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HE CAN

ELECED CAN

CLLECED HRER PEM

CLLECED EARLY PEM

Edited Michae Jhn King ELECED PEM 1908-59

HE RANLAN F EZRA PUND

Induced Hugh KennePHCLE'ELERA

vesin Eza PundLERARY EAY F EZRA PUND

Edited S. Eit ELECED PRE 190965

Edited Wiiam CknELECED LEER F EZRA PUND 90741

Edited D D Paige

'·



A B C of Reading

by

ZRA OUND

fb fbLONDON· BOSTON



Fst pubshed n 1934by George Rouedge Lmted

New edon pubshed n 1951by Faber an d Faber Lmted

3 Queen Square London WC lN 3AU paperback edon rst pubsed n 1961

Ressue 1991

Pnted n Great Bn by Cox & Wyman Ltd, Readng Berkshre

lrgh reseed

Copyrgt the Ezr Pound L te Propey T 1934 1951

ok so suea t the ntion tht it sh not, w� ofto othee b t, ro hired out

othee crted without the publh' pr nst in n of binding or oth thn tht in whh it is

publh nd wthout simir ton in ung th

tn ng ios on the suut pus

A CIP rcord for ths bk is aviabe from the Brish braISBN 0 57 05892 2



Contents

ABC

OW TO STUDY OTRY

WARNING

1CHAPTR ON

Laboratory ConditionsIdeogrammic Method

CHAPTR TWO

What is Literature?hat i the Ue of Laguage?

CHAPTR THR

CHAPTR FOUR

PtB 911

13

17

23

26

28

28

29

32

36

Compass, Sextant, or Lanmark41

CHAPTR FIV 50

CHAPTR SIX 58

CHAPTR SVN 62

CHAPTR IHT 63

Test nd Composition Ex erie 6

Second Set 66

Further Tests 68

Bis 71

Liberty 77

Exercie 77

XIXth Century 78

Study 79

Perception 81

The Insuctor83

Taste 86

DISSOCIAT

DICT= CONDSA 92

7



bitFo PioxStyle of a Pod Table of DatOtr DatTo RcpitulatWt

TB.TIS OK T

8

J• 9 532

35 3 8 92

9



AB

Or gus ssum, fr thos whmght k t . h bk ntadrss to tos wh hv rrv t f

nowlg of th subjct wtout knwing te fact



H Sudy PyTHE present book is intended to meet the need for fuller

and simpler explanation of the method outlined in How toRed. Ho o Rd may be considered as a controvers

pamphlet summarizing the moe actie or spiky parts of

te autor's ealier citial skmising, and taking countof an enemy. Te pesent pages should be ipersona

enoug to sere as a text-book The author hopes to

follow te tadition of Gaston Pais and S. Reinah tat is

to produce a text-oo tat can also be read for pleasu

as well as po y tose no longer in school; by those who

hae not been to shool or by those who in their collegedays suered those tigs wih most of my own enera

tion suered

A private word to teachers and professors will be found

toward the end of the volume. I am not idly sowing torns

in teir path. I sould like to make even their lot and ife

more exhilaating and to save een them from necessaboredom in class-room

1



Warning1 T longish dull stetch shortly fte the gn• f th ook. Th studnt wi hv to endu it I m tt plc trying by l mns to void mbiguity, in

p of sving th studnt's time lter

Glo d solemnity e enely out of plce in v mst igoous study of n t orginaly intnded to ld th hert of mn

Gvity, mystius crig of t

body t concl th defects of the mndLAURENCE STRN

3 T hsh tetmnt e ccorded nume ftoio wits is not imlss, ut proceeds om :ncovictin tht the ony wy to keep th est writng

c, o t mk t st poety popu', ytic seprtion f th st o gret mss of witin tt s n long considd f vlu, tht hs vightd cicul, nd tt to b lmd fo t veco cnt id t ood k must ofcssity dull on

c csic us it cfoms t ct 1l uls, r ts r denitons (of whic it

3



autho ha qte poaly nee ead) It s classc e

ause o a cetan etenal and epessle eshss

Italan state examne jolte y my eton o Caalcant, expessed admaton at the almost ulta

oenty o Gudos language

gnant men o genus ae contntly dsoeng

laws o at wc t acadmcs a slad o dden

he autos concton on ts day o Ne Ye s tat

usc gs to atophy wen t epats too a om th

ance that poety egns to atopy en t gets too a

om mus ut ts must not e taen as mplyn that

algoo musc s dance musc o all poety lyc Bach and

Moat a nee too a om physcal oeent

unc est endum

Nunc pede leo

Pulsana tells

14



EIN E



Chapter One

We live an age of science and of abudance ca

and eveence fo hooks as suc, pope to an age wen ook as duplicated unil someone took te pains to copyit out b and, obiousl no longe suied to 'e nof society o to te consevaton of leing Te weedeis supemel needed te Gden of e Muse to peias a gaden

T pope METHOD fo uding poe and goo lettes e eod of contempoa biologist, tat isael st-and examintion of te matte and continuCOMPARION of one 'slide o spcime wit anote

No man equipped fo moden g untl e aundestood te anecdote of Agassiz and te s:

A post-gaduate sudent equipped it onous and di lomas went o Agassiz o eceive te nal and isin

touces Te geat man oeed a small s nd tol to descibe it

Pos-Gaduae Student: 'Tats onl a sunsAgassiz: 'I know tat Wite a desciption of itAe a fe minues te suden euned wit t de

iption of te cus eliodiplodokus, o watev t

sed t conceal te common suns om vlg kn• ledge, family of eicteinkus etc, as fod ttooks of te sbject

17



here was goo deal o care for termnology and thegeneral exacttude n the ue of bstract term may hve een (probaby was} hgher.

I mean a mediaeval theologian took care not to dee adog in terms that ould have applied just a well to a dogstooth or its hde, or the noise it makes when lappng water;

ut all your eacherswl tel you that science developedmore rpidly afte acon had suggested the drect eamnation of phenomena and after ileo and others had

topped dscussing things o much and had begun really to ook at them and to nv€t means (lke the telescope) of seeing them better

he most useful livng member of the Huxley mlyhas emphasized the fact that the telescope wasn't merelyan idea, but that it was very dentely a techncal acieve·ment.

By contrst to the method of abstractio or of denngthngs n more and stll more general terms Fenollosaemphasies the method of science, whch is the method of poetry ' as dstinct om that of phlosophc dscussio nd is the way the hnese go about it in ther ideographor abbrevated picture wing.

o go back to the begnng of story you robayko that there is spoken language and witten languageand tht there are two nds of writte language one sed o sound ad the other on sight

You sak to an amal wth a few sle oise ad20



e Levy-Bruh ccou o rive a Aic rcord auae that e still ond u im·

c ad ete

e Etian ally used reiated ice o rereet onds but the Chiese til e areied ic re A ictures that i to say Chiee ideora doe ot to e the pictur of a od or o e a rite i ecalin a sound but it is til the icture o a thig; o thin i a ive ositio or reato or of a comiatio o ts It man the tng or he action or situao or qait erae o te severa ins that it ic

Gaudier Breska who wa accustoed to oo at he re ae o thgs cold read a certai mot o Chiesewt witout ANY STUDY. e aid • O coeyou can see its horse (or a wig or hatever)

I abes showing prmitive Chinese character n oecon and the preset coventioalied is i aotheryoe can see o the ideoram or n or ee or nrisedeveoped or wa ipied om or a reduced o teeetia o the t icte o t or urie

Tu

A

*e

•

a

tree

n

sun tangled n the tree raches as

at unrise eaning o he Et

Bu he the Cam aed o e icte 21



something more complcad, or of a general idea, how did

h go abou i?

He is to dne red. How can h do it in pict that

is't paned n red pan?

He pus (or his ancestor put) togthr th abbreviatd

pictrs of

ROSE CHERRY

IRON RUST FLA MINGO

Tha, you se, is very much he kind of hing a bioloist

does (in a very much mor compicaed way) when he gets

togeher a few hunded or housand slides, and picks out

what is cessay for his genera saemen. Somethng that ts the case, that appies in a of the cases.

h Chinese ord or ideogram for red is basd o

something everyone KNOWS.

If ideogram had devoped in Engand, th writrs

would possiby have subsituted the fro side of a robi,or something ess exoic han a amingo.)

Feoosa was tling how ad why a anguage writ i

ths way simpy HAD TO SAY POETIC; simpy coudt

p bng and staying poetic in wa tha coum o

Es t might v w ot sta poetic.

H d bfo getting od to puishing and pro

c a mtod'.

22



Ths is nvertheess the RIGHT WAY o tudy poet,

or iterature, or paintin. It is in fact he way the mor

inteignt mmbrs of the g eneral public DO stud

painting. If you want o nd out somhin aout pai nting ou go to the Nationa Galery, or the Salon Carr, or th

Brera, or the Pado, and LOOK at th pictures.

For every reader of book on a, 1,000 peope go to

OOK at the paintngs. Thank haven!

LABORAORY CONDITIONS

SERIES of concideces has prmitted me (1933) to

demostra the How to Read thesis in a medium nearer to

poetry than painng is. roup of serious musicians

Gerart Mnch, Oga Rudg, Lui Sansoni), a town ha

at our disposition (Rapao), we prsented among ohthings the folowng pogrammes:

Oct. 10.

From he Chesotti MSS. Mnch transcription: Fra·

cesco da Milano: Cazoe de U cclli ', rcast om

Janquin.Giovanni Trzi: Sui di Bao.

Corei: Sonata in La ma j., to violins ad piano.

J. S. Bach. Sonata in Do maj. dito.

Debussy: Sonaa pr piano e voino.

Dec.5.

Coezion Chisotti: Svri: due Arie.

Rocai: Predo

igua, Passacag

23



ence (omitng vaiou intemeiate tep) • . encete almot tationa conition of nolege tougoutte idle age Abtat agument int get manind

apil foa o apil extend te boe of no ledge

THE IDERAMMI METHD R TE

METD F SIENE

a paintig b alo Dolci beie a omo TuaYou annot pevent M Buggin fom pefeing te f·

me but ou an ve eioul ee etting up afale taitin of teaing on te aumptin tat Tua

a neve ete o tt te qitie te Tua e nnetent o outide te ope of te pble

A gene tatement i valule l in REFERENEto te non objet o fact

Een te geneal tatement of an ignoant mn itue it leae mout o pen itout an geat

valiit e oent KNW at e i ag Tat i e

doent n it o mean it in anting lie te egee tata man of expeience ould o oe Tu a ve oung man cn be que 'igt tout rg onvition to an ol man ong an o ma quite el be ong

and til no a goo eal tt te unge man oentno

ne of te pleaue of dle age i to out tat oneWAS igt an tat one a mu igte tan one ne

at a eventeen o tetee

26



Ti ent n te lt le t t ue f lg o ogoo guee of ntuton and total peeption o of eeing o te tg HA T BE

It a oeve a goo l to o it te eienc of vebl mnettn an t te tanttablit of aconiion

27



Two

What s ltrur, ht u t??

Ltrtr is lagag hargd th maniGrat ltratr is simpl lagag argd wit

maig to th tmost possibl dgr (E. P. i How to

d).

Bt langaSpokn or writtnSpokn languag s nois dividd p ito a sstm of

grts hisss t. Th all it 'artilat sph.

Artilat mas that t is zod ad that a nmbrof popl ar agrd o th atgors.

That s to sa w hav a mor or lss appromatagrmet abot th dirt noiss rprstd

a b d t.

Writtn lagg as I said i th oping haptr n consist as i Erop t) of sgs rprsnting thsearios noiss.

hr is a mor or lss approximat agrmnt thatroups of ths oiss or signs shal mor or lss orrspondith som ojt aton or ondito.

cat motion pin

he othr ind o lnguae strts by bn a pcte o28



e cat or of somthing movig or bin or of a group o tings whh o ndr crtain irmstns, or ic partipat a ommon quality.

PPROACH

I dosnt i or otmporar world so mh mattr whr o bgi th xamato of sjt so lon as o kp o tl o gt rond again to or startig

poit As t wr o start on a sphr or a b; yo must kp on ntil o hav sn it from ll sids. Or

yo thik of or sbjt as a stool or tal o mst kpon ntl it has thr lgs ad wll stad or for lgs and wot tip ovr too as.

WHAT s th USE OF LAGUAGE? WHY STUDYLITERATURE

LN was oviosl ratd ad is obviouslyUSED for ommnatio.

Ltrat s nws that STAYS nws.

Ths thngs ar mattrs of dgr. Yor ommniation ca mor or lss xat. h ITERES in a statmnt can mor or lss dral.

aot for xampl war ot m itrst n th TaHo of Cofis or i th Homr poms.

It s vr dilt to rad th sam dttiv sor tir lt u sa o a vry good t wl stand r-radinftr a vr long intrval and bas on as pid eo

29



ltt attto to it that o ha lot oltl for·gott t

Th ao ar atral hoa th r aargro or itrt For o to ol ar

th ar tal Th rt ho ot a a roal tatt in r

art h hlf ha a rl a rlalt H ot a arr bt a ratr of othr

rltKRINO to pick outfor onesel, to choose. hat hat

th wor a

o o o fooh �oh to a to o a hor or atool for h

Pallo t hor o that o rr th atg a h D of Mla t h to Boloa toU hor

Wh a lar of hor at al i

th t of ltratr a ha ala b bo orho

Pallo ha to OOK at th horo wol th that ao at to ko at otr wol o o of to thg or both E OOK T t or lt to t H ght th aot t?

f h t a h wol go to oo hoKE othg abot t

If o at to kow othg abot a atool wol o o to a a who ha a o a r t or to ma who ha rl har abot t

30



of to ho ha a atool ol ogo to o ho ha a a goo o or o ho ha aa both

ol o look at th atal ar or ol at t a

to?

th a of ot thr or to b a gooal to b look at thr to r fw ah

t ato aalal

Dat a: • A azo a ooto of or t to

ot ko a bttr ot to tart fro

Colrg or D Q a that t qat of a'grat ot rhr rt a ohr bl a att xtt or othg of that ort

Th ol a or agro -ot t roal tr

Dat• tatt th ttr la to bg ba ttart th rar or harr o hat h atall or har ta of tratg h fro that atalt to othg hh a ol b aroxatl orojt FROM th atalt a for hh thvdenc a b othg a th atla a lt

tt of th atalt



,

Chap ter Three

1

terate does ot exist in vcuum Writers uve enite scia cti excy proportione t ei

iity AS WRITERS T i thei main se Al ther ses are relave temrry, nd can be estimte y in reain t e vies f rticul estimtor

Pa f particu ie may vlue writers hgree with them more thn writers who do not, the m,nd en do vale bad writers ·of ther own party r

religin more than god writers f nother part r chrchBt there i ne basis suscptble f estimti a

nepenet of aquestion f viewpointd wrters re thse wh kee the nguge eciet

t i t sa, kep it ccute kee t ce It esn't

er hether the good writer wnts t e use r

eer the bd witer wants t do hmLnuage i the main means f humn ommuicai

H ms ervos system oe t amt se

stimi the nim aphies

If 's iterture eclines, the nio phies

y

Yu etr c't egite fr the puli g ymmner c't ommn y opuce (if yu be

emai y) 't insuct its representtve've y guge

32



The fogged language of sndling classes serves ny temporar pups.

A limited amount f mmunicaton in re special sub-

jects, passes ia mathematical formulae, a the plastiets, via dagrams, ia pu muscal fms, but no oneproposs sbttutng these for the commn speech, nr des anone suggst that t would b ither possibl r

adisable.

UCUNQUE NGUA ROMANA, ROMA

G and Rome ciz ANGUAGE our

nguge is in the cre f our writers.

[nsult& o'er dull and speechless trbes']

but this langage is not merel for records of great things

ne orace and Shakespeare can proclam its monumentl nd mnemonc value, but that doesn't exhaust themtter

Rome rose with the idiom f Casar, Oid, and Tacits

she dclined in a wlter of rhtorc, the plmats language to concea thought', and so foth.

The man of nderstandng can no more sit quet an reigned whle hs cunt lts its literate dc nd letgood riting meet with cntempt, thn a good otr

ould sit quiet and contente whil some gnorant chid ws inectng tself with tberculosis undr the impressi

ht it ws merely eatng jam trts

c 33



It is vey dcu lt to mak e peop le un de rstan d the im per•

s onal idign ation that a decay of w ritig can cause men

w ho un de rstan d w hat it imp les, an d the en d w he reto it

leads. It is a most impossib le to e p ress ay deg ree of

such in dign ation w ithout bein g c led • embitte red', o r

somethin g of that so rt

Neertheless the • statesman cannot goern, the scientist

canot participate is dscoveries, men cannot agee on

wise action ithout lauage', and their deeds andconditions are aected by the defects or itues of idiom

A people that grows accustomed to sloppy writing is a

people i prcss of lsi grp on its empire and o itself.

nd this losness ad losiess is not an as siple

and scndus as arupt ad disordered sytaxIt concers the relatio of xpression to meaning

brupt and disordered syntax can be at times very honest,

and an elabratel constructed sentence can e at ts

merely an elaborate camouage.

2

THE sum of human w isdom is n ot con tain ed i an y on e

lan guge, an d n o sn g le lan uage is CAP ABLE of exp res·

sin � a l f o rms an d deg rees of human comp rehen sion

This i a v ey un pa ata le an d bitte r doctin e But I cn n ot omit it.

P eop le occasion a l ly dev e lop a lmost a f an aicism co·

bat the ide• • x ed' in in g le lan guage. The e ae

3 4



gener speai the prejudices f the ati (an

natio)

Dieret climates and derent bloods hae dierent

need, deret spontaneities, dieret reluctaces, dier·ent ratios betee dieret grups of ipulse ad unwi

lnness, deret cstructions of tt, d a thee

leae trace i the lauae, ad leae it r read ad

more unad for cetai cunicatis ad reistra

tio

THE REE AMBITON ma e edicre, ad

the ambitos of no two aders wi e idetical The

teacher can ony aim hi nstructi at thse who mst

want to lear, but he can at ay rate str them wth an

appetizer', he can at least hd them a prted ist of the

things to be lered in lteratue, or i a ge section thereof

The rst bg of inertia may be simple igorace of the

extent of the suject, or a imple ugness to moe

away om oe area of semi-igorace The greates

barrier is probably set up b teachers who ow a lttlemore tha the pubic, who wat to exloit ther actiona

knowledge, and who are thorughly oppoed to maing the

least eort to learn anythg more

35



Chapter Fou

1

'Geat ltere mpl lge ched wh me

to the utot poe dgee

Dchte = codee

I beg h poey ece t the mot cocetated

orm of vel expreo Bl , g about

wth a Gema-Il dcoary oud tht t dea o

poety as coceao s s old almost a the Germa lange Dchte s he Germn vr corrpod to

the oun Dchug meag poetry ad the lexco·

grph h redeed t by th Il ve meag 'to

code.

The chargng o languge s doe ee pcpal ways:Yo receve the lguage you rc hs let he words

hav meags whch have 'grow the races skn;

th Gemas say 'w i den Schnabl gewache as t

gow n hs beak Ad the good te chooses hs words

for ther mang but that meang s not a set cuo

thg lke the move of ght or pw on a ches-oard.It comes up wh roots wth assoctons h how and

whr the word s famlarly used o where t ha en

d brllatly or mmorly.-

36



You can hardly say 'ncaradne wthout one or mor of

your audtors tg of a partcular ln of vrs.

Numrals and words refrrng to uman nvntion

hav hard cut-o meang That i, megs whch mor obtrusv tha a wordsassocaton .

