Textual Notes

Zukofsky’s Texts 

For an overview of the state of LZ’s texts, see Mark Scroggins’ “Note on Texts” in Louis Zukofsky and the Poetry of Knowledge (1998). Below is a list of errata that have been recorded so far, followed by a list of textual variants for “A” 1-8.

Corrections and Emendations for The Correspondence of William Carlos Williams and Louis Zukofsky (Wesleyan UP, 2003), edited by Barry Ahearn can be downloaded here.

“A” Errata

The following is an errata list for the 1978 edition of the complete “A” and the 1993 Johns Hopkins reprint. These have mostly been corrected in the 2011 New Directions printing, except those marked with an asterisk. The errata designated (CZ) were reported by Celia Zukofsky in Paideuma 8.3 (Winter 1979): 585.

1.3.27

were [should be] are (CZ)

*1.5.25

lamposts [Scroggins suggests this should be corrected to lampposts; however, as printed is how LZ consistently spelled the word and is an acceptable alternative].

6.25.8

soldiers!” [should be] soldiers!’

6.36.19

they [should be] thy (CZ)

7.42.13

Bother [should be] “Bother

8.75.7

Make [should be] Made

8.88.27

hat [should be] hath (CZ)

8.93.9

Jenny [should be] Johnny

8.94.14

illusions..” [should be] illusions . . “

8.103.24

Molinare [should be] Molinaro

8.104.26

shard [should be] shards

*10.113.1

eleision [should be] eleison

12.138.20

I [should be] it (CZ)

12.164.28

“Plato and…” [should be] “Plato” went first and then / “Aristotle” — (CZ)

12.167.31

check [should be] cheek

12.171.4

Is is [should be] Is it

12.171.21

widsom [should be] wisdom

12.172.31

be [should be] he

*12.175.29

suprisingly [should be] surprisingly

12.191.10

inalnd [should be] inland

12.214.30

fact” [should be] “fact”

12.251.28

Is is [should be] It is

12.261.17

his and [should be] and his (CZ)

13.277.7

flourescents [should be] fluorescents (CZ)

14.357.13

them [should be] thim

*19.410.28

will revive [should be] will) revive

21.446.11

(broken type) [should be] festers (CZ)

*21.448.34

‘A made a / finer end ‘A parted [should be] ’A made a / finer end ’A parted

21.456.8

(broken type) [should be] traction (CZ)

22.508.20

grammer [should be] grammar

22.510.19

every yet [should be] ever yet (Leggott)

23.555.36

desért [should be] desert (CZ)

*24.798.10

phenix [should be] phoenix

 

Complete Short Poetry
No comprehensive comparison and collation of printings has been undertaken for the short poems. The last text that LZ oversaw was the volumes of ALL: The Collected Short Poems in two volumes (1965, 1966 and then reissued in a single paperback volume 1971), and therefore are assumed to be the most reliable. A fair number of errata creeped into these texts when the later edition of the Complete Short Poetry (1991, reissued as Anew: Complete Shorter Poetry, 2011) was put together. At this point, the following list cannot pretend to be complete.  

I Sent Thee Late

3.2

water-grave; [should be] water-grave:

Poem beginning “The”

line 28

missing comma: long dead,—

 

line 30

no line break in ALL text

 

line 137

peter [should be] Peter

 

line 154

add comma: Around, around,

 

line 189 & 194

Is it [should be] It is

Song 11

46. Title

for [should be] For

Song 28

61.6

settled [should be] settling

 

64.7

exclamation point should not be italicized: Draco!

“Mantis,” An Interpretation

67.7

this should be a spaced ellipsis as elsewhere in the poem

 

68.22

this question mark should be on on its own with a line space between both the preceding and following lines.

 

71.19

no stanza break after “… electrical cranial charges”

Anew 15

85.1

Not [should be] No

Anew 40

98.5

LZ revised this line in 1964 in preparation for ALL: The Collected Short Poems, 1923-1958 (1965), which in the original printing of Anew (1946) read:
above snow that melts over trees thru space:

I’s (pronounced eyes)

214.17

should be space after: brief- [although consistently printed without the space, the manuscript and sense dictate there should be].

The Old Poet Moves to a New Apartment 14 Times 2

222.5

chasing should be italicized as indicated in manuscript and first journal (1963) and book (1964) publications. 

After Reading

233

title: manuscript and first journal (1963) and book (1964) publications lack title, simply beginning with first line: “After reading, a song.” Presumably the title was added for the sake of consistency with ALL (1966)

80 Flowers

   

Starglow

325.3

churning [should be] churching (Álvarez & Fernández)

Spider or Ribbon Plant

327.4

[the elongated space before “-of-the-valley” should simply be a single space] (Álvarez & Fernández)

Coleus

333.4

[the elongated space after “or-” should simply be a single space] (Álvarez & Fernández)

Snowdrop

342.6

east [should be] east [no italics] (Álvarez & Fernández)

Narcissus

345.3

Sleyd-silk [should be] Sleyd-silk [“silk” not italicized] (Álvarez & Fernández)

Bearded Iris

345.1

gook [should be] geek (Leggott)

Lily-of-the-Valley Fortunei

345.4

‘s [should not be italicized] (Álvarez & Fernández)

Jade

346.3

africa [should be] afric (Álvarez & Fernández)

Aloe

349.5

fancies [should be] fanciers (Álvarez & Fernández)

Collected Fiction

   

Thanks to the Dictionary

283/290

Intent and purpose overlap all particulars… [should be] overleap (ms. HRC 17.2)

Bottom: on Shakespeare

The Zukofskys noted a fair number of errata in their pre-publication copy of Bottom, and these corrections were incorporated into the University of California edition of volume 1 (1987), but not into the Wesleyan University Press edition (2002). A list of these corrections plus a few further instances can be found here. There are quite a few instances throughout Bottom where quotation marks are missing at one end or the other of quotations, but I have not attempted to identify these.

 

Textual Variants in “A”

LZ carefully revised most of the pre-World War II movements of “A”, specially “A” 1-6 and -8, subsequent to their original printings. In later movements, LZ seems to have done little more than correct printing errors between journal and book publications, although this has yet to be systematically verified. “A” 1-6 were revised in the summer of 1942, while “A”-8 was less extensively revised in Oct. 1957 as LZ prepared the text for the publication of “A” 1-12 (1959).

Characteristically, LZ’s revisions are largely a matter of cutting and concision, sometimes rearrangement, but only rarely rewording, much less adding to the earlier text. Particularly in “A” 1-7, which was published complete in An “Objectivists” Anthology (1932), LZ went meticulously through the earlier text, making numerous changes on the level of punctuation and lineation, as well as substantially condensing or cutting out altogether a fair number of passages. In the case of “A”-4, he rearranged the collaging of the segments in the majority of the movement. It is noticeable that he tends to delete the more personal details in the early movements, as well as toning down the more explicit references to the Soviet Union, the Communist Party and its discourse in “A”-8, although it is equally evident that he makes no effort to downplay the Marxism and Leninism of the original version. Interestingly, some of the deletions in “A” 1-6 and even a few in “A”-8 cut out repetitions that link together the sequence, but subsequent developments appear to have encouraged LZ to conceive of the movements as relatively autonomous, although the idea of the poem recycling itself recurs intermittently. Anyone consulting the An “Objectivists” Anthology texts for the early movements of “A” should note that an Errata sheet was included in copies correcting a fair number of errors and even a couple of missing lines (for a transcript see here). 

