Collecte Works
Page 21
counter to sense
in the presence
of man's stings?
On the MS, LZ suggests a revision of line 6: “Watch! in some flowers”.
Revised for poem XV of “FOR PAUL: GROUP TWO,” New Mexico Quarterly 21.1 (Spring 1951): 209, where line 6 reflects LZ's revision and lines 19-20 become those of the present edition: rays/on small whirring things
In “Changes in FOR PAUL” (Jan. 29, 1955), LN revises line 16 (“Dear Fiddler: How'll you carry”) to the present line 16 and deletes a question mark at the end of the stanza. At this date the poem was still part of the “FOR PAUL” project.
Could You Be Right Unpublished in book form.
Untitled on MS dated Jan. 4, 1951.
variant line 5: But think of Troy, we had the word
MS dated Jan. 16, 1951, adopts LZ's revision of line 5 (“But think of Troy, it was a word”) and revises lines 7-8 as follows:
so go up in a kite.
Still, could she be right?
Accent 13.2 (Spring 1953): 97, adds the title and reverts to the earlier lines 7-8 reflected in the present text. She ignores LZ's suggestion to drop “yet” in line 7.
This poem arises out of LN's debate with LZ over her use of the word “obsolesce” in “You have power politics, Paul” (see pp. 380-81).
Look close Unpublished.
MS dated Feb. 27, 1951.
If I were a bird Unpublished.
Undated MS. LZ notes alternative title on MS: “Tally of Contemporaries” and also his suggested deletions from stanza 5—line 12: the depths; line 13: and; line 14: cut sky
LN to LZ letter, March 15, 1951: “Yes, I'll use If I were a bird sometime in FOR PAUL” (NCZ 178).
High, lovely, light, Unpublished.
A draft version dated March 30, 1951, titled in LN holograph as “Rondel” with variant lines 5-7:
You at your mountain-height—
your cello plied with Easter
bow lovely, light—
and variant lines 11-12:
sleep? In what season
timed, tuned, tight,
LZ's suggested changes: line 4 deletes “down”; line 11 revises “In” to “To”; line 12 revises “tight” to “bright”.
Revised close to the present text for poem I of “FOR PAUL: GROUP III” MS dated Sept. 27, 1951, with a variant line 6: your cello and bow for Easter—
“Changes in FOR PAUL” (Jan. 29, 1955) alters line 6 to the present “your cello and bow in Easter's”.
Letter from Paul Unpublished.
MS dated Sept. 27, 1951.
Poem V of “FOR PAUL: GROUP FOUR” MS (undated, probably 1951).
Two old men— T&G, MLBW.
Poem IV of “FOR PAUL: GROUP FOUR” MS (undated, probably 1951).
“Changes in FOR PAUL” (Jan. 29, 1955) omits the poem.
Origin ser. 3, 2 (July 1966): 9.
LN to LZ, July 31, 1951: “Ladwig—yes, an old friend of my father's.…A priceless thing Walter Ladwig said when he was here the last time: ‘I had an old friend in Milwaukee who wanted come and live with me—we'd take turns cooking and washing dishes, he said, we're both alone, it would work out—I said “But our way of living is so different, you spit, I don't spit” and that very night he killed himself—and left $100,000.’ Perfect?” (NCZ 182).
Paul, hello Unpublished.
Poem V of “FOR PAUL: GROUP FOUR” MS (undated, probably 1951).
“Changes in FOR PAUL” (Jan. 29, 1955) moves this poem to the “very end.” At this date the poem is still part of “FOR PAUL.”
So this was I Unpublished in book form.
MS dated Nov. 1951.
Titled “Poem” in Accent 13.2 (Spring 1953): 96.
Am I real way out in space Unpublished.
Poem V of “FOR PAUL: GROUP SIX” MS, dated Oct. 22, 1952.
“Changes in FOR PAUL” (Jan. 29, 1955) omits the poem.
On a row of cabins/next my home Unpublished.
Undated MS.
Part of “FOR PAUL: GROUP SEVEN” MS (undated, probably 1952/3).
In moonlight lies Unpublished.
Poem III of “FOR PAUL: GROUP 8” MS, dated Dec. 31, 1953.
“Changes in FOR PAUL” (Jan. 29, 1955) omits the poem.
The cabin door flew open Unpublished.