Bcycle now has a cto mang.

But tandem or bcycle bt for two wl probbly

throw the mage of a past decad upon the raders metal

scren.

Ther no end to the nmbr of qualtes whch som

pople ca assocat wh a ven wod or knd of wor

and most of thee vay wh the dvdual.

You have to go most exclsvely to Dates crtcsm

to nd a set o OBJECTIVE ctegories or words Dante

caled wordstted d shaggy bcause o th dr

nt OSES they make Or pexa t hirsuta, combed and

hiry.

H also dvded them by ther derent assocatons

EVERTELESS you l charge words wth mean

maly n thee wys, cd phopoea melopoea

logopoea ou e a word to hrow a vsual mae on to

the readers magato o you charge t y sod or

yo ue gops o wods to do th

Thdy yo tke the eater k o us the word nsom specal elaton to 'sage that s to th knd of

cotext n whch the rede expcts or s accustomd to

nd t

37



Thi i he la meas o eelop i a oly be ue y

he opicae.

(I you wa really o uera wha

bou you will hae o rea uimaely Properiu aJule Laforgue)

IF YOU ERE STUDYING CHEMISTRY you woul

e ol ha here are a cerai umber of eleme a

cerai umber of more uual chemial hemical mo in

ue or eaie . A for he ake of clariy i yourexperime, you woul proly be gi hee uace

pure or a pure as you coul coeetly ge hem.

IF YOU WERE A CONTEMPORARY book-keeper

you woul probaly ue he looeleaf yem y whih

buie houe eparae arhie from fa ha are i ue, or ha are likely o e frequtly eee for referece.

Simiar oveiee are poible i he uy of liera

ure.

Ay amaer of paig kow ha moern galere ay grea re o goo hagg , ha i, of puing im

poran picure where hey ca be wel ee, a where

he eyewlo e cofue, or he fee wearie y ech·

ig for he maerpiee o a a expae of wal cumere

wih rubbih.

hi poin I ca ey well avoi priig a e of caegorie h oierably aeae y own H t

Rd

38



2

W you ar earchig for 'pe eleen i lieraureyou will ha lieraur ha bee creae by he follow

ig clae of peron:

1 veor. Me who fou a ew proce or whoe

exa work gie u he r kow example of a proce.

2 The aer. Me who combie a uber of uch

procee, a who ue he a well a or beer han he

ivenor.

3 The iluer. Me who came afer he r wo ki of

wrier, n coul o he jo quie a wel.

4 oo wrier wihou aien aliie. Men who e

or

e enough o be br when e lieaure of a gveconry i in goo working orer, or when ome parc

ranch of wriing 'healhy For exaple, en who

wroe oe i Dae me e who wroe hor lc

Shakepeare ie or for ever ece hereer, o

who wroe Frech nove nd orie afe Fauber d

hown e how.

5 Wrer of beelere. a , en who d't

eay ve yhng but wo peczd oe r

39



cua pt of writig, who ould't be osidered as greatme o as authors who were tryig to give a complete pesetati of e, or of their epoh

6 The starters of razes.

Util the reader ows the rst two ategories he

ever be ale to see the wood for the trees' He ay ow

what he lies ' He ay be a opleat boolover' witha large lbrary of beautifully prted boos, boud i themost luxurious idigs ut he will eve be ale to sortout what he ows or to estiate the vaue of oe book i elatio to others ad he will e ore ofused ad eve less ale to ae up his id out a boo where a ew

author is reaig with ovetio' tha to for aopiio aout a boo eighty or a hudred years oldHe will ever uderstad why a speilist is aoyed

with hi for trottig out a seod- or thirdhad opiioabout the erits of his favourite bad writer

Ut you have made your ow svey ad your owclose ispeto you mght at east beware ad avoidaeptig opiios:

1 From e wh have't themseves produced otabeork (vide p 7)

2 From me who have ot themselves take the risk of pti the esults of their ow persoal isptio aey eve they ae seriously maki oe



3

COMPASS SEXTANT OR LAND MARKS

L the studet brae himself ad prepae for the worst Iam oig to y st of the iium that a ma wouldhave to read if he hoped to kow what a give ew book was worth I ea as he would ow whethe a give pole-vault was rearay high or a give tes play

at all liely to play i a avis Cup math

You mght thik it woud be safe to prit suh a listor that it would be the last thig a reader oud isudestad' But there would see to be alost o lit to what people a ad msuderstad he they are

ot doig their utmost to et at a wter's meai

With regard to the foowig list oe igeous or geuous attae suggeste that I had iluded eta poes ts list beaus I had myself traslated themT dea that durig twetyve yeas searh I had tras

a the poes BUS they were the key positios orth est ilustratios sees ot to have ocurred to he surpassd hiself y suggestg that the poem of Bios was a afterthoght metioed out of pae ad hat I ha istake it fo a poem of Moshus which hehimself had traslated That is what oes of to

bore eople as litte as possi1e ad to put dow oesmatter i the least possible spae

The Bio s separated by eturies om the ome aSappho I studig the eie parts of the list the ae-

1



ion woud, I thi, have gone to the WRITING to thenaratve, to the carity of expressio, but wo not have

natray focuse itsef o the meodic devices on th

ttng of the words, their SOUND ad utimatey theirmeaig, to the te.

The Bio is put with those troubdours for the sake of

corast, ad i order to prevet the reader from thikig

tht oe set or a hf-doze sets of meodc devces con

stuted the whoe of that subject

AT ABOUT THIS POINT te weakhearte reader

sy sts down the rod, emoves his shoes and weeps

at he is a bad iguist or that he or she cat possiby

e l those aguagesOe has to divde the readers who wat to be experts

om those who do ot, ad ivde, as it were, those who want to see the word om those who merey want to

ow WHAT PART OF IT THEY LIVE IN

When t comes to the question of poetry, a great many

eope ot even want to know that ther own cony

oes not occpy ALL the avaabe surface of the panetThe idea sees n some way to nsut them

Nevehess the· mamum of pho a howng a

ua mage on the mnd] i probaby reache by the

Ce, e n p t the particuar n of writen

age.I the anguages known to me which do not ncue

ersn and Arabc the mamum of melo ia s reache

i th cean devemets n Proven which

42



are ot in Greek, ad wch re of a deret KIND than

te Gree

Ad t is my rm covctio that a ma can ear moreabout poery by reay knowg ad exa a few of

he best poems ta by meaderig about amog a

great many. At ay rate, a great dea of fase teacg is

due to the assumptio that poems kow to te critic are

of necessity the best.

My iss are a startingpoit ad a chaege This ca ge has been ope for a umber of years ad o oe has yet take it up. Tere have bee geera comaits, but

o one has oered riva ist, or put forward particur

poems as better eapes of a postuated vrtu or quaty

Years ago a musicia said to e: 'But ist tere a pace

where yo ca get it a [meaig a of poetry] as i Bch?There st. I beeve a ma wl reay e Greek he

can get neary a of it in Homer.

I have never read haf a page of Homer without dig

meodic vetion, I mean meodic ivetion tht I didt

eady know. I have, on the other had, foud aso i

om the magary spectator, whch n 198 I stihougt was Hery James particuar property

Homer says, an experieced sodier woud have

noicd. The seer iterar quaities i Hoer re such

that a physici has write a book to prove tt Hoer

must have bee a ary doctor (We he describes cer

ta bows d teir eect, te wouds are said to beaccurate, ad the descriptio t for coroers iquest.)

Aother Frech schoar has more or ess shown that

the geography of the Odyssey is correct geography; not as

43



telecual or 'coldy inlcual sigcanc. Th ow

much you man i, he how you fl abou manng i, can

ll be pu no lauag

I ook my criica if in y hand, so yas ago, whe

I suggsd a was in som ways a t wrir

han Sappho, no for lopoia u fo conoy of wods

I don in h las know wh his is u On should

sa wih an opn ind Th snois of h naissanc hld ha al Grek

poy was han ANY Lain po T ost

inign of h Quaocno Lainiss, Basinio of Pama,

roclamd a vry dint thsis; h hld hat you coult

wri Lain poy ray wl unlss you knw Gre Tha s, you s, vry dn In h margins of is Lai

araiv you can sil s h ags of Homr ha he was

using o kp his mlodc sns aciv

I don iv ha any Latin auho is i asal

disnc of Hor I doub if Caus is frio to

Sappho I dou i r is a infrio o h

Gk ancdns; Od is for us a so-hous of a vast

mass of mar ha w canno NOW g fom Gek

H is unvn H is clar His vs is as lucid as proseMicay h is no a pach on Cauus o Popius

Paps sudn now gin o s tha I am

trying to giv a lis of auhors who ar nsrpassd

IN THIR OWN DOAIN, whas is wom I

om are deonsraly INFERIOR o on o mo of hewrirs I iclude, and hir infriory can be compud o

ome paricuar basis

8



HAVE PATINCE, I am t insising vn no ur laning a muliud of sang languags, I ee

tell you, n du course, wa you can do i yu ca rea

nly Engis To put i anh way, I a, af ll hs y

akin a is of ooks hat I si -ad tha I ke m

dsk and look ino now and again.

49



Chapter Five

1

Th ga ak in Eopan lar isor is cae

ov o incd o cd languag n a ga

al o ciical nonsns as n in popl wdid no aliz dinc

Gk and Lain a incd ta is nouns vrs an

adjcivs hav lil ags o wagging ail and ag

ll whh h noun is sujc o pdica indicae

a wic acs and a wic acd upon diecl r

indicl o ha whic jus anding oun n moe lss causal laon c

os hs ags w ogon as ou mdrn conm·

pa Euopan languags volvd Grmn e la

dvlopd ains mos incion Th s wa o using a languag wi sin an

laels aacd wods is OT es a ue languag whic as o win in a ca er i i i

o cla

I aks a dinc in Englis w ou sa man

ss dog [o] dog ss man

In Lain ir canis o canm m omin c

co s wihou snnc bein las i ai

uus

5



Whn ion wis

Hi wo isos m disos

h i quit ipl doing ong o h oh tgu. H

manh di h di

I is prtl a o nand h did it ut hi

r prv tht Shkpr d rl d tr

n wr ttr pt Milt did it u h a hk

a lk h ti had tudid i Eglih t

vng ngug ut a s hi hor i

Who di im, di

dosn ak good vs Th oun i whr h idio is d Whn h writig i mtrl d NOT

av o xcu i o o n p h aon o prptrtig

aw

2

M ls o diaval pos phaps had o jsi

I onc go a an o s anlaing h r inins I ca ou alos dic ino Chins v

wh wo oid idogas in ac allin

pa o Saa I know no oh Eopan pos o h piod ha o can ang up wth h 'El

o o displaing h W on pr ih he

Oin

51



There are passages of Aglo-Saxo as good as paragrapof the Seafarer but I have ot fod a hole poem of theame vale The Spaish Cd i lear arrative, ad the

aga of Gt ad t Ni prove that arrativeapait didt die out

I dot kow that a otemporr writer ould learathig about writig om the sagas that he ouldt

lear better from Flaubert, but Skarpheddis jump adslide o the ie, ad the meetig of rttir, or whoever it

was with the ber do ot fade from oes memor Yout belive it is tio Some Ielder o a ledge must atsome time have saved himself b loppig o the outside paw of a ber ad so mkig the brute lose its balaeThis is i sese phopoei, the throwig of image othe mids retia

The deet of erlier imagist propagad was ot imisstatemet bt i iomplete sttemet The dilterstook the hdiest ad easiest meaig ad thoght olof the STATINAY image If o at thik of imagismor phaopoeia as ildig the movig image, o willhave to make a rell eedless divisio of xed image ad

praxis or atioI have take to sig the term phopoei to get awa

from rrelevt prtiulr ootatios tgled wth a partiular group of og people who were writig i 1912.

I i mail for the sake of the melopoeia that oe vestate toado p.

5

•



. ·:Oe might almost sa that the whole lture of the ge,

at a ate the mass of the prel literar ltre of theage om 1050 to 1250 ad o 1300, was oetrate

o oe aestheti prolem whih Date put it ludethe whole '

That whole t osisted i pttig together abot sitophe of poes so that the words ad the tue should b weded together withot joit ad without wem

The best smith, Date alled a e made the

birds ig IN IS WODS ; I dot mea that he merel eferred to birds sigig

In the aoe ben

aura amaraFals bruoills braut

ClarirQuel dout espeissa ab fuoillsEls letBesDels auels rameTe balp e mut

et

d haig doe it i that oe strophe he kept them atit repeatig the tue, ad dig ve rhmes for eah of evetee rhme sods i the same order

aig doe that he ostruted aother perfet stophe

here the bird all iterrupt the verse

CadahsE so us

5



Mas pel ussauc cus

Tha again for six srphs WTH h words maknsnse

The music of hse sns has been los, bu h rdiioncomes up again ver hee cenuries lae

Cemen Janequi re a chrus wih sounds fr h

sngers of he diren pars f he chrus These sundswud have n ierary r peic vaue i yu k he musicaay u hen Francesc da Miano reduced i fr heue he irds ere s in he music. And hen Mnchrascried i fr dern insruens he bds ere sihere They ARE s here in he viin pa

Tha is hy he nuen uass he rnze casing

Aains his craf pu \h quie denie inenin,he syncpain r he cunerpin f he Syrian GreekDeah of Adonis ih shal e say on's jazz barunnin crssise

s insance f hw he lfe f a wrk f ar is somehi ha us wn say naied dwn n a con: ThKennedyFrasers fund sme music n he ouer Heridesha s he Beuf, r a any rae ha some of heBewuf s. is he Ae. heard i concer and

racked my ind o hik here i ed woudn go ohe Seafarer T ines ed a i of he Beowuf, hn hnex wuldn skipped a ine of h Bowulf, and wnon The KennedFrasers had oied lin of h u

.54



ha pon bcus i ddn' sm o hm o hav annhrn musical inr

The pon of he foreging srophes r a leas ondimension of heir rkanship, can e asped by anyone hher hey knw Prvenal r n

Wha is e said fr he quaiy f Vetdor in hbes mens r of oreo where here is nhn u hperfecin f he ovemen nhing saien n he hugh

or he rhyme scheme? You have have knn Prvenal long me perhaps befre yu perceive he derencebeeen his work and anoher

everheless if u are kn he dimensins ofngsh verse melody a fe cenuries aer yu mus nd

our masures r sandards in Prvence. The Miesnrswre cnemporary; you can cnras he nesse hesouh Lain ih he hicker pien f erc von

ornen or Von er girmans claim ha German pery has deveped sinc

h middle ages. My own elief is ha Gehe and Sefan

orge a heir lyric es are ding nhing ha hadnlrady been dne beer or as Burchards es verseoda is in his ranslains f he Via Nuva.

ung seven cenuries a l f suec maer f ngre resen ineres has been sued n German verseh no vry skilfu can see no reason why a foreign

wrie should suy i

I se very reason for sudyn Prvenal verse (a ileof i sa h or fy pms) frm e de Pocters

55



e o and oeo. o and i ty,

o and er in France and England, had their root

i Provence : ther rt, ther rtry, d ood de o

the hought.

European civilization or, to use an bomted word,

cultre can be perhaps best undertood a a mediaeva

rnk ith wash after ash of cassicism going over it.

That is not the hole story bt to understand it, yo mut

think of that seres of perception, as well o anyththat ha existed or sbsisted unbroken rom atiquty

This book cant be the whole history. pecicay we e

oidering the development o lgage a mea o

egistration.

The Greek ad Romas sed oe set of device, oe eto technique. The rovenals developed a eret oe,

not i respect to phanopoeia, but n respect to melopoei

AFTER a change in the anguage ytem (from nected,

to progreively les inected peech)

The quantitative verse o the acient wa repaed

yli ere, a they ay the hool ook. t woud etter to ay that the theorie appled by grammr to

Lati verse, a the decendant of Greek, wer dopped

Ad that tting tz n o word to tue reped the

posedly regur pondee, dacty, etc

The quetion o the reative duratio o yllbe h

ever been neglected by men with uceptible er.

I particularly want to keep o these techca deta.

The way to learn the msic o verse i to ste to it

56

,



Ater that te tudent ca buy a metronome, or stdy

oge to perfect hi ene o relative duration and o

pitch. The preent boket is cocerned wth lnguage.

For the specic dierence betwen rovene and ta

or the progress ' om at Daniel to ordello, to Cava·

cnti and Dante, the reader who cannot and not read

Italian, can if he like refer to y dscriptive criticism.

Without knowing Dant Gdo Cavalcanti and Vilo,

o one can jdge the attained maxia of certain kind oiting

ithot the oregoing MIIMUM of poetry in other

anguages you imply not ko where Englsh poet

me'.

57



Chapt S

For &hs wh rd y gh, I have done what I can. have transated the A HIO so that they can earn

where to start HINKING. And I have transated the

Sefarer ; so that hey can see more or ess where Engshpoetry starts.I don't now how they can ge an dea of Gree. There

re no satsfactory Engsh transatons. Lti crb can do a good dea. If you read rench you

n get the STORY ofthe Iads and ofthe begnnng ofthe

dssey om Sae andJ

or rather you coud

therook weren' out of rnt. (I now no eton more recen 1590.) Chaman s somethng derent. See my noteson e Ezabetan transators.

You c ge Ovd, or rather Ovd's stores n Godng'smrhss whch s the most beautfu boo n the

uage m oon and I susect t was Shaeseare's).Marowe trasated the Amrsd before that Gavn Dougas hd made somethng of

e eneids ha , any rate, e better than Vr.

ro Cher ou can e (1) whaever cme overo he earie Engsh that one can read wthout a di·on, bu for whch a gossar needed (2) and heel GLIS qui or oonen Lo

5



diaogues of Chaucer, Petrarch and Boccacco, are the besrea crticsm of Chaucer we have.

There are anthooges of eary Engsh verse. Sdickhas made the best one I haf remembr.

After Chaucer, come Gavn Dougas, Godn and arowe wth ther transatons.

Then comes Shaeseare n vson: the sonnets wherehe s, I thn, ractsng hs craft. The yrcs where e searnng, I beeve from Itaan song-boos in whch theWORDS were rnted WITH the musc.

The ays esecay te seres of hstory ays, whch

orm the true Engsh POS,as dstnct from te bastard

Ec, the taton, the constructed counterfet.

It woud be artcuary aganst the gran of te whoedeogrammc method for me o mae a eres of genera

statements conceng Ezaethan atachrestca anguage.

The way to study Shaeseare's anguage s to study tsde by sde wth soethng derent and of eua extent.

The roer antagonst is Dante, who s of eua sze andDIFFERENT. To study Shaeseare's nguage mere

n comarson wth the DECADENCE of the sae thgdoesn't gve one's mind a everage.

There Shaespearan song. There s the anguage adeo be SOKE, perhaps eve o be rted.

5



elx Schelli has evolved o quoted the theory that

espeare wated to be a poet, but that whe he could't

mke a caree of it, he took to wti tae pla, ot

toether lii the form.

f the student can't measure Shaespeare aaist Date,

te ext alteative possibl to measure is lauae

aaist the prose mafestatio of Voltaire, Stedhal,

Flaubert, or of Fieldiif ou canot read Frech.

You ca't judge a chemical's actio merel b putti

t with moe of tself To kow it ou have got to now its

mits, both what it is ad what it is ot. What substaces

e harder or softer, what more resiliet, what moe com

act.

You can't measue it merel b itself diluted with some

eutral substace.

O BRE UP THE BOREDOM, have suestedthe reat translators for an anthology, shall e sa, of

the poems that do't put me to sleep.