The textual variants listed below compare the text of the final edition of “A” (1978) with that of a “corrected” text of “A” 1-7 as they appear in An “Objectivists” Anthology (OA), with page and line numbers referring to the former. The Errata sheet included in OA notes 22 misprints in the “A”  texts, so I have incorporated these as the “corrected” versions of the OA text, but noted all such instances as OA Errata. In addition, there are three additional hand-written corrections made in LZ’s personal copy of OA which for whatever reason are not recorded in the Errata sheet, and these are noted below. For “A”-8 the comparative text is that published in New Directions 1938. Other early printings of individual movements are listed at the head of each movement (see Printings of “A” for full listing) and are assumed to follow the OA text, unless noted. In the case of the New Review printing of “A”-3 & -4, there are a few hand-corrections in LZ’s copy of the journal held at the HRC, which have also been noted. LZ did not revise “A”-10, but the few variants in the original printing in Calendar: An Anthology of 1941 Poetry have been listed below. The OA printing was done in France and reflects European punctuation conventions in putting spaces before colons, semicolons, question and exclamation marks, as well as putting punctuation outside quotation marks (although not entirely consistent on this score); this has been standardized to American practice below. Except in obvious cases, no effort has been made to determine which line breaks are due simply to insufficient right margin since it is extremely difficult to second guess LZ’s practice in such cases, or what might be due to decisions by the compositor.

 

“A”-1

An “Objectivists” Anthology, ed. LZ. Le Beausset, France and NY: To, Publishers, 1932.

Pagany 3.3 (Summer 1932).

Title In OA the first six movements are presented in pairs with titles: First and Second Movements: “Come, ye Daughters”

1.2 Round of fiddles] justified left; Pagany printing as in final text.

1.2 Bach.] Bach— / The double chorus.

1.3 Come, ye daughters,] “Come, ye daughters, [throughout italicized lines from the libretto of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion are also in quotations marks].

1.4 dresses,] dresses

1.5 Whom?] whom?—” [Pagany printing: Whom?—”].

1.7 How?] How?—”

1.8 His legs blue, tendons bleeding,] His legs, blue tendons bleeding, / Tinsel over his ribs

1.9 holy!] holy—”

1.10 Black full dress of the audience.] Black, black full dress in the audience—

1.11 Dead century, where are your motley] Dead century where is your motley,

1.13 Easter] indented.

1.14 Matronly flounces, starched, heaving,] Matronly flounces, / —starched, heaving, / Belly freighted—boom!

1.16 Where’s] where’s

1.17 “Ah, there’s the Kapellmeister / in a terrible hurry—] “Ach, dort eilt sich der Keppellmeister—”

1.19 Johann Sebastian, twenty-two / children!”] “Johann Sebastian! (twenty-two / children!)”.

1.21 The Passion According to Matthew,] According to Matthew,

1.23 Rendered at Carnegie Hall, / Nineteen twenty-eight, / Thursday evening, the fifth of April. / The autos parked, honking.]
Repeated here at Carnegie,
That was Thursday, ‘twenty-eight, the fifth evening
of April,
April, and autos honking outside, all those
that were parked there.

2.1 A German lady there said: / (Heart turned to Thee) / “I, too, was born in Arcadia.”] (“Hearts turned to thee”) / German lady / Auch ich war in Arkadien geboren. [Pagany printing has no stanza break following].

2.7 “Not that exit, Sir!”] “No suh! / Not past that exit, Zukofsky!” / “Agh, Satan!Agh—gh!”

2.8 molting,] gradual molting, [separate line].

2.9 As tho blood stained] Blood staining

2.11 “Not that exit!” / “Devil! Which?”—] “Not past that exit, Zukofsky!” / “Devil! what!—?”

2.13 Blood and desire to graft what you desire, / But no heart left for boys’ voices. / Desire longing for perfection.]
“Blood of your desire to graft what you desire,
Consider the Angels who sang in the boys’ choir
God’s cherubs,
If seen near the ocean, stripped white skins, red
coat of the sunburn,—
They have mothers.”
“No, Satan, not heart that bled
Over boys’ voices, nor blood
Flowing for lost sons,—
I have harbored perfection.” [no stanza break following].

2.16 stars] the stars

2.17 Spits across] Spits free across

2.18 the spittle drowning worlds—] and his spit seems to drown worlds,

2.19 stepped free] passed free

2.21 The usher faded thru “Camel” smoke;] Asmodeus fading to “Camel” smoke,

2.22 The next person seen thru it, / Greasy, solicitous, eyes smiling minutes after, / A tramp’s face,] Greasy, solicitous, eyes longing minutes after, / Smiling, a tramp’s face,

2.29 About me,] But about me,

3.2 High necks turned for chatter:] Stopping of turned necks for chatter:

3.4 He admired so our recessional architecture—] It was he who admired so our recessional / architecture,

3.7 mother?] mother,

3.9 perused] had perused

3.10 Patrons of poetry, business devotees ofarts and letters, / Cornerstones of waste paper,— / “Such lyric weather”— / Chirping quatrain on quatrain; / And the sonneteers—when I consider / again and over again— / Immured holluschickies persisting thru polysyllables,]
The immature pants that filled chairs
Patrons of poetry, business temples erected to
arts and letters,
The cornerstones of waste
paper,
“Such lyric weather!” chirping
Quatrain on quatrain, empty and
The sonneteers when I consider again and over
again
Limp wet blanket pentameters,
Immured holluschickies, dead honor men
Persisting thru polysyllables,

3.17 accretions;] accretions,

3.18 “mélange adultère de tout,”] “mélange adultere de tout”. [Pagany printing has comma].

3.19 Down East, Middle West, and West coast flaunters / of the Classics and of / Tradition] The Americanizers of the Classics, / Tradition!

3.22 (A word to them of great contours)—] (To them word of great contours),

3.23 Who sang of women raped by horses.] And raping women with horses.

3.25 Lamenting,] Lamenting contemporaneousness,

3.27 are again] again

3.29 next editorial about, Carat,] next, editorial about Carat, [Pagany printing: next editorial about, Carat?].

3.32 It was also Passover.] And I, / Upon the feast of that Passover, [Pagany printing: And I.].

4.1 The blood’s tide like the music.] The bloods’ tide as the music’s [Pagany printing: blood’s].

4.2 A round of fiddles playing / Without effort—] A thousand fiddles as beyond effort / Playing—playing

4.4 As into the fields and forgetting to die.] Into fields and forgetting to die,

4.8 effort—] effort, playing—

4.9 traces,] traces

4.10 Not dying, and leaving no traces.] Not dying, yet leaving no traces. / Nor any conscious effort, [no stanza break following].

4.11 Not] Nor

4.11 paper] paper.

4.12 to remember—] to remember / (Three there stealing in thru the music / As pioneers moccasined stealing in thru the music). [OA Errata notes last line missing from original OA; Pagany printing: as in corrected OA].

4.13 “There are] Atheling—“There are

4.16 And quite differently to be sung”;] And quite differently to be sung:” [Pagany printing has italics and semicolon].

4.17 “I heard] Carlos—“I heard

4.18 inside“;] inside:” [Pagany printing has semicolon].

4.19 “Everything which] Estlang—“Everything which

4.22 wide awake, calling] the most wide awake / “Weary, broken bodies,” calling [in Pagany printing quoted phrase italicized].

4.23 earth,] earth [no stanza break following].

4.24 Cold stone above Thy head. / Weary, broken bodies. / Sleeping: their eyes were full of sleep.]
A thousand fiddles as beyond—
Cold stone above thy head—”
Trainmen chanting
And again:
He came and found them—
Sleeping, indeed their eyes were
full of sleep
”.
Good night . . .

4.27 The next day the reverses] So the next day the reverses,

4.28 taunt:] taunt,

4.30 before the eyes, perfecting.] before the eyes, perfecting,— [OA Errata corrects: live-forever].

5.1 —I thought that was finished:] I thought that was finished, Zukofsky,

5.5 looked for] has been looking for

5.6 cellar—] cellar. [stanza break following].

5.7 Remembering love in a taxi:] Remembering what? / Love, in your lap, in a taxi, unwilling—

5.9 great numbers] the greatest number

5.9 streets—] streets,

5.11 employment’;] employment,’

5.13 Yeh,] Yeah!

5.15 And] While

5.15 confrères] confreres

5.18 Pointing to a chart, between bites.] To a chart pointing, and between bites.

5.20 engineer,] engineer, [Pagany printing italicized].

