No, the sexual is horrible. And I have forgotten who wrote 'Brand'.
Off to my job.
Douglas Clark, Bath, England mailto: [log in to unmask]
Lynx: Poetry from Bath .......... http://www.bath.ac.uk/~exxdgdc/lynx.html
On Fri, 30 Nov 2001, david.bircumshaw wrote:
> I think your point about Geoffrey Hill and 'Brand' is very acute, Doug.
>
> As for the voices: sexual? Lucky you! Mine just talk gibberish, in Lestah
> accents.
>
> Best
>
> Dave
>
>
>
> David Bircumshaw
>
> Leicester, England
>
> Home Page
>
> A Chide's Alphabet
>
> Painting Without Numbers
>
> www.paintstuff.20m.com/index.htm
>
> http://homepage.ntlworld.com/david.bircumshaw/index.htm
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Douglas Clark" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Friday, November 30, 2001 10:47 AM
> Subject: Voices
>
>
> > I think all poets have an inner voice that writes the poems
> > that mean most to them. These poems are written on blank pages
> > with no thought as to what the next line is going to be.
> > I can think back as far as 1968 to 'Triad: The Magicians'
> > and the last was probably 'Mary of the Songs' in 1992
> > when no creativity was required. (I will append it below).
> >
> > When you have schizophrenia the poetic inner voice becomes
> > live in the head and it is marvellous. But the downside is
> > that the subconscious reveals itself and very nasty sexual
> > voices wont go out of the head. This is why the drugs are
> > necessary otherwise you could bask out the rest of your
> > life in a happy happy state far removed from reality.
> >
> > Eventually I think the drugs kill the poetry but not
> > being in love is an additional factor. (Or am I really
> > not in love with the news from Ottawa).
> >
> > And I will just complete yesterday's note on Geoffrey Hill
> > by saying that I think the biggest mistake he ever made
> > was translating 'Brand the Builder'. It has turned him into
> > a garrulous old man talking to himself only. (But do read
> > Christopher Okigbo if you can get hold of him). And for
> > Trevor Joyce he mentions Robert Desnos at 21, Okigbo is
> > the last half of 87.
> >
> > Now for my voluntary job then the pub. My printer just
> > phoned to say my pamphlet cover is to be in colour but
> > as I only had a black-and-white digital photo of the
> > cat to give the graphics man I am puzzled.
> >
> > This was probably my last given poem from my voice:
> > (unless some of the Mary-poems but I cant remember).
> >
> >
> >
> > Mary of the Songs
> >
> >
> > Great Mary of the Songs said to me:
> > `Why aren't you writing?'
> > I answered `My black widow haunts me.
> > `In the mists of winter I see her face.
> > `In the brief mid-day sun I strangulate.
> > `The black widow stands between me and summer.
> > `I must write her. She will be the death of me.'
> >
> > Big Mary of the Songs said to me:
> > `Is it at an end, your poetry?'
> > I answered `If my lilac takes.
> > `If my lavender revives. If the sun shines.
> > `I will live to name the place of my tomb.
> > `The black widow will dance on my grave in rage.
> > `I have made her immortal. She will never die.'
> >
> > Sweet Mary of the Songs said to me:
> > `Was it worth it, the agony?'
> > I answered `I have purged the widow.
> > `No more will the black widow plague me.
> > `She was there from childhood and I have defeated her.
> > `I walk into an empty future with a blank mind.
> > `I lived with the black widow and now am free.'
> >
> > Great Mary of the Songs said:
> > `Listen to me.
> > `You came from the morning. You walked to the citadel.
> > `You married the black widow. You wrote it.
> > `There's an end of it. Now you can be happy.'
> > I answered `Without my widow I am nothing.
> > `She was the heart of my days. Let it end.'
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Douglas Clark, Bath, England mailto: [log in to unmask]
> > Lynx: Poetry from Bath ..........
> http://www.bath.ac.uk/~exxdgdc/lynx.html
> >
>
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