The are passages of Marlowe. Doe has writte the

ol Englsh poem The Ecstas') that ca be set aainst

Cavcati's Dona mi rega. The two ae ot i the leastlie. Their prblems re uttel dieet.

The reat lc ae lasted while Campio made ow

music, while Lawes set Waller's verses, while verses, ot



actuall 1ung or 1t to music, wee at least made t he

ntentio of going to music.

Music rots whe gets oo fa from the dae. Poetatrophie hen it gets too far from music

There are three inds of melopoei, that , verse mae

to sing; to chant or intone; and to spea

The older one gets the more one beleves i he rst

One reads prose for the subject matter

Glance at urton's anatom' as a curiosit, a smple o

NON VR wich has qualties of poetry but that c

ot be confounded wth it

nglish prose is alve in Florio's Motagne ; Uquht's

Rabelais ;

Fielding; Jane usten; the ovelists that eveone

reads ; Kiplng ; H James James' prefaces tell what

writing a novel' meas.

1



Chaptr Svnt doesn't matter which leg of your table you make st, so

long as the table has fou legs and will stand up solily

when you have ished it.

Mediocre poetry is in the long run the sae in all coun·es The decaence of Petachism in taly and the rice

powder poey' in China arrive at about the same level of

eness despite the dierence n idiom

62



hapter Eigh

Comn round agan to te startng-pont

Lanuage is a means of communicaton To charge Ia·

uage with meaning to the utmost possble degree we

have, as stated, the thee chief meas :

I towing the object (xe or movng) on to the vsual

mainaio

II inducin emotiona correlation by the sound ad

hytm of te speech

III iducing both of the eects by timating the

associaton (intellectu or emotioa) ta have remained

n the receiver's consciousness n eltio to te actua

words o word roups eployed(phanopoeia, melopoeia, logopoeia)

competence wil show n te use of too many words

The reader's rst and mplest test of an author wil b

o loo for word that do not function; that cotibute

othin to the meann OR that distract from the MOSTimportt factor of the meanin to factors of minor impor·

ce

63



One denn beauy s aness urse

Wheher s a gd denn r n, yu can read

see ha a gd de D ccsm has been en

men wh asume ha an auhr yng d wha he NO yng d

Incedbe as nw seems he bad ccs Keas m

und wrng bscure, whc mean ha he

cudn undesand WHY Keas e

s human ercens dae m a ng me ag, r

are devabe m ecens ha ged men have hadng bere we wee b he race dscves, and red

cvers

SS ND COPOSIION XRCISS

I

1 Le he us exchange cmsn aers and see

hw many and wha useess wrds have been usedhw

man wds ha cnvey nhng new

Hw many wrds ha bscure he meanng

3 Hw many wds u her usu ace, and heher

aeran mes he saemen n an way mr

neresng r mre energec

4 Wheher a senence ambguus wheher rea

ean mre han ne hng r me han he r n



ended ; hehe can be s ead as mean smehng

feen

hehe hee s sehng e n ae, bu a·bgus sen aud

II

I s sad ha aube augh De Mauassn eWhen De Maassan ened m a wa aue

ud as hm descbe smene, say a cnege hm

hey u bh ass n he nex wa, an descbe

he esn s ha aube wd ecgze, say, he

cncege an n msae her r sme he cncege

nd n he ne De Mauassan had descbed



SECOND SE

1 Let the u te the desrto of tree

2 Of tree thout mentonng the me of the tree(rh ne, t so tht the reder no mste t fothe desrto of some othe d of tree

3 r some obet n the ssoom

4 Desrbe the ght d shdow o the shooroomo or some othe objet

If t n e doe wthout breh of the ee thepu oud rite desrtons of some othe u Theuthor suggests tht the u shoud ot dsbe theistrutor otherwse the desrto mght beome

ehe of emotio d subet to moe omted uJes

mosto th the ss s yet dy to oe wthI althese desrtos the tst woud e uy diidess the u reeg the other's per oud ehe guge He woud eoge ot eogze thebet or peso desrbed

Rodof gro i edto dtg om ftee hued d somethng sys oe wrtes ut dt, ut mvt utt to teh to moe o to deght

66

•



gret de of d rtsm s due to me ot see

whh of these thee motes underes ge ompostio

he onerse roeses not osdered by the piotehers of ntuty woud e to obsu, to bmboze omsed nd to bore

he reder o utor s t berty to rem pssiend st to these oertos he so hoose

67



FRHER ESS t u ean a vn c of rtn ay, teay tra n a nar to e tr t rtr tryn to conca tn to ter vn ann tr ara t a at tn tr e tryn to aar to tn tout rayon any tnn.

etca rtng

1 t t u try to rte n t tre of any o

2 t wrte or to a enon tune

t try to rte or o t a tun n uc aay tat t or ot b torte n one ng

them

4 t te u rte a oem n oe tro form e

e

5 t m aroy o m n rcuou, the

bcau of faty n t tatnt, or faty n t oton of te rtr, or fr rtentoune of on n oanot r f any otr raon tat tr rbefacut, n of rony.

68



The gaung u ho be ake o ecognze whaautor aroe. An wheher he oe i on te aoe o he arot. Whetr the aroy eo a ra

fect, o mery ma ue of an autor' can ooe a moe trva conten

Note No har ha ve yet been one a goo em byh oce. FtzGea' Rbaiyat ha urvve hunreof aro, ta are no reay aro tr of Omar orFzGera, bu ony oem rtn n tat form of troe

Note Tre a taton ta n ovnce t wa con·ere aarm to ae a an' for, ut a t nowconre aar o ta h ubct attr or o.

Poe fany wrn o anoter an' troe form oune ee ca Srvene ', an wr uuay atrca

FURTHER TESTS

1 Le he u n echangg teme uge whehehe teme bfoe tm ray ay anytng.

2 Le hem uge whethe t e tem anhg omae hem ee anytg' they han't notce befoeecy n regar o ome fama cne or obec

Vaian whether he wrte eay ha to KNOWomethg abou e ubec o cene befoe beng abe o

wrte h age e coeaon.

The eon of a wor or hrae beig uee' nomeey nmec obm

9



natole France in crticzng rench dramatists pointed

out that te ste the words must give tme for the

cto; they must gve tme for the uece to tae co

f what is gog onEven on te prnted page there s an anaogous ease.

Tactus in writng Latn can use ceran forms of con

densaion that don't ecessar transate advanageousyinto Engish

The reader wi ofe msjudge condensed wrer bytrng to read him too fast

The secret of popuar writng is never to put more o

give page tha the common reader can lap o t wh no

strain WASOEVE on his habua sack atteion.

natoe Frnce is said to have spet a reat de of tme

searching for e leas possibl varant that woud t he

most worout and commoest phrases of journaism into

somethig distguished

Such research is sometimes termed cassicsm.

This is the reatest possble remove from the usualgsh stists trend or urge oward a ste dieren

from everyone elses.

70



BASIS

HR is no use, or amost noe in m pubser's asking

me to make Engsh Lterature as promnen as possble. Imean not i am o pa far wh the studet. You canot

ear to write b readng Engsh.

If ou are aeced er poes ou produce • costume

of he period. Chaucer s incomprehensbe wihout agossar Ezabethanisms re easi recognizabe as ancet

ery

haucer did ot MAKE hs art hs doest detract

from hs glor as a great ad ver huma wrer e too

over his ar from the French e wrote about the stroabe.

Dnte wrote On the Common Tou, treatise o auage and versicatio

he aguage of the Elizabethns is uphostered. The

ge of Shakespeare was the GEAT AGE par excelece

it was the age whe the laguage was ot cut nd dre

whe the audtor liked the WODS he go probay a

much kc out of tituos ses icarade the

readers of the Yellow Boo go out of twisted epir.

Th wst a cass iterest in Spai t tht time the

most eective critic of plays was cobbler. But the la

guage was made-up rtcial speech it s the age o

Euphues n Engla� nd of Gongora in Spa.

ow dd it get that ay?

The cult of Latin ter the thiness the raparecy

f medeval uthors the readin world a oce agai

71



dn on antquty Geece and Rome ; the most educated

ote n Latn; each wte wanted to show that he knew

moe Latn than the othe ; there ae bales of the Latin

poems ; the Italans took ove the style and extended thevocaulaly, the Spanads and Englsh mtated the

Italans ; Camoens ted t n Potugal It was the gold ush

fo the lagest vocabulay I suspect that Malowe staed

to paody hmself n Heo and Leande He had begun withseous ntentons

I ecognze that ths suspcon may be an error.The next phase n Fance and England was to atempt

to squeeze the katachestcal hetorc nto a sritwast·

coat.

Ths doesn't mean that the reade can aord to be

ignoant of the best wok of ethe peod He an look forreal speec n Shakespeare and d it in plen IF e

knows what to look fo

The so-called pose of seveal centures s conceed

wtho at least you teaches wl recommend t for

sentence stuctue.If you can ead oly Englsh, sta on Felding. There

o have a sold foundaton. His lanuae is ether sait

laced noaltrmings.

Afte whch I suppose one should ecommend Miss Jane

Austen And that makes almost the list, ie. :

e lst of thins safe to read an o befoe o sta

72



tng, as dstnct from the boos a nowtin reader

can pese fo enjoyment

But aent thee wellwtten books and poems inEnlsh? Thee ndubtably ae

But can anyone estmate Donne's best poems save inrelaton to Cavalcant?

I do not beleve t.

Thee was a peod when the Englsh lyc qualty, te

junctue of note and melody was vey hh But to auehat heht, a knowledge of Povence s exemely useful.

If yo want to te stc couplets, or ambc coup

lets yo ndubtably can learn a ood deal om ope and

Crabbe.

Wordswoth got rd of a lot of timmins, bt here arevast stetches of deadness i hs tn Atsts are the

antennae of the ace Wodswoth vbates to a ve

lmted rane of stmul, and he was not coscios of te

flpoblem of witn.

Te problem of setene stctre was ndeniabl discssed durng seveal centuries

A carpenter can put boads togethe, but a good ca

pente would now seasoned wood fom een'

The mee questons of consructng nd sembl clauses, of pasng and gammar are not enogh. Sch sdy eded i a ame of oao, now paroded in detecve oris when they gve the leaed cousel' smin-up.

73



that post hoc means propter hoc, t any rate the composi-tion of books iten in 1830 cant be due to those writenin 1933, though the value of old work is contantly aected

by the value of the new.This is true not only of single works but of whole

categories. Max rnst's design send a great deal of psychological novel wriing into the discard. The cinemsupersedes a great deal of secondrate narrative, and agreat deal of theatre.

A lm form may perfectly well be a better form (intel-lectualy) than a stage form. lm may make better use of 60 per cent of alnarra-

tive ramatic material. ach case can be decided on itsown merits.

n all cases one test will be, could this material have

been made more ecient in some other medium?'This statement is simply n extension of the 1914

orticist manifesto.

A distinguished novelist compained that no directionfor major form were given in How o Re.

In pology It is wste of time to lsten t peopletalkng of things they have not understood suciently toperform.

You can study part of the of novel consruction inthe novels of Trollope.

You can lean something of great writer's ttitude

toward the of the novel the prefaces o HenyJames' collected editionHd I written a dozen good nvels might presume to

dd somethin.76

'



The Goncours preface to Germinie Lacerteux gives the

mos succnc satement of the views of the nineteenhcentury realsts. t is the declaration of the rights of men

tryng to rcord Lhisoire morae conemporaine , thehsory of contemporary moral disposition, te history ofthe esimaion of values in contemporary behaviour.

n an inroductory work like the presen, you are notbeing asked to decide what theories are correct, but to

what degree dieren writers have been ecient in expres-sing ther though.

LBRTY

E liberty of the textook (as a form of writing) is that

i permits refrain, repeition.Bu, teacher, mustnt we read . . . Wordsworth?Yes, my chldren, you can and may read anything you

like. Bu instead of having me or anyone else tel youwhat is on the page, you should look for yourselves.

Does Mr. Wordsworth sometimes use words that express

nothing n paricular?Mr. Swinburne is famed or infamed for having used agreat many which express nothing but colour' or splen-dour' It hs been said tht he used the same djecivesto descbe a womn nd sunet

XRCS

woud very good exercise to take paallel passgesof these two poets he st so very famous and the second

77



one so very much dcried at th preent time, and see howmany uele word each ue hw many which contribute

nothig how many which contribute nothin very

denite

A simila exercie cod be performed on Swiburne and

Milton.

XIXth Centry

NG neer or own time, te tudent who can readFrench i iited to veri my upicin that the technique

autier' early work Alers i about as ood as that

of the bet Engli vere in the 1890' The Enlih of that

erid added ttle to the um of knowledge in poetic

ractice

o udestand what was nvented afte 1830 I eco

mend:

hopie autie Ema e Cams obie Rimbaud

Laforue

o see ow a man cod rte a gle ne or a brief ara

rah of verse.

n Eland Robert Brownng refreshed the fom of

monologue or dramatic monoloue or �Perona, the ances·

try of which goes back at leat to Oid' Heroides whc

re maginary letters in verse, and to Thecritu, and isthence lost n antiquity.

7

''



:t

STUDY

FN very brief narrative pem of thi perid in the

authors lited

autier, Corbire, Rimbaud afrgue.

Character prented Brwing

H mch of Walt Whitan i well ritten?

If you were cmpiling an antholoy of Englih what

etter poet cld yu nd thanChaucer.

ain Doula 12 Buke of Aeneidos

olding's Meamorphoses tranated from OidMarloe (mores) pasages of hi plays

Shakepeare (Hitories, and the lrics as tecnic

masterwork)Doe The ctas

Song writers errick amion aller Dore

Rochester.

Wites in native couplet ope, be.

Pick out the dozen best old baads.

Pick out the twenty-ve bet lyrics ritten between

50 and 1700 om any of the avaiable anthologes

ry to nd a poem of Byo o Po thout sevnserous efects

y to nd out why te Fitzerad Ruya as on

7



into so many eitions afer havig ai unnoiced unti

Rossetti found a pie of remaindered copie on a second

han booksta.

Di the 90s� add aying o Egh poery, or did

they merey prune Swiurne? and borrow a ie om

the Frech symboites?

What was there to the Ceic movement?

Apart from, et u ay, the inuence of rih baadrhythm on Yeas metric?

I no case shoud the student from ow on be TOLD

that such and such thins are facts about a given body of

oey or about a iven oem.

e qestions i this exercise o not demand the sameser om any two puis. They are not asked in orer to

ra out pain yes and no answers

hy isnt Water Savage Landor more read?

Did he write poetry as we as Robert Browning?

Ho uch of his poetry s oo?Hs nand ever roduced an l-roun man o etters

o equa statre?

If you are to nd a summary of the conscience of

a ive century, where woud you o to n it?

I eary period you might we seek it in the try.

For the centuries after the reaissance you miht per·

has have to n it n the prose?

0



If so, that woud mea that roe of those ties was in

some way more ecient than he poery?

You have, probaby a of you, your favoure writers.Wha woud hppe o you you arted riig im

mediatey afer yu had been readng

A,

B,

or C?

Do hey ue a diaect? and wod you ' cach i ?f you waned to ay omeing they hadt said, or

somehing of a dierent kd, woud their manner of

riting make your statement more accae?

more interesting?

Do you know why you ike A

B

(upi can the bank n at hi own discretion).

Do you in any way distinguih btween iters who

you ike and thoe whom you repect?Why, and how?

PERCEPTON

'TISTS are the antenae of the race.

Can you be interested in the writins of men hoe

eera ercepions e beow he average?



I am afraid that even here the answer is not a straight

'No.

There is a much more delcate question:

Can yo binterested in the work of a man who is blnd to 80 per cenof the sectrum? to 30 per cent of the spectrum?

Here the answer is, curiously enough, yes IF. . • h

perceptions are hyernormal n any part of the spectrmhe can be of very great use as a writer-

thogh erhapsnot of very great 'weight Ths is where the so-ce

crackbraned genus comes in The concept of genius as

akin to madness has been carefuy ostered by the iferor·ty compex o the pbic

A graver isue needs biological anaogy: artists are thantennae ; an anima tha neglects he warnings of its per•ceptions needs very great powers o resistance i it is

svvYour ner senses are protected he eye by bone soce

etcA nation whch neglects the perceptions of is at

declines Mtr a whie it ceases to ac an merey svsThere is probably no use i g s p w

cant see it wihout being told

Artists an pets obted ge excited an vrxcited abot tings ong before h genera pbc

82

.,



Before decidng whether a man is a fool or a good arist,

it would e well o ask, not onl : is he exced unduly ,bu: 'does he see somethng we do?

Is hs curous behavour due to s feeling an oncomingearthquake, or smellng a forest re which we do not ye

feel or smell?

Barometers, ndgauges, cannot e used as engnes

THE INSTRUCTOR

I The eacher or ecturer is a danger He very sedomecognizes his nature or his position The lecter is a man

who must talk for an hour

Franc may possibly have acquired he intelectaeadership oope whn heir academc period was cown to orty minutes

I also have ectured The ecturers rs probem is tohave enogh words to l forty or sixty minutes Theprofessor is pad for hs me, his resuts are mos im

possible to estimateThe man who really knows can tell al that is rans

missble in a very few words The economic problem of theteacher (of voln or o language or of anthing ese) ishow to string it out so as to be paid for more essons

Be as honest as you ke, bu the danger is there even

when on knows it I have elt the chll even ths briefbooklet In pure good wll, but because one must make arough estimate the publishers sent me a contract : 40,000 5000 words I ma over it, but it introducs a

83



I believe the ideal teacher woud approach any master·iec that he was presenting to his class s as i he haeer ee it befre.

TASES

ER is rea why the same man should lie theme books at eighteen and at forty-eight

here are certain divisions and dissociations that I

reain om making because I do ot think that at myge I should try t force the taste of a middleaged man the yunger reader.

hank heaven there re books that ne enjoys MOSbefore one is twetyve an that there are or bos

that one can STILL read at fortye and still hoe to be

ble to read in the sere and yellow

Realism romaticism men as they are seen men asthey are imagined or dramatized' men as they re quitesmply know NO to be

nsider the ecdote f Jck Dempse. Whe ueas being touted as the educated boxer a reporter ap

roached . Dempsey n the ubject of literature I thinhe metioed Cashel Byro r some ovel i hich theng ppea Dempsey wudn't hae it: Agh it tain'tLIKE t

Te repter berved that Demsey had lurid ovelut Russia Grad Duke He suggested hat i Dempe h bee Grad Duke he might hae fud s

crecies i he pyal f l Russian hh ife



Demsey: I eer z Grn Due '

Perfecty sincere peope say ou cant teach literate,

ad what they MEN by that statemet is probably rueYou an qite distinctly teach ma t distinguish

betwee ne kind of a bok and another

Certin erbal manfestations an be employed smeasures sqares voltmeters r ca be used fr com

parison ' a familiarity with them ca indubitably eablea man to estimate itig i general nd the relativeforcs energies ad perfections or imerfections of bo

You don' fh huse enirely th yard tck weighing machines

he uthr d b recmmed i tis inruc

to the tudy of letters ae t be cnsidere AS measugrds ad vltmeters

he oks isted are boos t hae min BEFORE

you r to measure evaluate e os e emost emphaticly NO all the bs r

great deal tht yu e u simly ee t bothbout

On the other had u t f it the si bism that has ruined hle hs of fc ters pteessaysts rened yung gents memersltry cclend so weiter



DISSOCIATE

' Ma shoud be prouder of havng ventedthe hammer an nal than of havng created

asterpeces of mtton Hegel quoted

b ernand Leger

'The ntellectual love of a thg conssts

n understandng ts perfectons Spoza

A GAT deal of crtcal rancour has been wasted through

a falure to dssh between two totall dierent knds

of wrtng

A Books a a reads to develop hs cpactes : n order

to know ore and perceve ore and ore quckl,

than he dd before he read the

ad

B Book that are intended and that serve as REPOSE,

dope, opates ental beds

You dont sleep on a haer or lawnmower, ou dont

drve als wth a mattress Wh should people go on

applng the SAME crtcal standards to rtgs asderent purpose and eect as a lawnmower and a sofa

cuhion?