An alternative poem IV of “FOR PAUL: GROUP 8” MS (undated). LN offers a variant “generally happy” for line 12.
The elegant office girl Unpublished.
Poem VII of “FOR PAUL: GROUP 8” MS (undated).
The first two stanzas are inserted into the second (Aug. 30, 1955) and third (1956) versions of the five-page “Dear Paul,” cited in full in the note to the condensed version printed in this edition (see pp. 395-401).
When brown folk lived a distance Unpublished.
Sent to Dahlberg Aug. 30, 1955, for his proposed anthology.
FOR PAUL AND OTHER POEMS
In 1947, LN visited the Zukofskys in New York. Already she had been taking great delight in LZ's written accounts of his young son, Paul, born in 1943. In 1949 she began her “FOR PAUL” project and, with her resignation from Hoard's in June 1950 due to her deteriorating eyesight, she would work on the poems unimpeded.
Many of the poems are addressed directly to Paul, some quote LZ's letters to her, others refer to her life on Black Hawk Island and to her family—her mother and father died in the course of the project, her mother in July 1951 and her father in June 1954.
The “FOR PAUL” project began with the composition of numbered poems gathered into eight groups. The first group was published under the title of “FOR PAUL” in New Directions 12 (1950): 181-85, and the second group under the title of “FOR PAUL: GROUP TWO” in the New Mexico Quarterly 21.1 (Spring 1951): 206-11. She wrote the eight groups steadily between 1949 and 1953. The surviving MSS for groups 6-8 appear to be incomplete. At some point after 1953, LN abandoned the grouped structure, and between 1955 and 1956 arranged the poems in a collection named “FOR PAUL and Other Poems” (FPOP). A typescript titled “Changes in FOR PAUL” (Jan. 29, 1955) lists ongoing revisions. The FPOP MS (Dec. 1956) divides the poems into two sections: “FOR PAUL” (43 poems) and “OTHER POEMS” (29 poems). The texts of eight of the poems carry LZ's suggested deletions, many of which LN adopted. His deletions generally remove direct references to Paul. FPOP was never published despite her efforts to find a publisher. She reduced the collection to 41 poems for a book that Jonathan Williams considered publishing. By the early 1960s, having given up hope of publishing it in book form, she dismantled the collection and published most of its contents in magazines.
FOR PAUL
Paul T&G, MLBW [FPOP].
Poem I of “FOR PAUL” MS, dated Nov. 20, 1949. In the MS, in poem I of “FOR PAUL,” New Directions 12 (1950): 181, in FPOP, and in T&G, line 1 reads “Dear Paul”.
What bird would light T&G, MLBW [FPOP].
Poem II of “FOR PAUL” MS, dated Nov. 20, 1949 and poem II of “FOR PAUL,” New Directions 12 (1950): 181.
Nearly landless and on the way to water T&G, MLBW [FPOP].
Poem III of “FOR PAUL” MS, dated Nov. 20, 1949, poem III of “FOR PAUL,” New Directions 12 (1950): 181-82, and FPOP, all include the following variants:
stanza 1 adds lines 6-7:
who'd asked the carpenter, “Homer,
did you write that book?”
stanza 2 adds 3 words to the start of line 1: Yes, Paul dear, Homer's…
stanza 2 also adds a line 7: People like us, child, see through it.
LN's note on the 1949 MS: “Notice alternative on other side of page. Tell me which lines to keep. I like yr. suggestion 1st stanza but the child belongs to my present view not to the one I lost and yet I like the surrealism—saw and see both. Last stanza—I didn't like in in each of first 3 lines so do you like the change?”
On FPOP, LZ suggests the omission of the variant words and lines noted above. LN adopts his revisions.
Understand me
, dead is nothing Unpublished in book form [FPOP].
Poem IV of “FOR PAUL” MS, dated Aug. 21, 1950, and poem IV of “FOR PAUL,” New Directions 12 (1950): 182-83. On FPOP, LZ suggests that LN omit the poem.
How bright you'll find young people, T&G, MLBW [FPOP],
Poem V of “FOR PAUL” MS, dated Aug. 21, 1950. LN's annotation refers to the final rhyming word of the poem: “I like this but do you think reader remembers Diddle [Paul] all that long?”
Poem V of “FOR PAUL,” New Directions 12 (1950): 183.
