Collecte Works
Page 25
In the 13-poem MS dated Jan. 1958.
I fear this war Unpublished.
In the 13-poem MS dated Jan. 1958.
Van Gogh could see Unpublished.
In the 13-poem MS dated Jan. 1958.
No matter where you are Unpublished.
In the 13-poem MS dated Jan. 1958.
How white the gulls T&G, MLBW [EA].
In the 13-poem MS dated Jan. 1958.
Origin ser. 2, 2 (July 1961): 27; one of five numbered poems.
Springtime's wide T&G, MLBW [EA].
In the 13-poem MS dated Jan. 1958, variant lines 1-2:
Springtime's
Wide water-
Origin ser. 2, 2 (July 1961): 27—one of five numbered poems.
White Unpublished.
In the 13-poem MS dated Jan. 1958.
Dusk— T&G, MLBW [EA].
In the 13-poem MS dated Jan. 1958:
In spring when the small fish spawn
goes a boat along shore—
someone scything grass?
Slippery
Man.
Revised for MS dated June 8, 1962, published in “5 POEMS,” Origin ser. 2, 8 (Jan. 1963): 27, with one variant from the present text, line 1: Shore-dusk
In T&G lines 2 and 3 are reversed:
How slippery is man—
He's spearing from a boat
Revised to the present text (minus the dashes) for “EIGHT POEMS,” Monks Pond 1 (Spring 1968): 8.
LN to LZ, Dec. 25, 1957: “she talked of her neighbors and out came this bit—was I listening to Chaucer??—In spring when the small fish spawn—so I've used it for a five-liner” (NCZ 241-42).
Beautiful girl— T&G, MLBW [EA].
In the 13-poem MS dated Jan. 1958, variant lines 1-2:
Beautiful girl
pushes food upon her fork
New-sawed T&G, MLBW [EA, VV].
In the 13-poem MS dated Jan. 1958.
Origin ser. 2, 2 (July 1961): 27; one of five numbered poems.
My friend tree MFT, T&G, MLBW [EA, VV].
Sent to Paul Zukofsky with a letter and sketch dated Oct. 15, 1959: “Here is one of the tree workers way up near the top of my big ash tree, one foot on one branch and the other on another branch. Wonderful to watch him. They did it with ropes and a gasoline run saw. $90 well spent. I hail the sun and the moon.…I still have 14 trees on my lawn. But you do have a feeling about destroying a tree” (LN:W&P 62-63).
Origin ser. 2, 2 (July 1961): 27; one of five numbered single-stanza poems. Many of the poems in this section were written during LN's friendship from mid-1960 to late 1962 with the Milwaukee dentist Harold Hein. Her second book—the first in 15 years—appeared in 1961 when Ian Hamilton Finlay's Wild Hawthorn Press published My Friend Tree, a small collection of 16 poems, 9 of them reprinted from New Goose, illustrated with linocuts by Walter Miller, and introduced on a loose-leaf sheet by Ed Dorn. LN offered two alternative titles: Great Grass! and Don't Shoot the Rail.
In May 1963, she married Al Millen, and in Nov. 1963, she was able to retire from her hospital job in Fort Atkinson and move with Al to an apartment in Milwaukee. The last two poems in this section reflect the new geography. LN and Al spent weekends on Black Hawk Island, first in her small cottage and then in their new home, within sight of the cottage but closer to the Rock River and built high to escape the floodwaters.
In Leonardo's light T&G, MLBW.
Origin ser. 2, 2 (July 1961): 26.
LN to LZ, Aug. 22, 1960: “Harold [Hein] brought me his notes on Leonardo da Vinci and I was so fascinated I wrote a poem.…Closest to a love poem I ever writ” (NCZ 265).
You are my friend— MFT, T&G, MLBW [EA].
MS dated Sept. 15, 1960:
Why do I press it: are you my friend?
You bring me peaches
and the high bush cranberry
you carry
my fishpole
you water my worms
you patched my boot
with your mending kit
nothing in it
but my hand
The trouble of the boot on you, friend
your dentist fingers
an orchard to mow
you also
paint
Revised to the present text on MS dated Jan. 20, 1961; in Origin ser. 2, 2 (July 1961): 31; in “EIGHT POEMS,” Monks Pond 1 (Spring 1968): 6; and in The Voice That Is Great Within Us: American Poetry of the 20th Century, ed. Hayden Carruth (New York: Bantam, 1970).
Come In Unpublished.