There s one technque for the attres-aker and oe

for the bulder of lnotype achnes A technque of co·

ucton appes both to bedsteads ad autoobl.

The drtest boo n our language s a qute astute

anul telng people ho to earn mone b wrtng The

fact that t advocates the maxmum possble ntellectual

degradaton should not blnd one to ts costructve erts

Certan parts of the technique of narratve wrtng ARE

comon to Hoer Rudard Kplng and to M Kplngsstar dscple, the late Edgar Wallace

The onl ntellgent advere crtcis of Hw Read was not an attac on what was t, but on what

had not been able to put there

One cant get everthng nto fortve pages But eve I had had 50 at m disposal I shod not have attepted

a treatse on major for n the novel I have not wrtte a

good novel I have not wrtten a novel dont expect to

wrte an novels and shall not tell anone ele how to do t

untl have

If u want to stud the ovel, go READ th best youcan nd All that kow about t have leed by

readng

Tm Jnes by Feld

Trsram Shandy and The Senmenal urn b Ste

(and dont recoend aone ELSE to try to do anotheTrsram Shandy

The novel of Jane Ate and Trollope

9



(Note : f you ompe the realism of rollopes novelsith the realism of Robert MAlmons stories you wl get

fair idea of what good novelist means by constrtion

Trollope depicts sene or a person and you can lerysee how he leads up to an eect]

Contining:he novels of Henry James AND especily he prefaces

to is olected edition; wch are the one extant grettreaise on novel wring in English

n French you an form a faily good ideogram from Benjamin Constants Adolph.he rst half of Stendhals Rou t Noir and the rst

eighty pages ofLa Chartrus d Parm.Madame L£ducation ntimntal Trois onts

and the unnished Bouvardt ofFAUBER

with Gonourts prefae to Grmini Lacrt.

Aftr that you ould do wel to ook at Madox Fords

allWhen you have read James prefaces and twenty of

other novels you wold do well to read Th acrd Fount

There or perhaps the rst time since about 3 riter has been able to deal with sort of ontent where·ith Cavalcnti had been conceed

You an get very brillint rosslight via Donne I

en the dierenes nd nuanes between psychoogy inGuido abstract philosophi statement in Guido the blend

Donne and again psyhology Henry James and in

of them the underlying onept of FORM the struture ofhe whole work ncluding its prts



is is a long way fom n A C n fat i opens te

vista of postgraduate study

.

Jealousy of vigorous-living men has perhaps led in

times to a deformation of crticism and a distorted glori·ation of the past Motive does not concern us but erroroes Glorers of the past ommonly err in their computa·

tions bcase they measre the work of a present DECADEagainst the best work of pst centry or even of a wholegroup of centies

Obviously one man or six men cant produe as mnymetrical tiumphs in ve yers or in twenty as ve hn·

dred trobdors with no cinema no novels no radio to

distrat em produced between 1050 and 1300 And thesame appes in al departments

he honest ritic must be content to nd a VERYE ontemporry work worh serious atenion

ut he must also e ready to RECOGNZE that tle and

to demote work of the pst when new work srpasses it

91



CHTEN CONDENARE

chapter heading is Mr tigs discoery and hisprime contribtion to contemporary criticis bt the ideais far from new t is as we hae said ngraned in the eryangage of Germany and it has magnicntly UNCONED billiantly fnctioned

isistrats fond the Homeric texts in disorder wedont qite know what he did bot it he ible is acompendim people trimmed it to make solid t has

gone on for ages becase it wasnt allowed to oerrn al

the aailable pachment; a Jpanese emperor whose name hae forgotten and whose name yo neednt remember

fond that there were OO NY NOH AYS hepicked ot 40 nd the Noh stage ASED from 400 or

wheneer ight down till the day the American nayintrded and that didnt stop it Umewaka Minor startedagai soon as the reotion wore o Oids Metamophoses are a compendim not an epic ike Homer's ;

Chacer's Cnterbry aes are compendim al thegood y Chacer knew he aes hae lasted throgh

centries whle the longwnded mdiaea narraties wentnto mms

1 A Jnee tent in Ameic on ein ke the eeetween oe n oety i: Poety conit of it n it

9



S E CTI ON TW O



EXHIBITS deal way o prese he ext secto of ths ookleould e o gve he quotatos WIHOU ay commehaever I aad that would e too revolutoary By

ong ad wearng experec I have leared that n heree mperfect sate of he world oe MUS ell the

ader I made a very ad mstake my INSIGAIONS

e ook had a pla I hough the reader would ee

I he prese cas I shall o ell he sude everyg

mos tellge sude those who mos wa oEARN however ecompass ha ed ad edearemselves o he sruggl auhor i hey read hEXHIBIS ad o look a my fooot utl hey have

a eas red o d ou WHA HE EXHIBI IS ad oue hy I hav pred For ay rader of uce

c hould a goo a gam a orqumadaros-ord aomaos I do expec t o ecom ve opr u a dal REPUBIC would

9



EXHIBIT

ra gia lore che volge l dso

A naviganti.Purgatorio VIII, I.

Perch' io non spero d toa gi maiBallatetta in Toscan

Cvci

S'ils n'ayment fors que pou !'argent

On ne les ayme que pour l'heue.

Villon

he re that tr about her, when she stirs.

Yets

Ne maeg wergmod wyrde dhstonda

ne e e hyg helpe geemman

for dhon domgeoe dreorigne oft

n hyra breostcofan bindath faeste.

Th Wnderer

xample of deogrammc method used by . P. n ThSerious rtis& 1913 beore havg access to the Fenollosapers

I wa to ndcate derence between prosemplcity of ttement, and an equ lmpidity n poetry,

where the pefectly smple verbl order s CHARGDwt a much hher potent, an emotonal potential.

96

'



I that essay I also cted Stendhal's: Poetry th t

obligatory comparisons, the mytho1ogy the poet don't bleve m, his so-called dgnty of tyle, a l Louis XI Vnd

all thatta

of what they cal poetic ornamen t, svastly in ferior to prose if you are to give a clear andexact dea of the • uvements du cur' ; i you ae to show what a man feels, you can oy do t by clarty.

hat was the great t. The great separation of theroads. Aer Stendhal saw that, and sad t, the poetc bunko the preceding centue gave way to the new prose, thecreation of Stendhal and FJaubert. Poetry then remainede nfeor a unti t caught up with the prose of thesewo wrters, whch t ultimately did qute largely on the basis of DICHTEN = CONDENSARE.

hat dd NOT mean it was omething more waty admbecl than prose, but omethn g charged to a higherotental

97



EX CUR 1414

But Chaucer though he kan but ewedy1

On meres, and on rmig criyHath seyd hm, i sich ngissh as he kanO ode tyme as knowe many a man

And he hve noght seyd him, eve2 brother,

In o book, he hh seyd hm in anoe

For he hath tood o overi up and doun

Mo' Ovide made o menciounn Epistees

youthe he made5 o Ceys nd Acione

l 3 M t p

Chaucers se-criticism paced the mouth o e M

o Lawe. He proesses himse untaught n metre mea robby quanttave verse. Skied n �hyme. The meo a compendium comparbe to Ovd. He oows mediaev custom and goes on to give a catoge otaes Dio Aiadne Hero and Leander Laodamia, etc.

9

1



Soth s the root o much bad opinion. It is at

fcut or the author to ret speech within decoo

ounds.

once heard a man, who has some standing as rter andwhom Yeats was wont to deend, assert that Chaucers

nguage wasnt gsh, ad that one ought not to e it

s basi o dicusion, TC. Such was the depth o London

n 1910Anyone who is too ay to master the comparativey

smlgossary necessary to derstand Chaucer deserves toe shut out rom the reading o good books or ever.

to the reative merts o Chaucer and Shakespe

ngish opinion has been bamboozed or centuries by a

ove o the stage, the gamour o the theae the ove o

bombastic rhetoric and o sentimentg over actors nd

acesses; these, pus the nation ziness and uness to make the east eort have competey obscured the

vues.

Peope even read transations o Chauce nto a cuiou

compost which is not mode anguage but which uses a

vocauary comprehended o sapheas.

Wat se th kennath

Chaucer had a deeper knowedge o ie than Shakespea.

t the rear contradict that aer reading both authors he then chooses to do so.

He had a wide knowedge o ie, pobaby, he had atany rate a better chance.

We can eave the question o the reative chances to thei

bioaphers. Let us ook at the evdenc.

99



Chaucer wrote when reading was no disgrace He hd

ory book gahered probbly at coniderable trouble and

expene Shkepeare had at leat si good ones Chaucer

cite h sources. There wa no contemporary snobbsm toihbi hi

BUT Shkepeare OWES e a much to his reding s

Chaucer dosMen do not undernd BOOKS until they have had a

cerain moun of life Or at n rate no man ndersands

deep book until he has seen and lived at leat prt of itsconens The prejudice again books has grown from

oberving he upidity of men who have meey read boos.

Chaucer beyond thi wa a man th whom we could

have dicused Fabre and Fraer ; he had thought conider·

bly about many hing which Skespeare has no vey

deeply conidered.Chaucer relly doe comprehend the hought s well a

he life of hi time

The Wife of Bath's heology is no a mere mear Her

attention o the meanng of terms i greaer than we nd in

Lorenzo Medii' imaginary dialogue with Ficino abou

platonm. T i, in Chaucer he remain of he middle ges whenmen took some care o their ermin?logy.

When he sys :

coneillng na comndement.

she has a meing in each o her terms.

Chucer wote while Englnd ws still par of Europe

There was one ue o Fer o Paris nd i een·

100



ded o England Chaucer ws the greaes poe of hi day

He w more comp&dous han Dane.e patcipated n he ame cuure wih Froiar nd

Boccacc the grea hmane clture that went inoRimini ht spoke FrancoVeneo that is in the rondels

of Froissar and in he doggerel of he Malet.

In Shkespeares ime England is alredy nowing.

Shakespere as supreme lric technician is indebed to he

Ialian ongbooks but they are already an EXOTIC.Chaucer ues French ar he ar o Provence the

erse come rom he robadour. In his world

here had lved boh Guiaume de Poictier nd Scotus

Erigen. Bu Chucer ws no a oreigner. I wa HIS

civiaion.

He mde fun o he mm hramm ru he decdenceo AngloSaon allteration the erse wien b hose who

had orgotte he WH o the AngloSaon rdi

narration d been o inslr to learn French. Tre

Chaucers name s French and not English his mind is he

mind of Erope no he ind o n nne or n ouyng

proneHe i e Grand Trnle. He hd ond new ln

gge he had i largely o himsel wih the gand oppor

un. oting spoiled noing worn ou

Dane had had a simir oppotni and en i wh

loo oer shoder nd ew Lti epens

Chauer el hnce. The gl bewee Chuer dGower c e mesed Gower hesttion s

proed ungnes o ae a chnce. He had go

ecal eerises in all hee o he cen ones

101



English, French and Lain. Books used in the wrong way

The hunt for a subject etc.He was the perfect type of Engish secondy r

condemned recently but for ltime by Henri avray withhs:

'Ds cherchent des sentiments pour le accommoder

leur vocabulaie

They hunt for sentiments to t into their voculay.

Chaucer and Shakespeare have both an insuperable

coge tackling any but absolutely any thing that

arouses their interest

No one eer gauge or measure English poetr ntl

they know how much of it how full a gamut of its qualitess already THERE ON THE PAGE o Chaucer

ogopoeia phanopoeia melooeia; the Enlish tech

que of lyrc nd of narative, and the full ich ow of

uma contact.

s last term has been degraded and demoted or

arowed dow unt t excdes lthe more complcated,the less sa acivites of hman fel and der

stand. i sd almost as t coud refer only to low

lfe.

hacei aware of fe aty wth Shespeae. He

omed, d nderstands the ntellecta conqest ofErope a way that W Shakespeae robaly dd

not.

He oen mnded, let sa to fok-lore, to the rob

102



lems Fraze broaches n a way that Sheseare cetaywas not.

Shakeseare ws eatly ndierent. He was fanu

He was a techc master. The gross and tter stutyand obtuseness of Milton was never more apparent th

n h supercilous reference to Woodnotes wld.

The best tng I eer heard n r Schellngs class-room

was the theor that Shakepeare wanted to be a oet bt

that he hd to take to the ·ing of plays.He is, probably i term of magntude mean anythng,

'the worlds greatest damatst. ong th Ibsen and

Aeschyls.

But t would be very rash to say that he a better oet

than Chacer or that he knew more (or ? a mch) abot

lfe.

Cacers culture was wder than antes, Pearch s

mmeasuably nferor to both. Yo wold not be fa ot

you chose to consder Chaucer as the fater of litterae

humanores for Europe.

Not that the continent fond t ot. t for oseswe can perfectly well base the whole of ou study of the

renaissance on Master Geoey, the savant who knew a

much of the hostler as dd the deersnatcher of Stratford,

who knew probably a great deal more of the merchant

ceraly more of diplomacy and the ways of the world of

oer Wic doesnt mean that he has le a better record,or anticipated the reolt of later time.

103



VION b ntrt

IF Chaucer represents the great melowng and the dawn of

new paideuma, Vion, the st voice o man broken bybad econocs, represents also the end o a tradtion the

end o the mediaeval dream, the end o whole body o

nowledge, ne, subtle, tha had rom Anaut to

Gudo Cavcanti, that had lain n the secret nd o

Europe or centres, and wch is ar too compcaed to

deal wth n a prier o readng.The hardest the most authentic, the most bsolute poet

o France The under dog, the ealist, lso a scholr But

wth the medaeval dream hammered out o h

nsuperable techcian Whose art so cme rom

Provence

I have scamped tis pragraph I have used medaeval

dream to avoid witng a olo in 900 pages

I don't use the term to mean merely ancul ornamenta

tion wth dasies and dckey bds ; I don't mean n escape

mechanism I mean vey complicated sucture o now

edge and pereption, the pardse of the human mindunder enlightenment Al o whch, I repeat, cannot be

dealt wth in a rst book on edng

Technically speaking, translation o Vllon is extremely

dcut because he rhymes on the exact word, on a word

meang sausages, or example

The gand ogies or yong men who wnt really to

earn strophe wtng are Catus and Vlon I personally

1

''



1

e een edued to etn them to ic s o

anslte them Swinbune and Rossetti have done some o

hei own best poems ng Vion s starting-pont Te

net eslt is more lie Mre de Frnce, Cesten de Toyesor Froissrt '

105



m CUR 000

I have of sowe so gete woon1

That joye gete I neve noonNow that I see y ady bghtWch I have oved with y yght

Is o e deed and is a-goon.1

Aas, Deeth, what ayeth thee

That tho nodest3 have taken ean to toke y ady sweeteThat was so fa, so esh, so fe,

So good, that en ay we se goonesse she had no eete�

f x l & l

Engish c, the techniqe fo s aeady copete

no agentaon of singabity o Chace's day to oown The Fench foteenthcenty ic ode, coonto l Eope Iio has changed bt no geate has been attained Not even by Shaespeae withe ad o ate Itaian songboos

0



Exum CUR 000

Bt as I oed p and don

I fond that on a we the wasThs witten on a tabe of bas:I wo now synge, gif that I can

The aes and aso the anThat st ca, ogh his desnee

Fgitif of Toy conee

In taie

The saw I how the tepest stente

And how with a pyne he ente

And pevey took rvage

In the con of Catage

And on the oe, how that heAnd a nyght hght AchatMetten with Vens tat dayGoyng a qeynt aay she hadde been an hnteesse

Wth wynd bowynge pon esse

Chace givin tentative ipession of Vi07



Ccer derivig from Li is possily ookis He

er we rec, e is greaes i drwig he Prdoer,

Wife of Ba d live people, pig oe� e resls o

is ow REANG io heir mos, d drwg heircarcer i he wy hey mke se of i. Te prdoer

kes wo hudred lies o ge his sory By imee reader is very mc srprised h e s sory l

Chcers oered chrcers re perps more rel o

s ha Shakespeare; drmaize gres, or come a oemor sddely from he page s lvg, wheres he cor

iervees or eeds o iervee, o recreae e Eliz

eha dramaic persoge.

This ms e ake s eive seme, wih l

gres of fiess ad vividess impied



XIT ER 13401400

Hy, Aslo, hye gile resses clere

Eser, ey ow hy mekeesse al do,Hyd, Joahas, al hy fredey mere Peeope d Mcia Co,

Mak of youre wyfhod o compriso,

Hyde ye yore eeis, Ysode ad Eee,

Alcese is here h h may desee1

Ty fayre ody l i peere,

Lveye, d how, Lucresse of Rome ow

Ad Polexee ha oghe love o dere

Ek Cleopre wih hy pssiou

Hide ye yore roh i love d yore reo

Ad how Tyse, a hs for love swich peye,Alcese i ere l my eseye

Herro, ido, Lodamy le i fere2

Ek Phills hagyge for hy emophou

A Caace espied y y cere3

Ysiphie eraye w asoMak of youre rohe i love o os e so

Nor Ypermysre, or Adrie e pleye

Alcese is here l my deseye

1 overhow comny 3 fce

Provel rdiio, i rce, he mediaeval, hsed o Vilos ime. Cf Neiges dAa ; d oerlldes Villo or over cery fer Ccer, Eg-d o lggig eid rce

0



You do not have to apologze for Chaucer or say that ewas an Engshman o oly an Englshan, you can cast

about n your mnd �ithout nhbton when seekng cm•

asons ether for h sngableness o fo h chaactedawng.

Where, for exple, n anterr lterature can you nd

bette o as good?There s some such rawng n the sagas, less n Boccac·

co less vaety n Petronus, i you y to tk of some

thng ore r less 'lke t you ay be reded of Platshuour, for exaple n delng wth the apoplectc amaptn (colonel) who so annoyed wth Socrates because

the old nqrers nd happens to functon Pardoner andhost do not suer by coparson Daphns and Coeevnces probably a hgher degree of czaton a ore

ened but not a ore acte perceptonThee no need to nent or take fo granted a sp

and specy lenent set of LOCAL crtera when vng

Chaucer.

r raing. W. the convesaos f

Chauce Petrach and Bccacc.

