 3, 3 (Dec. 1929), 8; a date of composition of c. 1929/1929 has therefore been assigned to the notebook as a whole. Most of the translations were published, singly or in groups. Some were included in Klein's 'Jewish Folk-Songs' essay; others in the plays Hershel of Ostropol and Worse Visitors We Shouldn't Have. In the notes to 'Jewish Folk-Songs' the following abbreviations are used: JFSI, JFS2, JFSJ — 'Jewish Folk-Songs,' Judaean 5, 9 (June 1932), 2, 5-6; and its reprints in cjc, 2 Sept. 1932, pp. 6-7; cjc, 7 Apr. 1944, pp. 9-10 no, ifOMS - Hershel of Ostropol, cjc, 31 Mar. 1939, pp. 19-27; 13 Sept. 1939, pp. 19-26; and its typescript [MS 4033-88] wvi, WV2 - the two typescripts of Worse Visitors We Shouldn't Have [MS 4814-907, MS 4908-5007] (early fifties) Unless otherwise indicated, headings have been supplied by the editor. SHALL i BE A RABBI? i. MS 5557 (MS)*; 2. Canadian Zionist 3, 4 (Sept. 1936), p. 3 [1-10] (cz)*; 3. HOMS, p. 44 [1-10]; 4. HO (13 Sept.), p. 23 [1-10]; 5. wvi, p. 72 [i-ioj; 6. WV2, p. 71 [1-10]. cz has been chosen as the copy-text rather than the later HO because the revisions in HO were determined by the dramatic context, and it is unlikely that Klein would have retained them apart from this context. Lines 11-20 have been supplied from MS. 3 merchant] peddler HOMS, HO, wvi, WV2 5 Now] And all other versions fodder] liquor HOMS, HO, wvi, WV2 6 And the horse neighs hungrily, MS; not in HO, HOMS, wvi, WV2 7 the ... nasty] wife has a shrewish MS; the wife's a shrewish HOMS, HO; my wife's a bitter wvi, WV2 9 I behold] So I see wvi, WV2 10 moan] groan wvi, WV2 COME YOU H E R E , P H I L O S O P H E R . 1. MS 5558-9 (MSl); 2. MS 5552, 3 typescript

(MS2); 3. Judaean 3, 3 (Dec. 1929), 8 (/); 4. cjc, 10 Jan. 1930, p. 22*; 5. HOMS, pp. 25-6 [1-12, 17-20]; 6. HO (31 Mar.), p. 26 [1-12, 17-20]; 7. MS 5458-9 (MS3); 8. MS 5497 (MS4); 9. wvi, p. 19 [1-8]; 10. WV2, p. 20 [1-8]. No heading in MSI, MS2, HOMS, HO, wvi, WV2; The Philosopher' MS}, MS4, MS$ i here] nigh altered to here MSI 5 steamboat] drawbridge HOMS, HO 5-6 devised ... / And] thought up, and now / You wvi, WV2

941 / Textual Notes pp 817—21 6 the] your wvi, WV2 9 Strange flying kites you fashion, and HOMS, HO fashioned,] MSI, MS2, j, MSJ, MS^, MSJ;; fashioned c/c 19 there] then HOMS, HO CHARM, i. MS 5560; 2. c/c, 31 May 1946, p. 8*. No heading in c/c TEAR NOT YOUR HAIR, MY SWEETHEART. MS 5561. AND WHEN ONE B U R N S - ONE BURNS BRANDY. 1. MS 5562; 2. Jewish Standard,

22 Apr. 1932, p. 127; 3. JFSI, p. 6; 4. JFSZ, p. 7; 5. /FSJ, p. 10; 6. c/c, 31 May 1946, p. 8*. ON THE ATTIC SLEEPS A ROOF. i. the unrevised MS for Msrev (MS); 2. JFSI, p. 2; 3. JFSZ, p. 6; 4. /FS}, p. 9; 5. MS 5562-4 (Msrev); 6. c/c, 31 May 1946, p. 8*. The revisions in Msrev are limited to 8—11. MS originally had 'roof in the second line of the refrain. Klein altered it to 'thatch' in the first and second occurrences of the refrain, but neglected to do so in the third, which is on the following page. In JFSI, JFS2, and JFSJ the refrain occurs only once (with 'thatch'), but c/c reproduces the inconsistency of MS. Since the inconsistency is almost certainly unintentional, 'roof has been emended to 'thatch' in 20. 6, 13 thatch] roof altered to thatch MS 9-10 In it swings a spider, who / Draws my life-blood out of me, MS, JFSI, JFS2, JFS}

10 on my blood] at my breast altered to on my blood Msrev 11 Leaves me nothing more than rue ... MS; Leaves me bitterness and rue. JFSI, JFSZ, JFS}

17 borrow, and] borrow aught, all other versions 20 thatch] ed.; roof MS, c/c YOMA, YOMA, PLAY ME A DITTY. 1. MS 5565-6 (MS); 2. C/C, 31 May 1946, p. 8*.

MS has 'this lassie' wherever c/c has 'our young girl' or 'this young girl.' In c/c, 3 has been accidentally repeated in place of 17. The correct reading has been supplied from MS. HUSH! HUSH! i. MS 5567 (MSI); 2. MS 5553, a typescript (MS2); 3. Jewish Standard, 22 Apr. 1932, p. 127 (/s)*; 4. MS 5460 (MS3); 5. MS 5498 (MS4); 6. MS 5534, a typescript (MS5). No heading in MSI, MSZ, js; 'Sha! Shrill' altered to 'Hush! Hush!' MSJ 7 right good] proper MS4, MS$

942 / Textual Notes pp 822—9 WE ASK OUR BOARDING-MISTRESS, i. MS 5568-9 (MS); 2. Jewish Standard, 22 Apr. 1932, p. 127; 3. JFSI, p. 2; 4. JFSZ, p. 6; 5. JFS}, p. 10; 6. c/c, 31 May 1946, p. 8*. 4/5 Refrain: / I curse the hour, / I curse the fatal hour, / When I abandoned / My mother's sheltered bower. MS SONG OF WINE. 1. MS 5571-3 (MS)*; 2. JFSI, p. 5 [33-44]; 3. JFS2, p. 7 [33-44];

4. /FSj, p. 10 [33-44]*. MS is the copy-text for 1-32; JFSJ for 33-44. No heading in JFSI, JFS2, JFSJ THE G O L D E N P A R R A K E E T . MS 5574~5-

W H E N I K N E A D THE D O U G H . 1. MS 5576 (MS); 2. JFSI, pp. 5-6; 3. JFS2, p. 7; 4. /FSJ, p. 10*.

MS has T altered to 'If I' wherever the other versions have 'When I.' 6 far too] too MS i GO UPON THE BALCONY, i. MS 5577 (MS); 2. Jewish Standard, 15 Apr. 1932, p. 103 (/s); 3. c/c, 31 May 1946, p. 8*. Heading 'Folk Song' js 15 sweetheart] girl who has loved a boy altered to sweetheart MS ONCE UPON A TIME; THIS. MS 5578-9. BETTER A H E B R E W TEACHER. 1. MS 5580 (MS); 2. JFSI, p. 2; 3. JFS2, p. 6; 4. JFS},

p. 10; 5. c/c, 31 May 1946, p. 8*. 4 pants half-rotted] clothes all blotted JFSI, JFS2, JFSJ 5 bible] private altered to bible MS 11 an apothecary] apothecaries MS; wise apothecaries JFSI, JFS2, JFS} 12 fries his] fry their all other versions

o MY MOTHER SENT ME. i. MS 5581; 2. MS 5551, a typescript; 3. Jewish Standard, 22 Apr. 1932, p. 127*. ON THE H I L L , OVER THE HILL. MS 5582.

5 harness me,] harness, my altered to harness me, 9 fugitive] ed.; fugitive's 10 them ... bridge] my youthful years altered to them on the bridge 14 Assuredly] Most certainly altered to Assuredly GONE IS THE YESTERDAY. MS 5583.

943 / Textual Notes pp 829-34 4 Betray] Assoil altered to Betray 6 The while you all are living altered to While living and while dancing AND AT MY P R A Y E R S I W I L L Q U I V E R . MS 5584.

11 planets] worlds altered to planets ASKS THE W O R L D AN O L D , OLD Q U E S T I O N . 1. MS 5585 (MS); 2. WV1, p. 1*.

i Ask the folk an ancient query MS 5 But] And MS 7 old, old question] ancient query MS 10 not in MS AND W H E N M E S S I A H W I L L COME. 1. MS 5586 (MS); 2. HOMS, pp. 14-15; 3. HO

(31 Mar.), p. 22*. MS has been followed for 5 and 9 since the revisions in HOMS and HO were determined by the dramatic context and it is unlikely that Klein would have retained them apart from this context. 5 And] MS; For HOMS, HO 9 And] MS; Then HOMS, HO 0 WHAT DO YOU W I S H , MY DEAREST C H I L D . 1. MS 5587-8 (MSl)*; 2. JFSI, p. 5; 3. JFS2, pp. 6-7; 4. JFS}, p. 10*.

JFSI, JFSZ, and /FSJJ lack both the refrain and the couplet dealing with the tailor's apprentice [7-8]; these have been supplied from MS. 12 must declare herself] wishes her very self MS 15 from] of MS TELL ME, PRETTY M A I D E N , O H E A R K E N PRETTY M A I D E N . MS 5589.

WHAT IS L O F T I E R THAN A H O U S E ? MS 5590.

3 fool] ed.; full W H E N HE HAS F R O L I C K E D FOR A LITTLE. 1. MS 5592 (MS); 2. JFSI, p. 2; 3. JFS2,

p. 6; 4. jrs3, p. 9*. 1 he has] we have MS 4 town] world altered to town MS 11 The ... dwell] And he will live altered to The groom will live MS L O V E L Y AM I, O L O V E L Y , AND L O V E L Y IS MY N A M E . 1. MS 5593 (MSl); 2. JFSI, p. 5; 3- JFSZ, p. 7; 4. JFS}, p. 10*.

3 no other] no person altered to no other person MS

944 / Textual Notes pp 834—5 4 to ... dearly-cherished] my mother's cherished altered to my mother's dearlycherished MS 5 Water ... chamber] Water in the chamber altered to Water is in the chamber and Fish are in the water added after eyd of poem in MS sticks in the shed] in the house are (sticks) MS 6 he'll ... head] I bid him get him gone altered to he'll have these on his head MS I SIT ME DOWN U P O N A STONE. 1. MS 5594 (MS); 2. JFS1, p. 5; 3. JFS2, p. 7; 4. TFSJ, p. 10*.

i me down] not in JFS2 5 Alackaday] O, woe is me altered to Alackaday MS 7-9 Today [...] MS Chassidic Folk-Songs. The thirty-two 'Chassidic Folk-Songs' went through four main stages: (i) they were all entered, in various states of completion, in an untitled notebook [MS 5434-85]; (2) some of the entries in the notebook were revised; (3) the revised notebook served as the basis for a set of manuscripts [MS 5486-518]; (4) these, in turn, served as the basis for a set of typescripts [MS 5519-50]. In the comments that follow, and in the nqtes to individual translations, these four stages are referred to as MSI, MSirev, MS2, and MS3, respectively. A number of the items in MSI, especially towards the end of the notebook, consist only of headings or of notes. Some of these are expanded into complete translations in MSirev, and for all the items in the notebook (with the exception of headings and notes for two, MS 5435 and 5470) there are corresponding complete translations in MS2 and/or MS3MSI has been assigned a date of composition of c. 1946/1946 since Klein's essay 'On Translating the Yiddish Folk-Song' [cjc, 30 Aug. 1946, p. 6] refers to several of the unrevised translations in the notebook. There is evidence to suggest that MSirev, MS2, and MS3 all date from 1951 at the earliest. The evidence is of three sorts: (i) On 18 Apr. 1951, Klein sent his publisher, Alfred A. Knopf, the opening lines of A THOU SONG, to be used as an epigraph for The Second Scroll. The version Klein sent is intermediate between MSI and MSirev. (2) The version of HUSH ! HUSH ! in MS2 [MS 5498] is written on the verso of notes for a lecture on the Bible manuscripts [MS 5499]. Klein published an essay on this topic in cjc, 28 Sept. 1951, p. 9, and he delivered a lecture on it on 25 Dec. 1951 [MS 7024-7]. (3) The handwriting of MS2 resembles that of other manuscripts which can be assigned to the early fifties. Therefore, all translations which first appear in completed form in MSirev, MS2, or MS3 are assigned a date of composition of 1951/1955. In some cases, where revisions to MSI have been so extensive as to produce what is, in effect, a new translation, two versions have been printed. In one case, Klein translated a poem in both 'Jewish Folk-Songs' and 'Chassidic Folk-Songs,' in

945 / Textual Notes pp 835-9 versions so different (AND AT MY PRAYERS i WILL QUIVER/OY, VEY, REBBENU) that both have been printed. Two translations, COME YOU HERE, PHILOSOPHER and HUSH! HUSH!, were copied directly from 'Jewish Folk-Songs.' They are printed only in the earlier collection. L'CHAYIM, REBBE! ^. MS 5434 (MSI); 2. MS 5519 (MS3)*. 5, 6 Through] By MSI OY, OUR R E B B E N U . 1. MS 5436-7 (MSl); 2. MS 5521 (MS3)*.

Heading] ed.; 'Oy Du Rebbenu' MSI; 'Oh, Our Rebbenu' MSJ 4 successively (a) We'll be [...](b) We will be leaving for his [...](c) For our Rebbe's court we'll be leaving MSI 7 Then] And MSI 8-12 not in MSI GOD W I L L I N G , AT THE R E B B E ' s .

1. MS 5438-40 (MSl); 2. MS 5522 (MS3)*.

4, 5 see each other] meet again MSI 7, 11, 20, 24, 33, 37 of God's] God's MSI 8-9, 12-13, 21-2, 25-6, 34-5, 38-9 successively (a) And God willing, / We will meet [quaff it, hop it] again, (b) And God willing, / We will meet [quaff it, hop it] at the Rebbe's again, (c) At the Rebbe's court, God willing, / We will meet [quaff it, hop it] again. MSI 17, 18 drink together] drink again altered to quaff it again MSI 30, 31 dance together] hop it again MSI M Y E R K A , MY SON. 1. MS 5441-2 (MSl); 2. MS 5486-7 (MS2); 3. MS 5523 (MS3)*.

15 For life and for sustenance, for chiiildren [sic] MSI; For life and for sustenance, and for children altered to For the daily bread of my house, and for children MS2

24 O, I am the pauper in deeds. MSI A THOU SONG. i. MS 5443 (MSI); 2. MS in the Knopf papers, University of Texas at Austin Library [i, 4-6, 8-10] (SSMS); 3. epigraph to ss [i, 4-6, 8-10]; 4. the unrevised MS for MS2rev (MS2); 5. MS 5488 (MS2rev); 6. MS 5527 (MS3)*. SSMS forms part of a letter to Herbert Weinstock, of Alfred A. Knopf, 18 Apr. 1951. 4 I'll] I Will MSl, SSMS, SS, MS2

6 shall] can MSI where, where] where MSI, SSMS, ss, MS2 8 For where] wherever MSI, SSMS, ss 9 Or here or] Stay here, turn MSI 10 Ever] And still MSI, SSMS, ss, MS2

946 / Textual Notes pp 839-42 13 ill -] ill - oy - MSI 18 Above - thou; below, thou - MSI; Up there, Thou! Down here, Thou! MSZ; Skyscape, Thou! Landscape, Thou! added in margin of Mszrev as possible alternative to above; both alternatives in MS} but the first x'd over 20-2 Wherever I turn / Wherever I tarry - Thou! / Thou! MSI, MSZ

LEVI YITSCHOK'S KADDISH. i. MS 5444-6 (MSI); 2. MS 5489 (MS2); 3. MS 5525

(Ms3r.

3 Come to] successively (a) Appear before (b) Do come now to (c) Do come to MSI; (c) altered to Come to MSZ your people] successively (a) thy people (b) thy fol[...] (c) your people MSI 6 aught ado] something up altered to aught ado MSI 7 something up] aught ado altered to something up MSI 18 abandon my plea] budge me from my place MSI; successively (a) budge from my place (b) abandon this stance (c) abandon my plea MSZ 19 O let there be an end to it, MSI; successively (a) O let there be an end to it (b) And an end let there be (c) Until an [...] (d) Ere an end is decreed MSZ 20 wandering fate] long exile MSI; long exile altered to wandering fate MSZ M'LAVEH MALKEH. \. MS 5447 (MSI); 2. MS 5490 (MS2); 3. MS 5526 (MS3)*. 4, 7 The little Jew, the good Jew MSI 6 Deems] Then feels MSI 12-13 Dance, my hearties / Singly, and in parties MSI 14 For] Our MSI 16 As a hair MSI THOU HAST CHOSEN us. i. the unrevised MS for MSirev (MSI); 2. MS 5448-9 (MSirev); 3. MS 5491 (MS2); 4. MS 5527 (MS3)*. Heading 'Atoh B'chartonu' MSI, MSirev i O thou, Lord, hast elected us from out all nations on facing page in MSirev among all] all the MSI 2, 4 lavished favour on] didst favour MSI 6 nations] people MSI 7 blessed and hallowed] hallowed MSI 9 sanctified] successively (a) blessed (b) hallowed (c) sanctified MSI o THERE, o THERE, WHERE is OUR HOLY REBBE. i. the unrevised MS for MSirev (MSI)* [version i]; 2. MS 5450-1 (MSirev); 3. MS 5492 (MS2); 4. MS 5528 (MS3)* [version 2]. The revisions in MSirev end at 6. No heading in MSI, MSirev, MSZ

947 / Textual Notes pp 843-8 Version 2 2 is found] abounds MSirev 3 There be the glory, and there the faith enduring! altered to There be the glory, and there the faith that mountains moves! MSirev THE REBBE, HE WANTED, i. the unrevised MS for MSirev (MSI)* [version i]; 2. MS 5452-4 (MSirev); 3. MS 5493 (MS2); 4. MS 5529 (MS3)* [version 2]. The revisions in MSirev end at 9. Version i 6 Chassidim along with him altered to With him the Chassidim he's got MSI Version 2 1 Rebbe wished] Rebbe, (he) wished MS2 journey up] make a trip MSirev 2 And no horse did he have MSirev; But he had not a [...] altered to But he didn't own a horse MS2 4 So horses appeared, in an hour. MSirev 6 Chassidim, the whole pious lot altered to the Chassidim, the whole lot MSirev; above altered to With him, our Chassidim, ho! MS2 7 that ... that] a pleasure that as yet MSirev 8 surely ... know] surely can not have altered to surely can not ever have MSirev 28 successively (a) The Rebbe wanted tobacco for to make snuff of (b) The Rebbe wished tobacco for to make snuff of (c) The Rebbe wished for Turkish tobacco for sniffing MS2 IN GOD'S GOOD TIME. 1. MS 5455 [l~2] (MSl); 2. MS 5530 (MS3)*; 3. MS 4827-8,

first typescript of Worse Visitors We Shouldn't Have, pp. 14-15 [1-24] (wvi); 4. MS 4922-3, second typescript of Worse Visitors We Shouldn't Have, pp. 15-16 [1-24] (wv2). wvi and WV2 date from the early fifties. No heading in MSI, wvi, VW2 1-2 What will be / With our Rebbe the pious / In due time / With Messiah arriving MSI 4 guzzled] drunk down wvi, WV2 9 leafage] leaves wvi, WV2 14 Red] red Red wvi, WV2 15 neat] well wvi, WV2 20 right good] first class wvi, wv2 A BURGLARY. 1. MS 5456 (MSl); 2. MS 5495 (MS2); 3. MS 5531 (MS3)*.

948 / Textual Notes pp 849—52 TELL us, REBBENU. i. MS 5457 [heading] (MSI); 2. MS 5496 (MSZ); 3. MS 5532 (MS 3 )*.

Heading 'When Messiah Will Come' MSI; no heading in MS2 18 Moishe Rebenu] Moses, our Master altered to Moishe Rebenu MS2 YOSHKA, YOSHKA. i. MS 5461 [heading] (MSI); 2. MS 5500 (MS2); 3. MS 5535 (MS 3 )».

Heading The Rebbe, He Bade Us Be Jolly' MSI; no heading in MS2 4 We'll] We will altered to We'll MS2 not ever] forever altered to not ever MS2 5 drink and dine] be jolly altered to drink and dine MS2 OY, VEY, REBBENU. i. MS 5463 [heading] (MSI); 2. MS 5501 (MS2); 3. MS 5536 (MS 3 )".

16 O for] Before altered to O for MS2 OUR REBBE, THE MIRACLE-WORKER, ONCE. i. the unrevised MS for MSirev (MSI); 2. MS 5465 (MSirev); 3. MS 5502 (MS2); 4. MS 5537 (MS3)*. MSI contains notes, but no text, for 18-22. The revisions in MSirev end at 13. Heading There Fared upon the Seas' MSI, MSirev 2-4 Travelled upon the high seas / And the voyage that should have taken long years / He made in one night, with ease. MSI; Travelled on the high seas / The voyage that should have taken long years / He made in a single night, with ease. MSirev 2 ocean wide] stormy seas altered to ocean wide MS2 5, 6 sails] travels MSI 7 they sail] travel MSI 8 then their eyes] they MSI; their eyes MSirev 9 What none did ever view. MSI; What noone else had ever seen. MSirev 11 and blessed] not in MSI 12 The scoffers who don't believe this fact MSI, MSirev 13 Their names be blotted out. MSI; Their names be erased, blotted out. altered to Their names be erased and rubbed out. MSirev 20 His holy look he looked - MSI 23-4 originally reversed in MSZ 28 So do you still need further proof altered to Although the atheists who scoff MSI 30 ask for] need some MSI 31 That ... is] Our Rebbe's MSI AND WHEN OUR REBBE WALKS. 1. MS 5467 (MSl); 2. MS 5504 (MS2); 3. MS 5538 (MS 3 )».