Earliest MS dated “Xmas 1960” offers two alternative versions:
(i)
Thanksgiving, Glen Ellyn
Education, kindness
live here
whose dog does not impose
her long nose
and barks quietly.
Serious wags its tail
where green yard is exposed
by white tie-backs.
None here lacks
this outgoing.
(ii)
Education, kindness
live here
Whose grandfolk taught:
work hard,
whose dog does not impose
her long nose
and barks quietly.
Serious wags its tail
where white tie-backs expose
evergreen, green yard.
Hard
is lovely here.
LZ holograph on the above MS notes: “a later version r'cd on Jan. 12/61. Stanza 1 (same as above) and
Serious wags its tail
—little yard exposed
by white tie-backs—
at knick-knacks
like us knocking.”
LZ's “stanza 1 (same as above)” most likely refers to the stanza beginning, “Whose grandfolk taught:”
Revised to the present text for MS dated Jan. 20, 1961.
LN to LZ, Nov. 27, 1960: “Harold took me to his brother Fred's in Glen Ellyn (suburb of Chicago) Thanksgiving day…. Nice house in a section of ranch type and colonial houses,…But show is not the usual thing with the Heins of Glen Ellyn. It's all education, science, teaching, family life. Quiet, well brought up family with three kids, the youngest just entering college. Even the big, beautiful Shepherd-collie barks quiet” (NCZ 270).
The men leave the car T&G, MLBW [EA].
The experience this poem draws on is recorded on July 2, 1961 (NCZ 282).
Origin ser. 2, 6 (July 1962): 24.
LN to CC, Feb. 5, 1962: “It strikes me that an editor must wish fervently that his contributors head their poems so that he doesn't have to title all headless poems POEMS.” She offers titles of “Calla of the Heart-Shaped Leaves” or simply “Calla” (BYHM 31).
The wild and wavy event T&G, MLBW [EA].
LN to LZ, Dec. 31, 1961: “Trying to do a poem on Abigail Adams—what a gal” (NCZ 297).
Origin ser. 2, 6 (July 1962): 25. On Feb. 5, 1962, LN offered CC a title for this poem: “She watched the Battle of Bunker's Hill” (BYHM 31).
FLORIDA Unpublished in book form.
MS dated Feb. 18, 1962, with the following variants:
part 1, line 3: his close proximity
part 4, line 5: the pink flamingo
Parts 1 and 4 in Poor.Old.Tired.Horse. 4 (undated, probably late 1962): n.p., where they are numbered 1 and 2.
My life is hung up T&G, MLBW.
MS dated June 8, 1962.
In a group of “5 POEMS,” Origin ser. 2, 8 (Jan. 1963): 26.
Easter T&G, MLBW.
On the MS dated June 8, 1962, and in “5 POEMS,” Origin ser. 2, 8 (Jan. 1963): 26, the first three lines read:
Easter
Land
A robin stood by porch
LN's annotation alongside title on MS: “Shd. be: Easter After Flood”.
Get a load T&G, MLBW.
On the MS dated June 8, 1962, lines 2 and 3 merge into one. On the MS; in “5 POEMS,” Origin ser. 2, 8 (Jan. 1963): 26; and in T&G, line 5 re
ads: like freight cars
Poet's work T&G, MLBW.
MS dated June 8, 1962.
In “5 POEMS,” Origin ser. 2, 8 (Jan. 1963): 27, there are periods at the end of each stanza.
In T&G the poem is untitled.
Property is poverty— Unpublished in book form.
MS dated June 8, 1962. LN's annotation on MS: “(Don't confuse this with reality—I don't have to foreclose)”
In a numbered group of “THREE POEMS,” Poetry 102.5 (Aug. 1963): 302-303, where the opening line mistakenly reads: Prosperity is poverty.
Now in one year T&G, MLBW[EA].
MS version dated June 8, 1962, is a “five-liner”:
Now in one year a book
published and plumbing—
took a lifetime to weep
a deep
trickle
Revised to the present text for a numbered group of “THREE POEMS,” Poetry 102.5 (Aug. 1963): 303.
River-marsh-drowse T&G, MLBW [EA].
MS dated June 8, 1962:
The river ran off
into marsh and in flood
moonlight
gave sight
of no land.
They fished, a man
took his wife to town
with his rowboat's 10-horse,
shipped his voice
to the herons.
Sure they'd drink—
full foamy folk
till asleep
asleep
on one leg in the weeds.
A second MS dated June 19, 1962, revises the poem to the present text for the numbered group of “THREE POEMS,” Poetry 102.5 (Aug. 1963): 302.