10



El CUR 1341

Lnv to Ki Rhr

pnce dese for to be honouableChersh thy fok and hate extorcoun!Sue no tng that may be epevleTo thyn estat, don n thy egounShew forth thy swed of castgacoun

Dred God, do law, love trouth and wthynesseAnd dyve they fol ageyen to stedfasesse.

ven adon mtaed

Thu gan he mae a ro fhdeIn whch he saw al holly her ge,

1 wl

ven adon we111



XHIIT HAER 3401400

Madame ye bn of beaute sryne

As f as cerced is the mappmoundeFor as the crist gorious ye shyne

And yk ruby ben your cheks rounde

Therwith ye bn so mery and ocounde

That at rve whan I se you daunc

It is an oyntement unto my wounde

Though ye to m n do no daiaunce

Ag t dubtf ps e d :

You yn two wo sye me sodeny

Tat might e by Froisat d h written n Engish

Chaucers work has ben ft us amost unsortd The

perspicacious adr not fa to tg it is a of

equa vau Having ft th bst it is probaby advisbe

smpy to browse and read wat on njoys ; there are

parts h mght have cut ad he ben usd to the mutipica·

tion of books by the printing prss; parts that he coudav rewritte had he thought it worth wie No good

purpose is served by merey fing ito an ecstasy ove

caic forms of the anguag

11



ug division might peraps be trid

1 es magnicnty maintiing Proven4a tdt

2 oems akin to those f s Frnch contempories

3 assags showing the particua Chaucrian erch

met o umanity

4 Infior passags whre he hasn't bothered to do metan a rough transation or as ft inective is

scuttrd ovr ss interesting atter

Intening writers can rad with fair safety n so f

as no one now can possiby use an imitation of Cauces

mnn or the dtais of his spch Wereas hoibexampes of peope wearing Eizabthan od cotes pro

ect om whoe dcads of atr Engis and Aeic

wing

Te mod writr if h arn from Chaucer can

e om CHAUCER'S art its fundamentas

T qstion of using otr man's mnnr r sty fairy simp Good witing is cotrminous with te writes

tught it has th form of th thought th form of te

ay the man fs s thought

No to mn think in precisy th same ay M.

Wyndham Lwis may hav an xcnt coat but it

oud not give satoria satisfaction on te back of M.Joyce or M Eiot and so in varying degree ti a

writr uses a spch of h own there be odd bugs

sackness ovr narror shoudrs

3



The partcular Enlh component n Chaucer From

now on the tuent n computn the later poet an pro

wrter can ak hime

What have they tat wa not n on Georey? ou cank thi o Shakepeare you can ak t o Feln.



XIT

The battel the I ill crue

Fra Troy boundi rt tt futieBy fate to tale come an cot Laune

Ouer lan and e cacht wth meikl pyne

Be force of od aboue fra euery tde2

Of cruel Juno throw aul remembrt e3

Grete payne in battele uert he alo

Or4 he o brocht n LatoAn belt the cete fra quham of nobl fame

The Latyne peop taken ha thare name

And eke the faer prnc of Alba

Come an the waler o rete Rome alua

0 thow my mue eclare the cau quhay5

Qyha maety oent ; chaw quham byOr zt quhareor o o the rcr8 Quene

So fe daner c trawell ma utene

e worthy man fult o pete

I thare c r£ n hene mye on he?

che

t

le8 oi Sx. mn oence

1474 to 152 or 22

3f r

Er

6

q fo "7 8 if innion f

Gan oula et o a partcular labour th h mull of Latn quantate metre attan robuter erato than you ar lkely to n n Chauer It ot fato compare thee partcuar paae to Chaucer rlamet f Chaucer ha oe nothin ele But theetre of Gan ere troner the relience rete hucer

5



xT V oAS 474522

With wappinnis ke the Vgins of sarha

For enus efter the gys and maner thare

Ane active bow, apoun her schuder are

As she had bene ane wde hntereis

ith wind wang haris owsit of trace

And on this wise with hart burnng s re

Musing aone fu of maice and yre

To Eus cuntre that wyndy regioun

Ane rudy nd of furious stormy soun

This goddes went quhare Eous the King

In gousty cauis the windis oud quhisingAnd raithe tempestis by hs power refranys

I bandis hard, schet in presoun onstrenys

fee fo t

he transation was made durin the eihteen onths,

eginnng in January, 52 and endng on the 22nd oy 153, with two months' interssion, the work ointer as he proceeded, 7th book begun Deeer 12

Prnted at London' by 15531



xT V ouAs 4741522

Thay meset the seys ustuousy

Quhi fra the depe ti euyrye oist fast bThe huge wais wetres apon hie

Rowit at anis with stormes and wnds threEurs, Nothus, and the wynd Aphrius

(Quhik Eist, South and West wyndis hate wth us)

Sone efti this of men he amour rais,

The takiis grals, cabis can ate and asWith the coudis, heuynnys son and dais yht

Hid and brest out of the Troianis sycht

Derknes as nycht, beset the see about,

The rmament gan rumyyng rare and rout

The skyis oft ychtned with fyry euyn

And schortie aith are, see and heuynAnd euery thyng manssis the men to de

Schewand the dede present before thare E

wve Roe one 3 e e6 e 6 ga = ga et n n

4 oe

Go sow, manissis = menaces, the key to ost of thefamiar-ooking word in the sound. on't afraid toess Rare = roar, rout = beow, E = eye

117



ExHT GN DoLS 144122

BisHoP oF NLD ND UNKL AR oF us

nd all in van hus quhl neas carp1n blasernd bu2 ou fra he narh brayng

Gan ur h freschp n h ak sal dng

nd o he sernes up he ude can cas3

The ar,4 hachs and he aklls ras5

The schpps seuyn hrawar hir wen can wryih6nd urni er brad sde h wallis swyh 7

Hi as ane ill e jaw f h waer bra

1 ce 2 ltein tom 3 (ol hi hhe t ten)4 o 5 t6 ? lo technicl nti w ' Cie vie e to tn. Poily

textl eo I ont ke ot whethe the hi te min keelme twit fo ie wy o wythin looe fom the i owhethe it i meel twite fow lh of the hi 7 qickly

a n ra sas as a Lanis, b ra Lain fr

and a rad a gd da, d a ssi lg sra ualiis f Prris' ii ·i rfessina ainss ha ignrd and in sassags as is I g csidrably mr pasr fr f an fr rigin ig nn-safarg ar

11



EXHIT AVIN ouAS 144122

reigis man am a s

Bi nsera Dian and PbsHai1 Depb, th dr f Gacs,

Qhilk he King sn spake a is wis :

is i (qud sch) sar an dus

and n gurs, is n nssary.

Mare needful now war bu3 langar ary

Sn zung sis5 ha zk6 bar nuer nanBrc fr e bw7 in erand bri8 ilkan

d as ny wynrs,9 as is gis

Csin and ganan 10 fr sarice

On his is i Enas sa Siy.

GAYIN ouAS 144122

ll idway is idernes an

Or wils frrs and h aihi

cyus wh hs drry bs nrd

Flwis enurun rnd ab a lac

B gf fa gre es and f h has

Tyis il wr sal1 f Syx h dly3 and wyis behad bak ells i f wrake u

Or fa huge aubur delis h, qud s

Harkn quha rs hus he d.

ddis an rank re, lurkis a gdin ech 5

Wi aura eus and b wsis ch

1 Ne Gzin3

withot ' fo y6

llok8 yoke 7 ow-fol 8 ek ein = cce hee 'two winte ol 0 oitio nnt)11 the intenive not netive 2 ? hll o ilin le3 oloo 1 evene5 My loy ive bu = bug t h wo ml ht

Gn took it fo tletoe 16 toh

19



Unto Juno inerne consecrate

Tht standi loukit1 about and obumbrate

With dirk schddois of the thik wod chaw.

Bot it is n yse lesum, 2 I the shwThir secrete wayi under the erd to went

Quhil of the tre this goldin grne3 be rent :

Fare Proserpyne hs institute and commndTo oer hir this hir in proper presnd4

ne uthir goldin grne, to the ik eeck,

Thou sl not mys, thocht the rst be doun brekIncontinent euer of the samyn etl

Sic ne lke brnche sl burgeon furth wthl.

The nedis therefor, til hld thine ene on hicht

It for to serche and seik al at richt

Quhen it fnd, thou hynt5 it in thy hand

For gifit list esely tht amyn wandOf the aw 8 wi l follow ti rp fute hte7

Gf o the f tis wlthou pas tht gate;

Or elles8 be na strenth thou sl it ye8

Nor cut n twa with wappin swerde nor knyfe

1 encod awful, pertted

the glossay now gves boh grain, the atte cetainly the morekey, nd agan ponng to Gavn's havng the sletoe nd.The glose-Jaker poby tnkng ore of the orgna Lan than ofhe word before ? 4 present 6 snatch

6 ts own 7 Chaucer foothot = straghtway8 dvnaon accordng to whether the bough coes o easy

he omission o Dougla om Th Oxord Book of X VlthCentu Verse sheds no credt on either the press r thethologist Blind prejudice aganst tanslation cannotxplan it, a Dougls wote a quantity of orgnl oetart of which is ndubitably upeor to a good deal theyave ncluded

120



EXHIBIT GA DOUGLS 1474-1522

Behldnd the lrge wod on thi syde :

Thre s he stude thus mkand hs pryer :W ld God zone goldn branche list now ppere

Skars wr thir wordis sid quhen in that place

ne pr of dois a heuin come with ne ycht

nd richt forgne the manns face did lycht

This ril price a sone as he thaym sw

His moderis birds knew nd blythle thn

His vrisoun1 ha maid and thus begn:

0 hly foulis, gif the way my be went

Be ze my gidis to complete my entent;ddres zour cors towout the are in hy

Unto tht haly schaw2 • • • • •

nd ze my blissit moder that oure beild

Int this doutsum cai. • •

1 orson I grove

3 gossary gves efuge, but I t t s ore lkey to basuey

Dstnguish beween Vigil' new matter tat thefolk-lore that i dstinctly Italian not Greek and the atf the eneid due to literay tradito

121



EXHIBIT AVIN DouGLAS 1474-122

Like as full oft in schi wyneris yde

The gum or glew2 amyd the woddi yde

Is wount to schene zallow3 on the grane new Quhlk never of that treis substance grew

With saroun ewit5 frute doing furth sproute

Cirkilis& and wympillis7 round bewis abou

Sic lik was of this gold the cullour brycht

That burgoni fare on the rak aii8 hicht

Euer as the branche for pipand wynd rebounditThe golden schakeri9 ratlis and reoundit

Eneas smele hynt he grane th schoe

And but10 delay has rent i doun anone

viN DoGLS 1474-122

Enee hymself ane zow was blak of eece

Brynit wth hi swerd in sacrice ful hie

Unto he moder of the furie thre

And hir gree ier and o Proserpyne

Ane zeld 12 kow all o trinci, and eftir yne

To he infernale King quhilk Pluto hate13

Hys nycht alaris begouth14 o dedicate

The hae boui ofbeii bane and lyre

Amyd he ambis keit1 and haly fyre

The fat olye did he zet and pere17

Apoun the enei o mak thaym birne clere

1 chll 2 gum, vscous humour 3 yellow 4 newly6 hued 6 rle d kks 7 around the bughs 8 oak's

9 ker lbel thi plte of gold rttled10

without ASx brt = brek il sacrice 2 barren, hacked13 hght clled 14 began

16 The holy buks (carcasses) of beast, bone and esh 16 cas

17 pored

Srs nothin icompared to wich passages inMacbth.

122



ExHIBI VIN DouGLS 14715

The byinig ei the erpen Lea

Horrbill quhissiand and queynt Chimera,

With re enarmyt on hir toppi hie,

The laiye Hrpie and he Gorgonis hre

Of thrinfald bodyi gaily forme did grone

Baih of Erylus and of Gerione

And wih his biand brycht brand a in vaneThe ume1 schaddois mityng o hae slane

Awounderi of thi erage and the preis

Say me, virine ayd Enee or thou ceis,

Quhat meni sic couence on this watr yde?

Quhat wald ir sauli? quhay will they not abyde?

The o� anueri with ane pietuous pepe,

Maist wourhy Duke chies' son mais dere

The elmstok or gubernail of tre

Quharewih I rewlit our cours throw the seLennd thereon sa fas, percase it hrew

And rent away oueru:d wih me I drew.

The waly seyis to wtnes draw I here

Tha for myself tuke I nane sa grete fere

As of thy schip1 empty

A noe which I ake o be Gavins own indicaes thedeb to Homer ; as thoe who do not read Lain can gethei Vig i olde Sco, he Romans who ne no Greeot thei legend of he NKUIA from V.

123



EXHIBIT ARTHUR GoLDIN 536-605

The Go now hng lade sie his

borrowd shpe of Bull,Hd n hs lkenesse showed himself:

And with his pretie trulTne lnding n the Isle of Crete

When in tht whle her Sire

Not nowing where she ws become sent fter

to enqureH brother Cdmus, chrging him his sister

home to bring,

Or never for to come gne wherein he

did thng

For which e might both justlie nde nd cruel

cle eWen Cms over all th world d sught

(for wo is he

Tht cn etect the thefts of Jove) nd no-

where coul her see

Thn s n otlw (to voye his fther's

wongl e)He went to Phebs Orcle most hmbly to

desire

His heveny concil were he wold ssigne

h plce to well

A ole forgrowne nfeUed woo stood ne t

han terebAnd in e mides qecie plot wth Sedge

nd Osier e

124



Where cobde bout ith pebe stone

lenesse of bowin

There ws sprng wth silver stremes tht

forth thereof dd owHere lured n his lowrng den God Mrs his

griesly Snke

With golden scles nd rie eyes beswone with

poyson ble

Three spirtng tongues, three rowes of teeth

wtin his hed did sticeNo soone hd the Tin folke set foote within

this thce

And quechie plot, n deped down thebucet in the we,

Bt tht to buscle in is den begn tis Serpent fell

And peering with mrble 1 hed ght hoblyto sse.

The specled serpent straght

Comes triling out n wving lnkes n knottie

roUe of scles

nd endng nto nc ohts s othe hles

An lftng p above h wt

the Skie

He overlooket all the woo;

hmelf nto

With tht he rghtn fstA mightie Milstone t the Sne wth ll

is might it cst

1 mable

15



Wile Cadmus wondered at the hugenesse of thevanqiht foe,

Upon the sodaine came a oye: om whence

he old not knowB re he wa he heard the voye, whih said

Agenor' onneha aze h pon thi Snake? The

ime ill one da oe

Tha tho th ele hat ba a Snake He

pale and wan for feareHad lost i speech and rued up stie

saring stood heare

Behold (mans helpr at s neede) Dame Paas

gliding troh

The vaant Ayre was raight at hand and

bade h take a ploughAnd ast te Sepent teeth n gound of

the wih should sprig

Another eople ot of hand.

the clods began to move

nd fro the foow rt of the pies ap•pearde above,

e rose up hees wth ehered crests and

then he Poldren bright,

Sesively he Cret whole and al the armou

right

Th rew up men ike orn in eld in rank ofbate ray

apologize for the cus in the story bt I cannot give a

hole book of the Mamorphoe here and do no

12



honel ink that anone an know anh aot he

ar o lid narraie in Enlih or let s sa ao he

or o he developmn of nlih narraie-riin

(rse or pro iho eein the hol o he olme(he xv Booke o P Oi Nao ntled Mamor

phoi tranlaed oe of Lain ino lih meer y

Arh Goldin Gnleman ' Firt eiion o ar a I kno

Imprined at London illam Sere 67, ih he

mark o bear standig a po inide he garer oni oi.

Shakepeare b 64 d 166.

Thogh i i he mos beail ook in th lanae I

am not here itig i for deoratie prposes or he

naative qality

It hold be read a natural poken lanuage h mere

i, I admi suepil to bad reaing A ad reader ofoeeners amost cetai o tubthump The readewl

e wll advied to read aording to sene and ntax

eep from thmping oberve the syntatal pae and

ot sop for the line nds save where sense reqire or a

comma iniaes Tha i the a o ge the most ot of it,

nd ome nearet o a sense of th timeelement in themrial pln

27



LING 5-

e al id nd n Me d l

ei biee pieIn pig o Bcc woe fea e

bek contepol.Wen on e ode (eeing gt) e

ea bo e odO bbi Tibel pefecl oe n

jrondWi ale inging bell

fo flA cen of Son nd of M vi

ol el (wic n wol belive

wb e bIil wax e en

ax wic pDid oi ful of vie lve. Ad pa

eeo dd

Abode in Vie. e de it elfe in

be fo d p.Young bugeon f of clued gape

e Ditave fo id bin

And a te web ey wo wa dey' d a deepdake pple ew

Even o upon e paine pe

elfe me colo gew.

Te day wa pent. And now w come e

me wic neye nig28



No day, hut mdde hond of bomay tm o igt.

T ouse at sodan eed o a

aout t se

nd l

t bung ams ad gtteng e os foe t y.

nd sss o oy ast wt gatfloyss yd

Fo ae of n smoke ole te t

e comldTo de t ad one e nd t

anot o o un

Te gteng lg And wl e in

con ndly unUon t itt ete imme ne csp

m te god sled n stea o n e

sotnd ames encoe.

ut ow ty los tei foe ape ofctat o know

Te danse wold not e em No

at o wd yt t see ad velume ng ty ov

o te gound n tey goe aot to eake

ma but ltte oundccodg a t bode �ve bewayng e

dsgtBy cg y o temelve. n outy dgt

nd not oode : detestng d ett owad g

29



eretroug tey of te Evening late i Lati

take their name

d we in Engls language Backes or Reermce

call the same

Now while I underneath the Earth the Lake of

Styx did passe

I saw your daughter Proserpne with these sameeyes. Se was

Not merie, neyther rid of feare as seemed b

h cheere

But yet a Queene, but yet of great God Dis

the staely Feere

But yet of tha same droupie Realme the ciefend soeeigne Peee

And came of migtie Marsis ace, Pandion

ought of joeiance withh by and by, ad gaveh o

is Feee

His daughte Pogne At tis at (a

fter wlappeare)

as neiter Juo, Presiden of ariage, won

o beeo Hymen, no no any one of all e

gaces tee1 companion

10



The Furies snatcing apers up that on oeHerse did stande,

Did ligt them, and before te Bide did

beare them n her ande

As both Progne and selfe should joy and

confort bring,

Wen bot of them in verie deede should after-ward it rew

To endward of is daily race and trave Poe

drew

And on the soring side of Heaven oe

downewad ew

In open face of all the word : o i o eee

me stillAs prisoner in these woods,

verie woods shall llmy voyce e

Ad make te stones to ndersnd

e student wlnote that up to now e ites exhib

ed are all intent on wat ey are aying, tey re

conscious of avng someting to tell te eade, sometg

e does no reay kno, and tei an eo pen i

ELLING h.

e next pase appeas i auto wo e grdualy

oe and oe concerned wi e way ey e yi i

131



Smlr che pt : Sm Mmmi, th pantr

the Quttrcent, intet thir MAIN subjct, Vrin

itt bd t ch, tc utyi pctur Renaisane

cece : pters tet n pnt a bt rper,th or tht bt of pcre r chrcr r wht nt

Cucer

the Eurpen

Contrast

Shkespear

the Eishmn.

FOUR PERIODS

I. When Eln w prt Eurp

II Wn Enl ws Eln, ntainig r w best

witer, r wn mst ntellgent men.III The pr en Engla n lgr r r, r

lme er bst wtr.

Lar i Itl

Bes i Germa.

Brn, Kat, Shll tl.

Brwng Ital, Tnns te il tera·tre Enla

. T eri xtic injti.

A tt te lai atin Lati a elge

t all Erpe. Tere are a Latzati

Engls, but te injtin i eting ert.Wrrt a Slle ere t iu

tig Ialia anzne .

ire Grek njeti.

132



Brng, n a iernt a, e talia ubjet

atter Fitzgra' Rubaiya' (Peria).

W Mi re a, an l Frn atter

Rstti : Itlian pets Pr-Rapaelite eievalsm.Vitrian mnr lng wit slitr Fren m.

T lt ie Frnch syblst tencie ixe

t ubjt mattr rt rm Celti mt, te m

e Irla.