The spelling of “Einsteind” is consistent in all appearances.
If he is of constant depth T&G, MLBW [FPOP].
Poem VI of “FOR PAUL” MS, dated Aug. 21, 1950, poem VI of “FOR PAUL,” New Directions 12 (1950): 183, and FPOP, all include variant lines 3-4:
numbers plus the good in em—
all the technique by the time he's twelve
The young ones go away to school MFT, T&G, MLBW [FPOP].
An early MS dated March 1, 1950:
The young ones go away to school
come home to moon
like Frederick the Great
what was it he ate
that had to be sown in the dark of the moon?
Looking for rain?
Wait for the moon to change
But Edwin—Edwin's glorious—
runs all over his acres without a hat
as though he knew
the moon
changes every day
LN offers a variant final word: noon
A revised MS—poem VII of the “FOR PAUL” MS, dated Aug. 21, 1950—and poem VII of “FOR PAUL,” New Directions 12 (1950): 183-84, have one variant, for line 8: how people run their acres without a hat
Revised to the present text for FPOP.
In “EIGHT POEMS,” Monks Pond 1 (Spring 1968): 7.
Some have chimes T&G, MLBW [FPOP, EA].
Poem VIII of “FOR PAUL” MS, dated Aug. 21, 1950, poem VIII of “FOR PAUL,” in New Directions 12 (1950): 184, and in “THREE POEMS,” Granta 71.12456 (1964/5): 19.
O Tannenbaum T&G, MLBW [FPOP],
Poem IX of “FOR PAUL” MS, dated Aug. 21, 1950, and of “FOR PAUL,” New Directions 12 (1950): 184-85, begins with the following companion poem:
You are far away
sweet reason
Since I saw you last, Paul,
my sight is weaker…
I still see—
it's the facts are thick—
thru glass:
a peace scare on Wall St.
Poem IX of “FOR PAUL” MS, dated Aug. 21, 1950, continues with:
O Tannenbaum they sing
round and round
one child sings out:
atomic bomb
not all suckling
where Paul is
and check-writing
but as the queen, Elizabeth,
……
In New Directions and FPOP lines 1-2 above are revised to the following three:
O Tannenbaum
the children seem to sing
round and round
FPOP omits the companion poem “You are far away.”
For subsequent appearances, LN adopts LZ's suggested omissions from lines 1-3 and 6-8 noted on FPOP.
In the great snowfall before the bomb T&G, MLBW [FPOP].
Poem XIV of “FOR PAUL: Group Two” MS, dated Dec. 30, 1950.
variant stanza 1, lines 3-5:
at windows,
the only glow of contemplation
in our time
LN offers a variant ending to this stanza, adding a 6th line: along this road.
variant stanza 3, lines 2-6:
I took my bundles of hog feeder price lists
by Larry the Lug,
I'd never got anywhere
because I'd never had suction,
you know, pull, favor, drag,
Poem XIV of “FOR PAUL: GROUP TWO,” New Mexico Quarterly 21.1 (Spring 1951): 208, adopts the variant stanza 1, line 6 (“along this road”) offered on the MS and revises stanza 3, lines 2-6:
I carried my bundles of hog feeder price lists
by Larry the Lug,
I'd never got anywhere
because I'd never had suction,
you know: pull, favor, drag,
Revised to the present text for FPOP.
T&G variant stanza 1, line 4: along the road
Not all that's heard is music. We leave T&G, MLBW [FPOP].
Poem X of “FOR PAUL: GROUP TWO” MS, dated Dec. 14, 1950, poem X of “FOR PAUL: GROUP TWO,” New Mexico Quarterly 21.1 (Spring 1951): 206, and FPOP, all include the following variants:
line 1: Not all that's heard is music. Paul, we leave
line 5: but fascists'—you have the world. Remember the little
LN adopts LZ's suggested omissions from lines 1 and 5; the suggested omissions are noted on FPOP.
Tell me a story about the war. T&G, MLBW [FPOP].
A revision of the earlier “NG” MS version, “The Marshal of France made a speech” (see p. 378). The revision reflects the new context of the “FOR PAUL” poems.
In the “FOR PAUL: GROUP TWO” MS, dated Jan. 16, 1951, in poem XVI of “FOR PAUL: GROUP TWO,” New Mexico Quarterly 21.1 (Spring 1951): 209, and in FPOP, there is a variant line 1: Tell me a story about the last war.