Club 26 T&G, MLBW.
Titled “Place to Dine” in Midwest (Spring 1963): 54; variant lines 6-11:
built white on a red carpet
quiet
for the massive steak
the circular cool bar
fingers caressing glass stems
We stayed till the stamens trembled
An account of the experience related in the poem can be found in NCZ, July 29, 1962. LN submitted the poem to Midwest in August 1962 (NCZ 318).
To foreclose T&G, MLBW.
Titled “O Catullus” in Joglars 1.1 (Spring 1964): 10, where it is the first of “THREE POEMS IN ONE YEAR, JONATHAN.”
LN to LZ, Jan. 4, 1963: “Just wrote poem on foreclosing. Venom against property, the law, etc. I invoked Cat. 93 (Gregory's 2 lines for 93), the second line changed enough to suit what I'm talking about” (NCZ 327).
To my small/electric pump T&G, MLBW [EA].
The second of “THREE POEMS IN ONE YEAR, JONATHAN,” Joglars 1.1 (Spring 1964).
Submitted to Joglars in late 1963 (NCZ 341).
T.E. Lawrence MLBW [EA].
Origin ser. 3, 2 (July 1966): 32.
LN to LZ, Dec. 26, 1963: “Strange that the name Lawrence has such a fascination for me—D.H. and T. E., the latter overwhelmingly so. He was in the center of his own silence no matter how much action went on around him” (NCZ 337).
A ten-page typescript sent to Ron Ellis on Oct. 26, 1966, titles the poem, “From T. E. Lawrence.”
As I paint the street T&G, MLBW.
Origin ser. 3, 2 (July 1966): 18, and T&G add a final line: “from his neon home”. The opening line is a title in its Origin appearance.
The language of the poem can be traced to her Dec. 13, 1963, letter to LZ (NCZ 338) and her March 12, 1964, letter to CC (BYHM 43).
Art Center T&G, MLBW.
Paris Review 8.32 (1964): 198.
LN to LZ, Jan. 7, 1964: “My lovely husband…took me down to the Art Center. The building has box-like wings on the shore of the lake, gives impression of being all glass. If every human being took turns living there for only two days, we'd all come out a lovely new race” (NCZ 341-42).
In 1964, LN made three holograph collections of poems written into small, bound books and illustrated with watercolor paintings of her new home on Black Hawk Island. The first (8″×5″) was titled “HOMEMADE POEMS” (30 poems) and went to Cid Corman as a gift—“the product of the last year”—in Oct. 1964; the second two (6“ × 4½”), titled “HANDMADE POEMS” (25 poems), went to LZ and to Jonathan Williams for Xmas 1964. The contents of the three are roughly equivalent—the collections have 22 poems in common although several are revised between “HOMEMADE” and “HANDMADE.” At the end of the notes, the contents of each book are listed.
Consider at the outset: T&G, MLBW.
“HOMEMADE POEMS” (Oct. 1964), variant line 8: A delicacy—the marrow.
Revised to the present text for Poetry 106.5 (Aug. 1965): 342, where it appears in a numbered group of “FIVE POEMS.”
Ah your face NC, MLBW.
Origin ser. 3, 2 (July 1966): 20.
Included in “TRACES OF LIVING THINGS” (see p. 244).
Alcoholic dream T&G, MLBW [EA].
Paris Review 8.32 (Summer/Fall 1964): 198.
To my pres-/sure pump T&G, MLBW.
In a numbered group of “FIVE POEMS,” Poetry 106.5 (Aug. 1965): 341.
Laundromat Unpublished in book form.
“HOMEMADE POEMS” (Oct. 1964), variant stanza 1:
Once again a public wedding
a casual, sudsy
social affair
at the tubs
Copytext for posthumous publication in BC (1976).
Revised to the present text for “HANDMADE POEMS” (Xmas 1964) and Origin ser. 3, 2 (July 1966): 21.
March T&G, MLBW.
In a numbered group of “FIVE POEMS,” Poetry 106.5 (Aug. 1965): 342.
Something in the water T&G, MLBW [EA].
Combustion 15/Island 6 (n.d.): 31.
Santayana's Unpublished.
“HOMEMADE POEMS” (Oct. 1964), variant lines 2-3:
I don't know poetry?—
I like somewhat the putrid Petrarch
Copytext for posthumous publication in BC (1976).
Revised to the present text for “HANDMADE POEMS” (Xmas 1964). Both copies record her hesitation: “I might never use this—too much his own words.”