Te Arian lizati Hn Jams (Whistler,

W. H Husn), et.

33



XHIIT MRK LEXANDER BoYD 5

Fra hak t hak fra wd t wd I ri

Oaiit wit my feebe fatasieLie t a eaf tat fais m a treOr ti a reed rbawi wit te wid,

w gds guid me te ae f tem is bi, ea ad a bair hrct up i vaitie,

Te ext a wife igerit f te seaAd icter r a daupi wit er

Uappy is te ma fr evermairTat ts te ad ad sawis i te ir,

But twic uappir i , I , Tt fedi r rAd fws a a rd by bid d c y ar

prpery iidd i ct t r i

it f C r ; oe w Prui d, w •u t mpr i prdcsr T rf fec ipe t r td y r pi ic c a cdce

y ay it i uiu ay

p

cee fr f dy r k fr , rip ; it is i ce fr fw dy pad pi f tuit

I up utifu st i ·, rt i



xHIT CHRISTOPHR MRLO 59

N t r de u ce

Tat drawes te day m eave's cd axe-tree, Aurra iter sidst tu dw agaie, Ad brydes m Mm yeery sa be saie.

N i er teder ams sweete bidf ver, w we ies e by my side

Te ayre is cd ad seep is sweetest wAd byrdes sed fr sri tes frm every bwWiter rust tu, tat m ad wme ue t?Hde i ty rsie re tat tey me t !Er tu rise stars eac same were t saeBut we tu cmst tey f teir curses faie.

Pre raiers tug tired rise at ty sigt, Te plHide y tee t d is setSw xe eary i te y ar petTu cseest by f seep ad dst betray temT Pedat tat wit crue ases pay tem

1 F. hmm d p one who mt wok

e ex perid f mmum wer i Egis verscai, t igur fu ad uspet te fu eect f study fati er T Eizabeta age was ccered wit tiprem Te me trid t t Egis t rues tyfud Lati rammaias av bee argey frgtte, u t me w ed tir mids wit t fee f ai ave eft u te dates criteria

arws versi f Ovid's Amres prited HOLLD Puri ps dy en

13



e ay reae an se these exhbits as signposts or

rther readin. Where the book is sed or class work the

teacher wlnatally make his own additions and ampi·

ation rom easly obtainable texts or pik the sondwork om the eneral welter o medocre performane

exhibite in the crent anthologies where the best is often

obsre. I te it that texts o Shakespee, Mlowe

FitzGerals Omar are so easily obtainable as to make it

eeess to print seetions rom them in this brie book

an that the aitional mselanies opie one romanother with o ritia plan, smal honesty, and almost

no ersona estimate or re-examination o their matter

ontain air testimony as to the vae o many writers o

shor poems lyris etc. and that tis setion entitle

exhibits serves yo might say, to tace the orse o

Enlih poesy an to inicate in a general way the eeomet o at any rate th trasmtation of style in

he writin o verse.

I ae pointe ot in a longer essay that o old

most trae the hanges in British manner wihot wide

i ta the serie o ttemts to ive an Elisersion o Horae

136



JoHN DoNNE 153-1631

THE CSTASY

Were e po on a bedA pren n seld up to rest

Te ole's recn ed

St e to, one anoer's best.

ur hnds ere rl cented

a fst lm hich tence did spng,

ur eebems tisted and did tead

Our ees pon one double strig

So to engaft o hands as yet

Ws l te means to ae us one

And pictures our ees to get

Was all our propation

As twixt two equal armes Fte

Sspends ncertan vto,

Ou sos, hch to advance ther state

Were gone ot, g tixt her and me.

And whilst or souls negotiate there

We ke seplcral statues lay.

Alay the same or postres were

And we sai nothn all the ay.

any so by love reneThat he sol's langage nderstoo

An by good love were rown all mid,

Within onvenient dstance stoo

137



He, though he knew not which sou spae(Because both mant, both spoe the same)

Mght thence a new concoction1 te

And part far purer thn he came

This ecstasy doth unperpex,We sad, and te us what we oveWe see by this it was not sexWe see, we saw not what did move,

But as al sever sous containMixture of thngs they now not what,

Love these mixed sous dothm againAd mae both one, each this and that

A singe vioet transpant,The strngth, the coour nd the szeAl,which before was poor and scant,Redoubes sti and mutipies,

hen ove wh one nother so

nternaimates two sousThat aber sou which thence doth owDefects ofoneness contros,

e then, who re this new sou, nowOf what we are composed and made,

For th anatomes of which we growAre sous whom no change can inade

1 Technical alchemical term

138



But 0 aas so ong, so farO bodies why do we forbear?

Tey are ous though theyre not we. e are

Th' intelligences, they the spheres.

We owe them thans because they thusDid us to us at rst convey;Yieded their forces to sNor e dross to us, but aay.

On man heavens inuence wors not soBut that it st imprints the airSo sou into sou may ow

Though t to body rst repair

As or bood abours to begetSprits as e sos as t c

Becuse such ngers need to tThat subte not which maes us ma

So must pure over• sous descen

To aectons and to acuteshich sense may reach and apprehend

Ese a great price i rson ies.

To our bodies t we then that soea men on ove revea d may oo

Loves mysterei sous do grow But yet the body s hi oo

1 alloy, i.e that makes metal t for a given purpo

139



An i som lovr such as wHav har thi ialogu o on

Lt hm stll ark u h hl

mal hang whn w'r to bois1 gon.

robbly al o aom1.

Platonsm bliv Th canc o tying to akprtty spchs an o hunting or somthing to say tm

porarily chk Absolut bli i th xstnc anxtracorporal soul a ts ncarnaton Donn stat athss in prs an vn tchnical trms. vial halwits always lookng or th irlvant oggl ov Donn'languag. ou hav hr a clar statmnt worthy to sts Cavanti's Donna Prga' or its prcson lssitrsting mtrially but crtainly not lss intrstig

ontntIt woul tak a bil spcialist o sovr why th Ox-fd Book of Vee inlus th rst v o th strophan thn tunats th pom wth no ndon h n-hn h been med

Donn's work is unvn thr s a grat a o t ut

h s th on English mtaphysical ot who towrs abovall th rst. Ths os't man thr wrn't othr larnan convin Platonists who hav lt bautiul pomsithr os t man that Don at his lowst potntiaosn't marh otrminous with his alying contmpo-rars.

In Do's bst work w n agai' a ral authorsaying somthg h mans an not smply huting orsntimnts that will t his vocabulary'

It might b wll to mphasiz th irnc btwn axprt an inxprt mtaphysiian. or cnturis a sris



mn thought vry thoroughly an intntly about cer-tin problms whh n unsusptbl to laboratoryroo an xprmnt. Th rsult o suh thnkng can bknown an mpar gros ois an slontrationcan b lmat. Th rn btw a mtaphysialtrats that oul satsy my lat ri th Fathr JosMaria Eiono an otmporry rigious workswhos authors cit Mr. Wlls an Mr Balour is vyconsirabl.

Equations o psyhology work out by knowrs oAvicnna may not b wholly onvning but a numbr o

suh quations xist a annot b ispro by xpri-nc vn though bi a prilction must pn onth introspctiv analysis o hghly sitiz prsons.

Btwn 2 an th Rnassanc popl i managto commuat with ach othr in rspct to such prcptons an suh moaltis o ling an prpton.



Ex

Violet

Wecome mad o honourYou do brng

In the Sprng

And wat upon her.

She ha vrgn many,

Freh and ar;Yet you are

More sweet thn ny

You're the maden poes

And o grced

To be pacedFore damak roes.

Yet though thu repected,

Byand-by

Yedode,

Poor r, egected

R. HK 1591-1674

By compaison th toadous te hymng nfnle.Tt ds not man hat amximum of ngablity ttined

Te numbe of hyms thacnh used to dvantage lonlnguge is NOT th nmmesue fo any oth

In an ineted lngagLatin thee sch a eqencof -aum,o and -that dntca on wodntoleabe i th ee scknto pominence, o epatd aegul nstead o rinteva

Rhyming can o zone sounds as tone aeapd nto wall moaploghand

Verses o proby no terary aue, but lus a

knd o rhythm meodc nnovaton that you wlo

nd in Chaucer though there mpe precedence

Provence.

142



In the cae o the madrga wrter the words were not

pubshed apart om the muc n ther on day and one

suppoes tht ony a ong-eared ·eared epoch woud

hve thought o prntng them apart rom ther tune a hsbeen doe n our tme.

We oberve that Wm Young musc ha just been

edted by Dr. Whttaker nd that John en wa t

MSS. on January 1, 1934.

Herrick a you observe ived to a rpe od ge. It s

ey tht the bove bre mouth o meody ws

ry eort.

EXERCISE

I Let the tudent try o decde whether there are 100

ood poems n whatever genera anthoogy he poee ; or

ty, or thrty

I How mny o the poems he rt thnk o wlb

poems havng oe good e or two or three ne that tc the memory, but whch he wlhae gret fcuty

redng o the end or om whch he can remember oth

e th pe ne?

Il How oenwlhe remember ne nd be uttery

e to remember the ubect o the poem s whoe?

143



IV h fing pem :T ar Aiun, Wainghm, Wa' h

m m' P Bab ng, Hnr VIII Pim

nd gd mpan' nain an emen n rpreendn he prn e f xhibi'.

V Le h udn hun fr dzn pem ha rdern m n f h xhibi r ha nrdue mnw mpnn, r narge hi npi f pry b

brngg in m kind f maer r mde f xprin n uhd n



M L HSTER 17 r 48)80

Were I m aea am

On f e ange piiu Creaure Man) a ha F an <d arI b a Dg a Mnke r BearOr anng a ain AnimWh i prd eing Raina

h me e nn 1696, edin nenhime wih a xpage prefae an fr h ak f m·pain giv Beau ureen ne

A Mnie M . . . Deur e SORB ;

Odam' Eng verin h n evneen nd eabve b Ree � eain ha I mgex a paien Reae u I g a ve minue he h erne e ei e Auh iuen e em gee.

I ie i eae a inegen iiim in m pen inenn. G ae ke B. d S.X.ZQ.K. . han e ee e n having een deen Engi rim r enigened mde iman fr hem ean m en e e peii g i p e ie de a gdwrier hd an ae eier apae kningg m buzzrd

15



Jo RL oF ocETER 14880 0 aged 12

Sacred MJEST On His Restoration.

ertes triumhant Shrine! who do'st engage

At once three Kingdoms in a Pgmage

Which n xtatic Dt strie to come

Out of themsees as we as from their home

Whst ndgrows one Cam andLondn isIt sef the ation not Mtroois

And Loa Ken enews her rts agen

ecng her was with moing Groes of Men

orgie this distant Homage which does meet

You est aroach on sedentar feet

d though m outh not atient et to ear

he weight of Ams denes me to aea

I stee efore ou et Great SR aroe

M Man Wishes and more gorous Loe

I whom cod Resect were Treason to

A athes Ashes geate tha t YouWhose oe Amition tis for to e know

B daring Lot o Wmo's So.

146



OYOS ewee 1680 ad 169

A PASTORAL I Imittio f the Grk f

Bewaing the Death of the Ear of Roheser

our ale Groes n dker Shades e see

Let Grons e hard where gente Wnds hae ee

Ye An Riers wee ou ountis dr

And a e ants our Moisture send ad die

Ye meanho owers which once were MenLament uni ou e transformd agen

Let eer Rose ae a the Li e

And Winter Frost seie the Anemon:

ut tho 0 ycn, more goros gow

In mofu Letters th sad Gor show

Enarge th Gief and ourish n th We :or Bn the eoed Bons dead

His Voice is gone his tunefu reath is ed.

Come, a ye USES come, adrn thSeperd's Herse,

Wi ever-fadng Garlan, ndyg Verse.

The rst eort of misguded nk-ge scoas d to IND THE UTHOR. Note that the authr ticuar refrained from signing the oem. As the gret medaea architects and stone-cutters re&aied &om signgthir work. One of the great maadies of mode ctcmis this st rush to ook for he erson an the cres faire EVER to ook the tng.

147



urn, e weet Nghtengae& n the tk Te the a Ne t a te :See t t a t e

T e t e an t tt ee:An te at te te Hw 01� e e Sa gneA wth a t t gae Sn

Come, a ye com adorn th

Sheperd's HeseWith nvr-fading Grlnds ner

dyig Vers.

Ye gele Swas, that aunt th B ooks and Springs

Pine wit sa Gie a oop yor sicky Wings :

In dolef Notes the eav Loss bewai ; )Such as you sing t yor own Funeal,

Such as you sun e yo lov' Opheus fel

Tell it to a te Rivers, Hi, ad Pais,

Tel it to all te Btsh Ns an Swins,

An bi them too te isal is spread,

O Bions ate, o Eland's Orphes da.

Com l ye S com aorn thhehds Hrs

ith eer-ading Grns �er

dyin rse

N re, aa n re tat e SwanChr wth tunefu Ppe the neng Pan:

18



Ceat are the a, eat are the prght Ayre,That w' ur Su nt ur rah'd Ear :r whh the tng Strea frgt t run,

An Tree ean' thr attentve Branhe dwn Whe the gad H th the weet Sund t e,ngthend n Ehe ev'r hea'n ewn t the meanh Shade he' gne,nd there t Lee ank reprt h man thng hear upn the untan nw,

ut pee He that fr ther ater we :Stragng and frte aut the rve,Unndf f ther Pature, and the ve

Cme ll y MUSES com orn thShehrs Herse

Jth nring Garlns nryin rs.

Whm thu et ehn thee, ku Swan,That are apre t reah th athe StranWh there ater thee that are petendRah t take t warn Ppe hanTh Nt rean et e n er EarAn ge u a Det and Dea:

Pea cc t e n the etaAn t the tg Re te un repeatP n eer a equa te in ngThat ta e n t geat P eng:

19



ut Pn hmelf perhap fear to ryWlfe perhap to be out-done by the

, l y MusEs, c, drn tSprds Hrs,

Wt nvr-fadng rlnds nvrdyng rs.

Fair e too lament thy eathament the ceag of thy tunefu Breath :

O he kind Nymph reorted heretofore

To hea thy artfu Meaure &om the hore :

o harh like the rude yclop were thy Lay

Whoe gratng Sound dd her oft ar dleae :

Such wa the foce of thy enchantng TongueThat he for eve could have heard thy SongA chd the Hour that do o wly

An thought the Sun too haty to go down

o e that lovely Need for thy ake

Th Sea and alhe Fellow foake

Pnve upon the eech he t alonAnd kindy tend the Flock &om hch ou rt gone

ll MusE, , rn tphrds Hrs

t nrfdng rln nrng r.

o o to ften ae



Applied oament? A ew bt of oament appe byPetro Lmbardo Santa Mara de Mracoli (Venice)

oth fa moe than al the culpture and culptu

eatio produced n Italy between 1600 and 1950.Rococo by tomorrow you may be unable to remembe

a lne of t BUT try to nd n nglh another paage of

melody utaned for o long e vere t SING I hav

gven oly x trophe the elegy on for fteen pageYou can hardly read t wthout ngng there no lt up

the cantable qualty unle t be n one trophe contanng a condened htoy of Brth poetry

The wter ha more dculty n toppng than n co

tnuing to ng It with dculty that he nd a con

cluon

ompare t with the regular tar performance ofSpener that you can nd n any anthology:

Sweet Thame run ofly tll I end my ong

By coparon the Spee declamatoy that t bpoken rhetorcally rather than ung ou nd t very

hard to mae a atfactory tun for h poem It ng

along and then there a clog

The prent vere wouldnt erve a inteenthcentuy

compoe nor a compoer of the t decade of th

teneth They contran one to muc of the type of thetme

oland Lawe Young Jenkin the perod of ng

land mucanhp

5



The advantage of haing decent musicians ough to bepparent. Thi composiion i not readig matter, i i

ining mater. Try to nd anoher veral manifestation

that perit one to make music for hal an hour n ordero et it.

I reain om indicating the chie deice here employedo induce clear melody. he tudent should nd it forimsef.

He can ony nd it by litening and looking. I h can't

nd it for himself no amount o teling wll make himnderstnd it. There i a sgle cler principle employed

It ha been perceived that French vere went oggy and

eaden and that it tumeed when some literary lump waoo dull to ger the lute; too inarticulate th basic

ene of the ord. It not a man' ngers that stop him

lag an instrument but hi mind hi inabiity to grapenall he ixt or the elve or ix hdred it of a

hole, and to perceive their relaions The true imgina-ion whether isal or acoutic hold a piece o muic

atchmaker woud mentally grasp a atch. The dl and

peechle tribe or the inarticuate man ha only an

ndierentiated dumpln, a general ene of ther bein certain m or bk of omething or other before him.

Th value of muic as elucidation of ve com om

h ttetion it throw n to the detail. Every opularo ha at leat one line or sentence that i perfectl

r Thi line FIS HE MUSIC. It ha uually formed music.

Pope falls ack into the very fauls of Boileau which

Rchester had prged. he wter doe this not the singer

152



Look once more at our anonyou eleg : it i &onNote how few usele words there e in it.

ry the ame test on any •ries poem. On any et of

couples rien a garet y an unmuic man whoseinds erent in he habi o payig good music.

1 53



We now come pon a

SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC PROBLEM

ADVANTGES ACCRUING FROM HERE BEING ASTYLE OF HE PERIOD

Il 'exse p, leur amiece leur confer une e�sece.

N soci order wlae a drauhts like Picass.Note (a recet bureaucra has r u a fag bai

cubists ad hereby show hisel t to couc a osd epor

Bt he se of havig a style of he eriod ought to be

aare bh ou aoyous eley ad frRochesers Welce to Charles, ritte a the ae

welve.Both of these oes are ade by 'k prcess.

Their riters di have to star by refri aythi.The usic criteia of the ties ere f re rder.aler, ho was a tirese fel, is rbably teli

the ruth he he says hat h oes ere ade fr his

o pleasre ad that f his frieds, ad tha he olyublished he he (or because?) bad cies had beshed o ri ithu his hai see the.

aural alei fathos belw My Lord Rchesters.

54



BUT whe he ·rites fr usic he i 'fed ; he was verpossibly HOISED either by the coser or by geera usical ercetiity f the te ad of his acqua

aces. H ibo lack f eldy, f yo care it witRochesters, is eeded he ays his ebt the quie erfec e o Laes.

Verse akes Herick Virtue ve B yu ca Life o Verses give.

Yu, by he hel f Tue a Tie Ca ake tha Sg ch as but Rhe

Ny1 leai, o a dobts the Cause,Or quetios verses set by Lawes.

As a Church-dow, thick with a,Les i a Liht bu ad fai,

So ohers, with Disio, hide

he lih of Sese,Bt yo ale ay uy boas

a o a syable s los;

The Writers, ad he Seters, SilAt oce the raishers do .

L thse hich ly warble lg

Ad garle i their Thrats a Sog,

Coe heselves ith UT, RE, MI;

wods ad sese be set by the.

1 an advocate

gh be noed passg a we aw se 'Glovely Rose he d not so fa as I know bother th

55



above bit of rst criticsm whereom I have omitted ser• but not a of its encumbrances.

Note-on the tate o the times . . that in the midst of their Discoure a Servant has

come n to tell m that uch and such attended ; uponwhich Cromwell woud rise, and stop them, talg at theDoor where he would overhear h say, The Lord wilre·eal The Lrd ill help, and severa such Ex�resio�s which when he return'd to M. Waler he excus d saygCousin Waer, I mus alk o hese Men afer heir own

Way. 'Campon et hi own ord. Lawe not contnt wth

what he ound Engih, set i I remebe rghty a

number of Greek ad Latin poem.