949 / Textual Notes pp 853-9 OUR REBBE. i. the unrevised MS for MSirev (MSI)* [version i]; 2. MS 5468 (MSirev); 3. MS 5505 (MSZ); 4. MS 5539 (MS3)* [version 2]. MY N O D D L E IT IS H U M M I N G . 1. MS 5469-70 [notes] (MSl); 2. MS 5506 [l-6]

(MS2); 3. MS 5540 (MS3)*. Heading 'I Just Came from My Zaddik' MSI; 'I Come Now from My Master' MS2 1-6 I come now from my Master - / And need a headache plaster / For such rare learning / Did I gather there. / O every single tenet / Of his, I will explain it, / Miracles and wonders / Rendered true and clear. MSZ THE TRAIN, i. the unrevised MS for MSirev (MSI); 2. MS 5471-2 (MSirev); 3. MS 5507 (MS2); 4. MS 5541 (MS3)*. The revisions in MSI rev end at 6. Heading The Railway' MSI 3 tell] will tell MSI 6 past all choking] beyond choking MSI; not to be choked on altered to never to be choked on MSirev 9 not in MSI 15 kind of trip] vehicle MSI 17 Who has no whip at all ... MSI 20-1 never ... wheels] always on the Sabbath / His wheels shall not MSI HOW FARES THE KING? i. MS 5473 [heading] (MSI); 2. MS 5508 (MS2); 3. MS 5542

(Ms3r.

Heading Fares] Does MSI i Rabosai, Rabosai] Rebono shel Olam altered to Rabosai, Rabosai MS2 THE R E B B E L E , THE G A B B A l ' L E , THE C A N T O R ' L , THE S H A M A S H ' L .

1. MS 5474

[heading] (MSI); 2. MS 5509 (MS2); 3. MS 5543 (MS3)*. TSIG, TSIGITSAPEL. i. MS 5475 [heading] (MSI); 2. MS 5510 (MS2); 3. the unrevised typescript for MS3rev (MS3); 4. MS 5544 (MS3rev)*. 15 Who] And MSZ, MSJ there] so altered to there MS2 MIRACLES AND W O N D E R S .

1. MS 5476 (MSl); 2. MS 55!! (MS2); 3. MS 5545

(MS 3 )*.

15 I know whereof I'm talking MSI 17 And he, he sets him walking MSI; above altered to And he sets him a-walking MSZ

950 / Textual Notes pp 860—7 AKAVYAH BEN M'HALALLEL. i. the unrevised MS for MSirev [heading] (MSI); 2. MS 5477 (MSirev); 3. MS 5512 (MS2); 4. MS 5546 (MS3)*. 5 into ... life?] to this li-i-i-ife MSirev 10 of the ... earth's] of Kings of all the MSirev OMAR ADOISHEM i/YA-AKOiv! i. the unrevised MS for MSirev [heading] (MSI); 2. MS 5478 (MSirev) [1-4, 6-8]; 3. MS 5513 (MS2); 4. MS 5547 (MS3)*. 5 not in MSirev 6 are ... so] do they beat us MSirev 7 are ... mine] do they flog us, Father MSirev 8 it end, end] come the end MSirev; it finish altered to it end, end MS2 BAR YOCHAI. 1. MS 5480 [2-4] (MSl); 2. MS 5514 (MS2); 3. MS 5548 (MS3)*.

2 blessed] happy altered to blessed MSI THE R E B B E E L I M E L E C H .

1. MS 5481 [heading] (MSl); 2. MS 5515-16 (MS2); 3. MS

5549 (MS3)*. YONDER! YONDER! i. MS 5483 [1-10] (Msia); 2. MS 5482 [1-19] (MSib); 3. MS 5517 [1-22] (MS2); 4. the unrevised typescript for MS3rev [1-22] (MS3); 5. MS 5550 (MS3rev)*. Msia and MSib are very rough drafts with numerous revisions. Heading There, There' usia; no heading in MSib; There [...]' altered to 'Yonder! Yonder!' MSZ 2 nibble] eat the altered to nibble MSZ 7 covered gaily] decked MSZ, MS} 9 dry ... daily] every stick do blossom MSZ, MS} 17 his white steed] a white horse altered to his white steed MSZ 22 Lead his [...] MSZ; L[...] MS} VESOMACHTO. i. MS 5464 [heading] (Msia); 2. MS 5484-5 [1-2 and note on metr (MSib); 3. MS 5518 (MS2)*. OF THE A N C I E N T HOUSE OF THE C L I N I I . 1. MS 5416-18 (MSl)* [version l]; 2. MS

5419-20* [version 2]. For the date of composition see note to TO L. MUNATIUS PLANCUS. Heading supplied by ed. Version i 6 the chariots are] racing is altered to the chariots are MSI 14 wheat-king] regratteur altered to wheat-king MSI granary] barns altered to granary MSI

951 / Textual Notes pp 867-72 16 wet] good altered to wet MSI TO LYDIA. MS 5421.

For the date of composition see note to TO L. MUNATIUS PLANCUS. TO LEUCONOE. MS 5422.

For the date of composition see note to TO L. MUNATIUS PLANCUS. 12 Be wise, girl] So smarten up altered to Be wise, girl TO L. M U N A T I U S PLANCUS. MS 5423-4.

Part of a set of MSS including OF THE ANCIENT HOUSE OF THE CLINII, TO LYDIA, and TO LEUCONOE. Dated i Aug. 1955.

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Explanatory Notes

O R I G I N A L POEMS, 1937-1955 B L U E P R I N T FOR A M O N U M E N T OF WAR

34 Big Bertha: nickname for various large cannons used in World War i, so named after Frau Bertha von Bohlen of the Krupp family, Germany's leading arms manufacturers 40 Hinc illae lachrymae: (Lat.) 'hence those tears' [Terence, Andria 1.1.126] 41 hie jacet: (Lat.) 'here lies' 43-56 The blueprint's clear ... Exegi monumentum: These lines form a Shakespearean sonnet; there is probably an ironic allusion to sonnets such as 55, 'Not marble, nor the gilded monuments,' on the power of poetry over mortality. Exegi monumentum ('I have built a monument') are the opening words of Horace's Ode 3.30 on this theme. 68 Horatius ... ran away: In Ode 2.7.9-12, Horace relates how he ingloriously fled the battle of Philippi. 71 Dvlce ... mori: (Lat.) 'Sweet and proper it is to die for one's fatherland' [Horace, Odes 3.2.13]. 81 Mors ... virvm: (Lat.) 'Death pursues even the man who flees' [Horace, Odes 3.2.14]. 86-7 Virtvs ... via: (Lat.) 'Virtue, opening the heavens for those who do not deserve to die, tries her way along forbidden paths [i.e., the path of immortality normally forbidden to mortals]' [Horace, Odes 3.2.21-2]. 99 Isaiah, chapter sixty-seven: There are only sixty-six chapters in Isaiah. Spiro points out the ironic allusion to Isaiah's 'well-known message of universal peace.' The passage as a whole imitates biblical poetry in its imagery and use of parallellism, and it echoes the vocabulary and syntax of the King James version. For specific borrowings, see below. 108 whetted tongue: 'Hide me from the secret counsel of the wicked ... who whet their tongue like a sword' [Psalms 64.2-3].

954 / Explanatory Notes pp 457-60 123 seven fat years: an allusion to Pharaoh's dream of 'seven kine, fatfleshed and well favoured/ which Joseph interpreted to mean 'seven years of great plenty' [Genesis 41] 132-3 rain brimstone: 'Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire' [Genesis 19.24]. 138 because they are few: 'the grinders cease because they are few' [Ecclesiastes 12.3]. Lines 135-40 as a whole recall the description of 'the evil days' in Ecclesiastes 12.1-7. 146 son of man: a very common biblical expression, especially in Ezekiel, where it occurs over ninety times OF D A U M I E R S A P O R T F O L I O

Honore Daumier (1808-79) was a French caricaturist, many of whose caricatures were directed against the legal profession. In Klein's unpublished novel, That Walks Like a Man, he describes a scene clearly based on his own experiences as a lawyer at about the time the poem was written: 'I was tired of looking at the wall in front of me, a green like mild poison, with the hanging Daumier where the judge addressed the wretch at the bar: But, prisoner, look at me! When I'm hungry I don't steal! I was beginning to find the thing less and less funny. Definitely, my sympathies were with the wretch at the bar ...' [MS 3972]. 5-6 legal fiction ... the Corporation: A corporation is a legal fiction in the sense that the law considers it a person for many purposes; that is, it is an inanimate entity which has legal personality. 15 Hogarth: an allusion to William Hogarth (1697-1764), an English counterpart to Daumier Section m: a voir dire; that is, a trial within a trial, in this case on the issue of the admissibility of a confession. The title of the section is a punning reference to 'third degree,' 'the process of securing a confession or information from a suspect or prisoner by prolonged questioning, the use of threats, or actual violence' [Black's Law Dictionary]. The phrase 'A Song of degrees' begins Psalms 120-34. 30 Holy, holy, holy: 'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory' [Isaiah 6.3]. There may be an allusion to 'Oyez! Oyez! Oyez!' the call of a court officer to command attention. 40 toils and spins: 'Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin' [Matthew 6.28]. 41/42 La Glorieuse Incertitude: (Fr.) The phrase 'the glorious incertitude (or uncertainty) of the law' dates back to at least the eighteenth century. Klein uses the phrase in 'Hapaxlegomenon,' a chapter from an unfinished novel [MS 4469]: If his cases were ... to be subjected ... to one man's arbitrary discretion,

955 / Explanatory Notes pp 460-5 and that man, being human, a weathervane rotated by meteorological conditions he couldn't even surmise, let alone control - then he might as well give up, or play the horses, or, relying on the law's glorious incertitude, take only cases that seemed to him [to] be bad. Klein's fullest explanation of the phrase is in 'Baedeker for Law' [cjc, 29 Dec. 1939, p. 4]: ... all law, as litigants have probably suspected ere this, is two-faced: it has aspects both substantive and adjectival. The first reveals what are a man's rights as he stands before the blind goddess; the second indicates what methods must be taken to make Justice see from behind her blindfold. In a civilized country, the first can be realized almost by instinct; it is with reference to the second that the law has mainly earned its reputation for 'glorious incertitude.' 43-4 Justinian ... Pothier: The Corpus Juris Civilis, the basis of all modern civil law, was codified under the Byzantine emperor Justinian i. Robert Joseph Pothier (1699-1772) was a jurist whose legal treatises helped to lay the foundation for French civil law. 48-52 Two ... I The fifth: A 2-2-1 split by the provincial Court of Appeal ('the higher court') is not, in fact, possible. According to Art. 11 of the Quebec Civil Code all judges are required to reach a decision: 'A judge cannot refuse to adjudicate under pretext of the silence, obscurity or insufficiency of the law.' 61 The Mystery of the Door Ajar: 'When is a door not a door?' 'When it is ajar.' 68 Hochelaga: Montreal, founded on the site of the Indian village, Hochelaga 70 How have you become: 'she that was great among the nations ... how is she become tributary!' [Lamentations 1.1]. 85—96 And now ... well-bled: 'For his major paper in political economy he wrote on the history of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America in Montreal, drawing partly on his childhood memories of the two-month Amalgamated Workers strike of 1917, in which his father had participated' [LOTD, p. 47]. BARRICADE SMITH: HIS SPEECHES

In a letter to Joseph Frank, 8 Jan. 1938, Klein refers to 'some lines of a play in verse that I am writing. - on industrial strife - dubbed "Barricade Smith." ' In another letter to Frank, 5 Aug. 1938, he writes: The Forum has also accepted a series for publication in future issues, dubbed "Barricade Smith; his speeches" intended as revolutionary, but remember, I am only a snuff-tobacco bandit armed with tzitzith and tfillin.' 6-7 sound I Of belching in the land: 'the voice of the turtle is heard in our land' [Song of Solomon 2.12]. 34-44 Where will you be ... I Where will you be: Compare 'What will you do,

956 / Explanatory Notes pp 465—73 when the phone rings, / and they say to you: What will you do?' [Kenneth Fearing, 'As the Fuse Burns Down,' in Poems (New York: Dynamo 1935), p.

39]55 create new heaven: 'For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth' [Isaiah 65-17]Section iv: a parody of Psalm 23. Compare the treatment of the movies in DIARY OF ABRAHAM SEGAL, POET, 183-6.

86 lotiferous: 'lotus-bearing'; not in the OED. In the Odyssey the lotus-eaters (lotophagoi) live in a state of dreamy forgetfulness induced by the fruit of the lotus. 106/07 Of Faith, Hope and Charity: 'And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity' [i Corinthians 13.13]. 124-6 Descend the winding staircase ... alive upon a floor: For 'the winding staircase' see W.B. Yeats, The Winding Stair and Other Poems (1933). 'Alive upon a floor' may be an allusion to 'the uncontrollable mystery on the bestial floor' [Yeats, 'The Magi,' 8]. 127-8 Keats ... father's stables ... asphodel: Keats was the son of a livery stable keeper. Asphodel, in poetic usage, is an immortal flower covering the Elysian fields. 129-30 Wordsworth ... sell: an allusion to Wordsworth's lyric beginning 'My heart leaps up when I behold / A rainbow in the sky' 131-2 Tennyson ... Arthur's King Hotel: an allusion to Tennyson's Arthurian Idylls of the King 134 What's Hecuba to you?: 'What's Hecuba to him, or he to Hecuba, / That he should weep for her?' [Hamlet 2.2.558-9]. 165 A shirt! ... a shirt: 'A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!' [Richard m 5-4-7]183 Tillie the Toiler: ' "Tillie the Toiler," Lily's working class foil in the poem, is the name of a working girl comicstrip heroine popular in the thirties' [s]. 183-5 consider ... spin: 'Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin' [Matthew 6.28]. Compare DIARY OF ABRAHAM SEGAL, POET, 76-7.

228-9 brooding, like a spirit, I Over the champagne flood: Compare 'O Spirit, that ... / Dove-like satst brooding on the vast Abyss' [Paradise Lost 1.17-21]. Milton is paraphrasing Genesis 1.2: 'And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.' OF C A S T L E S IN S P A I N

To One Gone to the Wars: an allusion to Richard Lovelace's 'To Lucasta, Going to the Wars' Dedication: Samuel H. Abramson was a boyhood friend of Klein's who fought in

957 / Explanatory Notes pp 473-5 the Spanish Civil War. In a letter to Abramson, 4 June 1938, Klein refers to the poems and their dedication to Abramson, and expresses envy for Abramson's part in the struggle against fascism. In The Mac-Pap's Arrive' [cjc, 17 Feb. 1939, p. 4], Klein praises the Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion, mentioning Abramson by name, on its return from Spain: 'At a time when many contented themselves with mouthing the empty phrases of democracy, these young men went across an ocean to fight for those ideals which their detractors so lukewarmly profess to admire. Although the battle took place upon foreign terrain, it was directed against foes who threatened the integrity of this continent no less than that of the continent where they are registering their cruel victory.' i Unworthiest crony of my grammar days: Klein and Abramson went to school together [Caplan, p. 11]. Abramson appears to have been a less than enthusiastic student: in 'The Mac-Pap's Arrive' Klein addresses some Latin verses to Abramson, commenting that 'he was never much of a Latin scholar.' 7 hind and hawker: peasant and peddler 13-14 virtues long since rusty ... spouse and son: 'As for myself, things are running along the even tenor of the bourgeois way; I am paterfamilias, constant reader, and citizen all in one. Until it hurts ... I have a lovely son who thrives in this northern clime, and who probably will become a lumberjack, and true proletarian' [letter to Abramson]. 33-46 Sonnet without Music: an unrhymed Petrarchan sonnet. See introductory note tO SONNET UNRHYMED.

CHILDE HAROLD'S P I L G R I M A G E At the period of composition of CHILDE HAROLD'S PILGRIMAGE Klein was becoming increasingly concerned with the deteriorating position of the Jews of Germany and with the unwillingness of other countries to accept them as refugees. Compare, for example, the editorial occasioned by the Kristallnacht outrages of 9-10 Nov. 1938, 'Vandal and Victim' [BS, pp. 35-7]. Klein borrowed his title from Byron, but his poem has little in common with Byron's, apart from the motif of the wanderer. Compare Klein's treatment of a similar theme in IN RE SOLOMON WARSHAWER. Line references are to version i. i yclept: (Middle English) 'called'; a common literary archaism, especially among the Elizabethans. In the draft of a letter to Abraham Duker, 26 June 1942 [MS 115], Klein comments on the poem's archaism: '... the archaic language is there with a specific purpose - the same purpose which motivated the same kind of language in the Sixth Chapter of Joyce's Ulysses.' 1-4 Zvi ... Cerf ... Hirsch ... Harold: Zvi, a common Hebrew name, means 'hart' or 'stag,' as do Cerf, in French, and Hirsch, in German and Yiddish. Because of their similarity in sound, Harold is the English name frequently given to

958 / Explanatory Notes p 475 someone whose Yiddish name is Hirsch. In a letter to James Laughlin, 18 Oct. 1944, attacking the 'crypto-Jews' who had ignored The Hitleriad, Klein refers to Bennett Cerf as 'a gallicized Hirsch.' 3 Allmany: 'Almany' is an archaism for Germany, which Klein may have picked up from Ulysses [pp. 202, 385]. The spelling 'Allmany/ however, is Klein's own, and a pun ('all,' 'man,' 'many'), emphasizing the extent of Childe Harold's wanderings, may be intended. 6 caftan: common garb of east European Jews 15 consul of the moon: Spiro refers to the grim joke among Jewish refugees 'that only "the consul of the moon" was left for them to see regarding a visa to his domain!' 21 Madagascar: a reference to the Madagascar Plan, first advocated in 1885 and later taken up by the Nazis, that the Jews of Europe be shipped to Madagascar with the financing coming from world Jewry. The plan was eventually abandoned in favour of the 'final solution.' 24-9 Aye, but thy fell ... Kamenev ... customs house: Lev Borisovich Kamenev (Rosenfeld) (1883-1936) was a Jewish member of the Bolshevik leadership. He was arrested by Stalin in the 1934 purges, and at the time Klein's poem was written he had 'confessed' to all charges and been executed. Leo Kennedy, who was planning an anthology of Canadian writing (which never materialized), asked Klein to remove these lines; Klein, in a letter dated 15 Mar. 1940, indignantly refused, mocking Kennedy's 'evangelical Marxism' and asking, 'Would you suggest that my lines, anent Soviet Russia should be deleted and substituted by the following immortal stanzas from the pen of Tolstoi's son: "Stalin, you are like the sun and moon - only better, because the sun and moon can't think." ' Klein did, in fact, delete these lines (as well as the following lines on British policy in Palestine) when he revised the poem in the early fifties. 28 divine impedimenta: In 'Look on This Picture and on This' [LER, pp. 60-1], Klein describes a photograph of a Jew 'poring over what is obviously a sacred volume; behind him is a blank wall, where, suspended from two hooks, are his tallis, his coat, and his staff: impedimenta.' In 'A Great Talmudist' [c/c, 13 Mar. 1942, p. 4], he refers to the Talmud as 'the impedimenta of the wandering scholars.' 29 household gods: When Rachel ran away with Jacob, she stole her father's terafim ('images' in the King James version) [Genesis 31.19]. In 'The Bible Manuscripts' [LER, p. 142], Klein refers to 'Rachel's god-handling of her father's household gods.' There may also be a reference to the Roman penates, perhaps more specifically to the passage in Book 2 of the Aeneid (the book of the Aeneid which Klein cites most frequently) in which the ghost of Hector urges Aeneas to flee the destruction of Troy, taking his household gods with him on all his wanderings [Aeneid 2.293-5].

959 / Explanatory Notes pp 476-9 34 Several thousand pounds: In 1922 the British imposed restrictions on Jewish immigration to Palestine on the basis of the 'economic absorptive capacity' of the land, thus limiting the number of immigrants without independent means. 36-8 O mummied Pharaoh ... shrewd proliferous Israelites: 'And [Pharaoh] said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we' [Exodus 1.9]. 39 Son of Hamdatha ... witless Mede: Haman, the son of Hamdatha, was the vizier of Ahasuerus, King of Persia and Media. The story of how he sought to destroy the Jews is told in the Book of Esther. Spiro points out that Ahasuerus 'is called "a foolish King" by the Talmud.' Compare FIVE CHARACTERS. 44 Antiochus: Antiochus Epiphanes, the Seleucid ruler of Syria (175-63 B.C.), whose repressive measures led to the Hasmonean revolt described in the Book of Maccabees. See note to MATTATHIAS. 45 Inimitate: not in the OED 46 Torquemada: Tomas de Torquemada (?i42o-98), first head of the Spanish Inquisition 52 Attila's laws: The parallel between Attila the Hun and Hitler was no doubt suggested by the derisive use of the word Hun for German soldiers. The laws in question are the anti-Semitic Nuremberg Laws. See note to BALLAD OF THE NUREMBERG TOWER CLOCK.