5.21 Single handed,] Single-handed,

5.25 Dogs cuddling to lampposts, / Maybe broken forged iron,] these lines are placed as independent stanza immediately before 5.19: Dogs cuddling to lampposts / Lonely—look—what—maybe broken forged iron—. [Pagany printing has no final period or following stanza break].

5.28 vanished?] no stanza break following [OA Errata corrects missing question mark].

 

“A”-2

An “Objectivists” Anthology, ed. LZ. Le Beausset, France and NY: To, Publishers, 1932.

Poetry 40.1 (April 1932).

6.1 —Clear music—] The clear music— / Zoo-zoo-kaw-kaw-of-the-sky, [Poetry printing has period].

6.2 calling you] mentioning

6.3 such things,] Poetry printing has period.

6.4 Music,] Old music,

6.7 —Kay, in the sea / There with you, / Slugs, cuttlefish,]
Damn you, Kay,
What do you, Kay, know about it!
Wherever always we are
Crowds the sea in upon us,
Slivers of slugs from the seaweed,
Tossed cuttlefish shouldering

6.10 Ball of imperialism, wave games, nations,] Ball of imperialism, / Wave-games of its stanchions: nations—

6.11 armaments, drilling,] armaments drilling—

6.12 Old religions— / Epos:] Churning of old religions, epos,

6.14 One Greek] Agamemnon

6.14 two wives] two

6.16 Those epopt caryatids,] The women, epopt, caryatid,

6.17 world-cornice.] world- / cornice, / “Please now and thank you,”

6.18 (Agamemnon). Very much like the sailors. / Lust and lust. Ritornelle.] (Agamemnon), very much like the sailors, / Lust and lust ritornelle.

6.20 All! Blue trouser seats—each alike a square inch—] Tutti! the blue square inch trouser seats

6.21 thru] Poetry printing: through.

6.22 torus,] torus

6.24 “Hi, Ricky!”] Ai-yuh, look at boy Ricky

6.26 The sea grinds the half-hours,] Grinds the sea of half-hours,

6.27 bells are heard,] clocks strike,

7.1 half-equestrian, clatter of waves,] half-equestrian, / Clitter-clatter of wave-forms,

7.2 Fabulous sea-horses] Sea-horses

7.3 to break thru the walls / of alleyways:] break the cross-walls of the alleys / Cross-walls like locks of canal (never end-walls) / rising, replacing, [Poetry printing: alleys; OA Errata corrects: Cross walls].

7.5 Till the moon, one afternoon, / Launches with sea-whorl, / Opening leaf within leaf floats, green, / On waves: liveforever. / Hyaline cushions it, sun, / In one’s own head.]
Till of an afternoon
Launches the moon upon sea-whorl; green, flowering,
opening leaf within leaf
Floats upon wave-edge ; liveforever,
pearl-clean giant-size,
Green leathery leaf within leathery vision—
sunned, as of sand-gold—
(All imagined)

7.11 As in Johann Sebastian, / Listen, Kay . ..] Johann Sebastian . . . old . . . / Listen . . . / Listen, Kay. . . the music is in the flower,

7.14 ranged around the center;] wrapped around the center leaf,

7.15 outer leaf breaking on space,] the outer leaf breaking on space;

7.16 There is space to step to the central heart:] Bountiful the flower, there is space to step to the central / heart,

7.17 The music] Listen—the music

7.18 flower—] flower, [Poetry printing: flower].

7.19 Liveforever, everlasting.] (Liveforever, everlasting) [Poetry printing has period].

7.20 other,] other

7.21 Each leaf a buttress flung for the other.] The strength of each leaf is a buttress flung for the other, [no stanza break following].

7.22 Ankle, like fetlock, at the center leaf—] I have stepped with haired ankle, / As with fetlock, to the center leaf,

7.23 Looked into] I have looked into

7.24 Eyes drowned in] My eyes have drowned in

7.25 forehead,] Poetry printing: forehead.

7.26 What is at my lips,] What is at my lips, have I kissed the flower, / It is green yet graciously ferruginous,

7.27 bears rust lightly,] bears the iron-rust lightly, / The flower is the steel piston at my chest,

7.28 but the music steeps in the center—] but, hear . . . the music steeps / in the center—

7.29 over it.] over it—

7.30 Or / I walked on Easter Sunday,] I walked out upon Easter Sunday / As who should say,

8.2 This is my face / This is my form.] This is my face, / This is my form,

8.4 I would write] I would put / you down

8.6 of] as of

8.10 Wrigleys.] Poetry printing: “Wrigley’s.”

8.12 ocean;] ocean.

8.14 Crouched,] I crouched again,

8.15 The double chorus singing,] this line placed with and immediately preceding the last as a separate stanza: And the double chorus singing,

8.16 Around Thy tomb] this line in quotation marks.

8.17 For the fun of it, / O Saviour blest] Just for the fun of it, “O Saviour blest”

 

“A”-3

An “Objectivists” Anthology, ed. LZ. Le Beausset, France and NY: To, Publishers, 1932.
New Review 2 (May-June-July 1932): 83-85 [NR].

Title: In OA: Third and Fourth Movements: “Out of the voices”; in NR out not capitalized.

9.1 cool hour] cool hour of rest

9.2 Your dead mouth] It is your dead mouth

9.3 Ricky,] Rickey, [NR: Ricky,]

9.4 Automobiles speed / Past the cemetery,] Automobiles speed past the cemetery, / No gage measures,

9.6 turns. / Sleep,] turns, / Sleep

9.10 The cat, paw brought back] The cat? Paw brought back [OA Errata corrects: back. NR: back]

9.12 Puss—. / “Who smelt gas?” / “—Would I lie! / “No crossin’ bridges, / Rick’— / No bridges, / “—God’s gift to woman!” / Out of memory / A little boy, / It’s rai-ai-nin’, // Ricky, / Coeur de Lion. // Lion-heart, / A horse bridled— / Trapping rise, / Princelet / Out of history. // Trappings / Rise and surround / Two dark heads, / Dead, straight foreheads, // The beautiful / Almost sexual // Brothers.]
Leg, crooked; [OA Errata corrects: crocked NR: crooked: ]
Shape: elbow.


“Puss—puss—she doesn’t know
Her seat from her elbow.”


“Who smelt gas?
What, What?” [NR: What?     What?”]


“Where is the Scotch?” “Would I lie!”
(Spilt—in a bush, a way back
from the running-board).


“No crossin’ bridges, Rick, [NR: Rick’,]
No, no bridges, not after midnight! [NR: midninght”]


“God’s-gift-to-’oman! When
’S after midnight [NR: midninght]


It’s all after midnight once
There’s a midnight,


It’s all a matter of
Determining—


’Stand?!—My boy! Has the
American tragedy in his lap—


Tool’s tarpaulin in
A tool chest,
Only not just
Tarpaulin,


Slicker, something
For seamen (semen)


That’s to say, allow me to
Introduce—“Fishskin!”


How’s the old naval (navel)
Encounter, otherwise


Clean as
Sapolio!”


Out of memory, a little boy—Rain alights:
It’s ai-ai-nin’, Ricky, Coeur de Lion.


What is in a name?
“Lion-heart”, a horse bridled,


Trappings rise and surround
Princelet out of history;


And more trappings, churning,
Rise and surround,


Dark hair, two dark heads,
On white pillows, tall (dead)


Straight foreheads, the beautiful
Almost sexual brothers.

10.16 I, Arimathaea, / His mirror, / Lights either side—] I, Arimathaea / His mirror! lights either side, / Lord God!

10.19 Go, / Beg His corpse] “Go, my soul / Beg you His corpse!” [placed before the preceding stanza beginning: I, Arimathaea…].

10.21 —Wish I had been broken!] Wish I / The Glass had been broken!

