TATTERED WEEDS
My poems are like tattered weeds
through which I sift ideas like wheat.
With them I hope to fill my needs
for self-expression. Self-defeat
they show, because my lines have holes
like weeds to which they’ve been compared.
From them you won’t learn my goals,
because the thoughts that they have aired
aren’t garments ready to be worn
by a r president or king;
they merely show my heart is torn,
while paradoxically I sing.
Inspired by a poem by Abraham Ibn Ezra who was born either in Islamic Spain in Toledo or in Cordovain 1089], and died c. 1164], apparently in Calahorra:
I Have A Garment
I have a garment, it is like a sieve
Used for sifting barley or wheat.
At the dead of night I spread it out like a tent,
And the stars of heaven put through it their light.
From within IO see the moon and the Pleiades,
And when it is bright there peeps through Orion.
I get tired from counting all the holes
Which seem like the teeth of a saw in profusion.
A piece of thread to sew up its rags,
Both warp and woof, would be superfluous.
If a fly landed on it with all its weight,
He, like a fool, would soon grumble and curse.
My God, make good repairs which it needs.
Make a mantle of praise from these tattered weeds.
Fro The Jewish Poets of Spain, translated by David Goldstein (Penguin Classics)
1/24/10
Sunday, January 24, 2010
landlord
LANDLORD
The landlord’s asking for his rent,
demanding that I pay it stat;
whatever money I begat
he’s wants. Declares he’s heaven sent
but I know though he calls himself
the lord he is the devil.
Our playing field’s not level.
I’ll have to let him take my pelf,
but I will save the rest
of what I have, the best,
I mean my family and soul.
Those he cannot evict, since they
are joined to me forever.
I’ll pay his rent but never
let him take my best parts away,
and if he think he can he under-
estimates me, he
will have to learn from me
that e is making a big blunder,
for I have suffered such a lot
that I don’t feel the need
to pay to his threats heed,
and give him all that I have got.
All my wealth of course he’s free
to take but he must leave
me free still to believe
that he’s not got the best of me.
Inspired by Bob Dylan’s song, “Dear Landlord.”
Dear landlord,
Please don't put a price on my soul.
My burden is heavy,
My dreams are beyond control.
When that steamboat whistle blows,
I'm gonna give you all I got to give,
And I do hope you receive it well,
Dependin' on the way you feel that you live.
Dear landlord,
Please heed these words that I speak.
I know you've suffered much,
But in this you are not so unique.
All of us, at times, we might work too hard
To have it too fast and too much,
And anyone can fill his life up
With things he can see but he just cannot touch.
Dear landlord,
Please don't dismiss my case.
I'm not about to argue,
I'm not about to move to no other place.
Now, each of us has his own special gift
And you know this was meant to be true,
And if you don't underestimate me,
I won't underestimate you.
1/24/10
The landlord’s asking for his rent,
demanding that I pay it stat;
whatever money I begat
he’s wants. Declares he’s heaven sent
but I know though he calls himself
the lord he is the devil.
Our playing field’s not level.
I’ll have to let him take my pelf,
but I will save the rest
of what I have, the best,
I mean my family and soul.
Those he cannot evict, since they
are joined to me forever.
I’ll pay his rent but never
let him take my best parts away,
and if he think he can he under-
estimates me, he
will have to learn from me
that e is making a big blunder,
for I have suffered such a lot
that I don’t feel the need
to pay to his threats heed,
and give him all that I have got.
All my wealth of course he’s free
to take but he must leave
me free still to believe
that he’s not got the best of me.
Inspired by Bob Dylan’s song, “Dear Landlord.”
Dear landlord,
Please don't put a price on my soul.
My burden is heavy,
My dreams are beyond control.
When that steamboat whistle blows,
I'm gonna give you all I got to give,
And I do hope you receive it well,
Dependin' on the way you feel that you live.
Dear landlord,
Please heed these words that I speak.
I know you've suffered much,
But in this you are not so unique.
All of us, at times, we might work too hard
To have it too fast and too much,
And anyone can fill his life up
With things he can see but he just cannot touch.
Dear landlord,
Please don't dismiss my case.
I'm not about to argue,
I'm not about to move to no other place.
Now, each of us has his own special gift
And you know this was meant to be true,
And if you don't underestimate me,
I won't underestimate you.
1/24/10
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
otello and falstaff
OTELLO AND FALSTAFF
How very foolish of Otello
to suspect Desdemona,
hearin’ that unmellow fellow
Iago was condemnin’ ’er.