66-7 the ditty ... the pimp Horst Wessel ... strumpet: Horst Wessel was a storm trooper who lived with a former prostitute and who may have been a pimp. He was killed by communists in 1930 and left behind a song, the Horst Wessel song, which became the official anthem of the Nazi party. 75 my spattered gaberdine: 'And spet [sic] upon my Jewish gaberdine' [Merchant of Venice 1.3.112]. 89 marrano: Jews who were forced to convert to Christianity in Spain and Portugal in the fifteenth century and continued to practise Judaism in secret 132-5 My father ... without a penny's worth of faith: Compare PETITION FOR THAT MY FATHER'S SOUL SHOULD ENTER INTO HEAVEN, 66-8. 132 gathered to his fathers: a combination of the biblical phrases 'gathered to his people' [e.g., Genesis 25.8, 49.33; Numbers 27.13] and 'slept with his fathers' [e.g., i Kings 2.10, 11.21; 2 Chronicles 9.31] 134 a pauper ... piety: a paraphrase of hineni he-ani mimaas (Heb.), recited by the cantor or baal tefilah (master of prayer) on the High Holidays, in which he pleads to be considered worthy of his task. In his translation of the Chassidic folk-song MYERKA, MY SON, Klein translates it 'A pauper in deeds, so behold me' [24]. 136 Esau, my kinsman: Esau, the brother of Jacob, was a hunter, and traditionally seen as a man capable of bloodshed and violence. 145 sixth thunder of Sinai: the sixth commandment, Thou shalt not kill'

960 / Explanatory Notes pp 479—86 155 L/r of the Chaldees: the birthplace of Abraham [Genesis 11.28] 169 empirics: Klein clearly intends something like empiricism in the sense of learning from experience, but empirics as a singular noun does not occur in the OED. He uses the word in a similar sense in 'A Definition of Poetry?' [LER, p. 180]. 170 cauchemar: (Fr.) 'nightmare' TO THE C H I E F M U S I C I A N , A P S A L M OF THE B R A T Z L A V E R , A P A R A B L E

The Bratzlaver (Rabbi Nachman ben Simchah of Bratizlava) was the great-grandson of the Baal Shem Tov, the founder of Chassidism, and was himself the founder of a Chassidic sect known as the 'Bratzlaver Chassidim.' He expressed his doctrines in mystical tales which were collected and published by one of his disciples. Music also played an important role in his teachings. As early as 1933, Klein was planning 'to translate into verse the stories of Reb Nachman Bratzlaver' [Leo Kennedy, 'Orpheus in a Caftan,' Jewish Standard, 14 Apr. 1933, p. 208]. The Bratzlaver poems which he eventually did write are all based on a single tale, 'The Tale of the Seven Beggars.' In a letter to Joseph Frank, 5 Aug. 1938, Klein reported that he was 'at work on a poetic rendition of Rabbi Nachman Bratzlaver's "Tale of the Seven Beggars," highly metaphysical, deeply religious - which I am, in an unorganized way - and one of the few examples of autochthonous Yiddish short story.' He later described the tale as 'a most mystical piece of Yiddish literature, ... the only piece of literature in Yiddish which can equal the writings of Dr. John Donne or Traherne' [letter to Jewish Publication Society, 7 Aug. 1942]. Klein may have known 'The Tale of the Seven Beggars' in Yiddish, but his Bratzlaver poems are all based on Meyer Levin's translation, first published in 1932 in The Golden Mountain, reprinted by Penguin as Classic Hassidic Tales in 1975. Page references in the notes to all the Bratzlaver poems are to the Penguin reprint. Klein is much closer in phrasing to Levin's version than to the one in Martin Buber's better-known collection, The Tales of Rabbi Nachman, and two of the poems - TO THE CHIEF MUSICIAN, A PSALM OF THE BRATZLAVER, A PARABLE, and TO THE CHIEF MUSICIAN, A PSALM OF THE BRATZLAVER, WHEN HE CONSIDERED

HOW THE PIOUS ARE OVERWHELMED - are based on passages in Levin's version which are not in Buber's. Klein's choice of passages suggests that he may have originally set out methodically to versify the whole tale, for, apart from the two previously mentioned poems which are based on the opening paragraphs of the tale, the three other Bratzlaver poems - OF REMEMBRANCE (originally entitled To the Chief Musician, a Psalm of the Bratzlaver, a Psalm of the Beginning of Things'); TO THE CHIEF MUSICIAN: A PSALM OF THE BRATZLAVER, TOUCHING A GOOD GARDENER; and TO THE CHIEF MUSICIAN, A PSALM OF THE BRATZLAVER WHICH HE WROTE DOWN

961 / Explanatory Notes pp 486-7 AS THE STAMMERER SPOKE - are based, respectively, on the tales told by the first three of the seven beggars. The specific passage on which this poem is based [p. 333] is the first paragraph of the tale: There was once a king who had an only son, and while he lived the king decided to give his crown to the prince. He made a great festival to which all the noblemen of the kingdom came, and in the midst of pomp and ceremony the king placed the crown upon the head of his young son, saying, 'I am one who can read the future in the stars, and I see that there will come a time when you will lose your kingdom, but when that time comes you must not be sorrowful; if you can be joyous even when your kingdom is lost, I too will be filled with joy. For you cannot be a true king unless you are a happy man.' i An aged king, his brittle shins in hose: Compare 'A bitter king in anger to be gone' [A.J.M. Smith, 'Like an Old Proud King in a Parable' (1929), i]. 6 from his seventh rib: 'a literal translation of a Yiddish expression which means "deep down" (in der zibeter rip)' [s]. 7 four graveyard ells: For the measurement 'four ells,' see note to PORTRAITS OF A MINYAN, 137-8.

TO THE CHIEF M U S I C I A N , A PSALM OF THE B R A T Z L A V E R , W H E N HE CONSIDERED HOW THE PIOUS ARE O V E R W H E L M E D

based on The Tale of the Seven Beggars,' by Rabbi Nachman Bratzlaver. For more information on Klein's source see introductory note to TO THE CHIEF MUSICIAN, A PSALM OF THE BRATZLAVER, A PARABLE.

The specific passage on which the poem is based [p. 333] is the second and third paragraphs of the tale: The son became king, appointed governors, and ruled. He was a lover of learning, and in order to fill his court with wise men he let it be known that he would give every man whatever he desired, either gold or glory, in return for his wisdom; then all the people in that kingdom began to seek for knowledge, in order to get gold or glory from the king. And thus it was that the simplest fool in the land was wiser than the greatest sage of any other country; and in their search for learning, the people forgot the study of war, so the country was left open to the enemy. Among the philosophers in the young king's court there were clever men and infidels who soon filled his mind with doubt. He would ask himself, 'Who am I; why am I in the world?' Then he would heave a deep sigh, and fall into melancholy.

962 / Explanatory Notes pp 488-9 OF R E M E M B R A N C E

based on 'The Tale of the Seven Beggars,' by Rabbi Nachman Bratzlaver. For more information on Klein's source see introductory note to TO THE CHIEF MUSICIAN, A PSALM OF THE BRATZLAVER, A PARABLE.

The specific passage on which the poem is based [pp. 337-40] is the first tale, of nine survivors of a shipwreck who pass the time by relating their earliest memories: (i) 'when the apple was cut from the bough'; (2) 'the candle that burned'; (3) 'when the fruit first began to grow'; (4) 'when the seed was brought that was to be planted in the fruit'; (5) 'the sage who thought of the seed'; (6) 'the taste of the fruit before the taste went into the fruit'; (7) 'the odour of the fruit before the fruit had an odour'; (8) 'the appearance of the fruit before the fruit could be seen'; (9) 'the thing that is Nothing.' An eagle then appears and interprets the memories: ... he who remembered when the apple was cut from the bough remembered how at his birth he was cut from his mother; the candle that burned was the babe in the womb, for it is written in gemara that while the child is in the womb a candle burns over his head; and he that remembers when the fruit began to grow remembers how his limbs first began to form in his mother's womb; he that recalls the bringing of the seed remembers how he was conceived; and he that knows the wisdom that created the seed remembers when conception was but in the mind; the taste that preceded the fruit is the memory of Being; the scent is Spirit; and vision is the Soul; but the child that remembers Nothing is greater than them all, for he remembers that which existed before Being, Spirit, or Soul; he remembers the life that hovered upon the threshold of eternity, [p. 339] i Go catch ... time: Compare 'Go, and catch a falling star, ... / Tell me, where all past years are' [John Donne, 'Song,' 1—3]. TO THE CHIEF M U S I C I A N : A PSALM OF THE B R A T Z L A V E R , T O U C H I N G A GOOD GARDENER

based on 'The Tale of the Seven Beggars,' by Rabbi Nachman Bratzlaver. For more information on Klein's source see introductory note to TO THE CHIEF MUSICIAN, A PSALM OF THE BRATZLAVER, A PARABLE.

The specific passage on which the poem is based [pp. 341-3! is the second tale, of the deaf beggar. Hearing the inhabitants of the Land of Luxury boasting of their wealth, he tells them of 'a life of rarer ease and luxury': T know a land where a garden grows that is filled with trees overladen with marvellous fruits. Once the fruits had every tempting odour and flavor and beauty in the world, and every good thing that grows was in that

963 / Explanatory Notes pp 489-91 garden. A gardener watched over the trees, and pruned them, and cared for their growth; but the gardener has disappeared and cannot be found, there is no one to take care of the trees, and the people live only from the wild growth of the dropped seed. Even of this, they might have lived well; but a tyrant king invaded their land. He did not harm the people, and he did not himself spoil the garden, but he left behind him three companies of soldiers: one company made the taste of the garden into bitterness, the other made the odour into stench, and the third made its beauty into clouded darkness.' Then I said to the people of the Land of Luxury, 'Help the people of this other kingdom, for the taste, the beauty, and the odour is gone from their fruit, and if you do not help them, the same evil may reach to your land!' So they set out for the spoiled kingdom, but lived in luxury on their journey, until they came close to the garden, and then the beauty, and the taste, and the delectable odour began to go from their own food, and they did not know what to do. So I gave them some of my bread to eat, and my water to drink, and they tasted all the riches of their fine foods, and they breathed all the delectable odours, and they saw all the beauties of the fruits in the bread and water that I gave them. Then I went into the city and saw people assembled in the street; I listened to them, and heard one whisper to the other, while the other laughed and whispered to a third, and I knew it was filth that they uttered. I went further, and saw people quarrel and go to a court and quarrel again and go to another court, until the whole city was filled with judges and bribery; and the city was also filled with lust. Then I knew that the invading king had left his three battalions in the city to spread the three diseases: of filth that had spoiled the taste in their mouth, and bribery that had made their eyes blind, and lust that was a stench in their nostrils. So I said to them, 'Let us drive out these strangers; and perhaps the gardener will be found again.' Then the men from the Land of Luxury, who ate of my bread and water, and were well of sight and scent and hearing, helped me, and wherever they caught one of the soldiers, they drove him from the land. There was a madman that wandered in the streets and cried continually that he was a gardener; everyone laughed at him, and some even threw stones at him. Then I said to them, 'Perhaps he is really the gardener; bring him to me.' They brought him, and I saw that he was indeed the gardener, and he was restored to the garden. The poem is in terza rima.

964 / Explanatory Notes pp 491-3 TO THE C H I E F M U S I C I A N , A P S A L M OF THE B R A T Z L A V E R , W H I C H HE W R O T E DOWN AS THE S T A M M E R E R SPOKE

based on 'The Tale of the Seven Beggars/ by Rabbi Nachman Bratzlaver. For more information on Klein's source see introductory note to TO THE CHIEF MUSICIAN, A PSALM OF THE BRATZLAVER, A PARABLE.

The specific passage on which the poem is based [p. 344] is the third tale, of the stammerer. All the sages of the world come together to prove who is cleverest. They all boast of what they can create, but the stammerer proves to be the cleverest, for he can create time: You must know that time does not exist of itself, and that days are made only of good deeds. It is through men who perform good deeds that days are born, and so time is born; and I am he who goes all about the world to find those men who secretly do good deeds: I bring their deeds to the great man who is known as the Truly Godly Man, and he turns them into time; then time is born, and there are days and years. In 'Lillian Freiman: A Tribute' [cjc, 8 Nov. 1940, p. 3], Klein writes: Some people there are who spend the days of their life upon this earth, and never achieve the destiny to which they were created. Their length of years is merely so much passage of time, so much chronology, but no more. It is for that reason that our sages have always taught us the high moral concept of time. It was Rabbi Nachman of Bratzlav who for one, sought thus to grasp its significance. He asks concerning time [quotes 9-14]. IN RE S O L O M O N

WARSHAWER

Perhaps the most appalling example of injustice which our generation beheld was that which was witnessed in Europe from the advent of Hitler until his final downfall. [IN RE SOLOMON WARSHAWER], in its form, seeks to combine poetic technique with legal document. In other words, it is a deposition given under oath, presumably by a member of the Nazi forces. It imagines that a Jew is caught up in the city of Warsaw, as the German army ... enters that country. There is a legend which says that when King Solomon had reigned upon his throne in ancient times for a number of decades, he was one day visited by the demon Asmodeus, with the cloven feet, the demon who knew how to break rocks, the demon who did not speak. The tale goes on to say that this Asmodeus flung King Solomon from his throne four hundred parasangs out of Jerusalem. And King Solomon thereafter went about in exile and everywhere announced that he was the king and nowhere was he believed, for Asmodeus sat upon the throne. And certainly during the short period when Hitler was enraged, rampant over Europe, it did seem as if Asmodeus was

965 / Explanatory Notes pp 493-7 seated upon the throne of the world. For this legend for background, I imagine King Solomon persisting to the present day, and being that anonymous person who was captured by the Nazis in Warsaw in 1939. And it is concerning what took place then that this poem dedicates itself. It is a poem really about the nature of evil, the nature of the beast Asmodeus. [McGill reading] Klein's own comments [K] are cited from a letter to A.J.M. Smith, 21 Jan. 1943.

Version i Title: In re is Latin for 'in the affair; in the matter of; concerning; regarding. This is the usual method of entitling a judicial proceeding in which there are not adversary parties, but merely some res concerning which judicial action is to be taken' [Black's Law Dictionary]. Klein probably used the English pronunciation current in legal circles, in ree (he omits the poem's name in the McGill reading), and there may be a pun on INRI (lesus Nazarenus Rex ludaeorum), emphasizing the parallel between two martyred 'Kings of the Jews.' 2 Vercingetorix: leader of the Gauls in a revolt against Rome; captured by Julius Caesar and put to death. In 'The Book of the Year' [Canadian Zionist, 3, 5 (Oct. 1936), 25], a review of The Jews of Germany, by Marvin Lowenthal, Klein compares 'Vercingetorix, the old barbarian' and 'Hitler, the new one.' 49 nalewkas: 'Polish for "streets" - the slum district of Warsaw' [K] 59 The eldest elder of Zion: The Protocols of the Elders of Zion is a fraudulent document reporting the alleged proceedings of a group of Jews in the nineteenth century planning world dominion. It was used by the Nazis, among others, to justify anti-Semitism. 75-89 It is not necessary ... Rome: 'He [i.e., the orthodox Jew] does not fear annihilation; he belongs to a nation of "outlivers." It has outlived the Pharaohs, it has outlived Antiochus; it has seen Haman vanish into thin air; it has watched the Inquisition disappear in smoke; it has beheld the Tsars vanish in a cellar; and no doubt it will be present at the obsequies of all those who to-day bark and bite at the heel of Jewry' ['Of Him Whom We Envy,' BS, p. 48]. 82 Ekaterinoslov: site of the execution of Tsar Nicholas n and his family by the Bolsheviks 86 lone star ... Pharaoh's tomb: 'The architecture of the pyramids is such, that its principal doorway or entrance is so placed, that the light of a star - name forgotten always falls upon it. cf. Hogben's Mathematics for the Million' [K]. 118 Ani Shlomo: (Heb.) 'The King in despair wandered over the countryside crying "Ani-Shlomo - I am Solomon!" He was taken for a madman' [K]. 121-2 did fling me from Jerusalem I Four hundred parasangs: 'Snatching up Solomon, ... [Asmodeus] flung him four hundred parasangs away from Jerusalem, and then palmed himself off as the king' [/£, 'Asmodeus'].

966 / Explanatory Notes pp 497—505 124-5 beneath whose hem I The feet of the cock extend: '... the declaration of the king's women that he always wore slippers, strengthened suspicion; for demons proverbially had cocks' feet' [/E, 'Asmodeus']. Compare EXORCISM VAIN, 5. 133 or birds, or beasts of the wood: Solomon 'spake also of beasts, and of fowl, and of creeping things, and of fishes' [i Kings 4.33]. 134 Spread song: Solomon's 'songs were a thousand and five' [i Kings 4.32]. 137 To build the temple: The first Temple was built during Solomon's reign. 142 Master of the worm, pernicious, that cleaves rocks: 'According to legend, Asmodeus was the master of the worm called Shani [sic; should be Shamir]. It could cleave rocks, and was very important in the construction of the Temple, since it was prohibited to put iron to Temple-stone. Hitler in his concentration camps is also such a master' [K]. 162 And further deponent saith not: a standard legal formula for concluding a deposition Version 2 86 Mizraim: (Heb.) Egypt 126-9 cr 65-8, 45-8, in that order. Title: Klein adopts the stanza of Edward Fitzgerald's translation of The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam: quatrains in iambic pentameter with the rhyme scheme

1036 / Explanatory Notes p 776 aaba. The stanza may have been suggested to him by the first four lines of Halevi's poem, which happen to share the Rubaiyat rhyme scheme (the pattern is not repeated elsewhere in the poem).

Poets of the Yishuv The poets grouped together in this edition under the heading 'Poets of the Yishuv' shared a common historical experience, which is reflected in their poetry. They are all from the generation following Bialik, and they were all influenced by his example. Like Bialik, they were all born in eastern Europe and chose to write in Hebrew rather than (or along with) their native languages. Also like Bialik, they all emigrated to Palestine. Unlike Bialik, however, they all continued to write poetry after settling in Palestine, giving expression to the ideals of the Yishuv, the 'settlement' of Jews in Palestine prior to the establishment of the State of Israel. Klein's translations of most of these poets were first published in 1931, when he was deeply involved in Zionist activities as educational director of Young Judaea and editor of the ]udaean. He seems to have been attracted to them as representatives of the pioneering spirit of the Yishuv, rather than as individual voices. This is reflected not only in the kinds of poems he chose to translate, but also in the titles of the two sets in which the translations of 1931 were grouped: 'Palestine Poems' [Judaean 4, 4 (Jan. 1931), 6], containing KINGS OF THE EMEK; BEHOLD; MAKE BLIND, o SUN OF JERUSALEM; and BE THERE NO ALTAR; and The Authentic Word' [Jewish Standard, 11 Sept. 1931, pp. 152, 4], described as 'a collection of poems from the pens of Palestine's foremost young poets' and containing UNFAVOURED; SABBATH; THE GLORY OF THE HOMELAND; WITH EVERY STONE; MOTHER JERUSALEM; and UPON THE HIGHWAY. In 1937 Klein published a set of translations of five poems by Rachel Bluwstein. These intimate lyrics are very different from the highly rhetorical, didactic poems which Klein had translated in the early thirties. Because of the marked differences that set the Rachel translations apart from the earlier ones, as well as the considerable chronological gap between the two groups, the Rachel translations have been placed at the end of 'Poets of the Yishuv'; Klein's arrangement of them has been followed.

Abraham Broides (1907-) born in Vilna, Lithuania; emigrated in 1923. He worked as a labourer for several years, and many of his poems, including UPON THE HIGHWAY, grew out of this experience.

1037 / Explanatory Notes pp 776—9 UPON THE HIGHWAY

original: bedarkhayikh, arzi ('on your roads, my country'); Emunim (Tel Aviv: Davar 1937/8), pp. 13-14. Klein omits the last twelve lines.

Uri Zvi Greenberg (1894-1981) born in Bialykamien, eastern Galicia; emigrated in 1921. In his early years he wrote in Yiddish and Hebrew, but after emigrating he wrote exclusively in Hebrew, becoming one of the most influential poets of his generation. He became closely associated with the right wing Revisionist faction of Zionism, and his poetry presented a mystical view of Zionism and of the Jewish people's divinely ordained destiny. In ss, p. 99/79, the narrator says of Greenberg: Fiery, explosive, bar-kochbic, the poet Uri Zvi had captured, during the days of the trouble, the imagination of the young and the daring; his hyperboles had been made into slogans; his lacerating indignation, directed alike against the hostile and the docile, had stirred the hero's courage, reddened the compromiser's shame. Himself he had been an army with banners. Now, the battle won, or at least in cessation, he was a spent brand, an outroared lion, a brand smoldering, a lion obliquely pacing, readying his next spring. KINGS OF THE EMEK

original not identified Title: The Emek (Heb.; literally 'the valley') is the Valley of Jezreel, a large inland plain in northern Israel, a centre of Jewish settlement from the 19203. MOTHER JERUSALEM

original: yerushalayim shel matah ('everyday Jerusalem' [i.e., as against 'celestial Jerusalem']); Emah Gedolah Veyareah (Tel Aviv: Hozaat Hadim 1924/25), pp. 52-3. Klein translates only selected lines from the second part of this poem, entitled yerushalayim hamenutakhat ('lacerated Jerusalem'). \ four ells: See note to PORTRAITS OF A MINYAN, 137-8. 12 The Shekina: (Heb., 'presence') the numinous immanence of God in the world, often represented as an exiled queen or bride 25 Gischala: last Jewish city in Galilee to fall to the Romans 34 Beth-David: (Heb.) 'the house of David'

1038 / Explanatory Notes pp 779-82 36 no vineyards: This is a mistranslation of Ein Kerem, the name of a village west of Jerusalem. 44 valley of Jehoshaphat: a valley near Jerusalem, traditionally where the Last Judgment will take place 58 tallis: (Heb.) prayershawl 63 menorahs: (Heb.) seven-branched oil lamps used in the Temple

Judah Kami (Valovelski) (1884-1949) born in Pinsk, Byelorussia; emigrated in 1921. The three poems translated by Klein are typical of the poems on Jerusalem for which he is particularly noted, in which the Holy City is a symbol of the Jewish people and its destiny. For the originals of the first two translations see Shearim (Berlin-Wilmersdorf: Dwir Verlag 1923) of which Klein owned a copy. BE T H E R E NO A L T A R

original: im ein mizbeah, p. 216 M A K E B L I N D , O SUN OF J E R U S A L E M

original: sameini, shemesh, p. 213 WITH E V E R Y STONE

original: simuni bapirzah ('set me in the breach'); Yerushalayim (Tel Aviv: Doron 1944)' P- 59

David Shimoni (Shimonovitz) (1886-1956) born in Bobruisk, in the Minsk district of Russia; emigrated for a year in 1909 and then permanently in 1921. He worked in orange groves and as a watchman in the various settlements mentioned in THE GLORY OF THE HOMELAND. He celebrated the pioneering life in idyllic verse which was primarily classical in form and which was deeply influenced by Bialik. THE GLORY OF THE H O M E L A N D

original not identified

1039 / Explanatory Notes pp 784-7 Abraham Shlonsky (1900-73) born in Karyokov, the Ukraine; emigrated in 1921. He was highly influential as an editor, translator, and poet. He brought literary Hebrew closer to the spoken tongue and initiated a shift to symbolism and expressionism in modern Hebrew poetry. BEHOLD original: hineh; Shirim (Tel Aviv: Poale Hamizrachi 1954), p. 162. Klein omits the last eight of the twenty-three lines in the original. 7 tallis: (Heb.) prayershawl 14 Gilboa: mountain ridge where Saul and his sons died in battle [i Samuel 31.1-6]; in modern times the site of settlements and afforestation 15 Tammuz: fourth month of the Hebrew calendar, corresponding approximately to July SABBATH

original not identified 6 menorah: (Heb.) seven-branched oil lamp used in the Temple

Mordecai Temkin (1891-1960) born in Siedlice, Poland; emigrated in 1911. He was a teacher and translator, as well as a poet. UNFAVOURED

original: hahozvim ('the woodcutters'); Netafim (Jerusalem: Hoziat Ketuvim 1927), pp. 24-6. Klein omits the first twenty of the forty-five lines of the original. 25 fields of Jezreel: See note to KINGS OF THE EMEK.

