abc of reading pound

8/22/2019 ABC of Reading Pound

1/206

A-PDF Page Cut DEMO: Purchase from www.A


2/206


3/206

HE CAN

ELECED CAN

CLLECED HRER PEM

CLLECED EARLY PEM

Edited Michae Jhn KingELECED PEM 1908-59

HE RANLAN F EZRA PUND

Induced Hugh KennePHCLE'ELERA

vesin Eza PundLERARY EAY F EZRA PUND

Edited S. EitELECED PRE 190965

Edited Wiiam CknELECED LEER F EZRA PUND 90741

Edited D D Paige

'


4/206

A B C of Reading

by

ZRA OUND

fbfbLONDON BOSTON


5/206

Fst pubshed n 1934by George Rouedge Lmted

New edon pubshed n 1951by Faber and Faber Lmted

3 Queen Square London WClN 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 Lte PropeyT 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 inung th

tn ng ios on the suut pus

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


6/206

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 Exerie 6Second Set 66Further Tests 68Bis 71Liberty 77Exercie 77XIXth Century 78Study 79Perception 81

The Insuctor83

Taste 86

DISSOCIAT

DICT= CONDSA 92

7


7/206

bitFo PioxStyle of a Pod Table of DatOtr DatTo RcpitulatWt

TB.TIS OK T

8

J 9532

353892

9


8/206

AB

Or gus ssum, fr thos whmght k t . h bk ntadrss to tos wh hv rrv t fnowlg of th subjct wtout knwingte fact


9/206


10/206

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 controverspamphlet 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 isto 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


11/206


12/206

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 witintt 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 ct1l uls, r ts r denitons (of whic it

3


13/206

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 oCaalcant, 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


14/206

EIN E


15/206


16/206

Chapter One

We live an age of science and of abudance caand 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 goolettes 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 dilomas 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 knledge, family of eicteinkus etc, as fod ttooks of te sbject

17


17/206


18/206


19/206

here was goo deal o care for termnology and thegeneral exacttude n the ue of bstract term may hveeen (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 toook at them and to nvt means (lke the telescope) ofseeing 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 acievement.

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 ofpoetry ' 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 onesed o sound ad the other on sight

You sak to an amal wth a few sle oise ad20


20/206

e Levy-Bruh ccou o rive a Aic rcord auae that e still ond u imc ad ete

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

Gaudier Breska who wa accustoed to oo at here ae o thgs cold read a certai mot oChiesewtwitout 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


21/206

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 FLAMINGO

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. Somethngthat 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


22/206

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 general public DO stud

painting. If you want o nd out somhin aout paintingou 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 Readthesis 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 Ucclli ', rcast om

Janquin.Giovanni Trzi: Sui di Bao.

Corei: Sonata in La maj., 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


23/206


24/206


25/206

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 noledge

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 oungman cn be que 'igt tout rg onvition to anol 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 neat a eventeen o tetee

26


26/206

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

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

27


27/206

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 nconsist 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


28/206

e cat or of somthing movig or bin or of a group otings whh o ndr crtain irmstns, or icpartipat a ommon quality.

PPROACH

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

poit As t wr o start on a sphr or a b; yomust 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 andwot 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.

Thsthngs ar mattrs of dgr. Yor ommniationca mor or lss xat. h ITERES in a statmntcan mor or lss dral.

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

Its 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


29/206

ltt attto to it that o ha lot oltl forgott t

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

th ar talTh rt ho ot a a roal tatt in r

arth 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 ahor or atool for h

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

Wh a lar of hor at al ith t of ltratr a ha ala b bo orho

Pallo ha to OOK at th horo wol th that ao at to ko atotr wol o o of to thg or both E OOK Tt 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 atoolwolo o to a a who ha a o a r t orto ma who ha rl har abot t

30


30/206

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 orhar ta of tratg h fro that ataltto 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


31/206

,

Chapter Three

1

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

iity AS WRITERS T i thei mainse Al therses are relave temrry, nd can be estimtey 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 ofaquestion 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

Hms 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


32/206

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, nrdes 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 anreigned 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 chidws inectng tself with tberculosis undr the impressi

ht it ws merely eatng jam trts

c 33


33/206

It isveydculttomakepeopleunderstandtheimper

sonal idignation that a decay ofwritigcan cause men

who understandwhat it imples, and theendwhereto it

leads. It is amost impossible to epress ay degree of

such indignation without being cled embittered', or

somethingof that sort

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 humanwisdom is not contained i any one

languge,andno snglelanuageisCAPABLEof expres

sinal formsanddegreesof humancomprehension

This i a vey unpaatale and bitter doctine But Icnnot omit it.

Peopleoccasionallydevelopalmostafanaicismco

bat the ide xed' in inglelanguage.Thee ae

34


34/206

gener speai the prejudices f the ati (an

natio)

Dieret climates and derent bloods hae dierent

need, deret spontaneities, dieret reluctaces, dierent 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, adthe 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 sectionthereof

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


35/206

ChapterFou

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 Germalange 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


36/206

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 wlprobbly

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


37/206

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 iue, 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 galereay 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 ofcaegorie h oierably aeae y own H t

Rd

38


38/206

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

2 The aer. Me who combie a uber of uchprocee, a who ue he a well a or beer han he

ivenor.

