Angela Rawlings in Reykjavik, Iceland, 2007:
Eiríkur Örn Norðdahl on Icelandic television, doing his “Pol Pot Pantun,” 2007:
K. Silem Mohammad in New York, 2006:
Amiri Baraka in Medellín, Colombia, 2003:
Allen Ginsberg sings to William F. Buckley, who responds, “That’s the most unharried Krishna I’ve ever heard,” 1968:
Pier Paolo Pasolini reads Ezra Pound’s Canto LXXXI to Pound, during “Un’ora con Ezra Pound” ["An Hour with Ezra Pound"] on Italian television, 1967:
The relevant passage:
[...]
What thou lov’st well shall not be reft from thee
What thou lov’st well is thy true heritage
Whose world, or mine or theirs
or is it of none?
First came the seen, then thus the palpable
Elysium, though it were in the halls of hell,
What thou lovest well is thy true heritage
What thou lov’st well shall not be reft from thee
The ant’s a centaur in his dragon world.
Pull down thy vanity, it is not man
Made courage, or made order, or made grace,
Pull down thy vanity, I say pull down.
Learn of the green world what can be thy place
In scaled invention or true artistry,
Pull down thy vanity,
Paquin pull down!
The green casque has outdone your elegance.
“Master thyself, then others shall thee beare”
Pull down thy vanity
Thou art a beaten dog beneath the hail,
A swollen magpie in a fitful sun,
Half black half white
Nor knowst’ou wing from tail
Pull down thy vanity
How mean thy hates
Fostered in falsity,
Pull down thy vanity,
Rathe to destroy, niggard in charity,
Pull down thy vanity,
I say pull down.
But to have done instead of not doing
this is not vanity
To have, with decency, knocked
That a Blunt should open
To have gathered from the air a live tradition
or from a fine old eye the unconquered flame
This is not vanity.
Here error is all in the not done,
all in the diffidence that faltered …
The relevant passage:
[...]
What thou lov’st well shall not be reft from thee
What thou lov’st well is thy true heritage
Whose world, or mine or theirs
or is it of none?
First came the seen, then thus the palpable
Elysium, though it were in the halls of hell,
What thou lovest well is thy true heritage
What thou lov’st well shall not be reft from thee
The ant’s a centaur in his dragon world.
Pull down thy vanity, it is not man
Made courage, or made order, or made grace,
Pull down thy vanity, I say pull down.
Learn of the green world what can be thy place
In scaled invention or true artistry,
Pull down thy vanity,
Paquin pull down!
The green casque has outdone your elegance.
“Master thyself, then others shall thee beare”
Pull down thy vanity
Thou art a beaten dog beneath the hail,
A swollen magpie in a fitful sun,
Half black half white
Nor knowst’ou wing from tail
Pull down thy vanity
How mean thy hates
Fostered in falsity,
Pull down thy vanity,
Rathe to destroy, niggard in charity,
Pull down thy vanity,
I say pull down.
But to have done instead of not doing
this is not vanity
To have, with decency, knocked
That a Blunt should open
To have gathered from the air a live tradition
or from a fine old eye the unconquered flame
This is not vanity.
Here error is all in the not done,
all in the diffidence that faltered …
4 Comments for “YouTube Pleasures”
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sounds [!} like it was
wonderfilled
is there a video someplace;
I'd love to see
as well MORE »
suzanne | 07.04.09 -
Martin, reading you first thing in the morning is so much better than reading the ... MORE »
Forrest Gander | 07.04.09 -
The passage I quoted may have wide cultural significance, but it has nothing whatsoever to ... MORE »
Richard Epstein | 07.04.09 -
Interesting post.
I would enjoy reading your dissection of Sad Little Breathing Machine, which I personally ... MORE »
Michael James | 07.04.09 -
I'm playing with your heads---of course they're birds too. But the bloody makes them a ... MORE »
Christopher Woodman | 07.04.09
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Thanks ever so much for these!
Posted By: Antoine Cassar on April 17, 2008 at 5:54 pmHi Antoine,
Posted By: Linh Dinh on April 17, 2008 at 9:12 pmClick here for an electrifying recording of Amiri Baraka reading his “Somebody Blew Up America” in Naples on September 11, 2005, accompanied by the Gaspare Di Lieto Jazz Quartet. It’s by far the best version of this poem I’ve heard.
Here are sone wonderful clips of Anne Sexton!
Posted By: Don Share on April 18, 2008 at 9:23 amSpeaking of Ginsberg, check out the sock puppet version of his appearance on Firing Line!
Posted By: Don Share on April 18, 2008 at 12:37 pm