Thu iustratng the advantage the arts may take fro

a ocet havng a ocu. In an age o musca ibeciity we

nd the apiring poet in hi garret, he never goe to aconcert ether from ak of cuiosity, or because he can't

aord to buy concert tckets, that being the fault of a

caiou and hoy th system of economic, but in any

case the eve of genera culture is so ow that the poet's

mpecunou frends are not mucan, or are accustomed

only to an aggutinou or bana ubtitute for good meody.

Poery AND music rom Henry the Eighth' tme own

t at Anne' were very generay an accompihment I ue

te inguar, because the were so oten united.

No one approach ha the advantages

Rochester IMPROVES on Boieau by his Engih ver·

sn but he does nt mpove on Seneca's

156



Pot mortem nihi et, ipsaqu mr nih

or which on severe nteectua appicaton uch a

Done's cou ave tted h

Bt, a ou can ee from an exhiit hown ater out of

its chronoogca oer there is nothng a goo a oches·

ter even wen he not wring yrc, unti . . .? (Let the

tuent deterne when.)

In a t matter the sonnet is the dev. Aready by

1300 the Itaian onnet was becong ineed had become

ecamator, rt becaue o ts havng a t lne the

same ength whch was itef a resut o dvorce from ong.

The art of song, the Proven«a art, ubimated by

Soreo, stns when you get an habitua form. Thesonnet was next used for etter writing, used for anyhing

not neeing a new tune perforce or every new poem.

You had to have a new tune when the strophes of each

poem wre derent rom those of an other, or were ee

regarded a pagiarim, or frank ung to the precedent

music and denitey abeed Sirente 'a

poem akiguse of' the tune of ay 'LAemanda '.

The sonnet was rst the litte tune' the rt strophe of

a canzoe the form foun when some chap got o far and

coun't proced Steaiy n te wake of the onneteer

came th du poets.

Arrvg by another decivit:

Time and again ou will nd the tatement The iambic

157



ws the metre of stire . And it wod seem as huanitycn for centres red certain perfecly intellgent state·

ments without gurgtating the least drop o their meang.

The Latin iambic pentameter descends int the modern

ten or eleven-sylable (so-caled) iambi' pentameter. I

i he metre of moral reproof.

It came handy or natural to Poe n misborn world.

Rochester, who had less moral urge, uses it better, mosl

ecause he is used to singing.There is nothing to be said against moral reform. Born

i town wth bad sewrs, the m wth a good noe

certiy gitate for eir improvement. It is o the

leasntest occupton, or the ghest use of umn

cultie.Bu te mn wo gtates is n nnitel ber ello

hn the prasite who abotages the work, or wo wi tie cn get a percentge on the conrct or new loace.

There is someting o be said ginst moral fervor t

damges music. I probbly a ervou based on mpefect

thcs, or on ethcs not truly undertood. Confucius sw

ometng better nd beleved that the nstiness n mns

hracter would damage is music.

Ineluctably song lares writing as long as they stickogether. It forces the listener to attend to the words,

oly by repetition, that untl you get to the last deliques·cence, where the musician, desparing, possbly, of nding

n intelliget uthor, bandons the words altogether, nd

s nticate ound.

158



Ti ocs n moder oper. The fac t tere i

inted lbretto, mean noting.

T�� wtng my be on pper, but it i not used by the musCan. he words aren't set. If examined they usul

yave no terest. he musician wold probbly be unabe

o set ny words th had n interest. You wllow wt Puccini nd Giordano, etc . . . •

In decent peiod you nd : Qui perd ses mots perd onon, as n xom. Who oes his words lose is note.

Wile on the subjec of Rochester' technque he

tuden cn by nspectin of the complete tex consider

ow litte or how muc h nce been added. A great de

t Yets hs infully worked out, he migh ve fondere edy. The bes of Heine's echnque is npted by Rocheser d Dorset It old srise me

etly FitzGerd hd not red te ddes to Nothinnd ndeed the wole of oe. Ingeos cmer c!enoy temelve o e robem

� I A BSENECA

" "/FTZGEBL

ROCHESTER

159



'Hudras by SAM BULER 60

s if Divit hd ctched

he itch in order to be crtchdOr like mountebnk did woundnd stb hiel ith doubts profoundOl to how with how sall pinThe ore o ith re cured ganlthough b woul proof we nd

The alwas leve a scr behindHe knew the set of PardseCould tel in wht deree i iesnd as h was dpos d coud prove i

Below the oon or ele above it :Wht d dret of when hi bride

Ce ro her cloet in his sideWhether the devil tepted her

By n High-Dutch interpreterIf either o them hd a nvelWho rst mde uic mleble2Whether the serpent t the fl

Hd coven feet or none at allAlthi without glo or coment

He could unridle in a oent

In proper ters uch men smatterWhen the throw out nd is the mtter

or hi religion it ws t

To mtch hi lerning nd his witws Prebterin true blue

For he w o tht stubborn crew

1 r o Ba' o o aiq o Tuoc aaI Paoa• a backm

60



Of errnt snts whomalmen grn �

To be the true chuch itntSuch a do buld their fith upo

The hol text of pike nd ;Decide ll controver bInllible rtiller,nd prove their doctrine orhodoB potolic blows nd nocks;Cll re wrd nd deoltion

godl-thorouh reformtionWhch lwys mut be crried onnd till i doing but never done

eligion were intendedFor nothng ele but beng mended. sect whose chef devotion les

In odd perverse ntipthesIn ing out wth tht nd thsn nding somewht till missore peevih cro nd plenetichn dog ditrct or monke ickht with more cre keep holdy

he wrong thn ther the right wy .Copound or in the re inclind toB dning thoe the hve no mnd toStill o pervere nd oppoite if the worhipp d God for pite

Technique of tiric brleque lredy t its bet W N.'sntroductory note to the edition o 185, rerks: a

mrrour in which n nglihn might hve een his fce

1 Xa a odd i 1645. aqt o Cow o A W-da

6



without becoming, Narcssus-ke, enamoured o i 'Buer's egh-syable verse has been owed but ne

surpasse ehe by Pope's nyae coupe or b

Bn' stphe m n Dn Juan. The n o rhymeenj}ed by ue, Dse, and Rcheer aans i

known mamum ne be r Tm Hd's ecackercace n Kmanegg. Gbe and Svan nven nhin

ha n aeay here (mercay) n a poem ke ore's

o a yu ade now n ande men a ea nde

er was he sn a chchwaden. Hs es edtora he Re T. R. Nah D.D. In ha I ae be Nash'

ne n . I . , he eang he en aded

in ac h he ema : Many ga and sme necenthrases, wee aera ceced by Mr uer d

deed, as M Cowey bsees

's just

The auhor buh, here whee hi reade mus.

he Rev N eaves us o choce

162



HA 1662

Whaeer men spea by h new gh,

S hey ae e be h gh,T a a anhn he ,

hch nne ee y he ha ea .

a ang eqed. The mecan New Egandaec an many her m caed mecan acce,

ae accen een Engh cne and dc. The ke a e h e pee .

gh ha a n m n hgh

F a ae czen y g a ha eche

a men n p an che

T ma hem hemee an un

F henm n y pn

T e e aan

d h cach egenean.1

Rc c of m g od ory c o Mc nvs av g ch, urg hm hy wr rwy cs o hvn

The be h h nd vee a readi maer

cme m he ac ha e n cmc hmng eadhe ahr n epen and n cng nneces·sary mae. Then agan, he ng n han negenceis me neeng, and me myerus han humansupdy an say new r ne

163



uE BuTER 620

n r tl br-gd

\hr ldr du hh-wrdnnd othr br o th ortg th Bblonih ort

or proloutor rb nd brrd r ol n r ord Bth r but vrl ngogu

rnl n n br nd dog

h o wh n th othr bt Th drn th on ght th

Th tongu th othr wth th tth

xpo to rb nd prbytrInt of t dog d ur

hn ho thv l uty.

Wht orty ri Th ot notorou o our torty whih both th ntnd d too ry out gnt?

T to rtor with or rty

bllion to t nnt purty nd Chrt lbrty rdu



To th ldr prt o th Jw For lrg onn alo

nd gn th wth on

h unxptdn o vn vry good jo bound towr o n th th or xth rdng Th huour ofHr rr to Clo lwy thr prtly old :'You Godd of ho God vrthl Iwll tll you th truth

Th huour of Btlr d o Pop wr o n just th

ur tht t btrt gnr ttnt or o·nt n not prtulr prttonTh root wn o ghtnth-nt ltrtur

I thn b found n th fur to th fundntdoton of ds

165



ALEX. PoE 168144

'Tis had sa, er n f s

Ae in ig n jdgnil,

B f , ess dnes is nce ie e atince n md e sense

such ech he s emsees exc

Nue ards at es gmme t

S fs an is gd sns dfcd

Sm e edeed mz f scsAnd sme mde cxcms n meant t fs

Sme he s fr s, hen es pssed,Tnd ccs nex, and d pn fs t

Pride, maice, fy, Dryden rse

In vaius shes f pasns, crics, eaux:

T err is humn frgve, diine.

Js ruld h s nd ssmn fces w

N ws had pensins and yung lrds had w.

Cmmen absc saemen he mee realy osy There is als n aricular semen. The te he lnes sen be rse xure as sn as rhym e dzzle s remved. I caed 'Pes pshev' but c t to the n rady vn



There are scres f lines i Ppe h hueds elen que each persn mang thereby smethi

f eren r smeng s vague nd gener that it has

ms n meag whateverhe age f pitics he cied Ppe cmes neaest t being admile

i hs mntin f Dyden, here hs smn f thesitatin is cect, ut when he sas

And such as Chace is, hl Drden e

the stement smy s't s,

nd the hiu expressr f n is seen t hvpn itsef as hs cntents. I man as disinct m

Chucean knedge f men r Dne's knledge f

wht had een at est thrugh thughtNte that fr a is sh if u y rad a fu age

f the cuets, " nd mny ecessay wrds,

and cnnu endency reetiin f sttements

aeady que cear us.

Hs gp is rme n he nciad



PE : DVNCI

The mghty mothr, ad her on who brins

he Smiteld mue to the ear of king,I ig.

In eldet tme e'er mortal wit or read,

Ere Palla iued from the hunderer hed,Dule oer all poeed her ancient right,

Daughter of Chao and eternal night,

Fate i their dotage thi fair idiot gaveGro a her ire, and a her mother grave,

Laboriou, heavy, buy, bold and blind,

She rued i native anchy the mind

Great Cibber brazen braile brother tand

Sepucra lie our holy wall to grace

eat e ha been written about ope bitteei c, by people who neglect to note, or at ny rteelect to mention, that thee attac coincided wth e·preon of repect to the better author (a Dyen andft for example) whom he attempt to weed out omwter who ere nuiance n day and who re nowo foroten ththwor need footnote longer than thete telf

168



NI 1726

How here he ipped, how here he plundered n

And uked all oer like an indutriou bug.Here lay poor Fletcher' half-eat cene, and here

he friey of cruied Molere

here haple Shakepeare, yet ofibbald1 reWihd he had blotted for hmelf before

Proe eled to vere, vere loiter it proe,Ho random thought now meanig chance to nd,

Now leave l memory f ene beind,

How prologue ito preface decay,And thee to note are frittered qute awy,

How ndex-le tun no tudent p,

Yet hold the eel of cience by the tail,Ho "th le reading than make felo cape,

Le human eniu than God ive an ape,

Sml than to France, nd none t Rome or

Greece • .

A pat, vamp d, future old, revve, new piece

ix Plautu, Fletcher, Shakepeare and CoelleCan mae Cibber, ibbald or Ozel

an editor

Deite criticim, at let Pope min he Dunciai large chuk i vey hard reaing imply becaue wehave the vey gretet poible icuty in beatin pAY interet whatever i the bore he riting abotEven i one doe remember a prticuarly lively crac t i

19



most too much oub to nd t n {consso oprsnt autho oo or w ns h would touot) Nvrth Pop shoud b v cdt or hsort dranag

H s cnsntly shn out th btt wrs

unc II 124: ngee As n Po. 12 y

ev u sven uhs cpey ftn

U 12

A cn pis whr monky wr th od

y es unpense wh hu en

Bk ng u 270 ges up mmenum n I

n psse un n f hu skppi BuI m specs geng my feh y with

pcul n ure nees in wg n ven

ey ccsm I k u be she ocy to toc hs kn f eg n he gene e hng cul y up he ees f yung sun

qukly hn eig he us, shu, ugh B

NTRSTD in suh pges Such eg s n evet f es I spcze f f hgy

Th f h ullness s i he fc h g el fPpe sn' fme ! We n' ey kn nythn

u hs dd u tht sinks n sngs fe



ng f hm, hn e efe We ge fe pts

n he se f shsp, junsm, e

Ge up e K

Hen ps, Sf, hy fe

An Ppe's, en yes cmmen s

Pefecy uc esm u ms pphe ncp-n n

Pcee, ge ys, eg y h she

Tl h sh ush wh ne n me

Tl Thmes see ns sns f ee py

1



XHIIT Out of conolocl sequence

Wen my young Master's Worsp os to To

Fro Pedagoue and Mother just set ree;The Hei nd Hopes o great Fmly :

Who wth strong Beer and Beef the Counry ules ;

Ad ever sce the Conquest hve been Fools

Ad no h careful prospect to antain

Tis Chaacter lest crossing o the Strain

Shou'd mend the Booby-breed; is Friends provdeA Cousin of is ow to be hi Brde :

Rochester Fro A etter o Artemis in theTo to Coe the Ct' Rohester 638168

ope 6887Rochester's oe contains so the lines :

D Arte! Poetry's Sneedlm hs many Mnsio hve ce :Your Muse diverts you kes the Reder sad :

Observe tht Hudirs Pope even Crabbe all tae us o DATE orld to past ste of Enland heser isondon 1914 Not only by the modey o his languageut by is whole disposiion (Anschuung) or point ofie'

Pope's heavess my quite wel e due to is desire orpit due uliaely to economc srain r say tht udere Dciad is hs desire for specic imrovement of ondition dissociaion o two gdes of wriing whereasRochester is ee of specc social ge and his eye lighsn the eternal sliness persising fer the robem ofeisue hs been solved

7



Seuene o ahrs hrough whm he meamorphosis

o Engsh r wrin may be trced.

Chacer 13401400Vilon 1431someime er 1465

Gi Du 1741522

G 15361605

e 156493

Shaesere 1561616

Mar lex Boyd 15631601Jhn e 15731631

hs Camion 1567?1619

erri 15911674

aer 160687

Sam Buler 161280

Ear rse 16381706Roheser 164780

Ppe 16881744

Crae 17541832

Lndr 17751864

Browing 181289

FizGerld 180983al himan 18199

Tho Gutir 181172

Crire 1805

Rimba 8591

aorge 18607

It is o he teacher plae o enore n opinion The

bes he n d or himse or his ppi is to tke cerain

173



smple precautios or to put the ppl in poiton to ktem. For exampe, it unwie to etimate a given utoo perod without oog at some work of h

period jut precedent; thu beore comig to an abolutexation about 'the eighteen ninetie ook at a littleRosetti beore decig about Roetti read a ew pagsof Brownig, and tence i e maner.

The goo witer uer nothig whatever from succompao A criic igorance is apt to ie cruey open

e reue to make uch experimet or negect to makefir inpectionDitiguh ceary between te two ort o reagent

A Work othe period or decade jut precedentB. Work of a remote period so derent that it may

show up none o the aut very cleary.

Bad poetry i the ame i a anguage. What theChinee ca rce-power poetry ier very tte om wawa caed n Euope art e Ptraquer.

The nearer you approach the amoeba the e ierence

ognzaton.



E CE 82

To wat fmed collee w o vic owTo what fair conty le historians show :Few now remember when th ild young mnRuy and ar his Sunday tak began;Few ve to speak of ha soft soothn lookHe cast ond s peped his booIt was a kind of supplicating smeBut notng hopeless of applase the wle;d when he nshed his corected prdeFel the deset ad yet the praise denied.

Thus he his race began and to he end consnt c w o man to oend;No haughty virtue strd h peaceul mindNo uged te prest to leave the ock behndHe w hs Masters soldier but not oneo ead n my of hs mtyrs on:e ws hi uling pssion: yet was loveOf imid kind once known her o moveIt led s patiet spiit where it paidIs nguid oeings o listening maidSh with her wdowd mothe heard speakAnd sought a whle to d wa he would seek:Sing h cme e miled when e withdrewAnd pid the same tention to the twoMein nd p whout joy or panH seem d to com ht go gin

seaon descripo plac o open comment



C' Te Boo 181

Lo ! yonder shed; obseve its garden-ground,

With the low paling, form' d of rec, around:There dwlls a sher if ou iew is boat,With bed and barrel 't is his house aoat ;Loo at his house, where roes, nets, blocks, abound,Tar, pitch, and oaum't is his boat agroud:That space enclosed, ut little he egards,

Spread o'er with relics of masts, sils, and yards :Fish by the wl, on spit of eldr, est,Of l his food, the cheapest and the best,

own labour caught, for his on hunger dress'd.

Here our refomers cme not ; none objct

To paths polluted, or upbraid neglect ;None care that ashy heaps at doos are cast,That coal-dust es along the blindig blast :None heed the stagnant pools on either side,Where new-launch'd ships o ifnt sailors de :Rodneys in rags here Bitish valour boast,

And lisping Nelsons fright the Gallic oastThy the uddr, set the swellig sail,They pont the bowsprit and they blow the gale True to her port the frigate scuds away,

Change from ope to Crabbe, cange from Voltaire to

tendhal nd Flaubert Crabbe conveyg iormatin, notet escheng comment on priciple, though much moreective where he doesn't sert it

Perfectly clear ven from these two excepts tha he is

176



The Bitish noit' dat ar (for compion)

Ricardon 1689-1761

iding 1704

Smott 17211St 171368

Rang Ca i a it i tyig to go omwhre on

Futon t tmoat; h do, nth, gt you

somwhre, and on th who i you compar h with

Engh po ction of an a dat, h re i as

ada a anything a oy th t part of om

Jones, Strn Senimental our, and Tristram Shandy

a f a that intrn rmon whrin many radr

ut afo now ha n oggit.

Th R. C had, y contat to Landor, no G,

he t u in Th Boough' (Prson).

Homr, ny Po ! (for nwlI

Appau fo g-naught ha I wth Gre)

Gi us th crt of h pagan h

Whr ghot with ghot in ad commion dw

Whn a nw pt that wod wa found

A thouand hadowy fom cam ttng round

But h ary mdca taig cam in handy at at

nc whn h wa iting a conty hou and th d·

f fad to arr. . . • Landor woud not n uch case

v ben of igna aitan.

chd was cad Lmu n frnc to ntentioo f havn, t at to an ordaind t

178



WATER S LNDOR 17758l

From Alcaeus

Wmwood and u onh tongu

And ah onh had,

Who ch th at and chck the ong

With mm of th dad !

oung and ji, w ad a,

Such mmm a didd.

i acd t h acchu ha

Unad and undiidd.

Caught y my find, I far no ma

Imnding from ao,

I oy fa th a a

hat hd m fom my .

Epthaamum

Wp Vnu and y

Ada

Who Vnu fo nron.

Pound, lg and pnc

And hwd n

UNDOR 1775186

Ha capt th tait watcoat on • • •

At ft y th author and concing nothng.

17



OLanot an Tr

With stol an r

Nor lce nor nac set re o

The cors fatl jerH one ts lst wor

n the noose s o sle on

Asterss left by the athor n conceling nothng.

LXXIV

Go's lw eclare

Tho shlt nt swer

By ght heen boe or erh below.

Upo oo ! elille crisHe swer ls

Does Mellle the brea Gos commament?

No.