3 The iluer. Me who came afer he r wo ki ofwrier, n coul o he jo quie a wel.

4 oo wrier wihou aien aliie. Men who eor

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'teay ve yhng but wo peczd oe r

39


39/206

cua pt of writig, who ould't be osidered as greatme o as authors who were tryig to give a completepesetati 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 ielatio to others ad he will e ore ofused ad eveless 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 ofpti the esults of their ow persoal isptio aey eve they ae seriously maki oe


40/206

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 bookwas worth I ea as he would ow whethe a givepole-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 towhat 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 orgeuous attae suggeste that I had iluded etapoes 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 ofBios was a afterthoght metioed out of pae adhat 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


41/206

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 whowant 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 phoa howng a

ua mage on the mnd] i probaby reache by the

Ce, e np t the particuar n of writen

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

ersn and Arabc the mamum ofmeloias reache

i th cean devemets n Proven which

42


42/206

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 cage has been ope for a umber of years ad o oe hasyet 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 mawlreay e Greek he

can get neary a of it in Homer.

I have never read haf a page ofHomer 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


43/206


44/206


45/206


46/206


47/206

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 indTh 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 GreTha 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 vastmass 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 nsrpassdIN 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


48/206

HAVE PATINCE, I am t insising vn no ur laning a muliud of sang languags, I eetell you, n du course, wa you can do i yu ca rea

nly EngisTo 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


49/206

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 incionTh 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


50/206

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 shi hori

Who di im, di

dosn ak good vs Th oun i whr hidio 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 Eopanpos o h piod ha o can ang up wth h 'El

o o displaing h W on pr ih he

Oin

51


51/206

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 outsidepaw 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 apartiular group of og people who were writig i 1912.

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

5


52/206

. :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 shouldb 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 mereleferred 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 ofevetee 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


53/206

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


54/206

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 vonornen or Von er gi

rmans claim ha German pery has deveped sinch 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


55/206

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 theposedly 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

,


56/206

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 readItalian, 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 otheranguages you imply not ko where Englsh poet

me'.

57


57/206

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 dion, bu for whch a gossar needed (2) and heel GLIS qui or oonen Lo

5


58/206

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


59/206

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 lauaeaaist 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


60/206

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


61/206

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 counes 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


62/206

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 vsualmainaio

II inducin emotiona correlation by the sound adhytm of te speech

III iducing both of the eects by timating theassociaton (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


63/206

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 seehw 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 reaean mre han ne hng r me han he r n


64/206

ended ; hehe can be s ead as mean smehng

feen

hehe hee s sehng e n ae, bu abgus 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


65/206

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


66/206

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


67/206

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 ee

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


68/206

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 conere 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


69/206

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


70/206

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


71/206

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


72/206

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 semblclauses, of pasng and gammar are notenogh. Sch sdyeded i a ame of oao, now paroded in detecveoris whenthey gve the leaed cousel' smin-up.

73


73/206


74/206


75/206

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 1914orticist 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

'


76/206

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


77/206

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 thatof 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 RimbaudLaforue

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

''


78/206

: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 playsShakepeare (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 on7


79/206

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


80/206

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?


81/206

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 iferorty compex o the pbic

A graver isue needs biological anaogy: artists are thantennae ; an anima tha neglects he warnings of its perceptions 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

.,


82/206

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


83/206


84/206


85/206

I believe the ideal teacher woud approach any masteriec 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 bosthat 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


86/206

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


87/206

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 orderto 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?


88/206

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 FeldTrsram 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


89/206

(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 Lducation 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 whereith Cavalcnti had been conceed

You an get very brillint rosslight via Donne Ien the dierenes nd nuanes between psychoogy inGuido abstract philosophi statement in Guido the blend

Donne and again psyhology Henry James and inof them the underlying onept of FORM the struture ofhe whole work ncluding its prts


90/206

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 gloriation 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


91/206

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


92/206

S E CTI ON TW O


93/206


94/206

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


95/206

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& 1913beore 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

'


96/206

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

obligatory comparisons, the mytho1ogy the poet don'tbleve m, his so-called dgnty of tyle, a l Louis XI Vnd

all thatta

of what they cal poetic ornament, svastly inferior 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 thebasis of DICHTEN = CONDENSARE.

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

97


97/206

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 mearobby 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


98/206

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


99/206

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

TheWife ofBath's heology is no a mere mear Her

attentionothemeanngoftermsi greaerthanwe ndin

Lorenzo Medii' imaginary dialogue with Ficino abou

platonm.T i, inChaucer he remain ofhemiddleges whenmen took some careotheirermin?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


100/206

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 hemind 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


101/206

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


102/206

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


103/206

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

''


104/206

1e een edued to etn them to ic s oanslte 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


105/206

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


106/206

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


107/206

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 coriervees 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


108/206

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


109/206

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


110/206

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


111/206

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


112/206

u

abc of reading pound

Documents