Rachel (Rachel Bluwstein) (1890-1931) born in Saratov, Russia; emigrated in 1909. She began writing poetry in Russian but turned to Hebrew after emigrating. She intended to devote herself to agriculture, but she developed tuberculosis and spent her last years in hospitals and

1040 / Explanatory Notes pp 787—9 sanitoria. Her simple lyrics, elegiac and nostalgic in tone, are popular, and many have been set to music. KINNERETH, in particular, is widely sung (see below). In ss, pp. 101-2/80-1, the narrator, soon after quoting KINNERETH, comments on the 'poets of the settlements' in terms reminiscent of Rachel: Here there still flourished the lyric of sentiment, tender verses modeled on Jammes, Heine, Pushkin. There was a tentativeness about these rhymes, a playing of minor chords, as if the poet were gently inviting, inducing, summoning some grander utterance that as yet had failed to come. One sensed a groping toward the phrase, the line, the sentence that would gather in its sweep the sky above and the earth below and set new constellations in each. But the word did not come. For the originals see Shirat Rahel (Tel Aviv: Davar 1952). NOW SUCH AM i ... original: ani ('!'); p. 37 4 Francis Jammes: French poet (1868-1938), author of simple, artless poems on rural themes. Compare the reference of the narrator in ss to 'the lyric of sentiment, tender verses modeled on Jammes' [pp. 101-2/80]. RACHEL

original: rahel; p. 59 See note to THE CHILDLESS ONE, 9. KINNERETH

original: veulai lo hayu hadevarim ('it may be these things never did occur'); P- 79 Rachel joined the kibbutz Kinnereth near the Sea of Galilee (yam kineret in Hebrew), where she studied at the young women's training farm. In ss, p. 98/78, the narrator describes himself 'sit[ting] on the terrace facing the blue of Lake Kinnereth, listening to the boatman in the gaily painted boat singing Rahel's song'; he then quotes this translation.

DAWN original: im shahar ('with dawn'); p. 136

1041 / Explanatory Notes pp 789-92 THE C H I L D L E S S ONE

original: akarah; p. 92 5-7 'Uri' ... sunbeam: Ur in Hebrew means 'fire,' 'illumination.' 9 bitter, like Mother Rachel: Rachel, daughter of Laban and one of Jacob's wives, was one of the four matriarchs. She was bitter because she was barren for many years [Genesis 30.1]. 10 pray, like Hannah in Shiloh: After her prayer for a son was granted, Hannah dedicated the son, Samuel, to the service of the Lord at the sanctuary in Shiloh [i Samuel i].

Mordecai Etziony a Montreal physician of Klein's acquaintance. He wrote THE PRAYER OF A PHYSICIAN upon graduating from medical school. The original appears never to have been published. THE P R A Y E R OF A P H Y S I C I A N

Dedication: Moses-ben-Maimon ('Maimonides') was the outstanding Jewish philosopher of the Middle Ages; he was also a physician.

Jacob Glatstein (1876-1971) born in Lublin, Poland, emigrated to the United States in 1914, spent some time in Montreal. A poet, novelist, and critic, he was one of the founders of the Inzikhist movement, which aimed to revitalize Yiddish poetry and make it more contemporary by introducing free verse and emphasizing individual experience. His later poetry is much concerned with the Holocaust. Glatstein wrote a very favourable review of Klein's Poems, which Klein gratefully acknowledged [letter, 15 May 1945]. On 12 Feb. 1947 Klein sent Glatstein translations he had done of some of his poems, probably the three which were published. For the originals see Shtralndike Yiden (New York: Farlag Matones 1946). THE ELEVENTH: IN MEMORY OF ISAAC, SON OF THE TAILOR original: der elfter ('the eleventh'); p. 96 3 Rasha: (Heb.) 'wicked one'

1042 / Explanatory Notes pp 793—5 11 machzor: (Heb.) prayerbook, containing festival prayers, as opposed to the siddur, which contains daily and weekly prayers. Klein translates it as 'prayerbook' in 4. 16 the ten martyrs: name given to ten sages put to death by the Romans THE GIFTED ONE

original: got hot im gegeben ('God gave him'); p. 67 7 palmleaf and citron: See note to PORTRAIT, AND COMMENTARY, 27-8. 15 And they read Holy Writ, his roosters solemn: See note to PORTRAIT, AND COMMENTARY, 17.

16 myrtle-branch: See note to PORTRAIT, AND COMMENTARY, 27-8. SMOKE original: roykh; p. 16 Compare ELEGY [c. 1947/1947] and SONG OF INNOCENCE.

Moyshe Leib Halpern (1886-1932) born in Galicia, emigrated to the United States in 1908. He was a leading member of Dz Yunge, a group of poets who turned against what they saw as the rhetoricism and didacticism of Yiddish poetry and sought to enrich their work with contemporary literary techniques, particularly those of symbolism. All of Klein's translations of Halpern were published, on the occasion of Halpern's death, in a set entitled 'The Golden Parrakeet' [cjc, 9 Sept. 1932, p. 5]. They are introduced by the following comment, which may be Klein's own: M. L. Halpern brought into Jewish poetry an original tone and a singularly un-Jewish vigour. At once tragic, pathetic, and dramatic, he dedicated his talents to the social and national themes, eventually becoming one of the most distinguished of proletarian poets. In a letter, 21 Jan. 1941, to the Yiddish literary critic Niger (Samuel Charney), Klein says of Halpern that he 'was not a particularly Yiddish poet; he was essentially European and twentieth century.' For the original of CANTICUM CANTICORUM see Dz Goldene Pave (Cleveland: Farlag Yidish 1924). For the others see In New York (New York: Farlag Vinkel 1919).

1043 / Explanatory Notes pp 795-800 P O R T R A I T OF THE A R T I S T

original: meyn portret ('my portrait'); p. 118 5 Platyrhine: 'broad-nosed' CANTICUM

CANTICORUM

original: shir hashirim ('song of songs'); pp. 7-8 THE LAST S O N G

original: dos letste lid; p. 232 KI-KI original: khi-khi; p. 185 THE GOLDEN PARROT

original: di zon vet aruntergeyn ('the sun will set'); p. 200 CONCEIT CURIOUS

original: a modne makhshoveh ('a strange thought'); p. 159 LAST W I L L A N D T E S T A M E N T

original: a nakht ('a night'); p. 304. Klein has translated only the final lines of a much longer poem.

Leib Jaffe (1876-1948) born in Grodno, Lithuania; emigrated in 1920. He was an important Zionist leader and was killed in an Arab bomb attack. In a review of / Sang My Song of Zion: Poems by L. jaffe, trans. Sylvia Satten (Tel Aviv: Palestine Publishing Co. 1936) in Canadian Zionist 3, 7 (Dec. 1936), 54, Klein writes of Jaffe's 'still small voice, the poignant love for Erez Israel, the anguished concern over Jewry, the unequivocal self-dedication to the work of the national renascence. Through every line there breathes the spirit of Palestine; or, to change the western metaphor, and apply the oriental, upon

1044 / Explanatory Notes pp 800—2 this necklace of poesy the names of Ain Harod, Jerusalem, Tel Hai, hang like pearls.' Satten includes the two poems Klein translates under the titles 'Our Generation' and 'You Walk along a Sunlit Road.' Satten's version of the second of these, in particular, has some strong similarities to Klein's. It seems likely either that Klein, whose translations appeared in 1933, had come across Satten's versions before they were published in book form, or that Satten knew Klein's translations. WE ARE A G E N E R A T I O N , H E A V E N - D O O M E D

original not identified 21 Pisgah: the mountain from which Moses viewed the Promised Land before his death YOU WALK UPON YOUR SUNLIT ROADS

original not identified

H. Leivick (Leivick Halpern) (1886-1962) poet and dramatist, born in Byelorussia; imprisoned in Siberia for left-wing activities; escaped to the United States in 1913. The two poems translated by Klein arose out of Leivick's experience of imprisonment. Klein writes of the prison poems in general that they 'indicated the high results which might be obtained when a man of genius is subjected to soul-purging experiences ... they are the definite and vivid outcry of what the German critics ... used to call Erlebnis' ['Welcome to Leivick,' cjc, 28 Apr. 1939, p. 4]. For a time Leivick came under the influence of Di Yunge (see note on Halpern), but he turned away from the ideals of the movement to devote himself to social themes. Leivick's most important work as a dramatist was The Golem (1921), which, according to Klein, foreshadowed 'the Nazi golem treading with heavy boot upon the European scene' ['Welcome to Leivick'] and probably influenced Klein's own treatments of the Golem theme in the poem THE GOLEM, and in the unfinished play Death of the Golem. For the originals see Ale Verk fon H. Leivick (New York: Posy-Shoulson Press 1940), volume i. NO MORE TEARS

original: nito mer kayn trenen; p. 26

1045 / Explanatory Notes pp 803-4 THE WINDOWS ARE GRATED

original: di shoybn farmoyert ('the windows are walled up'); p. 25

Mani-Leib (Mani-Leib Brahinsky) (1883-1953) born in Russia, emigrated to the United States in 1905; one of the founders of Di Yunge (see note on Halpern). His poetry is essentially neo-romantic, and he was particularly known for his ballads and children's poems. SUNSET original: der tog fargeyt ('the day dies'); Lider un Baladen (Tel Aviv: Y.L. Peretz Publishers 1977), p. 20

Jacob Isaac Segal (1896-1954) Born in the Ukraine, near Koretz, the subject of many of his poems, he emigrated to Montreal in 1911, remaining there for the rest of his life, except for the years 1923-8, which he spent in New York. While supporting himself as a tailor, Yiddish teacher in the Poale Zion schools, and editor, he produced a very large body of work. His poems are tinged with nostalgia for the vanished world of the shtetl and tend to focus on the details of ordinary life and the experiences of simple people. Klein and Segal were close friends. Klein reviewed several of Segal's books and eulogized him in 'In Memoriam: J.I. Segal' [LER, pp. 87-90]. In 'Poet of a World Passed By,' a review of Segal's Sefer Yidish, Klein characterized Segal as a sort of inspired last survivor of some vanished tribe, a melancholy bard walking among the ruins of his burned-down village, pausing to recall a former felicity associated with this landmark, an historic incident associated with that other, calling to the empty air, and finally turning aside, determined to fashion in words the monument and image of his destroyed birthplace. For it is in this volume, so full of contemporary poignancy, and yet so eloquent with timeless statement, that Segal emerges as the devoted elegist of all that was fine and beautiful in the life of Eastern Europe in general, and in particular, in the life of the typically Chassidic hamlet from which he hails. The poems, it is true, are concerned with numerous subjects, yet one is the theme to which they are sung - a threnodic ululation for

1046 / Explanatory Notes pp 804—12 a world that once shone with piety and humility, and now beyond humbleness lies in ruin and rubble. [LER, p. 79] It seems clear that Klein, to a certain extent, identified his own situation as a poet with Segal's, as is suggested by the title of his satirical poem DIARY OF ABRAHAM SEGAL, POET. AND THIS I K N O W

original not identified AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL

original not identified GOATS original not identified A KING original not identified KING RUFUS

original not identified 25-6 Scarlet, rufous, I Roseate: Compare 'red rufous roseate' [KRIEGHOFF: CALLIGRAMMES, 23]. CONFESSION

original: viduyim; Dos Hoyz fon di Pshuta (Montreal: Keneder Adler 1940), pp. 41-2 OLD GOLD

original: alt-gold; Di Drite Seuda; Lider (Montreal: Keneder Adler 1937), p. 21 REB ZORACH

original: in der ebiker velt ('in the eternal world'); Dos Hoyz fon di Pshuta, p. 96 Title: Reb, Yiddish for 'mister/ is a traditional title prefixed to a man's first name.

1047 / Explanatory Notes pp 812—16 1 Rabbi Joshua ben Chananya: rabbi of the Talmudic period; worked as a blacksmith 2 Benedict de Spinoza ... glass: philosopher; worked as a lens grinder. See introductory note to OUT OF THE PULVER AND THE POLISHED LENS. 3 Rabbi Jochanan the Cobbler: rabbi of the Talmudic period, known as ha-Sandlar ('the sandal-maker'); a cobbler by trade 4 Koretz: See introductory note. 14 pilpul: (Heb.) dialectical logic used in the study of the Talmud. See Klein's note tO A PSALM OF ABRAHAM, TO BE WRITTEN DOWN AND LEFT ON THE TOMB OF RASHI, 8.

18 Gamaliel: There were six Gamaliels, all descendants of Hillel (see below), who served as head of the Sanhedrin, the supreme political, religious, and judicial body in Israel under Roman rule and until about 425 A.D. 22 Hillel: rabbi of the Talmudic period, noted for his compassion and tolerance SONG original: a klang ('a lament'); Amerikaner Yidish Poezie, ed. M.R. Bosin (New York: Varlag Felt 1940), p. 514 WAR

original: milkhomeh; Dos Hoyz fon di Pshuta, pp. 348-9. Klein abridges the original considerably, especially its opening and closing lines. SPEAK TO Y O U R P E O P L E , T H E R E F O R E , IN THIS WISE

original: zog azoy ('speak thus'); Lider un Loyben (Montreal: Keneder Adler 1944), p. 188

Jewish Folk-Songs In his essay 'Jewish Folk-Songs,' Klein writes: ... there is hardly a phase of Jewish life which is not echoed or mimicked in the ubiquitous folk-song, written by an unseen hand, and sung by an impersonal voice ... There are the wistful self-commiserating songs of dowerless old maids waiting for belated lovers until, as the proverb has it, their braids grow grey; boisterous carousal-hymns; ditties for teamsters; melodies for the lovelorn; epithalamia, and their logical aftermath in lullabies;

t Chassidic ecstasies tunefully rendered; satiric thrusts at the atheist and the heterodox; and pithy graveyard commentaries. [LER, p. 93] All of these topics are represented in 'Jewish Folk-Songs,' and all of the folk-songs which Klein quotes in the essay are from this collection. Comments from the essay, followed by page references, are cited in the notes to individual translations. Klein's arrangement of the translations has been preserved. SHALL I BE A R A B B I ?

original: zol ikh zayn a rov. Klein omits the last two stanzas of the original. In 'Knight of the Road' [Canadian Zionist 3, 4 (Sept. 1936), 3], Klein cites this folk-song as an illustration of the lowly status of 'the ubiquitous teamster of the hamlets of Eastern Europe': Time was when his was an unfortunate lot; considered as being of the lowest rung of our social ladder, he was an object of despising, the target of wit, the butt of ribaldry. Proverb satirized him, and folk-song quipped at him. Sang the baal-agolah upon the lonely highways of the world: [quotes 1-1 o]. That was his fate in the ghetto days; he sat him down, and moaned. Crass, ignorant, one of the disinherited of the earth, his companion was his nag, his longings pedestrian, and his destiny opprobrium. COME YOU H E R E , PHILOSOPHER

original: der filozof ('the philosopher') Although generally accepted as a genuine Chassidic folk-song, this poem, originally entitled dos gute kepi, was written by the Galician poet Zbarazer (Benjamin Wolf Ehrenkranz) (c. i8i2-c. 1882) as a satire. See introductory note to 'Chassidic Folk-Songs.' CHARM original: tsigele, migele, kotinke ('little goat, little colt, pussy-cat') TEAR NOT YOUR HAIR, MY SWEETHEART

original: veyn nish, veyn nish kale ('weep not, bride') AND WHEN ONE BURNS - ONE BURNS BRANDY

original: ven men brent

1049 / Explanatory Notes pp 819-24 ON THE ATTIC S L E E P S A R O O F

original: oyf dem boydem shloft der dakh 'In the days when the hand that rocked the cradle was the man's, while the wife went a-bargaining, it is thuswise that a father in Israel hums to his cradle-Kaddish: [quotes 1-7]. 'Immediately the impression of poverty is made indelible. The child lies in the cradle without even the luxury of diapers; and the goat, unable to find sustenance in fodder, is forced to pull straw from the thatched roof. Then symbolism: [quotes 8-11]. 'Follows the refrain in which the hop-hop echoes the to-and-fro action of a cradle pushed by a masculine foot. Then, finally, an ingenious and typical solution of the problem of an empty pantry: [quotes 15-18]' [pp. 94-5]. Y O M A , Y O M A , P L A Y ME A DITTY

original: yome, yome, shpil mir a lidele 18 Shadchan: matchmaker HUSH ! H U S H ! original: sha, shtil! WE ASK OUR B O A R D I N G - M I S T R E S S

original: mir zogen der balebuste SONG OF W I N E

original: di mashkeh ('liquor'). The original has ten stanzas. Klein omits the fifth, ninth, and tenth. 9 Shadchan: matchmaker 22 its odd mission: Before being circumcised, the baby is given a few drops of wine THE GOLDEN PARRAKEET

original: di gildene pave ('the golden parrot')

1050 / Explanatory Notes pp 825-31 W H E N I K N E A D THE D O U G H

original: knet ikh khaleh I GO U P O N THE B A L C O N Y

original: oyfn ganikl ('on the balcony') ONCE UPON A T I M E ; THIS original: amol iz geveyn a mayse BETTER A H E B R E W TEACHER

original: beser a melamed O MY M O T H E R S E N T ME

original: di mame hot mikh geshikt. Klein's translation omits the first stanza of the original. 4 Shochet: (Heb.) ritual slaughterer ON THE H I L L , O V E R THE H I L L

original: oyfn barg, ibern barg GONE IS THE YESTERDAY

original: siz nito keyn nekhten AND AT MY P R A Y E R S I W I L L Q U I V E R

original: oy, vey, rebenyu 9 mikva: (Heb.) ritual bath 16 seventeen: The original has 'seventy' (zibetsik). ASKS T H E W O R L D A N O L D , O L D Q U E S T I O N

original: di alte kashe ('the old question')

1051 / Explanatory Notes pp 831-5 AND WHEN MESSIAH WILL COME

original: un az moshiakh vet kumen 0 WHAT DO YOU WISH, MY DEAREST CHILD

original: vos zhe vilstu, mayn tayer kind 'The heroine of this folk-song discusses her suitors with her father, and by a process of elimination in which she spares no opprobrious epithet it is upon a Big Business man that she sets her heart' [p. 96]. TELL ME, PRETTY MAIDEN, O HEARKEN PRETTY MAIDEN

original: zog mir, du sheyn meydele. The original has two stanzas. W H A T IS L O F T I E R T H A N A H O U S E ?

original: vos iz hekher fon a hoyz W H E N HE HAS F R O L I C K E D FOR A L I T T L E

original not identified 6 Responsa: (Lat.) replies sent by authorities in Jewish law to questioners who address them in writing LOVELY AM I, O L O V E L Y , AND L O V E L Y IS MY N A M E

original: sheyn, bin ikh, sheyn 1 SIT ME D O W N U P O N A S T O N E

original: zits ikh afn shteyn

Chassidic Folk-Songs Chassidism was a popular religious and social movement, founded in the eighteenth century by Israel ben Eliezer, known as the Baal Shem Tov. To the Talmudic learning of the educated elite Chassidism opposed ecstatic forms of worship open to all, with an emphasis on joyful song and dance (see DANCE CHASSIDIC). As Chassidism developed, great importance came to be attached to the role of the

1052 / Explanatory Notes p 835 charismatic leader - the zadik or rebbe - whose piety and miraculous powers were often celebrated by his followers in song. Chassidism had its opponents, the rationalistic mitnagdim and the secularist maskilim, who often satirized the songs of the credulous Chassidim. A number of the songs Klein translated are, in fact, such satires. It is not always easy to distinguish satire from genuine naivety, and, in any case, some songs originally intended as satires were adopted, over the years, as genuine folk-songs. Some of the more obvious satires are: MIRACLES AND WONDERS; OUR REBBE; OUR REBBE, THE MIRACLE-WORKER, ONCE; THE REBBE, HE WANTED; THE TRAIN.