CLXIX

L: Poems an Egrams

probbly etion of 1846

Does it become a gl so wise

So exisite in hrmonies

To as me when I o inten

To wrte sonnet? What ? my en !

A sonnet? Neer Rhyme oerowsItalin which hath scarely rose

An I he lare fll thre-sore

With o or cor aor_18



CC

Bt why shol we atho we have

Enogh for all thngs gay or grave

ay on yor osine why sho we

Who raw eep sans aong the seaCt them in piees to eset

The shallows with a aage-net

Now yo ever ask aga

A thing so trolesome an vain

By all yo hars ! efore the mo

To show my aner an my soFirst I wl wite yor name atop

Then from this very ink shall rop

A score of sonnets every one

Shall call yo star or moon or s

Tll swlowing sch warm-water ver

Een sonnetsipers sicken worse

Sine Chcer wa aive an hae

No man hth walt along or roas with stepSo actve so enng eye or tonge

So vare in scorse.

Bt warmer cles

Give brighter lmage stronger wing the reeze

Of line heghts tho playest with orne onBeyo Sorento an Ama where

The Sien waits thee snging song for song

(Fro hs lnes to Robt Browin)

181



UDOR 17718

D of Yoks Su

IV

Enduring is the but f brnze,And thine, wer f Gerge's sns,

Stand high above a aw and dun.

As honest men as ever cart

Convey'd t Tyb, tok th part

And raised thee up t where thu art

Frm Lat ruit an od te

Ireand never was cntented

ay yu s? yu are dmented

Ireand was contented when

cud use the swod and pen,

And when Tara rse high

That her trrets spit the sky,

And about her curts were een

Livried Anges rbed in green,

Wearing, by St Patrick's bouy,

Eerads big as haf a cunty

18



o D

u's

X

Macauay is beoe a per

A coronet he we may wear

But there n one to ig

Nne : then i ert wat the g

Heroi dys th Addiona Po&

Twas far beyond he idigt o

And mre than haf the st wee l,

And jovia eds, wh'd ost he power

Of sitg, nder chairs a raw

Not Porson so his stronger pate

Coud carry mre f wine and rek

Than Cambridge hed; erect he sate

He nodded, yet coud smehow peak

'Tis we, Bacchus ! the e gne,

Unworthy to aproach thy atar !

The pious man prays best ane,

Nor sha thy sevant fater'

Then Bacchu to, ike Porson, nddedShaking the iv on his brw,

And graciusy repied the godhead:

I hve o votr tauc '

1



NDOR 175186

ast rind Iion Helen live

Acestis rises om the Shads ;Verse c them forth; tis Verse that gives

Immortal Yoth to mortal Mais

Soon shll Obivons deeening VeilHide al the eole His ye see

The gay he rod while Lovers haiThese many smmers yo nd me

The er for fading Beaty chor assing Glory cease o sigh

One orm shl rise above he Wrec

One ne Ianth, shall no die

18



NDOR 775186

Old yl

Areis Sire of Hngrincsses !Thee thy ol ien ats blessesAnd sens thee six ne watercesses.There ae those who wol not thin me qite(Unless we were ol fiens) oiteTo ntion who yo shod inte

Loo at them wel; and trn it oerIn yor own mnd Id have bt for . •

Lcs aesar and two more

Lanor the man of letes say invoe as moel of

he laidry style or of he weltrne verse Theeec of his severe classical sdies never esers anhe cntabile qaity never wholly deserts he verses of hisshorer oems even when hey re mnifestly rbd

DIRCE

Sn close rn e Sygian seWith Dirce in one br conveyOr hron seeng may forgeTha he is old n she a shae

Morl : a mn wning o consee a raiton wolalways o well to n ot rs what it is

A ma eferring a manner of wrting o he vnangage consierabe danger if he have not a cle thorogh as anors and a grea ar of Lnorlonger oems re still inaccessible becase he langage so fr removed om ny seech ever sed nywhere

185



Yu g t Crbe fr Englad f 1810 yu can g oLadr fr a epitm; l ctre f the ecycle

educed t magele sze, in the Imina Conversao

nd ful f hman lfe ventated, gv a human bdy, ntmrely ndexed.

A gure t put agant Vltar BUT fr th Chrnlgy

ltare was at WORK shvlng ut th gabage, the

Brbn, te really lthy cay stat f Frnch sc

thught

ltar : 1641778.

anr 177184

Ty are mntal cntpra andr cm aftr

the wrk n, Rbl, Petr Bayle, Vltae, Ddrt,ba, r fthr bak Bud, rz Vaa, ad

gatr t up an yu want a any ntrutn yu

av t n Cnveratin ; wrtten n Stnh's time

(1781842).

Vlta' En cntmprary was hnlgicalySamul Jnn (17084) t a mrlt, saist and

lerapr', a f fn, an abrdty, the stage

Engman f Gldn, 1707 admrabl becaue he

t k bts, but tllctually fur del mnd '

ving n th evtenth etry, s fr a Epe s c•

edy psbly te bet mnd n Englan f s day, sae

thse mnt that ltare spnt n nd

1



andr's Dgue are rr than Ftene's, but

Ften w brn n 167 an ed n 177

anr' atn dr tat w Caurfued t cntntal mattr, but t paal s

rth nspectn In anr' ca t tm la ut be

cmputd He wa far aea f Brt tme tat

the cntr cldn't tan an natle Fran was

stll n a crtn sne gng n n ak f anr, wt

lvng mr, and ned wn t t ay f dat, aman f much ghtr prtanc

TO RECPITUTE

AUCER cntemprar, patcpant n the cntnentale f s tme, n the mn f te cntnent, tug

echnque was n part cntures ld

SHKESPEARE (Jaces Pre, pelng t Shaxpear,

ecaue J s thr prnnced hard r nfuse wth I)

akg sxteent-cntury play ut f ftenth-centry

Itaa news The Italan tage a gvn the cmmeall' rte, an Italan rat, law crt stu, t exaple

f rte sphes Shakspare alread lkng back

t Eurpe frm te ut

NDOR 80 pr cnt rerspctiv, thugh ts mutn'

e taken t ma that he asn't drng ple int te

mud, and prparng fundatnswch have bee largelyuse by h succ

18



EXHIBT

In Mntua terrtory half is slough,

Half pne·tree forest, mples, scarlet oak

Breed o'er the verbeds, even Mnci

chkes

With sand the summer throuh, but 'ti

mas

In wnter up to Mantu wlls. There

was,Some thrty years before this evnin

cl,

One spot reclamed from the oundng

splGit just a castle bult amd

A fe lo mountai

ns ; rs and larches

hd

Their mn deles and gs of vneyrd

bund

The et

Yu gn the nmst chmbes, gn at

last

A mple-pelled roo tht hze hch

seems

Flotn bout the pnl f there glems

A sunbem over it ll turn to gold

And in lghtgrven chrcters unfod

The Arb's sdom everyhere ; ha shde

Mrred tem a moment those sl pllars

mde18



ut lke a cmpn f plms t ppThe f, ech kssn tp entned th

tp,

Lenng tgethe ; n the ce's mndme nt f bcchls, ushed cheek

cmbned

Wth stanng fehed, shulde pupled,

h

Dued beteen h in a t skn bea

ntge ; gceful ssteplms ! utquick

T the mn nde, nw alt,

see thck

lc shde abut the celing thugh

ne slts

Acss the buttes sue lght b tsUpn a el in the idst Na,

stp

dullsh ge-steaked cumbus fnt,

gup

Rund teach side f it, where'e ne

eesUphlds it ; shinkng rtdes

Of justtinged mable lke Ee's ed

esh

eneath he kes nge when the fesh

st pulse f lfe sht bghtenn the

nw,The fnt's edge buhens ee shulde, s

The muse upn the und, eelid hlf

lsed,

18



Some, wth meek arms behd thei backsdisposed,

Some, crosse bove their bosoms, some,

to velThei eyes, some, propig chi ad cheek

so ple,Some, hgig slck uttr elpless

legth

Dead as a buried vestl whose whole

stegthGoes, whe th grte above shuts hevil,So well these oiseless girls, patit to see

Like prestesses because of s impurePeaced forever, who resiged edure,Havig that oce dr sweetess to the

dres. eey eve, Sorello's visit begsPardo for them; costat t eve he

cmeTo sit beside each i he tur, the smeAs oe of them, a crti spce ; a

aweMade a get idistictess til e sawSuset slat cheerful through te bttress

chis,Gold see times globed; surely ou

maie shriks

Ad a sme stirs her s i oe fitrai

e loa ere ghteed, oe sae leste sta

9



Obsce h oeead, yet oe ore beaslpt

Fom o te

Keeps coutchare?

osa

of the

whereby te cypt

cotitios of it

oT BROWIG 18128

Victoia af-ts clamed that this poem as obsce the preecessos of Z Y , QN a ompay sed topie teseles o n tro te orsecoa :Oy to es of Sodelo ee tele.

As Rea as emake, I y a qe Ia b�tise hae

oe e e e l

Bo a attaie ts impity of aato ise Soeo at the ae of 28 ( 8)

ee ee a cea uciy o so tat t yo t cty elsee Elish, a yo e

a ae to ee as a a te Da Coea ocote aate a sc claity of outi itotclo a erb mpeet

t wil be see tat te ao is tellg you somet,ot merely mak a oise, e oes ot p the soe beaty' o appe oamet, but makes te meta mae oe ete e ato s ot hutg ao

o la so ors, tee s a ery reat ae te yme bt te eae o aareAa as the case of Gol, the eaer must ea

pose ps o te sese ad ot amer te e·ao

9



TA

an eaination of alt made twelve yer ago he

pren rier carried way the impresion ha ere areiry well-riten pages of Whitman; he i no nble o

n hem. himns faul supercial he doe convey

n iage of hi me he has rten hiore morale a

onaigne oe

he hisory of his oc You ca le

ore of nineeenh-cenury Amerca from Whitman an

om any of he rier who either reraine from pereing or imie her record o wha hey ha been

a o onidr iable lierry epresion The oy

ay o enjoy him horoughly is o oncentrae on hi

amen meng. If you insis howeer on disectig

hi anae you will probably n ha it is won OT

beaue he broke l of wha were considered in h ay• h e bu becaue e is asmodcally conori o

th, ha or he oher sporadcally dragg in a bit of

reur mere using a bit of iterary language an

uing hi adjecive where in he soke ongue they

re no. i rea wriin occr when he e ree o all hi

rbe e.

Ceraiy he las auhor to be red in a classroom.

n he mai I o ee tha eachig can do muc more

an epose counerfei work thus graduall leadg e

uen o he valid. The hoa e ham e falsicationecome so habiual that the as unnoiced ; all h i

aer or education. Te uent can in his eld prot by

i ror eperience. naural desructiity o

2



he young ca functio o advantag citemnt o

has t u o dtcton could undr avourable crcum

tanc vn t stud.

Wras t is ol maturr atce tat can swepasid a ritrs onst error ad overlook uaccomlishe

lumsiss or outladsnss or oldasiondness for e

ak of th sold cnre.

us ma clvr ole av overlookd oma

Hards vrss ev toug e autor o te Mo of

g lurks bind hm.

arrave ense narrative owr can srv ANY rn

caion. If a man av t al to tll and can ke s mn

on tat ad ruses to worr aout s own lmtatios he

radr th long or sort ru nd hm ad no

amout of rossorial abus or ortcal sig whave an ral ct on e auors civl satus. Brrls of

have od to accuse Kg of vulgarit (ta

was eras bor t res radr was or) to accuse

hm of beig a ournalst . . . tc . . . .

omas ard's Nol Dams ad tl ros ill

nd radrs dst al Frc toris n t orld.

Mor rs fa from lack o caractr ta ro lack

o tllgc

ccal solt is not aad out at last somerssnc

he ch caus of fals rg is coomc Man itrs

193



eed or wa moey. These wriers could be cured by a

pplicaion of banknoes

The ex cause is he desre men have o ell wha heyon' know or o pass o an empiness for a fullnes The

re dsconened wih wha hey have o say and wan

make a pin of comprehension ll up a gallon of verbiage

A auhor having a vry small amoun of rue conen

can make it he basis of formal and duale masery, pro-ided he neiher inaes nor falsies : Vide he Aucassin

he Canzoni of Arnau he Daphns and Chloe.

The plenum of leers is no ounded by primaeval

xclusiiy functoning agains any kind of human being or

alen, but oy agains false coiners, men who ill o di

heir meal in he acd of know or accessible fac

19



REATSE ON METE



I

I HER a fair lady igh : I h omeone would write a

good treatise on proody

he had been a famo actre of Iben thi wa notimple dilettantim but the ncere wih for omething

whereof the lack had been nconvenient. part om

ante De Vlgai qio I have encoutered only one

reatie on metric whch ha the lightet value. It is

Italian and out of prnt and ha no or of celebrity.

he confuion in the pbc mind ha a very implecaue : the deire to get omething for nothing or to learn

an art witht labor.

Fortunately or nfortunately people CAN write tu

that pae for poetry, before they hae tudied muic

he quetion i etremly imple. Part of what a muician

AS t know i emloyed in writg wth word there aeno peci law or derence in repect to a pahere i a grat laxty or vaguene pertted the oet in

regard to p e ay e a great a oet a Mr. Yeat

and tll hk he oent know one note fo another

r Yeat robably would ditnguh between a g and ab a ut he i hay to thnk that he doent and he

would crtaiy e icaale of whitlng a imple melody

in tune.

97



Neerheless efore wriing lyric he i pt t get

chune in his hed

He is ery seniive to limited gmu of rhyth

hyhm is form cu ino TIE dein deter·

mined SPACE

A melody i rhyhm in wch he pich of ech emt

ed y he compoer

(Pich he numer of virions per econd)

id t riint compoer d pup f Koy

These people cn me meody they cnt

melody four r ong

He rored in eply Four r they ct mk n

WO r long !

Music i so dly ugh ht I dont ugge ve

ntending poe hould ury himelf in cnerto

he Lareie et Lavig opdie a Ditioaire d oservatoire '3 hs howeve n ceen

ecion on Greek merc eter hn one i ey t n e i the Gree nguge deprmen of your unirit

n ming e of vere (n thence uiding te

nto psge) you he cerin pim eement

Th i to y you hve he viou ricute u '

of the lnguge of it phet tht i th roup of eer in ylle

1 c, Neo-Celtc fo 1 2 Tibor Serlya Pub. Delagrav, Pa•

8



hee yllle he diering weight durtion

A originl weighs nd durio

B. weight nd uton ht eem nury

poed on hem y the other yllle groupround hem

Thoe re the medium wherewih e poet cu h

eign in TIME

f he hn ee of time nd of the derent qlitef ound his deign w e cumy nd uintereting ut

drughtmn drwing e wihout diic

on

The d drughtmn i d ecue he doe o per

ceive pce nd pti eions nd cnno therefore

del with hemTh witer of d vr or ecu h o

perceiv time n ime relion n co herefo

deimi hem i n inereing mnner y men of onger

n hoter hevier n igher ylles nd the vryg

qlitie of sound insepre from the wod of hi peech

He epecs hi fcuty to escend om heven? He

epec o rin nd conro ht fculty without the

ou th even mediocre muicin epend n

q to ply fouh tin ho in n orchetr d

the result i often nd quite uy eteemed

erious memer of hi profeion

Symmey or rophic form ntur HAPPND

yric poery when mn w inging long poem to hot

99



HE reader who has understood the rst part of this

chapter has no need of reading the second Nothing is mor

boring than an account of errors one has not commtted

Rhythm is a form cut into time

The percption that th mind, either of an indivdual o

a naton can dcay, and give o all the displeasing vapousof decomposition has unfortunately gone into desutud

Dantes hell was of those who had lost the incremnt of

intelligence with th capital Shakespeare, rady rnng

the tough old catholic concept, rfers to ignoanc mrel

as darness

From the tme Thos Jeerson j otted down an amaturs

notes on what semed to b the current practice of Englis

vrsication, the gneral knowledg, especially amo

hacks, appears to hae shd to zro, and to hav

passed into nnt negativ I suppose the known mama

occurred in th Nh can Reve during CoHarveys intumescence Duing that era when the directin

mnds and chaactrs in Amerca had reached a cellarag

only to be gazed at across the barriers of libel law, th

said editorial bureau ebuked some allitrativ verse on th ·

rounds that a consonant ad ben repeated despit

Tennysons w

A parallel occs in a recent professorial censure of M

Binons Info t cnsor beng, apparntly, n utte

rI



ignorance of the nature of Italian syllabic verse, which is

composed of various syllabic groups, and nt merely strung

along with a swt on syllables two, four, six, eight, ten of

ach line

You wod not expect to create a Mozartian melody or a

Bach theme by the procss of bumping alternate notes, o

by merely alternating quavers and crotchets

Great obfuscation spread from the failur to dissociate

eavy accent and duration

Other professors fled to comprehend the reglarity of

classic hexameter

So called dactylic hexameter does NOT start from ONE

type of verse

There are, mathematically, sixtyfour basic general

forms of it; of which twenty or thirty were probably found

to be of most general use, and several of which would

probably have been stunts or rarities

But this takes no count either of shifting caesura

(pause at some point in th line), nor does it count any of

the various shadings

It ought to b clear that the varity starting FROM a

colony of sixty-four dierent generl rhythm shapes, or

archetypes, be vastly more compndious, naturally

accommodate a vastly greater amount of eal speech, than

a st of variants starting from a single type of lin,

whethe measured by duration or by the alternatin

aviness of syllables,

specically:

ti tum ti tu ti tum ti tum ti tum

3



om hich eve depatue is eaed as excepion

he legal nume of slaes a cassic hexamee

aied fom telve to eighteen.

Whe he Geek damatists deveoed o poceeded

fom anteio Geek osod, the aived at chous foms

hich ae to all exents fee', though a suestucue of

nomenclatue has ee gumed o to them analses

hom neihe Aeschlus o Euiides ould eve haveoheed to ead

hese nomenclatus ee poal invented eole

ho had neve LISENED to vese, and ho oal

ouldn't have ee ale to distiguish Date's movee

fom Milto's had the head it ead out aoud

elieve Shakeseae's lank vese' us fom e to

evetee sllales, u have o itetion of tig o

cou it agai, o make a cesus

Noe of hese pofessoia in pts ha athing to ith the questio

Home did not sta thiig hich of the sixfou

emitted fomulae as to e usd i hi xt ve

HE SRPH

eason fo stohic fom has alad e stated he

ediaeval tue, oiousl deand a aoximae

ven nume of sllales i each stohe, ut as the dua-

2



ion of the noes as not stict maked, he un iself

as oal suect to vaatio ithi limits. hese

limits ee i each case estalshed he auditive e

cision of the touadou himself

n Flauet's hase Pige moi le t ! ' Fid me the

gu tha ll set out th sixtfou geeal matices fo

hhm ad havig notg to sa, o moe escil

nothig gemae o kd to the oiginal uge ich

ceaed those matices, ad ho il theeth utteetenal mistes, o kee the eade aake

As the case of Pof W u o hateve his ame as,

he igoat of oe geeatio set out to make las, and

gullle childe next to oe hem

III

oulace loved the man ho said Look ino thne

oe heate ad ite ' o pove Uc St ic o hoeve as ho ecoed : He ade sons ecause he had a ill

o make songs ad no ecause love moved him heeto

And nood paid much attention o eithe him o his

poet

Al of hich is an ite emove fom he suestition

that oe is't an at, o ha osod isn' an a WIHLAWS

Bu lke the las of a a he ae no las o e

lea ule of hum La scultue n'es as ou les

2