hatred of chaos
falsenesses of memory
bridges of delight
Remembering also
the memories of these things, and the deep magic
wrought upon them by the falsenesses of memory:
the shell become a jewel, the sand become a desert,
the waves become the ineluctable hatred of chaos,
the weeds and mosses become as bridges of delight
wonderfully windswept, archangelically designed,
fairylifted and void-defying, between
one fever of darkness and the next; whereover
nimbly I send my messengers, and they return, swiftly,
with that fantastic nonsense which feeds the soul.
From Landscape West of Eden as printed in Selected Poems by Conrad Aiken, Oxford University Press. 1961.
In just this one fragment of the 44 page poem Landscape West of Eden, Conrad Aiken uses grand words and phrases like:
memories of these things
deep magic wrought upon them
falsenesses of memory
the shell become a jewel
the sand become a desert
the waves become the ineluctable hatred of chaos
the weeds and mosses become as bridges of delight
wonderfully windswept
archangelically designed
fairylifted and void-defying
All combining into fantastic nonsense which feeds the soul.
In the New York Times Review of the poem, written on May 5, 1935, Mr. C. G. Poore starts his review with, “WHEN Gertrude Stein became a national institution she incidentally gave readers courage to say they could not understand what they were reading. The custom has spread.“
But Mr. Poore closes his review with these words: “We admire Mr. Aiken’s Integrity, but we just do not understand what he is talking about. The fault is with us; poems about angels obviously should not look for understanding to earthly creatures.”
The fault is with us.
Poems about angels obviously should not look for understanding to earthly creatures.
Is that not fabulous?
No Haiku For You 