10.23 We will not motor.]
We will not motor:


So’s your old—!
Your precursor who was,


Brought up in court,
He pays the speed-fine.

10.24 Dead mouth] this entire last segment to the end is indented.

11.4 Not yours— / A broken stanchion.] Mes parents,— / Stanchion broken // Not yours—’ [NR: Not yours]

11.6 Of leaves,] (As / of leaves) [NR: (As / Of leaves)]

11.8 Pansy over the heart, dicky-bird.’] Pansy-over-the-heart, ricky-bird—

 

“A”-4

An “Objectivists” Anthology, ed. LZ. Le Beausset, France and NY: To, Publishers, 1932.
New Review 2 (May-June-July 1932): 85-88 [NR].

12.1      [OA Errata corrects the missing number 4. to mark the beginning of this movement. NR also lacks any break between the two movements, but the beginning of “A”-4 is noted by hand].
The opening lyric (12.1-12) has been entirely reworked from the OA version:

Carousel,
Giant sparkler, boats,


(Carousel) lights of the river,
(Horses turning)


tide turning,
Lights that matter,


Lights of the pier below
From the hill-lights,


Lights of lamps off the tree-green
Lamposts from level of a light


In a truck pulled (song)
Lanterns swinging from horses,


Horses’ sides gleaming lights
From levels of water

12.13 home] home, [NR: home, Hebrews,  the latter word deleted by hand]

12.16 The Last Supper light] Last Supper Lights

12.17 Our beards’] Are our beards’

12.19 us,] us

12.20-21 NR: printed as one line

12.22 We prayed,] We have prayed, [preceded by stanza break].

13.4 Day You granted…] LZ extensively rearranged the rest of this movement, as well as cutting a substantial section. The following indicates the order of passages and lines as in OA, with textual variants indicated separately; page and line numbers as in the final text. OA Errata corrects the misplacement of lines 13.4-9, which should be as in final text:


Dead loved stone of our Temple walls [to] They assailed us— (13.13-13.22)
Fierce Ark! [to] (Red hair in intaglio) (13.10-12)
Religious, snarling monsters [to] — In the dark run towards me / Shimaunu-Sān , my clear star (13.23-14.11)
Day You granted to Your seed [to] Of our tongues, hands, feet, eyes, ears and hearts. (13.49)
All turtle-doves have pledged [to] — Yehoash. (14.12-18)
[Deleted section:]
Were he alive to forgive
Misuse of his “jargon”. [NR: followed by line space and following lines through June 1927 indented]
Misrepresented (also) in an Anthology of—
Of the time,
By a translation; [NR: followed by line space]
Surely not for lack of a postage-stamp—[OA Errata corrects terminal hyphen]
The story runs—‘Even his trousers, even
his trousers,
They, too left him’— [NR: They, too, left him’—  followed by line space]
The Editor.
Perhaps he might repeat:
“I shall skip a pale and
Subtle poet who was not in fact
Lazy, but the meaning of whose
Painfully inarticulate soul forbids
Me to use him for any purpose, however,
Respectful.”—The Editor, (in a journal,—
Associations: we had a menorah, and
It is, indeed, an honor to be circumcised)
June 1927 [NR: followed by line space]
“And to the Sun, I bow [to] Flames in last redness, allow me of your / light—“ (14.24-15.5)
“Yehoash”: (15.10)
Song’s kinship [to] “Deep roots hammer lower” (14.19-23)
“I will gather a chain [to] Never a memory remain” (15.25-16.2)
For the story of it:
My father’s precursors [to] “Treasures turned to sand” (15.6-9)
“My petted birds are dead.” (15.24)
The courses we tide from [to] Song drifts from the noises (15.11-23)
[Notes: In the deleted passage, “an Anthology of—“ refers to AnAnthology of World Poetry, edited by Mark Van Doren (1928), which in the Hebrew poetry section includes one translation or imitation from the Japanese by Yehoash translated from the Yiddish by Marie Syrkin, the future wife of Charles Reznikoff. “The Editor” also refers to Van Doren, who published an article, “Jewish Students I Have Known,” in The Menorah Journal (June 1927), in which he refers to Zukofsky in the passage quoted.]

13.8 lightened] lightened,

13.11 stomach] stomach—

13.12 (Red hair in intaglio)] Red hair in intaglio—

13.13 loves stones] loved stone

13.14 tessellation,] tesselation,

13.17 Hear— / He calleth for Elias— / A clavicembalo!] “He calleth for Elias” / (Clavicembalo!)

13.20 Deafen us, God, deafen us to their music,] God, deafen us to their music

13.21 to the ostracized, / They assail us—] to the / ostracized / They have mouthed:

13.23 ‘Religious, snarling monsters’—] Religious, snarling monsters

13.24 And have mouthed a jargon:] Our own children have created a jargon:

13.25 blows, light, on quiet water] blows light upon quiet water, [NR: the four stanzas translated from Yehoash are indented from line 13.24 but all lines aligned left, with handwritten note “alignment wrong.” Throughout these stanzas Shimaunu-San lacks its accent mark.]

13.26 travel] travel,

14.2 in the dawn,] at the dawning,

14.5 NR: To-Morrow with the m hand-corrected

14.9 blossoms,] blossom,

14.10 towards me] towards me—

14.12 All turtle-doves have pledged] Pledged have all turtle-doves

14.18 — Yehoash. / Song’s kinship,] “Yehoash”: song’s kinship,

14.20 strike.] strike

14.24 “And to the Sun, I bow. / On the gray mountains,] “And to the Sun! I bow. / On the gray / Mountains when you lie

14.27 crags,] crags

14.28 Still Heir—] Still Heir- [NR: Still Heir—]

15.1 Bestower— / Of man and tree and sand,] Bestower of man and tree and sand, [no stanza break following].

15.5 light—”] light” [NR: light / A spark against each snake / which crawls / Across me in my grave of night.” with of hand-corrected to at]

15.6 My father’s precursors] For the story of it: / My father’s precursors

15.7 dinghies, chanted the Speech.] dingheys, chanted the Speech,

15.8 “Wider is the ash…] NR: through line 10 quote marks only at beginning of lines and no stanza break between lines 9 and 10, but corrected by hand.

15.10 Yehoash,— / The courses we tide from.] The courses we tide from— [no stanza break following].

15.11 The courses we tide from.] from— [NR: from— followed by line space]

15.14 Wechmar,] Vechmar,

15.22 A carousel—Flour runs.] Carousel—flour runs—

 

“A”-5

An “Objectivists” Anthology, ed. LZ. Le Beausset, France and NY: To, Publishers, 1932.

Title In OA: Fifth and Sixth Movements: “And I:”

17.1 night.] (night).

17.2 Leaves, autumn.] In one hand, a leaf / So that after a time / all’s autumn.

17.3 thread the middle.] Thread: idle down the brown leaf.

17.4 A cigarette, / Leaf-edge, burning / obliquely urban, / the branches of trees air / comfort.] heavily reworked and a substantial section cut as follows:
In the next hand, a cigarette.
Approach brown leaf-edge with burning
Above which will be printed (as above ashes)
in autumn brown


Horizontal lettering
Held vertically
Held—held obliquely—
The city’s university rise
trees’ branches space—
airing out—

DUNHILL
Comfort.


And palestra: Youths—
A wheel—women, trainmen—a wheel,
Felly, marble-blue, chisel-wedge, iron spoke,
Miner’s legs,
Mill-oatmeal (that is how
Music first came into our family),
Ricky Coeur de Lion, carousel horse;

17.9 Kay: The heart has the imagination, / In case of emergency follow the next lunatic.] Kay: Flowers over the heart, / Offal (I’m kiddin’ sure) / Offal-and-What, the imagination, / In case of emergency follow the / next lunatic.