If only my friend T&G, MLBW [EA].
Very likely written in late 1962 when her friendship with Harold Hein was ending.
Frog noise/suddenly stops Unpublished.
Published posthumously in BC (1976).
In the transcendence Unpublished.
First stanza published posthumously in BC (1976).
To whom Unpublished in book form.
“HOMEMADE POEMS” (Oct. 1964), variant lines 1-2:
Is there someone
I can leave
Copy text for posthumous publication in BC (1976).
“HANDMADE POEMS” (Xmas 1964), variant lines 1-2:
Someone?—
I can leave
variant line 7: copper-braced
variant line 9: when I leave
Revised to the present text for Origin ser. 3, 2 (July 1966): 26.
Margaret Fuller Unpublished in book form.
Origin ser. 3, 2 (July 1966): 25 and posthumous publication in BC (1976).
Watching dan-/cers on skates T&G, MLBW.
The present text follows “HOMEMADE/HANDMADE POEMS,” T&G, and Origin ser. 3, 2 (July 1966): 27, which all break the title into two lines.
MLBW variant: unbroken title on single line.
Hospital Kitchen Unpublished in book form.
Origin ser. 3, 2 (July 1966): 21, and posthumous publication in BC (1976).
Chicory flower/on campus T&G, MLBW.
In “THREE POEMS,” Granta 71.12456 (1964/5): 19, with variant line 5: in earth-evolved
Fall (“Early morning corn”) T&G.
“HOMEMADE POEMS” (Oct. 1964) adds an eighth line: tittle
Revised to the present text for “HANDMADE POEMS” (Xmas 1964).
LZ's Unpublished.
LZ's copy of “HANDMADE POEMS” carries the note: “Never to be sent out if you say so.” Copytext for posthumous publication i
n BC (1976).
Letter from Ian T&G, MLBW.
In “HOMEMADE POEMS” (Oct. 1964), “HANDMADE POEMS” (Xmas 1964), and Origin ser. 3, 2 (July 1966): 23, the poem is titled “Ian's” with variant lines 2-3:
middle of Edinburgh
a castle on a rock—
LN to LZ, Sept. 11, 1961, includes transcribed extracts from letters from Ian Hamilton Finlay and Jessie McGuffie: “As for the castle, aye sure, there's a big castle on a rock in the middle of Edinburgh—we'll send you a postcard—and they floodlight it, and have a big show up there, with pipe bands and all…. Life is most hectic these days—you can't step outside without meeting a posse of poets from the Festival (NCZ 291 n.3).
Some float off on chocolate bars T&G, MLBW [EA].
“HOMEMADE POEMS” (Oct. 1964), lines 7-10:
and let the birds live
Myself I gripped
my melting container one night
I heard the wild
Revised to the present text for “HANDMADE POEMS” (Xmas 1964).
EA inserts an extra line between lines 10 and 11: and the wood on the house
I knew a clean man T&G, MLBW.
Combustion 15/Island 6 (n.d.): 33.
Scythe T&G, MLBW.
So he said/on radio Unpublished.
Published posthumously in BC (1976).
I visit/the graves T&G, MLBW [EA].
The third of “THREE POEMS IN ONE YEAR, JONATHAN,” Joglars 1.1 (Spring 1964). Submitted to Joglars in late 1963 (NCZ 341), but perhaps originating in a visit to her family gravesites recounted to LZ in Oct. 1960 (NCZ 269-70).
EA adds an apostrophe to “sons'” in line 2.
For best work NC, MLBW.
Also included in “TRACES OF LIVING THINGS” (see p. 242).
Origin ser. 3, 2 (July 1966): 22, and The Voice That Is Great Within Us: American Poetry of the 20th Century, ed. Hayden Carruth (New York: Bantam, 1970).
The obliteration Unpublished in book form.
In “HOMEMADE POEMS” (Oct. 1964):
The radio talk this morning
was of obliterating
the world
I notice fruit flies rise
from the rind
of the recommended
melon
Copytext for posthumous publication in BC (1976).
In Jonathan Williams's “HANDMADE POEMS” (Xmas 1964), line 4 reads: Fruit flies rise
Revised to the present text for Lines 5 (May 1965): 33.
Spring T&G, MLBW.
In a numbered group of “FIVE POEMS,” Poetry 106.5 (Aug. 1965): 343.
LN's note on “HOMEMADE POEMS” (Oct. 1964): “Note—what happened to Primavera, Florence, Italy and my visit to Grant Park beside L. Michigan, Milwaukee.”