Klein was greatly interested in Chassidism throughout his career, but his decision to translate Chassidic folk-songs may have been specifically related to the writing of his play on Chassidic themes, Worse Visitors We Shouldn't Have, in the early fifties. The play includes one of the translations, IN GOD'S GOOD TIME, as well as some translations from the earlier collection, 'Jewish Folk-Songs.' In 'On Translating the Yiddish Folk-Song' [LER, pp. 109-12], Klein discusses the difficulties facing a translator of Yiddish folk-songs. Although no folk-songs are identified in the essay, all the examples are from 'Chassidic Folk-Songs.' Klein's comments, followed by page references, are cited in the notes to individual translations, with two exceptions, his comments on the expressions Oy veh! and Gewaldl Since these expressions both occur in several of the translations, Klein's comments are cited here: Or take - may it not harm you! - the exclamation, Oy veh! Bold, indeed, would he be who sought to transliterate this cri du coeur with a lorryman's 'O, woe!' It is true that the words are essentially onomatopoetic, and, therefore, should be translated by a similar onomatopoeia, but the fact denies the theorem. The personal and historic associations, which vibrate from the phrase, cannot be Englished. The epic memory which is evoked by the two monosyllables is not conjured by any English equivalent. One does not translate a groan. A groan? Oy veh! is so to our manner born that not always does its utterance imply connotations of woe. The tragedy which invented the phrase has, indeed, been so constant that Oy, veh, as often in the folk-songs, is uttered in the presence of something exciting though not unpleasant, by way of mere reflex. How, then, to show the distinction? It cannot be done. Oy veh remains ineluctably Oy veh, and only its context shows the nuance. Gewaldl That is another one. The exclamation is a cry for help, as when one is beset by thieves; it is also a mere expression of exuberance. Some of the Chassidic folk-songs, it will be noted, do begin with these afflative out-cries; they are made in the very presence of the rebbe', they are not intended as cries for help. But neither can they be rendered, when the translator bursts in upon the sacred assembly, by an Englishman's ejaculations, no matter how high-spirited. 'Heigh-ho'? Imagine Chassidim

1053 / Explanatory Notes pp 835—8 shouting 'heigh-ho!' ... Gewald, what is the world coming to! [pp. 110-11] Klein's arrangement of the translations has been preserved. In this arrangement, COME YOU HERE, PHILOSOPHER and HUSH ! HUSH! follow TELL US, REBBENU, but

since they originally appeared in 'Jewish Folk-Songs,' they have not been included in 'Chassidic Folk-Songs.' L ' C H A Y I M , REBBE ! original: lekhayim rebbe 'How, for example, is one to translate I'chaim, rebbe? Obviously, the rebbe, like all titles and designations, remains unchanged in English, but the I'chaim? Is one to acknowledge the Hebrew and translate "To life!" much as one would bid the sedentary rebbe - "To horse!"? Even "To your life!" paralleled on "To your health!" will not do, for the word is idiomatic, like skoal! and prosit! and like them should not be translated. L'chaim, rebbe must perforce remain: I'chaim, rebbe! Any other version would be a perversion' [p. no]. OY, OUR R E B B E N U

original: oy, der rebenyu GOD W I L L I N G , AT THE REBBE's

original: im yirtseh hashem, baym reben MYERKA, MY SON

original: mayerke, mayn zun; by Rabbi Levi Yitschok of Berditchev The phrases in Hebrew are all translated in the lines which follow them. Klein comments: There is yet another peculiarity to these songs which must surely tax the translator. Often they are bilingual, Hebrew and Yiddish, and sometimes, trilingual, with Russian thrown in. Certainly the translator would be unfaithful to the original if his version went English, English all the way, and failed to indicate, in the text itself, that more than one language was involved. Some translators have sought to achieve the necessary authenticity by substituting for the Hebrew, Latin equivalents. This method, we fear, gives an impression altogether too Gregorian. It is safer, we imagine, to leave the Hebrew intact, pure, and by translation undefiled. Certainly, if it is communication that is intended, Latin is a dubious medium; it is, in fact, merely to substitute the unknown for the esoteric.

1054 / Explanatory Notes pp 838—41 Moreover, in most of the songs the Yiddish translates the Hebrew, anyway, [p. 111] 4 Lifnei ... hamlochim: (Heb.) from the aleinu, the prayer that concludes every service 22 Hineni ... mi-ma-as: (Heb.) a prayer recited by the cantor or baal tefilah (master of prayer) on the High Holidays, in which he pleads to be considered worthy of his task A THOU SONG

original: a du-du; by Rabbi Levi Yitschok of Berditchev Klein used part of this translation for an epigraph to ss. The Hebrew phrases are translated in the lines which follow them. See introductory note to MYERKA, MY SON. In The Yiddish Proverb' [LER, p. 121], Klein says of A THOU SONG: '[The Jew's] rabbis were more than rabbis, they were cronies of the Lord, familiars in heaven, able to address the Rebono Shel Olam in the second person singular: I will sing thee, says Rabbi Levi Yitschok of Berditchev, a thou-song. "Le bon Dieu, ils le tutoyaient." ' 5 Ayeh ... lo emtzoeko: (Heb.) a paraphrase of the opening line of kevodkha malei olam ('the world is full of your glory') by Yehuda Halevi LEVI YITSCHOK'S KADDISH original: variously entitled a din-toireh mil got ('God on trial') or kaddish Compare REB LEVI YITSCHOK TALKS TO GOD. 16 Yisgadal... rabah: (Aramaic) 'Sanct and exaltate ... be the great name' [THE KADDISH, 1—2]. See introductory note to THE KADDISH. 18 Lo ozuz mimkomi: (Heb.) 'I will not move from my place'; the words of Honi ha-Meagel ('the circle-maker'), a miracle-worker in the period of the Second Temple who refused to move from a circle he had drawn until God answered his prayer for rain M'LAVEH MA L K E H

original: melaveh malkeh Title: The title is Hebrew for 'the Queen's escort.' It refers to songs sung at the conclusion of the Sabbath, which was frequently personified as a queen or bride.

1O55 / Explanatory Notes pp 842-9 T H O U H A S T C H O S E N US

original: atoh bekhartonu; based on a passage in the prayerbook, in the Musaf Amidah for the Three Festivals O T H E R E , O T H E R E , W H E R E IS OUR H O L Y R E B B E

original: dort un dort vu undser heyliker rebe is do THE R E B B E , HE WANTED

original: der rebe hot gevolt There are several versions of this satirical song, differing in their lists of absurd miracles. 8 Mithnagdim: (Heb). See introductory note to 'Chassidic Folk-Songs.' IN G O D ' S G O O D TIME

original: vos vet zayn mit dem reben dem frumen ('what will happen to our pious rabbi') 14 the Red Heifer: an animal whose ashes were used in the purification of persons and objects defiled by a corpse [Numbers 19. i—10]; had to be unblemished and never yoked 21 gopher: wood used in Noah's ark [Genesis 6.14] 22 tzitzis: (Heb.) fringes of the prayershawl 22 shofar: (Heb.) ram's horn 26 tsholent: (Yid.) a stew traditionally eaten on the Sabbath 26 kigel: A kigel or kugel (Yid.) is a pudding, usually savoury but sometimes sweet, based on such ingredients as potatoes or noodles. 'And kugel ... is, with one exception, always and in all languages, kugel. The exception is when it is kigel' [p. 111]. A BURGLARY

original: a ganevah TELL US, REBBENU

original: az moshiakh vet kumen ('when the Messiah comes') See introductory note to BALLAD OF THE DAYS OF THE MESSIAH. 18 Moishe Rebenu: 'Moishe Rabbeinu is not, certainly not in a folk-song, ever to be rendered as "Moses our Teacher." The latter phrase evokes a pedant, the

1056 / Explanatory Notes pp 850-6 former a prophet, a patriarch, a member of our family. Upon the Yiddish tongue, which forgets that the talk is Hebrew, it is as if Rabbeinu were a surname' [p. 111]. Klein initially translated the phrase as 'Moses, our Master' [MS 5496]. YOSHKA, YOSHKA

original: yoshke, yoshke OY, VEY, R E B B E N U

original: oy, vey, rebenyu 13 mikveh: (Heb.) ritual bath O U R R E B B E , T H E M I R A C L E - W O R K E R , ONCE

original: amol iz geforen oyfn yam ('once fared forth on the ocean wide') AND WHEN OUR REBBE WALKS

based on the refrain of THE REBBE, HE WANTED OUR REBBE

original: unser rebenyu MY N O D D L E IT IS H U M M I N G

original: ikh kum yetst fun mayn tsadik ('I have just come from my tsadik') THE TRAIN

original: der ayzenban. There are numerous versions, some much longer. HOW FARES THE K I N G ?

original: vi azoy lebt der keyzer The original has 'Czar' (keyzer) rather than 'King.' 6 a loaf of sugar: The original has 'a little hat of sugar.' Russian sugar refineries produced blocks of sugar in the form of cylindrical hats.

1057 / Explanatory Notes pp 857-60 THE REBBELE, THE GABBAl'LE, THE CANTOR't, THE SHAMASH't

original: der rebele, der gabele, der khazendel, der shamashel The gabbai is the chief lay official of a synagogue, originally the treasurer. The cantor or khazen leads the services. The shamash is the caretaker of the synagogue. TSIG, TSIGITSAPEL

original: tsig, tsigitsapel. Klein omits stanzas 4, 8, 10-12. In the original the goat turns out to be possessed by a dybbuk, the soul of a sinner, which is defeated by the rabbi. Tsz'g is Yiddish for 'goat.' 4 Hoshana Rabah: (Heb., 'the great Hoshana') the seventh day of the festival of Sukkot, on which the exclamation Hoshana ('save us') is frequently repeated 5 Gabbai: (Heb.) the chief lay official of a synagogue, originally the treasurer 7 mikveh: (Heb.) ritual bath 14 Shochet: (Heb.) ritual slaughterer MIRACLES AND WONDERS

original: nisim venifloys 'A Mithnagid, heatedly inveighing against the shams of Chassidism, might regale his cronies in the Vilna Klaus with fictitious tales of ludicrous miracles and questionable wonders that befell some mythical rebbe; - how, as the folk-song has it, the Master of the Name went dry into the water, and mirabile dictu came out a great deal wetter ...' ['Of Hebrew Humor/ LER, p. 106]. Title: Exodus 7.3, Deuteronomy 7.19 AKAVYAH BEN M ' H A L A L L E L

original: akavyo ben mehalaleyl Akavyah ben M'halallel was one of the rabbis of the Talmudic period. He is best known for his saying 'Reflect upon three things and you will not come within the power of sin; know whence you came, whither you are going, and before whom you are destined to give account.' OMAR ADOISHEM l/YA-AKOIv!

original: omar adoishem leyaakoiv ('the Lord said to Jacob')

1058 / Explanatory Notes pp 862—5 BAR YOCHAI

original: bar yokhay This is the refrain of a song written (in Hebrew) by the sixteenth-century Kabbalistic scholar and poet Shimon Labi. Shimon bar Yohai was a rabbi of the Talmudic period who was venerated by the Kabbalists, and was wrongly supposed by them to have written the Zohar, the central Kabbalistic text. The song is sung on Sabbath in the Sephardic tradition, and on the holiday of Lag Beomer, the supposed anniversary of Bar Yohai's death, in the Ashkenazic tradition. THE REBBE ELIMELECH

original: der rebe elimelekh; by Moshe Nadir (1885-1943), Yiddish poet and humorist 16 Havdala: (Heb., 'distinction') blessing recited at the end of the Sabbath or a festival to mark the boundary between the sacred and the profane 17 shamash: (Heb.) caretaker of a synagogue YONDER! YONDER! original: tsu kent ir den dos land ('do you know the land') The original is inspired by Mignon's song in Goethe's Wihelm Meister's Apprenticeship. Goethe's poem begins 'Kennst du das Land, wo die Zitronen bliihn' ('Do you know the land where the citrons blossom') and has the refrain 'Dahin! Dahin / Mocht ich mit dir, O mein Geliebter, ziehn' (Thither! Thither / I would go, O my beloved, with you'). Klein replaces the second stanza of the folk-song with one on a Zionist theme. 2 bokser: (Yid.) 'Bokser, too, is rebellious, like its namesake, against translation. Upon the market-place, it is known as St. John's bread. But that is obviously impossible! Chassidim and St. John, I'havdill And even to call it the fruit of the carob is no great aid to digestion' [p. 111]. Klein initially translated bokser as 'St. John's bread' [MS 5482]. 25 Yishmoel: Ishmael, Abraham's son by his concubine, Hagar, is, according to tradition, the ancestor of the Arabs. VESOMACHTO

original: vesomakhto ('do you rejoice'); based on Deuteronomy 16.14

1059 / Explanatory Notes pp 866-72 Horace Klein's acquaintance with the poetry of Horace probably dates from his years at McGill, where he majored in classics (and political economy). The Horace translations, however, are late, Klein's latest dateable work. They are very free, showing the influence of the translations of Ezra Pound. OF THE A N C I E N T HOUSE OF THE CLINII

original: Ode 1.1 ('Maecenas atavis edite') TO L Y D I A

original: Ode 1.8 ('Lydia, die, per omnes') TO L E U C O N O E

original: Ode 1.11('Tu ne quaesieris') T O L. M U N A T I U S P L A N C U S

original: Ode 1.7 ('Laudabunt alii claram Rhodon'). Klein omits the last eighteen lines.

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Appendix A Contents of Published and Unpublished Collections

PUBLISHED COLLECTIONS Hath Not a Jew ... (1940) Ave Atque Vale Childe Harold's Pilgrimage Portraits of a Minyan Greeting on This Day Sonnet in Time of Affliction Out of the Pulver and the Polished Lens Talisman in Seven Shreds Design for Mediaeval Tapestry Haggadah Reb Levi Yitschok Talks to God Plumaged Proxy Dance Chassidic Preacher Scribe Sacred Enough You Are Sonnets Semitic Would That Three Centuries Past Had Seen Us Born These Northern Stars Are Scarabs in My Eyes Upon a Time There Lived a Dwarf, a Jew I Shall Not Bear Much Burden When I Cross Now We Will Suffer Loss of Memory For the Leader - with String Music Song of Toys and Trinkets Song of Exclamations

1062 / Appendix A Song to Be Sung at Dawn Market Song Counting-out Rhyme Of Kith and Kin Heirloom Bestiary Mourners Gift Of Sundry Folk Into the Town of Chelm Jonah Katz Bandit A Deed of Daring Biography Doctor Dwarf Of Kings and Beggars Ballad of the Dancing Bear Ballad for Unfortunate Ones King Elimelech King Dalfin Wandering Beggar Of Holy Vessels Baal Shem Tov Elijah Cantor Scholar The Venerable Bee Rev Owl Of Nothing at All Orders

1063 / Appendix A Poems (1944) i. The Psalter of Avram Haktani Psalm i: A Psalm of Abraham, When He Hearkened to a Voice, and There Was None Psalm ii: Maschil of Abraham: A Prayer When He Was in the Cave Psalm m: A Psalm of Abraham, When He Was Sore Pressed Psalm iv: A Psalm of Abraham, Touching His Green Pastures Psalm v: A Song of Degrees Psalm vi: A Psalm of Abraham, concerning That Which He Beheld upon the Heavenly Scarp Psalm vii: For the Chief Physician Psalm vni: Psalm of the Fruitful Field Psalm ix: A Psalm, to Be Preserved against Two Wicked Words Psalm x: Lamed Vav: A Psalm to Utter in Memory of Great Goodness Psalm xi: A Psalm of a Mighty Hunter before the Lord Psalm xii: To the Chief Musician, Who Played for the Dancers Psalm xni: A Song for Wanderers Psalm xiv: A Psalm for Five Holy Pilgrims, Yea, Six on the King's Highway Psalm xv: A Psalm of Abraham, Touching the Crown with Which He Was Crowned on the Day of His Espousals Psalm xvi: To the Chief Scribe, a Psalm of Abraham, in the Day of the Gladness of His Heart Psalm xvn: For the Bridegroom Coming Out of His Chamber, a Song Psalm xvm: For the Bride, a Song, to Be Sung by Virgins Psalm xix: A Benediction Psalm xx: A Psalm of Abraham, Which He Made at the Feast Psalm xxi: A Benediction for the New Moon Psalm xxii: A Prayer of Abraham, against Madness Psalm xxm: A Psalm of Justice, and Its Scales Psalm xxiv: Shiggaion of Abraham Which He Sang unto the Lord Psalm xxv: To the Prophets, Minor and Major, a Psalm or Song Psalm xxvi: To the Chief Musician, a Psalm of Israel, to Bring to Remembrance Psalm xxvn: A Psalm to Teach Humility Psalm xxvin: A Psalm or Prayer - Praying His Portion with Beasts Psalm xxix: To the Chief Musician, a Psalm of the Bratzlaver, a Parable Psalm xxx: To the Chief Musician, a Psalm of the Bratzlaver, Which He Wrote Down As the Stammerer Spoke Psalm xxxi: To the Chief Musician, a Psalm of the Bratzlaver, Touching a Good Gardener

1064 / Appendix A Psalm xxxii: A Song That the Ships of Jaffa Did Sing in the Night Psalm xxxni: A Psalm, Forbidden to Cohanim Psalm xxxiv: A Psalm of Abraham, to Be Written Down and Left on the Tomb of Rashi Psalm xxxv: A Psalm of Abraham, Which He Made Because of Fear in the Night Psalm xxxvi: A Psalm Touching Genealogy 2. A Voice Was Heard in Ramah In Re Solomon Warshawer Rabbi Yom-Tob of Mayence Petitions His God [from Murals for a House of God] Ballad of the Thwarted Axe Ballad of the Days of the Messiah 3. Yehuda Halevi, His Pilgrimage

The Rocking Chair and Other Poems (1948) The Rocking Chair The Provinces The Cripples The Snowshoers For the Sisters of the Hotel Dieu Grain Elevator Universite de Montreal The Sugaring Indian Reservation: Caughnawaga Krieghoff: Calligrammes Bread Political Meeting The Spinning Wheel Frigidaire Air-Map Dress Manufacturer: Fisherman Pawnshop The Green Old Age The Break-up Commercial Bank Quebec Liquor Commission Store Montreal

1065 / Appendix A Winter Night: Mount Royal Lookout: Mount Royal The Mountain Lone Bather Pastoral of the City Streets M. Bertrand The Notary Monsieur Gaston Librairie Delorme Sire Alexandre Grandmaison Hormisdas Arcand Les Filles majeures Filling Station Annual Banquet: Chambre de Commerce Portrait of the Poet as Landscape

UNPUBLISHED COLLECTIONS Gestures Hebraic and Poems (1932) SECTION ONE

Greeting on This Day Holy Bonds Out of the Pulver and the Polished Lens Arabian Love Song Prothalamium [A Psalm of Abraham, Touching the Crown with Which He Was Crowned on the Day of His Espousals] Lost Fame Invocation to Death Kalman Rhapsodizes Design for Mediaeval Tapestry Portraits of a Minyan Talisman in Seven Shreds Preacher Ballad of the Dancing Bear Ballad of Signs and Wonders Dialogue Kaddish [A Psalm, Forbidden to Cohanim] Koheleth

io66 / Appendix A Scribe The Words of Plauni-Ben-Plauni to Job Gestures Hebraic Haggadah Dance Chassidic Plumaged Proxy Reply Courteous Oriental Garden Nehemiah Exorcism Vain Portrait Saturday Night Incognito [Lamed Vav: A Psalm to Utter in Memory of Great Goodness] These Candle Lights Joseph Ecclesiastes 13 Cargo [A Song That the Ships of Jaffa Did Sing in the Night] Soiree of Velvel Kleinburger Reb Levi Yitschok Talks to God Diary of Abraham Segal, Poet Rather Than Have My Brethren Bend the Knee Ave Atque Vale SECTION TWO Sacred Enough You Are xxn Sonnets Litany Homage This Is No Myth Gargoyle Business Histrionic Sonnet Dark Cleopatra on a Gilded Couch Sybarite Though I Be Five Weapons against Death Where Shall I Find Choice Words Coward in Consolation Prayer [A Prayer against the Witnessing of Grief] Bounty Royal A Sequence of Songs Frankly

1067 / Appendix A Finis Pathetic Fallacy Haunted House Assurance Funeral in April Resurrection [Visitation in Elul] Advice to Young Virgins Letters to One Absent Invitation Last Will and Testament Words in Their Season Spring Summer Autumn Winter Nocturne Old Maid's Wedding Anguish Fable Figure Autumn Autumn Night Discord of the Crow October Heresy Wood Notes Wild Fixity Sleep Walking Scene Song before Winter Song Reveille in Winter What Winter Has Said, Is Said February Morning April Fool April Disappointments April Fulfilment Discovery of Spring Manuscript: Thirteenth Century Preface Christian Poet and Hebrew Maid Falstaff Orders Market Song

io68 / Appendix A Protest Composition Momus Soror Addita Musis Lothario Symbols The Poet to the Big Business Man Boredom Divine Titillation Elegy Desiderata Probabilities An Old Dame Prates in Galilee Blind Girl's Song Dissolution Resurrection [Visitation in Elul] Advice to the Young Ecclesiastes 13 Shelley Fragment on the Death of Shelley A Coloured Gentleman Bion in His Old Age Request Oracles of the Clock Astrologer Out of a Pit of Perpendiculars Arbiter Bibendi Note: Section One of GHP corresponds to GH and Section Two to p$2, with the following exceptions. In GH, LITANY is added after ARABIAN LOVE SONG; BOUNTY ROYAL is added after LOST FAME; and DIARY OF ABRAHAM SEGAL, POET is deleted. In P32 the order of the three poems following NOCTURNE is altered to ANGUISH, FABLE, OLD MAID'S WEDDING; and WHAT WINTER HAS SAID, IS SAID and FEBRUARY

MORNING are reversed. Also, P32 is divided into four sections, beginning with SACRED ENOUGH YOU ARE, WORDS IN THEIR SEASON, MANUSCRIPT: THIRTEENTH

CENTURY (a section to itself), and PREFACE.