17.11 I: Ask Faust, the reason we’re not further along— / Go-ethe, alias MacFadden— / He-er vent Hel-ee-na squat from our sidewalks. // One’s thought]
The reason we’re not further along (But this is a swell sun,
brother comrade,)
Ask Faust aquaplaning, Go-ethe, his spiritual (whew)!
MacFadden,
(Hu!) he-er vent Hel-ee-na squat from our Sidewalks,
(Ritornelle)
Ye Daughters:


Pledged turtle doves, (Yehoash) ripped up
Pebble-stones of our tesselation,
Liveforever! flower in flower heart;


Design[stanza break following].

17.17 Our voices:] Two voices:

17.19 The courses] the courses

17.20 “Let it go at that, they are a light matter.”] OA Errata corrects missing line.

18.2 One song / Of many voices:] And I: / I shall continue one song / Tho’ its sound go two ways, / My two voices [no stanza break following].

18.5 (Plaint, clavicembalo)—] (Plaint Clavicembalo)—

18.8 knees] knees,

18.10 (New York, tonight,] (Yet, N.Y. tonight,

18.11 trefoil);] trefoil;

18.16 grave-turf);] grave-turf;

18.20 And leaves blowing] And day, leaves blowing

18.21 For I have seen self-taunt / tracked down in the mirror, / And besides it, asleep, the face open, / Edges of no one like it: Everlasting. / And one afternoon: a field, / Two windows spacing a wall, / A heavy bulk move back of / the windows— / A field behind brick wall, painted / with gigantic green elves, Wrigleys in / rubric— / “Eveline! Eveline!” —Madam, / As against the Fine Arts’ Dogma / The sad clothes line, or / Your laundered conception / of the B.V.D.]
For I have seen it, I, writhed, self-taunt
tracked itself down in the mirror,
And then, Sleep, yet the face open,
the Flower, sea of Waves Shut, clam, looking[OA Errata corrects: locking]
Outward
The edges of no one like it looking; everlasting;


Of an afternoon. Surrounding: a field, two fields,
Two windows breaking a wall,
A wall spacing two windows,
A heavy bulk which is she
moving back from the windows,
A field, and near left, gigantic in rubric,
green elves, Wrigleys in rubric;
“Eveline! Eveline!”
The bulk which is she moves and moves back
from a window
Immaculata concepcione B. V. M. the Fine Arts’ dogma
Pope Pius IX,
(Sad clothes line)
But, Madam, your laundered conception
of the B. V. D.!

19.10 hat day, / And the Jews eating unleavened bread;] (That Day the Jews eating not-leavened bread)

19.12 Ramshackle field-weed:—] And behind ramshackle / Hid (chest to chest ; Horse) / Field-weed,

19.13 “—Lie down / I’ll marry you!”] Lie down you, I’ll marry you!

19.15 The answer: / Do you think we are sailors?] (Said:) // Do you think we are sailors? [no stanza break following].

19.19 birds,] birds.

19.21 tormented red, / (No glasses between eyes and bark) / Face to bark.] plein de rouges tourmentes— / Rimbaud (no glasses stopping form bark touch); / Forehead to bark, face to bark: [no stanza break following].

19.24 The answer: // Under sky / The winds breathe in the fields. / Standing there chest to chest,] Under sky clarities / Winds’ intercourse with the fields, / Breath, love hardly over, trembling.

20.1 One horse / Walked off,] Walking out:

20.3 sunlight] sunlight,

 

“A”-6

An “Objectivists” Anthology, ed. LZ. Le Beausset, France and NY: To, Publishers, 1932.

21.1 Environs, the seas of—,] Violets’ swath, field weed around ramshackle, / Environs, always the sea of — [OA Errata corrects: Violet’s]

21.3 The small note with or without a stroke across the stem;] The note’s stem itself crossed (or uncrossed); [no stanza break following].

21.4 Beata Virgo Maria, when sunlight / Runs over Mrs. Green,] Blessed, O B. V. M., when upon Mrs. Green / Sunlight runs over,

21.7 daughter: “Eveline!”] daughter Eveline

21.9 song,] song

21.10 hoiden] hoyden

21.12 And those] Those

21.12 completion in a / voice, their own voice sounding] completion, in a voice, their / own voice sounding—

21.14 Melody, sequence] Melody, sequence, concepcione, melody,

21.15 you would be;] you would be,

21.19 blood] blood—

21.20 And the measures (travel outward)] It is that the measures travel outward,

21.22 comes] which comes

21.23 people,] people—

21.24 common level,] common / level [stanza break following].

22.1 Each, at best, obbligato to the other,] Each at his best obligato of the other;

22.2 Everyone tired] Tiredness

22.2 differences,] differences;

22.3 Crosses or uncrossed,] Crossed, (or uncrossed),

22.4 Practicing word sleight—] Saying, a play of word sleight:

22.5 ‘The sea of necessity, yes,] Yes, the sea of necessity, yes,

22.6 his] his balls

22.7 lightning rod,] lightning rod—

22.8 ask me where’—] ask me where— / Ball of imperialism, out of / the wave-games / nations— //

22.11 But who would say—] As who should say—

22.13 Fathers, wherever they put their hats,] Fathers (wherever they put their Hats)

22.14 Spiralled with tessellation] Spiralled, tesselation

22.20 music] music:

22.21 (Fate—fate—fate—voidunable to write / a melody—] Void—fate—fate—fate but unable to write a melody,

22.23 Ludwig and Goethe] Ludwig Van and Go-ethe

22.24 Forms only in snatches, / Words rangeless, melody forced by writing,] Words rangeless, forms only in snatches, / Melody stopped by dramatic writing,

22.25 past each other)—] past each other:— [no stanza break following].

23.6 center leaf,] center leaf

23.7 the sea,] the sea

23.8 The ears, doors;] The ears—doors

23.9 The words—] The words—shutting themselves visibly—

23.17 The song—omits? / No, includes Kay, Anybody. / Ricky’s romance / Of twenty-three years, in / Detail, continues]
The song out of the voices,
Together! Come ye daughters,
Bring the music!
Environs, (Ricky) the great Magnus
Has married earth’s daughters;
Captain of industry his pit is their sea.(One)
Two) Kay: Anybody, but a particular Anybody.
His environs? (it’s a joke, Ricky,) but in eternity
he marries the flower,
Or following a real fiction his attitude towards the flower
exercises influence
Three) Your romance, Ricky
In twenty-three years, (environs) in
Detail continue, [no stanza break following].

23.22 He—a—pyjamas off—] Nordic boy—pyjamas off—

23.24 ta-ta,] ta-ta

23.26 “I beg your pardon] no stanza break following.

23.27 I’ve a— “h” begins the rhyme here,] I’ve a h begins rhyme here,

24.4 The sailors in the carousel / looking for a place to bury—Ricky; / Seaweed, fellow voters, and / spewn civic sidewalks.]
Four)Where the sailors—carousel,
looking for a place to
bury—Ricky:
For the story of it, I,
my father’s precursors,
Veit B. while the mill
was grinding


Slew, slugs from the sea-weed,
Yeh—this’s the slew,
Here, Fellow Voters, in the sea
The artificiality of your economic extinctions
expose
spewn—civic sidewalks

24.9 Thus one modernizes / His lute,] Five) / One’s got to modernize / His lute

24.11 Not in] Not by

24.11 another;] another,

24.12 Words] Our words

24.14 Flute—] Flute,

24.15 Tho his melody] (Tho’ his melody

24.15 century—] century,

24.16 And,] Tho’

24.17 dullness—] dullness)

24.17 But when we push up the daisies, / The melody! The rest is accessory:]
Is one identified—
a hundred years?
Thus outline we our matter,
These movements 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,
Sour taste,
Sailors, we, pushing up the daisies,
Sea,


Obligato, the melody, obligato,
The melody, the rest are accessory,—
Kay, but Anybody (caps) a particular,
Suspension,

24.20 My one voice. My other: is] Says you! my one voice; my other—is

24.22 nature as creator] naturans

24.23 perfect] perfect,

24.26 a particular,] his life, a particular,

24.28 And that other century / Mentioned thru trains’ run over trestle / one Easter Sunday:] Kay, a particular, / Ludwig Van and Go-ethe / Of one century— [this second line placed below; see OA text at 25.7].