In MS it is paired with “Laval, Pomeret, Pétain” (MS dated Jan. 16, 1951). In FPOP, T&G and MLBW, the poems appear as adjacent but separate poems.
Laval, Pomeret, Pétain T&G, MLBW [FPOP].
On the “FOR PAUL: GROUP TWO” MS, dated Jan. 16, 1951, it is paired with “Tell me a story about the war” (see note above).
variant line 1: Yes, Laval, Pomeret, Pétain
variant line 8: Now let's practice your dance.
Revised to the present text for FPOP.
T&G line 8: Now let's practice your dance
Thure Kumlien Unpublished [FPOP] and Shut up in woods T&G, MLBW [FPOP, EA],
Both of these poems derive from two longer and closely related MSS.
The first is a “FOR PAUL: GROUP TWO” MS dated by LZ as “earlier” than Jan. 18, 1951:
I'd like to tell you about a man
of a hundred years ago.
He was here while the wild white swans
were still afloat. Bigwigs wrote
from Boston: Thure, we must know
about the sandhill crane,
is it ever white with you and how many
eggs can you obtain?
Grandchildren played with his mounted birds.
“Imagine playing horse
with a pink flamingo! Imagine eight of us
schooled and exposed to a course
of music” one of them sums it up,
grandchildren of her own.
“And gathered around the first lamp—
kerosene—how we shone.”
For Thure The Solitary Tattler,
Wilson's Phalarope.
He exchanged dried New England plants
for those around his home
at Koshkonong. One day he found
an aster down in the ditch
by the old turnpike—to it he gave
his name as tho he were rich.
…
The trouble with war for a botanist—
he daren't drop out of the line
of march to examine a flower—can only
hope to come back sometime
or now in power wars when half
the world is shell-burst
observe a sky-exotic
attract a bomber-bird.
…
Dear little Curlew
how are you
on Willow St.
your ear on all us pipers
as we bleat.
LN's annotation: “I did better on an ode to Koshkonong in high school. [“Reminiscence”; see p. 367] Unless you insist I won't use it. Second stanza might be omitted and third begin: He saw
The Solitary Tattler ‘is it ever white’—they changed color as do herons and egrets in various stages of growth in various sections of country as they fly up this way from Florida.”
The above draft is revised for poem XVII of “FOR PAUL: GROUP TWO,” New Mexico Quarterly 21.1 (Spring 1951): 210, with the following changes:
lines 3-4:
He was here when wild swans were still
afloat. Bigwigs wrote
lines 13-end:
of music” as one of them now sums it up
to grandchildren of her own.
“And gathered around the first kerosene
lamp, how we shone.”
For Thure the solitary tattler
opened a door
to learned birds—with their latest books—
who walked New England's shore.
One day by the old turnpike that still crosses
the marsh, down in the ditch
he found a new aster—to it he gave
his name as tho he were rich.
The trouble with war for a botanist—
he daren't drop out of the line of march
to examine a flower. What flower?
Shell-burst—observe a sky-exotic
attract a bomber-bird.
Dear little curlew
how are you on Willow St.
your ear on us pipers
who bleat?
Substantial condensations occur to produce the finished “Thure Kumlien” These revisions are first seen when sent to LZ on the MS titled “Changes in FOR PAUL” (Jan. 19, 1955): the poem is revised to the present text plus a not yet omitted final stanza, “The trouble with war for a botanist…attract a bomber-bird.” FPOP omits this final stanza. (At this point, in Jan. 1955, LZ appears to have returned to the MS of “I'd like to tell you about a man” dated “earlier than Jan. 18, 1951” and noted her condensations in the margin.)
The second MS, dated Jan. 18, 1951, expands on the earlier version:
He was here before the wild white swans died out
and old country courtesy. Boston bigwigs wrote:
Dear Thure, tell us about the sandhill crane,
is it ever white with you…please send us
Solitary Tattlers' eggs. A latin scholar,
“shut up in the woods”, he broke land,
made knives and forks, fumbled English gently:
“Now is March gone and I have much undone…”
Snow. Christine sick. There are two kinds of artists,
those who write for the people and those who write
for art's sake. Strong storm with colors. Marsh grass