1069 / Appendix A Poems (1934) Heirloom Mourners Town Fool's Song Into the Town of Chelm Scholar Yossel Letz Jonah Katz Doctor Dwarf Jonah A Deed of Daring Baldhead Elisha Song of Sweet Dishes Biography Riddle Bestiary Gift Lullaby for a Hawker's Child Fairy Tale Concerning Four Strange Sons Bandit Toys [Song of Toys and Trinkets] Paradise [Psalm of the Fruitful Field] Song of Exclamations Elijah Messiah Arithmetic Song [Song to Be Sung at Dawn] Counting-out Rhyme On the Road to Palestine Market Song Getzel Gelt Nose Aristocratic Chatzkel the Hunter [A Psalm of a Mighty Hunter before the Lord] Calendar [A Psalm, with Trumpets for the Months] Baal Shem Tov Sonnet of the Starving One The Venerable Bee The Mad Monarch [Concerning a Strange King] Captain Scuttle

lo/o / Appendix A Cantor King Elimelech Wandering Beggar Rev Owl Madman's Song Cavalcade [A Psalm of Horses and Their Riders] Pigeons Ballad for Unfortunate Ones King Dalfin Orders Ballad of the Dancing Bear

The 1942 Typescript of Poems (1944) THE PSALTER OF AVRAM

HAKTANI

Psalm i: A Psalm of Abraham, When He Hearkened to a Voice, and There Was None Psalm ii: Maschil of Abraham: A Prayer When He Was in the Cave Psalm m: [?] Psalm iv: A Psalm of Abraham, When He Was Sore Pressed Psalm v: [?] Psalm vi: A Psalm of Abraham, Touching His Green Pastures Psalm vn: A Song of Degrees Psalm VHI : A Psalm of Abraham, concerning That Which He Beheld upon the Heavenly Scarp Psalm ix: To the Chief Musician, Al-Taschith, Michtam of Abraham; When One Sent, and They Watched the House to Kill Him Psalm x: To the Chief Musician upon Shoshannim, a Song of Loves [Grace before Poison] Psalm xi: For the Chief Physician: A Song for Hunters Psalm xii: [?] Psalm xin: To the Prophets, Minor and Major, a Psalm or Song Psalm xiv: Psalm of the Fruitful Field Psalm xv: A Psalm for the Sons of Korah [Rather Than Have My Brethren Bend the Knee] Psalm xvi: A Psalm, to Be Preserved against Two Wicked Words Psalm xvn: Lamed Vav: A Psalm to Utter in Memory of Great Goodness Psalm xvm: A Psalm of a Mighty Hunter before the Lord Psalm xix: To the Chief Musician, Who Played for the Dancers

1071 / Appendix A Psalm xx: A Song for Wanderers Psalm xxi: A Psalm for Five Holy Pilgrims, Yea, Six on the King's Highway Psalm xxn: A Psalm of Abraham, Touching the Crown with Which He Was Crowned on the Day of His Espousals Psalm xxm: To the Chief Scribe, a Psalm of Abraham, in the Day of the Gladness of His Heart Psalm xxiv: For the Bridegroom Coming Out of His Chamber, a Song Psalm xxv: For the Bride, a Song, to Be Sung by Virgins Psalm xxvi: A Benediction Psalm xxvn: A Psalm of Abraham, Which He Made at the Feast Psalm xxvin: A Benediction for the New Moon Psalm xxix: A Prayer of Abraham, against Madness Psalm xxx: A Psalm of Justice, and Its Scales Psalm xxxi: Shiggaion of Abraham Which He Sang unto the Lord Psalm xxxn: A Psalm, with Trumpets for the Months Psalm xxxni: A Psalm of Time and the Firmament Psalm xxxiv: [?] Psalm xxxv: A Psalm of Abraham of That Which Was Visited upon Him Psalm xxxvi: To the Chief Musician, a Psalm of the Bratzlaver, When He Considered How the Pious Are Overwhelmed Psalm xxxvn: To the Chief Bailiff, a Psalm of the King's Writ Psalm xxxvin: A Psalm of the Heavenly Minister [Kalman Rhapsodizes] Psalm xxxix: A Psalm to Teach Humility Psalm XL: A Psalm or Prayer, Praying His Portion with Beasts Psalm XLI: To the Chief Musician, a Psalm of the Bratzlaver, a Parable Psalm XLII: To the Chief Musician, a Psalm of the Bratzlaver, Which He Wrote Down As the Stammerer Spoke Psalm XLIII: To the Chief Musician, a Psalm of the Bratzlaver, a Psalm of the Beginning of Things [Of Remembrance] Psalm XLIV: To the Chief Musician, a Psalm of the Bratzlaver, Touching a Good Gardener Psalm XLV: A Song That the Ships of Jaffa Did Sing in the Night Psalm XLVI: A Psalm for Them That Utter Dark Sayings [Exorcism Vain] Psalm XLVII: A Psalm, Forbidden to Cohanim Psalm XLVIII: possibly A Psalm of Abraham, Which He Made Because of Fear in the Night Psalm XLIX: A Psalm of Abraham, to Be Written Down and Left on the Tomb of Rashi Psalm L: A Psalm of Resignation

io/2 / Appendix A LONG POEMS

In Re Solomon Warshawer Murals for a House of God Yehuda Halevi, His Pilgrimage BALLADS AND SONNETS

Ballad of the Thwarted Axe Of the Friendly Silence of the Moon Ballad of the Days of the Messiah Ballad of the Nuremberg Tower Clock Ballad of the Evil Eye Assurance Age Draws His Fingernail across My Brow Speak Me No Deaths. Prevent That Word from Me Think Not, My Dear, Because I Do Not Call Why Do You Love Me, As You Say You Do Without Your Love, without Your Love for Me Would That Three Centuries Past Had Seen Us Born Note: This reconstruction of the original typescript of Poems (1944), which no longer exists, is based on Caplan, Appendix 3, pp. 280-3. Caplan was not able to identify the six sonnets at the end of the typescript. I have been able to do so through an examination of the typescripts in the Klein papers; however, I have been unable to determine their order. Hence, I have listed them alphabetically. Caplan also does not divide his list into subsections. I do so on the basis of Klein's correspondence with his editors.

Selected Poems (1955) Portrait of the Poet as Landscape Bread Bestiary Plumaged Proxy Market Song A Psalm to Teach Humility Sophist [from Portraits of a Minyan] Sonnet Semitic [Would That Three Centuries Past Had Seen Us Born] Benediction

1073 / Appendix A Tetragrammaton [from Talisman in Seven Shreds] Syllogism [from Talisman in Seven Shreds] Against Mammon, a Murmuring [revised version of Rather Than Have My Brethren Bend the Knee] Desideratum Basic English Rocking Chair For the Sisters of the Hotel Dieu Montreal Frigidaire Monsieur Gaston Snowshoers Political Meeting On the Heavenly Scarp [A Psalm of Abraham, concerning That Which He Beheld upon the Heavenly Scarp] In Re Solomon Warshawer Song of Innocence Psalm of Justice [A Psalm of Justice, and Its Scales] Prowler [A Psalm of Abraham of That Which Was Visited upon Him] Come Two, like Shadows Sonnet Unrhymed Ni la mort ni le soleil The Library Penultimate Chapter In Memoriam: Arthur Ellis Actuarial Report Sestina on the Dialectic Les Vespasiennes Spinoza: On Man, on the Rainbow Psalm to Be Left on the Tomb of Rashi [A Psalm of Abraham, to Be Written Down and Left on the Tomb of Rashi] Psalm [A Psalm of Abraham, When He Hearkened to a Voice, and There Was None] Autobiographical

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Appendix B Poems Revised in the Early Fifties

ORIGINAL POEMS Actuarial Report Address to the Choirboys Autobiographical Ave Atque Vale Baal Shem Tov Ballad for Unfortunate Ones Ballad of the Nursery Rhymes Basic English Beaver A Benediction Bestiary Bread Childe Harold's Pilgrimage Come Two, like Shadows Dance Chassidic Dentist Desideratum Design for Mediaeval Tapestry For the Sisters of the Hotel Dieu Greeting on This Day Heirloom I Shall Not Bear Much Burden When I Cross In Memoriam: Arthur Ellis In Re Solomon Warshawer Les Vespasiennes The Library Love

1076 / Appendix B Market Song Maschil of Abraham: A Prayer When He Was in the Cave Meditation upon Survival Mourners Ni la mort ni le soleil Not All the Perfumes of Arabia Now We Will Suffer Loss of Memory Out of the Pulver and the Polished Lens Pawnshop Penultimate Chapter Plumaged Proxy Political Meeting Portrait of the Poet as Landscape Portraits of a Minyan A Prayer of Abraham, against Madness A Prayer of the Afflicted, When He Is Overwhelmed Preacher A Psalm of Abraham, concerning That Which He Beheld upon the Heavenly Scarp A Psalm of Abraham of That Which Was Visited upon Him A Psalm of Abraham, to Be Written Down and Left on the Tomb of Rashi A Psalm of Abraham, When He Hearkened to a Voice, and There Was None A Psalm of Abraham, Which He Made Because of Fear in the Night A Psalm of Justice, and Its Scales A Psalm, to Be Preserved against Two Wicked Words Rather Than Have My Brethren Bend the Knee Reb Levi Yitschok Talks to God Sestina on the Dialectic A Song of Degrees Song of Innocence Sonnet Unrhymed Talisman in Seven Shreds That Legendary Eagle, Death Variation of a Theme Would That Three Centuries Past Had Seen Us Born

TRANSLATIONS Asks the World an Old, Old Question Come You Here, Philosopher Confession

1077 / Appendix B The Dance of Despair Hush! Hush! In the City of Slaughter Old Gold Seer, Begone Shall I Be a Rabbi? Song Thy Breath, O Lord, Passed Over and Enkindled Me War Note: For revisions to the Chassidic folk-songs see the introductory textual note.

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Appendix C Pages Which End with the Last Line of a Stanza or Verse Paragraph

5 29 31 37 39 52 65 68 73 85 91 115 116 125 130 *34 140 144 149

162 163 165 170 176 181 191 195 196 *97 198 199 200

151

239

^ 155 156 *57 158 159 160 161

201 208 209 233 234 237

243 247 250 251 266 267 269

275 284 291 295 303

455 465 470 471 475 476 478 480 488 489 490 493 494 498 499 505 510 5*3 5*7 518 531 532

534 537 538 542 568 569 573 581 600 602 604 607 608 610 613 614 617 624 629 632 635 636 637 641 642 646 647

655 656 657 662 663 666 667 678 680 685 688 689 694 698 701 702 727 728 730 738 745 746 749 750 751 752 753

754 755 756 766 772 791 797 800 801 802 804 805 806 807 808 809 812 813 814 815 819 820 822 825 826 827 829

836 842 844 845 850 851 852 855 856 857 864 866 868

Pages have not been listed in the case of stanzas which are numbered or which come at the end of numbered subsections.

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Index of Titles

O R I G I N A L POEMS Italics indicate subsections of long poems or of poetry sequences. Actuarial Report 2.607 Address to the Choirboys 2.613 Advice to the Young 1.85 Advice to Young Virgins 1.85 Aesthetic Curiosity 1.245 Afterword 1.82 Against Mammon, a Murmuring 1.242 Age Draws His Fingernail across My Brow 1.221 Ahasuerus 1.33 Air-Map 2.646 And in That Drowning Instant 2.608 And the Man Moses Was Meek 1.139 Anguish 1.191 Annual Banquet: Chambre de Commerce 2.678 Aphasia 1.42 Apologia 2.716 April Disappointments 1.86 April Fool 1.87 April Fulfilment 1.87 Arabian Love Song 1.155 Arbiter Bibendi 1.88 Arithmetic 1.249 Arrow of Aloofness 1.79 As to Quantum 2.708 Assurance 1.89 Astrologer 1.89

1082 / Index of Titles At Home 2.665 At the Sign of the Spigot 1.265 Autobiographical 2.564 Auto-da-fe 1.6 Autumn [c. 1928/1928] 1.63 Autumn [c. 1926/0. 1928] 1.90 Autumn Night 1.90 Ave Atque Vale [Version i] 1.191 Ave Atque Vale [Version 2] 1.193 Aye, but a Man's Reach 2.710 Baal Shem Tov 1.311 Babe in the Woods 2.709 Baldhead Elisha 1.280 Ballad for Unfortunate Ones 1.281 Ballad of Quislings 2.532 Ballad of Signs and Wonders 1.64 Ballad of the Dancing Bear 1.156 Ballad of the Days of the Messiah 2.533 Ballad of the Dream That Was Not Dreamed 2.534 Ballad of the Evil Eye 2.536 Ballad of the Hebrew Bride 1.269 Ballad of the Nuremberg Tower Clock 2.537 Ballad of the Nursery Rhymes 2.538 Ballad of the Thwarted Axe 2.539 Ballad of the Werewolves 2.541 Ballade of the Poet 1.44 Bandit 1.230 Barricade Smith: His Speeches 2.463 Basic English 2.615 Beatific Vision 2.710 Beaver 2.671 Benediction, A 1.172 Benediction for the New Moon, A 2.525 Benedictions 2.704 Bestiary 1.282 Betray Me Not. Treat Me As Scurvily 1.220 Biography 1.283 Bion in His Old Age 1.91 Bitter Dish, The 1.129 Black Decalogue 1.129 Blind Girl's Song 1.91 Blueprint for a Monument of War 2.453

1083 / Index of Titles Boredom 1.40 Bounty Royal 1.92 Bread 2.617 Break-up, The 2.646 Business 1.93 Caesar's Plagiarist 2.708 Calvary 1.195 Canine Felicity 2.711 Cantabile 2.701 Cantor 1.284 Captain Scuttle 1.285 Chad Gadyah 1.130 Childe Harold's Pilgrimage [Version i] 2.475 Childe Harold's Pilgrimage [Version 2] 2.480 Christian Poet and Hebrew Maid 1.140 Chronicler Continues, The 1.274 Club of Final Pain 1.81 Coloured Gentleman, A 1.93 Come Two, like Shadows 2.567 Commercial Bank 2.618 Composition 1.94 Concerning a Strange King 1.290 Concerning Four Strange Sons 1.291 Conjectures 1.67 Consider, Then, the Miracle You Wrought 1.226 Corrigendum 2.462 Counsel 2.712 Counting-out Rhyme 1.250 Coward in Consolation 1.83 Cripples, The 2.647 Cui Bono? 2.711 Dance Chassidic 1.148 Dark Cleopatra on a Gilded Couch 1.94 Dedication 1.6 Deed of Daring, A 1.292 Deja vu 2.710 Dentist 2.568 Desiderata 1.230 Desideratum 2.569 Design for Mediaeval Tapestry 1.195 Dial B and L 2.715 Dialogue 1.149

1084 / Index of Titles Diary of Abraham Segal, Poet 1.231 Discord of the Crow 1.95 Discovery of Spring 1.25 Dissolution 1.26 Divine Titillation 1.96 Doctor Drummond 2.655 Doctor Dwarf 1.292 Dominion Square 2.672 Doubt 1.75 Dress Manufacturer: Fisherman 2.679 Earthquake 1.239 Ecclesiastes 13 1.167 Elder Counsels Self-killing, An 1.270 Elegy [c. 1926/c. 1928] 1.96 Elegy [c. 1947/1947] 2.673 Elijah 1.202 Embryo of Dusts 1.187 Enigma 1.188 Epigrams [i] 2.708 Epigrams [2] 2.715 Epitaph [c. 1930/1930] 1.150 Epitaph [c. 1942/c. 1944] 2.626 Epitaph Forensic 1.37 Escape 1.44 Esther 1.34 Esther Hears Echoes of His Voice. 1.201 Et j'ai lu tous les livres 2.570 Etching 1.128 Exit 1.73 Exorcism Vain 1.204 Exultation 1.73 Ezekiel the Simple Opines. 1.199 Fable 1.97 Fairy Tale 1.294 Falstaff 1.151 'Farcie de Comme' 2.709 February Morning 1.97 Festival 1.239 Figure 1.98 Filling Station 2.680 Finale 1.76 Finis 1.98

1085 / Index of Titles First Sight 1.74 Five Characters 1.33 Five Weapons against Death 1.79 Fixity 1.128 Fons Vitae 1.188 For the Bride, a Song, to Be Sung by Virgins 1.172 For the Bridegroom Coming Out of His Chamber, a Song 1.171 For the Chief Physician 2.505 For the Sisters of the Hotel Dieu 2.648 Foreword 1.79 Fragment on the Death of Shelley 1.99 Frankly 1.99 Frigidaire 2.649 From Beautiful Dreams I Rise; I Rise from Dreams 1.227 From the Beyond 2.711 From the Chronicles 1.267 From the Japanese 2.713 Funeral in April 1.204 Gargoyle 1.100 Gestures Hebraic 1.168 Getzel Gelt 1.295 Gift 1.297 Girlie Show 2.571 Golem, The 2.572 Grace before Poison 2.505 Grain Elevator 2.650 Green Old Age, The 2.619 Greeting on This Day 1.142 Guardian of the Law 2.461 Guide to the Perplexed 1.189 Haggadah 1.129 Haman 1.35 Haunted House 1.68 He Communes with Nature. 1.238 He Considers the Factory Hands. 1.232 He Contemplates His Contemporaries. 1.237 He Eats at the Family-Board. 1.236 He Reads His Pocket-Edition of Shakespeare; and Luxuriously Thinks. 1.236 He Receives a Visitor. 1.234 He Rises. 1.231 He Travels on the Street-Car, and Reads over a Neighbour's Shoulder. 1.232 He Worships at the North-Eastern. 1.235

io86 / Index of Titles He Yawns; and Regards the Slogans on the Office Walls. 1.233 Heart Failure 1.42 Heaven at Last 1.246 Heirloom 1.298 Here They Are - All Those Sunny April Days 1.215 Heroic1.168 His Lordship 2.458 His Was an Open Heart 1.139 Histrionic Sonnet 1.100 Hitleriad, The 2.581 Holy Bonds 1.170 Homage 1.101 Home 1.75 Hommage 2.716 Hormisdas Arcand 2.681 / Shall Not Bear Much Burden When I Cross 1.228 Image Celestial 1.246 Immortal Yearnings 1.189 In Memoriam: Arthur Ellis [Version i] 2.557 In Memoriam: Arthur Ellis [Version 2] 2.559 In Memoriam: Arthur Ellis [Version 3] 2.561 In Re Solomon Warshawer [Version i] 2.493 In Re Solomon Warshawer [Version 2] 2.498 Inarticulate 2.713 Indian Reservation: Caughnawaga 2.641 Indictment 1.245 Initiation 2.709 Into the Town of Chelm 1.250 Invitation 1.101 Invocation to Death 1.174 Irony of Fourteen Blades 1.80 Isaiah Epicure Avers. 1.198 )ob Reviles.1.198 Johannus, Dei Monachus, Loquitur 1.267 Jonah 1.251 Jonah Katz 1.299 Joseph 1.72 ]udith Makes Comparisons.1.199 Junk-Dealer 1.138 Kalman Rhapsodizes 1.174 King Dalfin 1.300 King Elimelech 1.205

1087 / Index of Titles Kiss ..., A 1.5 Koheleth 1.132 Krieghoff: Calligrammes 2.682 La Belle Dame sans Merci 1.37 La Glorieuse Incertitude 2.460 Lamed Vav: A Psalm to Utter in Memory of Great Goodness 1.175 Landlord1.134 Last Will and Testament [Version i] 1.27 Last Will and Testament [Version 2] 1.27 Lay of the Lady, The 1.39 Legend of Lebanon 1.253 Les Filles majeures 2.683 Les Vespasiennes 2.627 Let Them Pronounce Me Sentimental 1.227 Letters to One Absent 1.102 Librairie Delorme 2.684 Library, The 2.620 Life and Eternity 1.5 Litany 1.103 Lockjaw 1.42 Lone Bather 2.685 Lookout: Mount Royal 2.686 Loosen the Drawbridge, Men! I Am Pursued 1.224 Lost Fame 1.176 Lothario 1.103 Love 2.573 Love Call 1.74 Lowell Levi 2.666 Lullaby for a Hawker's Child 1.301 Lunatic 1.42 M. Bertrand 2.651 M. le juge Dupre 2.687 Md Aleyk - No Evil Befall You 2.715 Madman's Song 1.302 Mais, c'est pas de mes oignons, ga! 2.716 Manuscript: Thirteenth Century 1.104 Market Song 1.176 Maschil of Abraham: A Prayer When He Was in the Cave 2.506 Mattathias 1.72 Meditation upon Survival 2.663 Messiah 1.240 Midnight Awakening 1.28

io88 / Index of Titles Momus 1.112 Monkey, The 1.36 Monsieur Gaston 2.688 Montreal 2.621 Mordecai 1.35 More's the Pity, The 2.711 Mountain, The 2.689 Mourners 1.264 Murals for a House of God 1.265 Mute Heraldry 1.246 My Dear Plutophilanthropist 2.574 My Literati Friends in Restaurants 1.228 Nahum-this-also-is-for-the-good Ponders.1.197 Narcosis 1.41 Nehemiah 1.177 New Version 1.75 Ni la mort ni le soleil 2.623 Nocturne 1.113 Nose Aristocratic 1.302 Not All the Perfumes of Arabia [Version i] 2.610 Not All the Perfumes of Arabia [Version 2] 2.611 Not from a Hermit's Grotto, nor Monk's Cell 1.222 Notary, The 2.656 Now We Will Suffer Loss of Memory [Version i] 1.168 Now We Will Suffer Loss of Memory [Version 2] 1.169 O God! O Montreal! 2.700 Obituary Notices 1.41 October Heresy 1.113 Of Beauty 2.467 Of Castles in Spain 2.473 Of Daumiers a Portfolio 2.458 Of Dawn and Its Breaking 2.464 Of Faith, Hope and Charity 2.467 Of Poesy 2.468 Of Psalmody in the Temple 2.466 Of Remembrance 2.488 Of Shirts and Policies of State 2.469 Of Soporifics 2.469 Of the Clients of Barnum 2.465 Of the Friendly Silence of the Moon 2.542 Of the Lily Which Toils Not 2.470 Of the Making of Gragers 2.707

1089 / Index of Titles Of Tradition 2.628 Of Violence 2.463 Old Dame Prates in Galilee, An 1.114 Old Maids 1.178 Old Maid's Wedding 1.206 On Examining a Bill of Fare 2.713 On the Road to Palestine 1.207 Once in a Year 1.129 Oracles of the Clock 1.29 Orders 1.114 Oriental Garden 1.178 Out of a Pit of Perpendiculars 1.115 Out of the Pulver and the Polished Lens 1.208 Palmam Qui Meruit 2.717 Parade of St. Jean Baptiste 2.691 Pastoral of the City Streets 2.694 Pathetic Fallacy 1.30 Pawnshop 2.575 Penultimate Chapter 2.577 Petition For That My Father's Soul Should Enter into Heaven 1.315 Philosopher's Stone 1.241 Pigeons 1.303 Pintele Yid 1.134 Plumaged Proxy 1.179 Poet to the Big Business Man, The 1.117 Polish Village 2.542 Political Meeting 2.657 Portrait 1.179 Portrait, and Commentary 2.666 Portrait of the Poet as Landscape 2.634 Portrait of the Poet as Landscape [Deleted section] 2.640 Portraits of a Minyan 1.134 Post-War Planning 2.629 Prayer against the Witnessing of Grief, A 1.83 Prayer of Abraham, against Madness, A 2.526 Prayer of Abraham That He Be Forgiven for Blasphemy, A 2.508 Prayer of the Afflicted, When He Is Overwhelmed, A 2.508 Preacher 1.151 Preface 1.118 Pride before Fall 1.246 Prince to the Princess in the Fairy-Tale, The 1.216 Probabilities 1.118