25.2 filled a barrel with] fills a barrel of

25.3 And sent it to Italy. The Great Boot / Filled a barrel with— / It’s hard to say—parts—the men of parts]
And sends it to Italy (observed from the Alps by
Go-ethe),
The Great Boot fills a barrel with parts,
The men of parts, grant that they were that,— [OA Errata corrects: grand]
(Ahi quanto a dir) ah, how hard it is to say—

25.6 barrel] barrel,

25.7 And sent it to Napoleon— / Stressing, ‘This is what we did to your soldiers![’] ] And sends it to Napoleon—“This / Is what we did to your soldiers”— / (Heard with trains’ run over trestle / one Easter Sunday)

25.9 And that’s history, contention, / A cheeseless mousetrap. Fills up spaced paper.”] “That’s history”—fills up spaced paper / and contention— / “A cheeseless mousetrap, that’s history”—

25.11 kind of particular.] kind of particular—you said it!

25.12 We are] But we are

25.13 to be unemployed,” says / Henry.] to be unemployed.”

25.19 needs it.] OA Errata corrects terminal quotation mark.

25.24 If goods don’t sell, / It’s because they’re no good] If goods don’t sell,” says Henry, / “It’s because they’re no good [OA Errata corrects misplaced quotation marks].

25.27 (Disposed of: the short change of labor.)] Disposed of: the short change of labor.

25.28 labor,] Labor,

25.30 anything,”] anything

25.31 Says Henry,] placed after the next line in OA; see next.

25.32 “Than there are who don’t know what to do, / I am in the business] Than there are who don’t know what to do.” / Says Henry, / “I am in the business

26.13 Ricky!—] Ricky!

26.14 rise on the heights,] have risen in heights,

26.15 Turrets with windows delight] All turrets with windows delight,

26.16 garnered] are garnered

26.21 spring,] spring season,

26.22 a new coat / He loses his job—] a new coat, (he loses his job)—

26.26 That’s poetry, he was told.] “That’s poetry”, he was corrected.

26.27 isn’t it,” said Henry,] isn’t it,” / said Henry,

26.30 say anything.”] say anything,” / says Henry. [no stanza break following].

27.7 moves—] moves,

27.8 A line,] Lines,

27.9 “When you’re phosphates, / They’ll look you up and discover— / J. S. B. was a Latin instructor— / Some individual your were!”, / Croaked Mr. Anybody.] OA Errata notes there should be stanza break before the following:
Laughter. Kay, naked,
Pyjamas flung thru the crook of his elbow:
Zoo-kaw-kaw-someone opens his mouth and you copy,
When you’re phosphates, they’ll look you up and discover
For six yours you was out of a job—
But J.S.B.—Polyphony—’e was a Latin instructor—
Ye daughters!—tiaras, tantrum, tiaras—or taught ’em
something of that sort or other—


Six jobs, six themes at once and fughatta, and all music—
The sea, yeh, yeh, the sea.
But who are we—
Pshaw, says who,
The unholiest is holy—
But I, says Kay, says Kay,
(Innocent as a kid calling himself by his
praenomen,
Mark an individual)
Pshaw, an aphorism.
All aphorisms dogs cuddling to lamposts;
Sorry, so sorry, for sad people, an author, ditto, soft
minded—
Good night, Anybody!

27.14 Tastes:] Shift. / Tastes:

27.14 overalls,] overalls

27.20 To find a thing, all things.] To find a thing, all things [no stanza break preceding].

27.23 Greeting myself, despite glasses,] Greeting, myself, Rimbaud / with glasses,

27.24 earth a rose,] earth spread a rose,

27.25 particle] particle,

27.26 The palm open,] The palm of the hand lie open

28.7 see] see,

28.9 Thee] thee

28.11 a full wardrobe and, after] one full clothes closet and, when

28.12 here, entirely to yourself,] here is entirely to yourself

28.13 ’s a closet] A closet

28.14 The time] And the time

28.15 By Mazola,] By Mazola

28.16 The heyday of revivals of western movies, / After the cowboys] The heyday revival of western movies / Immediately after the cowboys

28.18 angels,] angels

28.19 Seriously,] Seriously:

28.20 The young lady, remorseful, having brought] The young lady remorseful who had brought

28.21 by taking to smoking] by having taken to smoking—

28.22 Wore the gray stockings again] You know the gray stockings

28.26 Glory of the Seas by Free Wash out of Tan Seamen, / vs. Temper Awake by Splashed out of Sleep,] Glory of the Seas by Free Wash out of Tan Seamen, / Temper Awake by Splashed out of Sleep— [OA Errata corrects: wash].

28.28 I’ll grant you dogs— / But a horse, / That’s an animal!] I’ll grant you dogs, / But a horse / That’s / an animal.

29.3 —gaging her speed.] and thus he gaged her speed. [no stanza break following].

29.5 The time was Arcy Bell:] The time was: Arcy Bell,

29.6 nigger] nigger.

29.7 Had] As had

29.7 country home] country (summer) home

29.8 patch on which] patch outside on which

29.19 he ‘conveniently did shoot them’ / In the few hours we were not worked / in the Post Office together,] he conveniently did shoot them / (In the spare hours when we did not / work in the P.O. together,

29.12 with his projection of / forehead—] promontory of forehead—

29.14 slight, plus inherited New England / seafaring suavity—] and inherited New England, / slight, / seafaring suavity

29.16 aw-alwls,] awls

29.17 oi-oi-ly edge of a feather!] oily edge of a feather . . .

29.18 agin’ the wall!] ’gainst the wall,

29.19 Shoot high yaller / Agin’ the wall!”] Shoot high yaller ’gainst the wall . . .”)

29.22 And Eliza Jane, his friend’s wife / who was invited only with her husband, / That they paired off always / As individual families,] And Eliza Jane (her kids: “here lies a Jane!”), his friend’s wife / who came only on invitation, / That they walked only with their hubbies,— / Two individual families, [OA Errata corrects: friends].

30.1 golf-course.] golf / course.

30.2 I tell you this man had vistas:—] But I tell you this man had vistas:

30.5 entrees.] entrées.

30.7 And the—the—the] And they—they—the

30.10 twenty-five dollar] $25

30.11 Their children got jobs because “they didn’t] Those who were their grandchildren / Who got jobs because “They didn’t

30.13 Uncle] Unk

30.15 ‘hertical,’] heretic,

30.17 The heretics sought perfection, Blessed Virgin Mary, as tho / your lips were] The heretics, seeking perfection, B.V.M., as if your / word were

30.20 But, naturally,] Naturally,

30.21 time] time when

30.27 The women held] The women holding [no stanza break preceding].

30.28 was buttressed by women.] buttressed by women—

30.29 The star, Venus, bathed / In the sunsets / of elegant, imperial islands—] Venus au bain— / How are the sunsets / in elegant, imperial islands,

31.2 Mr.—‘we own your, this government / benefits by our protection. . .’—] Mr. We-Our-your, This-Government— / Benefits-By-Our-Protection Man? [corrected toWe-Own-yourin personal copy of OA]

31.4 And in Haiti / Mars] West also in Haiti? / And does Mars

31.7 Tinkered] Tinker

31.8 Stars.] Stars?

31.9 An accent, not any one nation’s] Their accent, not any one nation’s,

31.12 A passion] The grand passion

31.13 A vague] The vague

31.14 Aging eyes, impish, overhanging / Carafes on bars / Under leaves serrated in falls, / And at theatricals.] Aging eyes wandering impish, / (Overhanging, carafes on bars, / Leaves serrated in falls, / Theatrical scenery)

31.20 And above terraces of the city, a hill,] Or above the terraces of the hill city, [no stanza break preceding].

31.23 ‘Disturbed?’ ‘What’s in the underbrush?’] Disturbed? What’s in the underbrush?

