The Trout

By James Laughlin 1914–1997 James Laughlin

A trout let us say

a blue blonde trout

that slips through

the bars like water

from boite to boite

from man to man but

only ones she likes

and almost never for

money and I love she

says I love exagger-

ate and her mother

asked the neighbors

qu’est-ce que j’ai

fait au ciel pour

avoir une fille qui

est de l’ordure and

she came back from

the palaces of the

king’s cousin out in

Siam where they ate

off gold plates and her

whim was his com-

mand came back to the

bars and the boys and

the slow swim through

the dim light yes a

trout let us call her

a small blonde trout.

Source: Poems New and Selected (1998)

Biography

While a sophomore on leave of absence from Harvard University, James Laughlin met Ezra Pound in Rapallo, Italy, and was invited to attend the "Ezuversity"—Pound's term for the private tutoring he gave Laughlin over meals, on hikes, or whenever the master paused in his labors. "I stayed several months in Rapallo at the 'Ezuversity,' learning and reading," recalls Laughlin in an interview with Linda Kuehl for the New York Times . . .

Continue reading this biography