1090 / Index of Titles Prosecutor 2.459 Protest 1.62 Provinces, The 2.642 Psalm for Five Holy Pilgrims, Yea, Six on the King's Highway, A 2.509 Psalm, Forbidden to Cohanim, A 1.180 Psalm of a Mighty Hunter before the Lord, A 1.303 Psalm of Abraham, concerning That Which He Beheld upon the Heavenly Scarp, A 2.530 Psalm of Abraham concerning the Arrogance of the Son of Man, A 2.510 Psalm of Abraham of That Which Was Visited upon Him, A 2.510 Psalm of Abraham, Praying a Green Old Age, A 2.511 Psalm of Abraham, to Be Written Down and Left on the Tomb of Rashi, A 2.512 Psalm of Abraham, Touching His Green Pastures, A 2.513 Psalm of Abraham, Touching the Crown with Which He Was Crowned on the Day of His Espousals, A 1.181 Psalm of Abraham, When He Hearkened to a Voice, and There Was None, A 2.527 Psalm of Abraham, When He Was Sore Pressed, A 2.514 Psalm of Abraham, Which He Made at the Feast, A 1.173 Psalm of Abraham, Which He Made Because of Fear in the Night, A 2.515 Psalm of Horses and Their Riders, A 1.305 Psalm of Justice, and Its Scales, A 2.516 Psalm of Resignation, A 2.517 Psalm of the Fruitful Field 1.312 Psalm of Time and the Firmament, A 2.528 Psalm or Prayer - Praying His Portion with Beasts, A 2.531 Psalm, to Be Preserved against Two Wicked Words, A 2.517 Psalm to Teach Humility, A 2.518 Psalm Touching Genealogy, A 2.624 Psalm, with Trumpets for the Months, A 1.305 Public Utility 2.460 Quarrel 1.75 Quebec Liquor Commission Store 2.659 Rabbi Yom-Tob Harangues His God 1.272 Rather Than Have My Brethren Bend the Knee 1.241 Reader of the Scroll 1.137 Reb Abraham 1.134 Reb Daniel Shochet Reflects. 1.197 Reb Levi Yitschok Talks to God 1.243 Reb Zadoc Has Memories.1.196 Recollection 2.713 Reply Courteous 1.181

1091 / Index of Titles Request 1.119 Rev Owl 1.306 Reveille in Winter 1.120 Rheumatic1.41 Riddle 1.307 Ritual 2.716 Rocking Chair, The 2.644 Sacred Enough You Are 1.120 Saga the First 2.629 Saturday Night 1.213 Scatterbrain Singeth a Song 1.265 Scatterbrain's Last Song 1.275 Scholar 1.275 Scribe 1.213 Sennet from Gheel 2.543 Sentence 2.459 Sentimental 1.170 Sequence of Songs, A 1.73 Sestina on the Dialectic 2.662 Seventy Regal Moons, with Clouds as Train 1.218 Shadchan 1.136 Shechinah of Shadows, The 1.3 Shelley 1.120 Shiggaion of Abraham Which He Sang unto the Lord 2.519 Simeon Takes Hints from His Environs. 1.200 Sire Alexandre Grandmaison 2.696 Sleep Walking Scene 1.121 Sleuth 2.461 Sling for Goliath 1.81 Snowfall ... Eiderdown ... Cumulus ... 2.709 Snowshoers, The 2.652 Soiree of Velvel Kleinburger 1.183 Solomon Talmudi Considers His Life. 1.199 Song [c. 1926/c. 1928] 1.122 Song [c. 1929/1929] 1.130 Song before Winter 1.122 Song for Wanderers, A 2.528 Song of Degrees, A 2.520 Song of Exclamations 1.277 Song of Innocence 2.678 Song of Love 1.74 Song of Sweet Dishes 1.313

1092 / Index of Titles Song of Three Degrees, A 2.459 Song of Toys and Trinkets 1.278 Song That the Ships of Jaffa Did Sing in the Night, A 1.76 Song to Be Sung at Dawn 1.279 Song without Music 2.630 Sonnet in Time of Affliction 1.147 Sonnet of the Starving One 1.307 Sonnet Unrhymed 2.645 Sonnet without Music 2.474 Sophist 1.137 Soror Addita Musis 1.123 Speak Me No Deaths. Prevent That Word from Me 1.221 Spinning Wheel, The 2.660 Spinoza: On Man, on the Rainbow 2.714 Spring 1.123 Spring Exhibit 2.624 Stance of the Amidah 2.704 Still Small Voice, The 1.131 Strabismus 1.41 Style 1.245 Sugaring, The 2.653 Summer 1.124 Sweet Singer 1.138 Sword of the Righteous 1.80 Sybarite Though I Be 1.125 Syllogism 1.186 Symbols [1926] 1.31 Symbols [c. i926/c. 1928] 1.125 Tailpiece to an Anthology 2.631 Talisman in Seven Shreds 1.186 Technique 2.711 Tetragrammaton 1.187 That Legendary Eagle, Death 2.578 These Candle Lights 1.77 These Northern Stars Are Scarabs in My Eyes 1.223 Think Not, My Dear, Because I Do Not Call 1.217 This Is No Myth 1.126 This Is Too Terrible a Season! Worms 1.218 Threnody 1.43 'Tis Very Well to Parrot the Nightingale 1.222 To Forgive Divine 2.708 To Keats 1.4

1093 / Index of Titles To One Gone to the Wars 2.473 To the Chief Bailiff, a Psalm of the King's Writ 2.521 To the Chief Musician, a Psalm of Israel, to Bring to Remembrance 2.522 To the Chief Musician, a Psalm of the Bratzlaver, a Parable 2.486 To the Chief Musician: A Psalm of the Bratzlaver, Touching a Good Gardener 2.489 To the Chief Musician, a Psalm of the Bratzlaver, When He Considered How the Pious Are Overwhelmed 2.487 To the Chief Musician, a Psalm of the Bratzlaver, Which He Wrote Down As the Stammerer Spoke 2.491 To the Chief Musician, Al-Taschith, Michtam of Abraham; When One Sent, and They Watched the House to Kill Him 2.521 To the Chief Musician, Who Played for the Dancers 2.523 To the Chief Scribe, a Psalm of Abraham, in the Day of the Gladness of His Heart 1.170 To the Jewish Poet 1.77 To the Lady Who Wrote about Herzl 2.668 To the Prophets, Minor and Major, a Psalm or Song 2.524 Toreador 2.474 Town Fool's Song 1.308 Tremblement du coeur 1.74 Tribute to the Ballet Master [Version i] 2.631 Tribute to the Ballet Master [Version 2] 2.632 Universite de Montreal 2.697 Unveiling 2.712 Upon a Time There Lived a Dwarf, a ]ew 1.224 Variation of a Theme 2.579 Vashti 1.34 Venerable Bee, The 1.314 Visitation in Elul 1.126 Wandering Beggar 1.309 Were I to Talk until the Crack o' Doom 1.229 What Winter Has Said, Is Said 1.127 Where Shall I Find Choice Words 1.82 White Old Lady, The 2.661 Who Hast Fashioned 2.706 Why Do You Love Me, As You Say You Do1.216 Winter 1.32 Winter Night: Mount Royal 2.698 Wishing to Embarrass Me, but Politely 2.669 Within My Iron Days, My Nights of Stone 1.225 Without Your Love, without Your Love for Me 1.225

1094 / Index of Titles Wood Notes Wild 1.245 Words of Plauni-Ben-Plauni to Job, The 1.153 Would That Three Centuries Past Had Seen Us Born [Version i] 1.219 Would That Three Centuries Past Had Seen Us Born [Version 2] 1.219 Wrestling Ring 2.669 xxn Sonnets 1.216 Yehuda Halevi, His Pilgrimage 2.544 Yossel Letz 1.247 Young Man Moans Alarm before the Kiss of Death, A 1.271

TRANSLATIONS Akavyah ben M'halallel 2.860 And at My Prayers I Will Quiver 2.830 And This I Know 2.804 And When Messiah Will Come 2.831 And When One Burns - One Burns Brandy 2.819 And When Our Rebbe Walks 2.852 Asks the World an Old, Old Question 2.831 Autobiographical 2.805 Bar Yochai 2.862 Be There No Altar 2.780 Bear Thou, O Wind, My Love 2.768 Behold 2.784 Beneath the Burden ... 2.725 Better a Hebrew Teacher 2.827 Burglary, A 2.848 Canticum Canticorum 2.796 Charm 2.818 Chastisement of God, The 2.726 Childless One, The 2.789 City of Slaughter, The 2.733 Come, Gird Ye Your Loins, and in Might Robe Yourselves 2.727 Come You Here, Philosopher 2.817 Conceit Curious 2.799 Confession 2.809 Dance of Despair 2.752 Dance of Despair, The 2.749 Dawn 2.789 Eleventh: In Memory of Isaac, Son of the Tailor, The 2.792 Gifted One, The 2.793

1095 / Index of Titles Glory of the Homeland, The 2.782 Goats 2.806 God Grant My Part and Portion Be ... 2.728 God Willing, at the Rebbe's 2.836 Golden Parrakeet, The 2.824 Golden Parrot, The 2.798 Gone Is the Yesterday 2.829 How Fares the King? 2.856 Hush! Hush! 2.821 I Go upon the Balcony 2.825 I Sit Me Down upon a Stone 2.835 In God's Good Time 2.847 In the City of Slaughter 2.744 Kaddish, The [Version i] 2.721 Kaddish, The [Version 2] 2.722 Ki-Ki 2.797 King, A 2.807 King Rufus 2.808 Kings of the Emek 2.777 Kinnereth 2.788 Last Song, The 2.797 Last Will and Testament 2.800 L'chayim, Rebbe! 2.835 Levi Yitschok's Kaddish 2.840 Lord Has Not Revealed, The 2.730 Lord, Hele Me, Y-wis I Shal Be Heled 2.769 Lovely Am I, O Lovely, and Lovely Is My Name 2.834 Make Blind, O Sun of Jerusalem 2.780 Miracles and Wonders 2.859 M'laveh Malkeh 2.841 Mother Jerusalem 2.778 My Noddle It Is Humming 2.854 Myerka, My Son 2.838 No More Tears 2.802 Now Such Am I ... 2.787 O Dove beside the Water Brook 2.771 O Heighte Sovereign, O Worldes Prys 2.772 O My Mother Sent Me 2.828 O Site Most Kingly, O Royal Sanctum 2.724 O There, O There, Where Is Our Holy Rebbe 2.842 O Thou Seer, Go Flee Thee - Away 2.756 O What Do You Wish, My Dearest Child 2.832

1096 / Index of Titles Ode to Zion 2.769 Of the Ancient House of the Clinii [Version i] 2.866 Of the Ancient House of the Clinii [Version 2] 2.868 Old Gold 2.811 Omar Adoishem 1'Ya-akoiv! 2.860 On My Returning 2.732 On the Attic Sleeps a Roof 2.819 On the Hill, over the Hill 2.829 Once upon a Time; This 2.826 Our Rebbe [Version i] 2.853 Our Rebbe [Version 2] 2.854 Our Rebbe, the Miracle-Worker, Once 2.851 Oy, Our Rebbenu 2.836 Oy, Vey, Rebbenu 2.850 Portrait of the Artist 2.795 Prayer of a Physician, The 2.790 Prescription, The 2.765 Rachel 2.787 Reb Zorach 2.812 Rebbe Elimelech, The 2.862 Rebbe, He Wanted, The [Version i] 2.844 Rebbe, He Wanted, The [Version 2] 2.845 Rebbele, the Gabbai'le, the Cantor'l, the Shamash'l, The 2.857 Rubaiyat of Yehuda Halevi 2.773 Sabbath 2.785 Seer, Begone 2.755 Shall I Be a Rabbi? 2.816 Smoke 2.794 Song 2.813 Song of Wine 2.822 Speak to Your People, Therefore, in This Wise 2.815 Spirit Passed before Me, A 2.761 Stars Flicker and Fall in the Sky 2.764 Sunset 2.804 Tear Not Your Hair, My Sweetheart 2.818 Tell Me, Pretty Maiden, O Hearken Pretty Maiden 2.833 Tell Us, Rebbenu 2.849 Thou Hast Chosen Us 2.842 Thou Song, A 2.839 Thy Breath, O Lord, Passed Over and Enkindled Me 2.760 To Jerusalem the Holy 2.768 To L. Munatius Plancus 2.871

1097 / Index of Titles To Leuconoe 2.870 To Lydia 2.869 Train, The 2.855 Tsig, Tsigitsapel 2.858 Unfavoured 2.786 Upon the Highway 2.776 Upon the Slaughter 2.763 Vesomachto 2.865 War 2.814 We Are a Generation, Heaven-Doomed 2.800 We Ask Our Boarding-Mistress 2.822 What Is Loftier than a House? 2.833 When He Has Frolicked for a Little 2.834 When I Knead the Dough 2.825 When the Days Shall Grow Long 2.757 Where Our Good Rebbe Is to Be Found 2.843 Windows Are Grated, The 2.803 Wine 2.766 With Every Stone 2.781 Word, The 2.759 Yoma, Yoma, Play Me a Ditty 2.820 Yonder! Yonder! 2.864 Yoshka, Yoshka 2.850 You Walk upon Your Sunlit Roads 2.801

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Index of First Lines

O R I G I N A L POEMS A field in sunshine is a field 1.312 A fox 1.97 A goat a scholar, 1.275 A grotesque gargoyle on a grey 1.100 A little Jew lived in a little straw hut; 1.283 A microbe sewed his lips, this monger 1.42 A prowler in the mansion of my blood! 2.510 A shirt! a shirt! a kingdom for a shirt! 2.469 A song for hunters: In that wood, 2.505 A tradesman Getzel Gelt would be. 1.295 A whole long week it rained; and were it not 1.101 About the Crematorium where the Jews 2.678 Across my bed-room window pass 1.120 Age draws his fingernail across my brow. 1.221 Agnostic, he would never tire 1.134 Ah, Solomon, you sage who knew the language 1.176 Aleph, Bais, 1.240 All day the crows cracked sky-clefts with their caws. 1.90 All flowers that in seven ways bright 2.714 All he muttered was the same, 1.42 All honour to the memory of Alexander Graham Bell! 2.715 All week his figure mottles 1.138 All worship is doomed to schisms, heresies, 2.712 Amber opaque are autumn skies - 1.128 Among the penny arcades and the dime shows, 2.684 An aged king, his brittle shins in hose, 2.486 An ant shouldering a light straw; 1.246 And after I have slept for many a year 1.126

noo / Index of First Lines And all was void; and Spring sprang in undrest, 1.7 And as the orators, rewarded roars, scored, soared, bored And for the sake of you I am become 1.93 And in that drowning instant as 2.608 And now the smiles fall to the floor 2.712 And on that day, upon the heavenly scarp, 2.530 And these touched thunders, this delyredrum 2.543 And they have torn their garments; and have turned 1.80 And though I do not love you any more 1.99 And when he mentioned showers 1.87 And when they brought him back 2.701 And yet the doubt is hither-thither cast - 1.75 Another moon, and the penitential days 2.613 At length, the peasant, plodding from the woods, 2.542 At times, sensing that the golgotha'd dead 2.663 At unprehensile Time, all fingers clutch. 2.491 Autumn 1.206 Autumn 1.246 Autumn, you dement; you wrench from my throat 1.90 Avaunt the nightingale! Perish the rose! 1.168 Avrohom, Yitzchok, and Yaacov, patriarchs; 2.710 Baldhead! Baldhead! 1.280 Bannered, and ranked, and at its stances fixed 2.691 Bard, paying your rental of the ivory tower, 2.468 Be his memory forever green and rich, 1.311 Because the Lord was good to me, and gave 1.103 Because to Him in prayershawl, he prays, 1.236 'Behold the dreamer cometh!' ... They beheld 1.72 Behold the months each in their season: 1.305 Beneath this fretted roof, the knave, swag-bellied, 1.236 Betray me not. Treat me as scurvily 1.220 Between distorted forests, clapped into geometry, 2.694 Beware, - spiritual humankind, - 2.467 Big-bellied dewlapt grand vacuity ... 1.117 Black crows are pecking at the carrion 1.63 Blase nihilities encompass me, 1.40 Blessed art thou, O Lord, 2.706 Blessed the men this day, 1.233 Booted and armed, the frontier guard 2.536 Bring on the rich, the golden-dotted soup; 1.173 Brown are your eyes, as brown as the gazelle's, 1.155 Bundled their bones, upon the ninetynine stairs - 2.647

2.678

noi / Index of First Lines By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, we wept 2.522 Chivalric more than knight on charger black; 1.305 Christ is risen from the tomb ... 1.45 City of Toulouse, reign of King Philip: 1.181 Clients of Barnum, yours no even break! 2.465 Communists ask for more bank holidays. 1.232 Compute the plagues, your little finger dip 1.129 Concerning four strange sons, the Torah wrote: 1.291 Consider my speech, O Lord, not too severely; 2.508 Consider the son of man, how he doth get him knowledge and 2.520 Consider, then, the miracle you wrought. 1.226 Consider this creature, its peculiar pride, 2.510 Creation's crust and crumb, breaking of bread, 2.617 Cupid in a caftan 1.136 Dark Cleopatra on a gilded couch 1.94 Dawn! and I feel the light 1.97 Dead heroes ride the chariots of the wind; 1.77 Death, the peddler, came to my door this day. 2.521 Defeated 2.709 Dispose of every sting with some safe gnome 1.85 Divinely he sang the scriptured note; 1.137 Dizzy amidst a whorl of fingerprints; 2.461 Do you but say the word, and I will come, 1.101 Do you go to Venus, Love, 1.91 Does an owl appreciate 1.245 Dropped privily below the crotch of squares - 2.627 Elder, behold the Shunamite, the rumour of her face, 2.525 Elijah in a long beard 1.202 Emmerich, Count, of the stentorious voice 1.265 Enamort have I been of bleaseful Death, 2.579 Erudite, solemn, 1.306 Eternity is caught in this dead room. 1.29 Even if in the gutter you were lying dying of thirst 2.708 Even if your heart were stone, 1.89 Even in July it is our winter corner, 2.649 Evenings, they walk arm in arm, in pairs, - 2.683 Every burgher is a feaster; 1.64 Fat grows Stanislaus, Pan, whose 1.156 Fill the silver goblet; 1.130 First, the two older ones, the bunkhouse brawnymen, 2.642 Flaunting their canes, their jaunty berets, the students throng 2.697 Flowering jungle, where all fauna meet 2.618

iiO2 / Index of First Lines Footsteps are bringing beauty hither. She 1.74 For him to write a poem was to parse 1.120 For that he gave to the stone understanding to understand direction. 2.704 From beautiful dreams I rise; I rise from dreams 1.227 From crater of heart did there rise up a flame-tongue 1.5 From library to library I go - 2.570 From pastures green, whereon I lie, 2.513 From the fjord faring, striding the stream, 2.629 Geographers may mark Prague on the map 1.187 Go catch the echoes of the ticks of time; 2.488 God breathe a blessing on 1.282 God is grown ancient. He no longer hears. 1.198 Good friend, for Jesu's sake, forbear 2.626 Gown'd in ghostly mistiness, she stalks ... 1.121 Guerdon for wit is lavished in the realm; 2.487 Hard to be a Jew? 2.712 He gayly jaunted down the street, 1.42 He is a learned man, adept 1.134 He jaunted down the busy shopping street in natty style, 1.93 He lifts his middle-aged cabby-face from roots, 2.671 He quoted midrash and the psalms; 1.151 He reverenced no idol, nor of gold, 1.35 He stuttered when he spoke, and then 1.39 Heaven is God's grimace at us on high. 1.200 Heigh ho! the rooster crows! 1.279 Heigh-nonny-no! 1.275 Heil heavenly muse, since also thou must be 2.581 Here in a sudden meadow dropped amongst brick 2.672 Here lies a lawyer turbulent 1.37 Here they are - all those sunny April days! 1.215 His greeting is of the faith, like the muezzin's. 2.716 His mother's bribes, 1.247 His pillow knew all that he sigh'd; 1.41 His squinted eyes at strife, 1.41 His voice may tear the sky to shreds, 1.204 His was an open heart, a lavish hand, 1.139 Ho, maskers, fix your noses, strike a posture, 1.239 Holy, holy, holy, 2.459 Hormisdas Arcand, about to found a new party 2.681 How came this spectacled, this little Jew, 1.44 How have you become not that which once you were, 2.461 How is he changed, the scoffers say, 2.506