31.24 belly,] belly.

31.25 White teeth perhaps] (White) / Teeth . . . perhaps . . .

32.10 pulp-wood] pulp wood

32.11 Tho] Tho’

32.11 pulp-wood.] pulp-wood;

32.23 New York,] N.Y.,

32.25 At Lake Michigan in Chicago, / Left a note] Stopped by Lake Michigan, Chicago, / And left a note

32.28 A roof, like a green sea, of a desert shack in Nevada,] Green sea roof: desert shack in Nevada—

33.1 a city] a city.

33.2 Divorced] Was, divorced

33.3 Was advised in the night life] Advised in the night-life

33.5 highway.] highway, [corrected tothe highway,in personal copy of OA, which was adopted in the Active Anthology printing]

33.6 highway.] highway,

33.7 roads.] roadways.

33.10 there’s nothin’ in it; / The Treasury is like a spittoon, / Except that you’ve got to fill it with taxes; / So there’s no reason] there’s nothin’ in it: / You’ve got to fill the Treasury spittoon / with taxes, / And no reason

33.16 to laugh] to laugh—

33.17 Bust up] Bust-up

33.18 Henry didn’t—] Henry didn’t have ’em:

33.19 gravy,—] gravy,

33.21 I had ’em, kept ’em] I had ’em kept ’em

33.22 wanted ’em. You bet they wanted ’em.] wanted ’em, you bet they wanted ’em.” [stanza break following].

33.23 But in peace times / You’ve got to use things,] Was advised: / “You’ve got to use things, too,

33.26 the other fellow has.—] he’s got it.”

33.27 Yes, I’m retired.”] Retired. [no stanza break following].

34.2 one word:] one word in a chorus / falling

34.4 Then] lacking and no stanza break.

34.5 “A — sole, a — sole]A sole, a sole

34.7 Two — pistwo — pis / Two pistols on his knee”] Two pis two pis / Two pistols onhis knee [no stanza break following].

34.9 Every day’s a love day to a sailor,] So everyday’s a love day to a sailor

34.10 Who’s] And who’s

34.11 Show me him and I’ll show you he’s paler / ’N yaller b’sides his bunting flag unfurrled] Wand’r a sailor (example he of paler / Than yaller ’gainst his bunting flag unfurled:

34.14 Dem Rooshans ain’t rational, why! / De damn fools] “Dem Rooshuns ain’t rational, / Why de damn fools [no stanza break preceding].

34.16 An’ make ’t—phwhat nerve!—] And make ’t (phwat nerve!)

34.17 Bolshewiki; wher’ do they git that stuff—] Bolshewiki wher’d they git that stuff”

34.18 “Asunder!”] The voice of one word / falling— / “Asunder!” [no stanza break following and indented].

34.25 Indians] Indians,

35.1 Employed] Indians employed

35.2 white men:] white men,

35.4 Indian’s counsel proceeded cautiously,] asked cautiously the Indian’s counsel,

35.16 when incited. Beyond] when incited.

35.17 Parched earth and fog here: / Type of mind faking a thirst for itself— / Land’s jest—] Earth parched, yet fog, / Minds faking a thirst for themselves— / Land’s jest:

35.20 ‘hard’ poetry—] “hard poetry”,

35.21 theatrical rock—] theatrical rock,

35.22 Living in a tower beyond rock,] A tower, of course, theatrical rocks and a tower—

35.23 Sophocles.] Sophocles— / Rhymes . . . / Friends’ ends . . . / Siss abyss . . . / Tough trough . . .

35.24 While in the sea] lacking.

35.26 In the sun as they sank.] In the sun as they sink— / Pacific— / We have no need for sounded contacts, / We don’t have ’em.

35.27 Returned,] Achieved: [no stanza break preceding].

36.1 To adequate] And adequate

36.1 “Camels”;] “Camels”

36.2 New York] N.Y.

36.3 Bay water viscous / where the waves mesh;]
Water as white spun glass
Where the waves mesh,
The waters cushion the coast rocks.


DUNHILL
Comfort


Achieved:
Thought—

36.5 To her and / Her mother half-blind;] Katja, / Mother aveugle,

36.7 Stone sculpture, head against white, streaked wall paper, / water-marked,] Stone sculpture (head) against streaked wall paper, white / and water-mark,

36.10 at night waking] waking at night

36.11 trai-n, ca-ar,] trai-n ca-ar,

36.12 Or waked to make,] Being waked to make,

36.13 Michelangelo,] Michael Angelo,

36.15 We sang Le Roi] Singing: le Roi [no stanza break preceding].

36.16 Red piano under the stone head,] (Red piano under the stone head)

36.17 I love”—] I love,”

36.19 “Waken my fair one from they slumber,” / “The gentle mother that thee bore,”] “Waken my fair one from thy slumber,” / Singing . . . / Tiny baby head . . . / does not hear . . . ca-ar trai-n / “The gentle mother that thee bore,” [no stanza breaks preceding or following].

36.21 Or another night,] And together another night

36.22 Mary with us, “Noël est revidici, chantons, Noël, Noël,”] Mary Marie: “Noel est revidici, chantons, Noel, Noel,”

36.24 Road,] Rd,

36.25 New York] N. Y.

36.25 steeples not steeples] steeples (not steeples . . .)

36.26 turret lights not turret lights. By day] turret lights (not turret lights . . .), by day, marble-blue

36.27 spires, roofs,] spire-roofs

36.28 A bridge. . . cobweb, no, a bridge, if you look hard;] A bridge crosses (cobweb, no, a bridge, if you look hard);

37.3 “J.S.B.,] Katja, “J.S.B.,

37.3 that Chorale] the Chorale,

37.7 Sounded contacts,] (sounded contacts)

37.10 J.S.B. just stands up?”] J.S.B, just stands up?”—

37.11 round] around

37.13 passed in black, like / Hooded cameras, as if photographing / the world.] pass under black, / Cameras that walk, as if to photograph / the world.

37.18 Revel] Revel—

37.24 so good] as good

37.27 always,] always.

37.30 five years after the Passion,] after the Passion, / Set to music five years after the Passion,

38.1 And not performed till nine years later] But performed not till 9 years later

38.3 audience:] audience, [stanza break following].

38.5 Harlem.—] Harlem:

38.6 All about a maiden coffee-bidder—] All about a maiden / Who was a coffee-bidder—

38.10 Beginning] stanza break following.

38.12 Quiet—cut the gab—] Be still please, cut the gab—

38.15 Forgetting / I said: / Can] I forget— // Said: // Can`

38.22 At eventide // Venus come up // How shall I—] At eventide, cool hour of rest // Who rests? // That is Venus come up! // And I, / How shall I—

38.25 grave’s turf,] grave turf,

38.26 With all this material / to what distinction—] With all this material? // To what distinction, // Horses, she saw? // My—

 

“A”-7

Poetry 37.5 (Feb. 1931).

An “Objectivists” Anthology, ed. LZ. Le Beausset, France and NY: To, Publishers, 1932.

Title In OA: Seventh Movement: “There are different techniques”

39.6 them;] them,

39.6 Blood red] in Poetry printing throughout: Blood-red

39.9 “Street Closed”] Poetry printing has a preceding stanza break.

39.11 and the jiggers] and, the jiggers [Poetry printing without comma].

39.12 cut out.] cut out,

39.13 tho] tho’ [throughout OA spelled this way, but Poetry printing as in final text].

39.13 here, pass] here pass

39.19 arrear?] arrear?)

39.22 gut,] gut

40.6 of orchards] OA Errata corrects: or orchards.

40.9 see?)] see?

40.10 close,] in Poetry: close;

40.19 We’ll] in Poetry: we’ll

40.19 fellow] follow [corrected tofellowin personal copy of OA, which is also followed in Poetry printing].

41.3 necks ’ve] necks ’ave

41.14 logs] OA Errata corrects: legs.

41.27 blossoms red,] in Poetry: blossoms red.