1103 / Index of First Lines How lividly he looks, obliviously! ... 1.35 How pleasant are the times and their cezannes, 2.624 How private and comfortable it once was, 2.646 How sweetly did he sing grace after meals! 1.201 How was I to know, those months in my mother's womb, 2.716 How will you phrase regret when I depart, 1.170 However, for bread and the occasional show, 2.640 I am no brazen face to hale the Lord 1.272 I am no contradictor of Cabbala: 2.569 I am not of the saints, O Lord, to wear 2.517 I eat; the ladle does not leave the bowl. 1.102 I have seen a lark 1.246 I must write my love a poem ... 1.94 I remember Summer by some symbols: 1.31 I remember the old Coltoon, circumciser, in action. 2.709 I said: Autumn 1.245 I said in my heart: 'I shall not love her more. 1.30 I shall no more complain; I shall not ask 2.517 I shall not bear much burden when I cross 1.228 'I think I hear a trumpet overhead. 1.239 I who have expiated life in cities, 2.511 I will make a song for you, 1.74 I will make him a little red sack 1.297 I would be happy if the Winter thawed, 1.87 I would not tell this to the man met on the street, 2.508 If ever I should love I would not pine 1.62 If golem is the effigy of man, 1.186 If I were Jove, I would gloat humouredly 1.112 If so, 1.75 If we will fast for forty days; if we 1.199 If you are joyous now, omit 1.79 If you would snare your lover, mesh 1.85 Impudent female! salvaged none knows whence; 2.668 In back-room dens of delicatessen stores, 1.183 In his wandered wharf on the brake side of the lake; 2.679 In one-armed restaurants where Cretan floors 1.235 In pairs, 2.648 In the fair summer-time when the ether doth quiver 1.3 In these prosaic days when lovers ask 1.151 Instructions to the stenographer: 2.453 Into his beard he laughs at the 1.292 Is this your Canadian poet, with the foreign name? 2.631

iiO4 / Index of First Lines It being no longer Sabbath, angels scrawl 1.213 It is an enchanted palace 1.307 It is to be wondered whether he ever really 2.655 It seconds the crickets of the province. Heard 2.644 It was a green, a many-meadowed county! 2.489 Jonah Katz 1.299 Judith had heard a troubadour 1.199 Kind you may be at least when I am dead, 1.27 Kind you may be at least when I am dead, 1.27 King Dalfin sat on his throne, the size of a thimble, 1.300 King Elimelech - 1.205 Koheleth, on his damasked throne, lets weary exhalation follow 1.132 La chair est triste, helas, et j'ai lu tons les livres. 1.237 Lead me to the mountain-top. 1.119 Lest grief clean out the sockets of your eyes, 1.142 Let me recall. What was that ancient night 1.100 Let me sink into a southern sea, 1.26 Let the blank whiteness of this page be snow 2.682 Let the storm rage; 1.68 Let them pronounce me sentimental. I 1.227 Liveth the tale, nor ever shall it die! 2.544 Look not askance, O Love, upon these gifts; 1.92 Loosen the drawbridge, men! I am pursued! 1.224 Loosen the tangles of the dark, 2.542 Lord, for the days allotted me, 2.526 Love is an ache 1.76 Love is become a memory, 1.75 Love, love, love, 2.573 M. le juge Dupre has all the qualities. 2.687 Madame, I see that you have indeed considered the ant, 2.716 Magic and strife and crapulence 1.125 Manikin, manikin, in your chair, 2.534 May none be called to visit this grim house, 2.575 May the sun wash your eyes; may you 1.277 Milady Schwartz, beloved of the boss, 1.234 Mr. Lowell Levy, finds it difficult to distinguish 2.666 Mud and mire of Moldau, that was the sperm 1.188 Muffle the wind; 1.114 My blood shouts very joyous news 1.73 My dear plutophilanthropist, 2.574 My father bequeathed me no wide estates; 1.298 My literati friends in restaurants - 1.228

no5 / Index of First Lines My suite is like a violin, so full 2.630 Named for my father's father, cousin, whose cry 2.673 Neither on death, nor at the blazing sun 2.623 Never let me behold her so again ... 1.81 Next to the cure, he is hierarch, 2.656 Nigh Lebanon, nigh lofty Lebanon, 1.253 No churl am I to carp at the goodly feres 1.191 No cock rings matins of the dawn for me; 1.231 No man is there but walks his long last mile; 2.557 No man is there but walks his long last mile; 2.559 No Melchizedek Parchment-Parched am I 1.193 No pulpit talk in ale-houses; no sermons 1.267 Nonetheless Ali Baba had no richer cave, 2.659 Not an editorial-writer, bereaved with bartlett, 2.634 Not from a hermit's grotto, nor monk's cell 1.222 Not sole was I born, but entire genesis: 2.624 Now finally, by way of corrigendum: 2.462 Now, in this terrible tumultuous night, 2.512 Now she awaits me at this time we made - 1.74 Now that the guards, in homage to our Lord, unbarred the 1.274 Now we will suffer loss of memory; 1.168 Now we will suffer loss of memory: 1.169 Nuremberg tower-clock struck one: 2.537 O bridegroom eager for the bride, 1.172 O city metropole, isle riverain! 2.621 O incognito god, anonymous lord, 2.519 O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall declare 2.704 O, not for furs, 1.303 O poet of the removeable glass eye - 2.709 O rooster, circled over my brother's head, 1.179 O sign and wonder of the barnyard, more 2.518 O the days of the Messiah are at hand, are at hand! 2.533 O think, my Love, of what we two will be 1.174 O tribune, tribune manque, passed over in favour 2.717 O weep your tears, you crocodiles! the great 1.43 'O what can ail thee, flashy sheik, 1.37 O, what human chaff! 1.96 O what is Helen, what is Guinevere 1.126 O what would David say, 1.138 O, when they laved my uncle's limbs 1.264 Of scabrous heart and of deportment sleek, 1.72 Of trope of testament and Caesar's wars 2.615

no6 / Index of First Lines Of yore yclept in old Judaea Zvi; 2.475 Of yore yclept in old Judaea Zvi; 2.480 Oh Autumn will come all too soon this year, 1.99 Oh, but in France they arrange these things much better! 2.651 On a little brown pony, a little boy rides 1.250 On bane big-bellied mothers feed; 1.265 On leather, beneath rafters, beside oak, 2.620 On the school platform, draping the folding seats, 2.657 On Wodin's day, sixth of December, thirty-nine, 2.493 On Wodin's day, sixth of December, thirty-nine, 2.498 Once in a year this comes to pass: 1.129 Once upon a time, in a land far far away, a marvellous 1.294 One comes: - he is a very blossoming tree - 2.509 One day the signal shall be given me; 2.516 Orange, citron, fig and date, 1.250 Orchids of music flutter from the keys. 2.665 Out of a pit of perpendiculars 1.115 Out of the ghetto streets where a Jewboy 2.564 Out of the yesterday, and ages gone 2.567 Pharaoh was plagued with lice and frogs, 1.313 Pity who wear the castoffs of the years, 2.619 Plump pigeons, who will buy? 1.176 Poltroons may fear the foeman, for such are less than cattle, 2.532 Prepare the inks, the red, the green, the black; 1.170 Prince Shlemozzle 1.302 Privy to the Eleusinian mysteries 2.711 Quails before manna? 2.713 Queen Esther is out walking in the garden, 1.34 Rather than have my brethren bend the knee 1.241 Rather than have my brethren bend the knee 1.242 Rather that these blood-thirsty pious vandals, 1.199 Reb Abraham, the jolly, 1.134 Reb Levi Yitschok, crony of the Lord, 1.243 Reb Zadoc's brain is a German town: 1.196 Remembering boyhood, it is always here 2.686 Rich and remote in panelled offices 2.666 Sacred enough you are. 1.120 Scars carved crescents 1.285 Seeing that planets move by dynamos, 2.467 Seeing three on the left side, and on the right three, 2.708 Seek reasons; rifle your theology; 1.198 Set in the jeweled fore-part of his crown 1.33

1107 / Index of First Lines Seventy regal moons, with clouds as train, 1.218 Shall he be sat on a wired electrical seat 2.629 She has laved her body in living water. She 1.172 Since motion was, there has been no such dance! 2.631 Since prophecy has vanished out of Israel, 2.527 Sleep, hungry child, within your crib. 1.301 Slowly, and flake by flake ... At the drifted frond 2.698 Smile never on the ugly ones; 2.711 'So have I spent a life-time in my search 1.241 Soft pious whisperings are drown'd 1.28 Solve me this riddle: Rumours are bruited 1.188 Somewhere a hungry muzzle rooted. 1.195 Somewhere above the innocent clouds there flies 2.578 Spare me, O Lord, if you will spare 1.83 Speak me no deaths. Prevent that word from me. 1.221 Spit spittle on the rose? fling gravel at 1.271 Starved, scarred, lenten, amidst ash of air, 2.653 Striking the melancholy attitudes 1.80 Strolling the Champs Elysee 2.713 Summer had raised herself 1.246 Sybarite though I be, I shall not rest 1.125 That man is too good: suspect his motives; 2.712 The ants repair to cooler galleries; 1.124 The badge of yellow scorn upon his chest, 1.179 The bat beats uncouth wings on mildewed rafters, 1.113 The beauty that my love wore all the seven 1.74 The benison of health will yet be theirs! 1.281 The better to understand Thy ways, 2.531 The birds twitter, excited, behind their copper wires. 2.713 The black phylacteries about his arm 1.213 The blue sea laps the Lesbian rock; 1.123 The candles splutter; and the kettle hums; 1.131 The carefully-evolved and cultured tribes 2.577 The chamberlain burst on the royal feast 1.34 The coffin-board has now been planed; 1.150 The crow upon the hawthorn bush 1.82 The famished one lies down to sleep, and dreams 1.307 The following are the proper instruments wherewith Haman 2.707 The great tycoon is dead. 2.716 The idealist 2.709 The incense, rising, curls the nostrils with its scent: 1.177 The inverted funnel pouring its light like alcohol 2.669

no8 / Index of First Lines The jolly icicles ringing in their throats, 2.652 The judges sat in their blood-red robes, 2.539 The law is certain; and the law is clear. 2.460 The leper counts his sores; 1.249 The man said nothing, nothing at all, but sat 2.713 This mirror libels me, and cavils at 1.103 The mole can burrow through the brain, 1.302 The moon 1.191 The moon in his head was a strain. 1.42 The moon is a golden hoop 1.75 The music of what sphere? 2.711 The nightingale proclaims no creed; 1.140 The noble Antony 2.708 The nozzle of the earthworm meets 1.122 The old Jews greet the moon 1.174 The old maids think of couches cold i' the moon; 1.178 The paleface mutters: Lord God is a myth; 1.189 The panic jangles repeated themselves every year. 2.661 The paunchy sons of Abraham 1.208 The pigeons coo among the eaves, 1.303 The pimp, he pays his fine and costs, 2.460 The planetary motion of the blood, 2.568 The prince to the princess in the fairy-tale, 1.216 The prisoner confessed most willingly. 2.459 The royal wrapping of your poem embrace 1.6 The sea clutches her hair in grief, 1.96 The shamash of the glade, 1.314 The ship leaves Jaffa, treasure in its hold: 1.76 The sky is dotted like th' unleavened bread, 1.128 The snow-flaked crystal stars fall fast - 1.67 The soul of a squirrel 1.98 The stone slabs of milady's walks 1.122 The street is great festivity; 1.73 The sun goes down, and slowly there appears 1.89 The thin and delicate etching of Jack Frost 1.123 The time has come; the brooks begin to break 1.25 The toad seeks out its mud; the mouse discovers 1.197 The tongue has faltered. Hence, revoked the demons, 1.204 The town fool sat on the top o' the roof, 1.308 The two false coins in my copper pot 1.91 The two shawl-covered grannies, buying fish, 1.149 The word of grace is flung from foreign thrones 1.147

1109 / Index of First Lines The worm doth make the earth a labyrinth 1.167 The wrath of God is just. His punishment 1.197 The young men with the sparse beards laud the bride; 1.171 There lies a corpse upon your memory, plus 1.81 There was a Jewish bandit who lived in a wood, 1.230 There was a mad monarch 1.290 There was a youth in Nazareth, 1.114 There's not a man but must at last go up 2.561 These be repasts lethean of your kind: 2.469 These northern stars are scarabs in my eyes. 1.223 These robbers filched electricity: 2.459 These were but innuendo: 2.700 These were the ones who thanked their God 2.523 They are upon us, the prophets, minor and major! 2.524 They do lie heavily upon me, these 2.466 They quacked and they cackled, 1.284 They smote us hip and thigh; 2.712 They suck and whisper it in mercury, 2.646 Think not, my dear, because I do not call 1.217 This globe, this world, this onion of humanity! 2.716 This is a curious plot 1.130 This is a tale of a deed of daring: 1.292 This is the bread of our affliction, this 1.129 This is the golem. 2.572 This is the man who brought to me 1.181 This is the seventh time this week 1.86 This is too terrible a season! Worms 1.218 This last July a crazy caterpillar 1.245 This last week I have shunned mortality; 1.79 This little Jew 1.139 This mirror libels me, and cavils at 1.103 This spinster neither spins 2.710 This, then, is over ... I will take each paper 1.98 This wrist 1.5 Thou dost not know thy deeds, O Job, when thou 1.153 Thou settest them about my bed, 2.515 Thou wast not born to live thy life on earth - 1.4 Three things I long to see: 1.230 Three werewolves on a deadman's chest! 2.541 Throwback and atavism of Mizraim: 2.710 'Tis very well to parrot the nightingale, 1.222 To sleep, perchance to dream. Where there is smoke 1.189

mo / Index of First Lines To the perfume that the rose dreams of, 2.710 Twilight is about to come. 1.178 Twist each side-curl; form the symbol 1.148 Under a humble name he came to us; 1.175 Undoubtedly terror may through the widened eyes 2.610 Undoubtedly terror may through the widened eyes 2.611 Unfurl the scarlet banner, Toreador, 2.474 Unsheathe the blade; transgress your nail 1.270 Until a wiser method entered my 1.113 Unworthiest crony of my grammar days, 2.473 Unworthy even to utter His slightest name, 1.315 Up from the low-roofed dockyard warehouses 2.650 Upon a day, and after the roar had died, 2.538 Upon a time there lived a dwarf, a Jew. 1.224 Upon the ecstatic diving board the diver, 2.685 Upon the piazza, haemophilic dons 2.474 Upon the road to Palestine 1.207 Upon these trees was Autumn crucified ... 1.195 Was it not kindled a million years ago 2.528 We, the undersigned 2.607 Well may they thank thee, Lord, for drink and food: 2.505 Were I to talk until the crack o' doom, 1.229 What a piece of work is man! the paragon 1.232 What does the word mean: Violence? 2.463 What is this seasonal nonentity? 1.32 ... What men or gods are these? What maidens loth? 2.571 What scrofulous ashes upon sack-cloth, what 1.187 What shall I say to you in that grim hour? 1.83 What toys shall I buy my little lad? 1.278 What was the song the gypsy sang 2.528 'What wit, what wonder, winged words work!' 2.711 When fishes soared, and forests danced, 1.36 When I in prayer beseech thy benison, 2.521 When, on the frustral summit of extase, 2.645 When Sire Alexandre Grandmaison, Seigneur of Biche, 2.696 When will there be another such brain? 1.137 When you will read this then-archaic rune 1.118 Whenever he wanted some sleep 1.41 Where are the braves, the faces like autumn fruit, 2.641 Where now that tree is, they say, once a man 1.118 Where once the butterfly was seen 1.95 Where shall I find choice words to mention Sorrow 1.82

mi / Index of First Lines Where will you be 2.464 Wherefore, upon the twenty-seventh May, ten hundred 1.267 Who can fail to admire the 2.711 Who coming from the synagogue 1.180 Who envies not this beggar, who 1.309 Who has not heard of Blanche the beautiful, 1.104 Who knows it only by the famous cross which bleeds 2.689 Who remembers not this eminently capable man, 2.458 Why do you love me, as you say you do, 1.216 'Why do you set the candlesticks, 1.269 Winter has said what it has said: 1.127 Wishing to embarrass me, but politely, 2.669 With my own eyes I saw it, I who loved my father 2.628 With snakes of rubber and glass thorax, 2.680 Within my iron days, my nights of stone, 1.225 Within the meadow on the mountain-top 1.238 Within the whale's belly 1.251 Without your love, without your love for me, 1.225 Would that the Lord had made me, in place of man-child, beast! 2.514 Would that three centuries past had seen us born! 1.219 Would that three centuries past had seen us born! 1.219 Yes yeasts to No, and No is numinous with Yes. All is 2.662 You can find it only in attics or in ads, 2.660 You cherished them as ancient gems, those tears 1.77 You fear me; and with good reason. 2.713 You have excelled yourself, cher maitre! 2.632 You remember the big Gaston, for whom everyone predicted 2.688 You, Tillie the Toiler and Winnie the Worker, consider 2.470 You well deserve my complimental gesture 1.88

TRANSLATIONS A curious thought: As I gaze on my pen, 2.799 A ghost of stubble, a leaf that flutters 2.732 A jug of water in the hand, and on 2.789 A spirit passed before my face, it dazzled me; for an 2.761 Akavyah ben M'halallel sayeth: 2.860 And at my prayers I will quiver, 2.830 And do you rejoice upon your feast-day, 2.865 And it shall come to pass when the days shall grow long 2.757 And this I know: It is a devil's play, 2.804

1112 / Index of First Lines And when Messiah will come 2.831 And when one burns - one burns brandy, 2.819 And when our Rebbe walks, 2.852 Arise, and go now - go to the city of slaughter! 2.744 Arise and go now to the city of slaughter; 2.733 Asks the world an old, old question: 2.831 At last I tore me from their fetters; 2.805 At my Rebbe's, there did happen, there did happen 2.848 Bar Yochai, Bar Yochai, Bar Yochai, 2.862 Be there no altar, then upon high places 2.780 Bear thou, O wind, my love 2.768 Behold my country - the carcass of a savage, 2.784 Beneath the burden of your love, 2.725 Better a Hebrew teacher 2.827 Beyond the farthest oceans 2.807 Come, gird ye your loins, and in might robe yourselves! 2.727 Come you here, philosopher, 2.817 Cry, Muppim and Huppiml Strike blows on your drums1. 2.752 Even as a great country withers, and goes to rot, 2.811 Fling, O prophet, the coal of fire from thine altar; 2.759 'Fly! Run away!' Not such as I do run. 2.756 Flying he comes, the little dwarf Ki-Ki 2.797 For whom am I these things recounting? 2.809 From a foreign land has fluttered hither 2.824 From him whom Love's sweet anguish now destroys, 2.773 Gewald! Gewald! Gewald! Gewald! Gewald! 2.836 God willing, after Sabbath 2.855 Gone is the yesterday 2.829 Good liquor, prized and ever unshent, 2.822 Good morning to you, Reboinoi shel Olam! 2.840 Grieving for them, thy captive sons who are 2.769 Heavenly spheres, beg mercy for me! 2.763 Her blood flows in my blood; 2.787 Hush! Hush! let a silence fall 2.821 I am not favoured with the arms 2.786 I go upon the balcony 2.825 I have left my comrades, and the four ells of my youth I have 2.778 I know the path of camels in the sand; 2.776 I sit me down upon a stone; 2.835 In God's good time, and the Messiah appearing 2.847 In sooth, what savoure hath now food for me? 2.768

iii3 / Index of First Lines It may be these things never did occur. 2.788 L'chayim, Rebbe! A happy week to you! 2.835 Let the Bureaux de Tourisme and Chambers of Commerce 2.871 Like an arrow shot 2.766 Little goat, little colt, pussy-cat, 2.818 Lord, hele me, y-wis I shal be heled! 2.769 Lovely am I, O lovely, and lovely is my name; 2.834 Make blind, O Sun of Jerusalem, and shrivel 2.780 Meek of the earth, humble in wit and works, 2.728 Muppim and Huppim! Strike blows on your drums! 2.749 My noddle it is humming 2.854 Myerka, my son, Myerka, my son, O Myerka, my son - 2.838 Neither in the dreams of my nights has the Lord revealed 2.730 Not Abraham did this altar build; 2.792 Now such am I; as quiet 2.787 O, brother, say, 2.841 O do you know the land where the citron's growing 2.864 O dove beside the water brook 2.771 O heighte sovereign, O worldes prys 2.772 O my mother sent me 2.828 O site most kingly, O royal sanctum, 2.724 O there, O there, where is our holy Rebbe 2.842 O there, O there, where our good Rebbe is to be found, 2.843 O what do you wish, my dearest child, 2.832 Of the ancient house of the Clinii, prince, 2.866 Of the ancjent house of the Clinii, prince, 2.868 On the attic sleeps a roof, 2.819 On the hill, over the hill 2.829 Once upon a time; this 2.826 Our Rebbe, he went forth into the desert 2.854 Our Rebbe, the Miracle-Worker, once 2.851 Our Rebbe went into the desert 2.853 Oy, our Rebbenu! Gewald, our Rebbenu! 2.836 Oy, vey, Rebbenu 2.850 Rabbi Joshua ben Chananya polishes needles, 2.812 Rabosai, Rabosai, scholars for this task: 2.856 Reboinoi shel Olam 2.839 Said the Lord, the Lord, to Jacob - 2.860 Sanct and exaltate 2.721 Sanct and exaltate in the world which to his will he 2.722 'Seer, begone!' One of my kind flees not! 2.755

iii4 / Index of First Lines Set me in breaches of the wall, with stone; 2.781 Shall I be a rabbi? 2.816 Since men ceased to put their faith in God, 2.797 Small freckles constellate my face; 2.795 Speak to your people, therefore, in this wise: 2.815 Stars flicker and fall in the sky, 2.764 Summoned to attend this beautiful lady, eight days ailing, 2.765 Tear not your hair, my sweetheart, 2.818 Tell me, pretty maiden, O hearken pretty maiden 2.833 Tell us, Rebbenu! 2.849 The chastisement of God, is this His curse: 2.726 The funnels of the ship have ceased to smoke. 2.785 The Lord, He endowed him with herds and with flocks, 2.793 The moon set; the sky darkened; and the stars 2.782 The Rebbe comes, 2.859 The Rebbe, he wanted to go to the city 2.844 The Rebbe wished to journey up to the city, 2.845 The Rebbele, the Gabbai'le, the Cantor'l, the Shamash'l - 2.857 The sun goes down. 2.804 The sun will climb over and under the hill, 2.798 The windows are grated, 2.803 There are no more tears, 2.802 There lie two goats 2.806 They are still full of wrath, the many gods, 2.814 This is the one taboo - to think of to-morrow! 2.870 This song is greater than all others: 2.796 Thou hast chosen us from among all nations, 2.842 Thy breath, O Lord, passed over and enkindled me. 2.760 To a king who had 2.808 To Thee, O great Arcane, 2.790 Up from the chimney of the crematory 2.794 We are a generation, heaven-doomed, 2.800 We ask our boarding-mistress - 2.822 What have you done to the man, Lydia? What kind of love is it 2. What is loftier than a house? 2.833 What is the crown of kings, and what the glory 2.777 When he has frolicked for a little 2.834 When I knead the dough 2.825 When I will die, then let my hearse 2.800 When our Rebbe Elimelech 2.862 Who maketh a statement, he, he must prove it! 2.858 World, I would take and lift thee up - 2.813

iii5 / Index of First Lines Would that I had a little boy, 2.789 Yoma, Yoma, play me a ditty, 2.820 Yoshka, Yoshka, harness the horse, and 2.850 You walk upon your sunlit roads 2.801