41.29 (creaked — / wind —) — SUN —] (creaked — wind —) / — SUN [OA Errata corrects hyphen after creaked; Poetry printing as in final text].

42.1 months’] in Poetry: month’s

42.4 OA lacks break between preceding line, but Poetry printing as in final text.

42.10 other.] in Poetry: the other,

42.13 Bother,] “Bother,

42.17 who will?] in Poetry: Who will?

 

“A”-8

New Directions 1938, ed. James Laughlin.

43.21 instrument)] instrument),

44.1 “Pray we our Lord”] To bury Lord Jesu together / To bury the song and Lord Jesu / “Pray we our Lord,” the State’s forget-me-nots

45.26 “Equal right . . presupposes inequality] “Equal right . . ‘bourgeois right’ . . presupposes inequality,

45.27 not] not

45.28 exploitation] exploitation

46.12 antagonism.] antagonism . .

46.16 The mind] That our mind

47.6 No thought exists] Workers, no thought of a system exists

47.26 The facts] But the facts

48.1 to reject] not to affirm

48.9 Pace them] Pace them / In revolution are the same!

48.10 Railways and highways have tied] the original first stanza of this May Day song has been deleted:
Workers and farmers unite
You have nothing to lose
But your chains
The world is to win
This is May Day! May!
Your armies are veining the earth!

48.14 This is May] This is May Day! May!

48.20 This is May] This is May Day! May!

48.26 This is May] This is May Day! May!

49.1 March / From hirer unchained / till your gain / Be the / World’s]
March comrades in revolution
From hirer unchained
Till your gain
Be the freedom of all
The World’s May Day! May!
May of the Freed of All the Earth!

50.4 assume!] assume:

52.8 hummingbird] humming-bird [ditto at 52.11].

53.10 ‘come over’] ‘come over.’

59.1 bodyguard’s] body-guard’s

59.9 Two time] Two-time

59.19 six months,] six months

62.22 lily-pads,] lily-pads.

65.25 And loved so long,] And loved, solong,

65.28 Constant,]
Constant, virgin, palm wiping her lips
Insulted by love, and
Fled, rightly, from the German movies,
Such as “The Love Pirate”
With its wail! navel-music.
Who spent her love on no one.

66.11 This linen table napkin—] three lines deleted from the beginning of this section: If Lady Greensleeves, at fifty, would stop looking / Down at her instep to attract the youngest / Male guest’s attention

66.16 Its landscape depicts a bull,] This napkin copied by a W.P.A. worker. / (The best American photographers are W.P.A. workers.) / Its landscape depicts a bull, too—

67.6 everything.] everything,

67.22 Visitors, by] Visitors by

70.16 Is the vis inertia of class history] this section continues:
The habits of thought ruled by the
more impressive affairs of its lives:
Imagination and inertia
Equal hernia.


“He who does not work shall not eat.”
In the U.S.S.R. the principle
of socialism is being realized:
“From each according to his ability,
To each according to his work.”
[The first two lines of this passage are from Thorstein Veblen, “The Place of Science in Modern Civilization”].

70.22 Without disputing their accounts.] originally followed by the stanza now at 71.7-12.

70.23 1655. All Jews are ordered to depart / From this place.] 1655. N.Y. Wages of a servant girl, $3.50 per month. / (And now!) / 1655. All Jews are ordered to depart / From this place. (N.Y.)

71.6 Put away your green paper accordion:] see note at 70.22; in place of this stanza was the following deleted stanza: 1735. Sons of Liberty, / John Lamb, Wm. Bradford, Hugh Gaines, John Holt, / (Gazette Spy).

72.22 Have got to experience it / on their bodies.] This conceited lot have got to experience it / on their bodies, and / Every further step must be forced upon them / by a defeat.

72.24 Yet, like everything in America,] Yet, like everything in America, / Driven by natural necessity,

73.1 Democracy] 1828.Democracy

74.8 what it is in] what it is, in

74.12 production.] production;

74.16 material. Each] material—each

75.7 Make] Made

75.12 The way the North] And 1862.Marx to Engels: / The way the North

75.13 Might have been expected] Might have been expected / From a bourgeois republic,

75.21 All Lincoln’s Acts . . / conditions] All Lincoln’s Acts . . mean / pettifogging conditions

75.29 Parisian gentlemen . . / Babble science and know nothing.] Parisian gentlemen . . heads full of Proudhon’s phrases. / They babble about science and know nothing.

76.2Scorn all revolutionary action / Which can be carried by political means] They scorn all revolutionary action, / Action arising out of the class struggle itself . . / All . . which can be carried by politicalmeans

76.3 as the legal limitation of the working day] (e.g., the legal limitation of the working day).

76.6 Curiously enough] The slogan . . organization for the struggle against capital, / And curiously enough

76.8 (in Baltimore.)] (in Baltimore) / By the correct instinct of the workers.

76.25 ‘occupy’ ..] no stanza break following.

78.17 world,] world.

79.30 sales.] sales;

80.16 Once more . . under] Once more we are under

80.23 That our . . civilization] That our so-called civilization

81.1 (Brooks: men work] (Brooks: Mostly men work

81.20 mirrors.] mirrors,

83.11 with what / is about us.] no line break.

83.13 born / here (in New York)] no line break.

83.24 for three acts.] for three acts— / Which has nothing to do with it.

84.12 graveyard / shift,] no line break.

84.26 by-product—] by-product,—

85.6 Wherever I sit] Wherever I sit, said Morris Raphael Fable

85.26 wolf from the door] wolf off from the door

86.4 And tip off his friends who retrieve / The state of Pennsylvania]
And tip off his friends, who like him believe
That, in a democracy, window-breaking is a function.
Tell them to tell him that we are all writing this book
Of the state of Pennsylvania
To be called “IT IS OURS.”

86.6 Like the present governor of that State,] Likewise to the present governor of that State, / What if he doesn’t stay finally in our company,

88.6 stream-line.] streamline.

88.27 hat] hath

89.1 With wit or steel?]
With wit or steel?
These claim to have conquered Marxism
For eighty years in the hearts of the workers—
And the proof that they won’t:
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics,
Shock worker of Marxist Workers thruout the world.

89.7 Or any possible alliance of enemies.] this stanza continues: And we arm, not to match strength with them / But to keep them from matching strength with us / With impunity. —Commissar for the Workers.

89.17 come out] still come out

90.3 to distract minds? / Boost figures] to distract minds, what? / Boost your figures

90.18 cite Lenin:] cite Lenin: / When I ‘became a speaker’

90.23 flattered by country.’] flattered by country.’ / Yankee or Slav, the Communist speaks to, / Speaks for, the masses.

91.6 Untiring action,] Untiring Party action,

91.19 Good day,] Good day, comrades,

91.21 the International] the Communist International

91.26 attributes all society] attributes all phenomena in society

92.11 egg of ideas] egg of bourgeois ideas

93.9 Jenny] Johnny

94.4 motors.] General Motors.

96.15 Township] township

97.5 who’s] who’d

97.20 had asked): // The gas station] no stanza break.

98.23 The Manifesto?] The Manifesto of the party itself?

98.25 dinner the year after,] dinner early the year after,

99.4 home,] home.

100.7 More than one civil war:] no stanza break preceding.

103.24 Molinare] Molinaro

104.16 thru] through

104.25 shard] shards

104.29 you.] you


“A”-10

Calendar: An Anthology of 1941 Poetry, ed. Norman Mcleod. Prairie City, IL: The Press of James A. Decker. 8-20.

Throughout the Calendar text, all accent marks are lacking.
Title: in Calendar the poem is given the title: Paris (see endnote).
113.1 eleision] eleison
115.2 an elongated space between resist and flee
118.13 With their aim] With their first aim
119.5 Anti-semites] Anti-Semites
122.12 Nothing there] Nothing hence
endnote added to Calendar printing: (Paris is the 10th movement of “A”, begun in 1928)