How much wiser was Sir John;
false, he always keeps us laughing;
honor, which he spits upon,
matters less than sack he’s quaffing.
Shakespeare thus provided Verdi
heroes for his last two op-
eratic triumphs, making wordy
masterpieces so tip-top
that they do far more than gild
the lilies Shakespeare had provided,
since the texts Giuseppe filled
make William’s many-music-sided.
1/19/10
How very foolish of Otello
to suspect Desdemona,
hearin’ that unmellow fellow
Iago was condemnin’ ’er.
How much wiser was Sir John;
false, he always keeps us laughing;
honor, which he spits upon,
matters less than sack he’s quaffing.
Shakespeare thus provided Verdi
heroes for his last two op-
eratic triumphs, making wordy
masterpieces so tip-top
that they do far more than gild
the lilies Shakespeare had provided,
since the texts Giuseppe filled
make William’s many-music-sided.
1/19/10
Monday, January 18, 2010
speech of hamlet's ghost
THE SPEECH OF HAMLET’S GHOST
Had the speech of Hamlet’s Ghost been shorter
Hamlet might have listened to the Ghost,
the play about him cut down to a quarter,
with Hamlet quickly making Claudius toast.
They say that brevity’s the soul of wit.
If you’re as prolix as the Ghost of Ham-
let or the most long-winded Holy Writ,
you may ignore laws like, “Do not eat ham.”
Inspired by Mozart’s thoughts expressed while composing the music to Idomeneo, quotedin an article by Dennis Pajot on Mozart forum.com, “Mozart and Shakespeare's The Tempest,” by Dennis Pajot, and used in a previous poem, “Tempus Fugit”:
In 1790 the Weimar courtier Friedrich Hildebrand von Einsiedel sent an adaptation of the Shakespeare work he made into an opera libretto to his friend, the poet Friedrich Wilhelm Gotter in Gotha. For several years this work, to be known as Die Geisterinsel was worked on by Gotter, and eventually became known as his work. As early as Mach 24, 1791 Gotter wrote to Einsiedel that Heinrich Beck (an actor friend of Gotter) recommended Mozart as composer of the libretto. But on April 7, Beck wrote to Einsiedel that he did not think Mozart would be interested, as "he composes everything for Vienna where German opera is not given, only Italian opera". Beck recommended Dittersdorf for the job. A month later Gotter tells Einsiedel he spoke to another actor friend of his [Schröder] , who also thought Mozart had too much work for the opera buffa, and thought Dittersdorf "would not measure up to a subject of this sort". Schröder recommended Christian Friedrich Gottlieb Schwenke of Hamburg. Word was spreading, for on October 31, 1791 the Göttingen poet Gottfried August Berger wrote his pupil August Wilhelm Schlegel of Gotter's "marvelous free adaptation" of The Tempest and that "Mozart is composing the piece". Three days later Gotter wrote Einsiedel the piece was almost ready to be sent to Mozart: "After a joint revision of the work, a letter, with the first act, goes immediately to Vienna". However it is clear Mozart did not confirm he would set the libretto to music: "We may with certainty be allowed to anticipate a prompt and obliging answer from Mozart...In the unhoped-for case, however, that he is overburdened with work, I would be in favor of Reichard above all"….
An interesting letter from Gotter on March 2, 1793, might help us imagine some problems that might have come about between Mozart and the poet. Karl Dittersdorf had been sent a draft of the libretto in late 1792. He sent some suggestions for revisions back to Gotter. Gotter wrote "The suggestion of Herr von Dittersdorf for shortening the opera betrays too clearly the children of what kind of spirit are the insipid poetic products that for some time now he has thought to compose and to send into the world to the exasperation of good taste". With this we must keep in mind Mozart's dealings with some of his librettists, especially those with Giambattista Varesco regarding Idomeneo. And keeping in mind that Gotter was unhappy with Dittersdorf's suggestions for shortening his opera, here is Mozart's thought on one Shakespeare moment, in regard to Idomeneo:
"Imagine yourself in the theatre, and that the voice must be terrifying--it must be terrifying--it must be penetrating--and one must believe that it is real--how can this be believed, when the speech is too long, for during this time the hearer will become increasingly sure that it is meaningless? If the ghost's speech in Hamlet were not so long it would have a better effect.--This speech can easily be made shorter and will gain more by it than it will lose". Possibly Gotter and Mozart might have clashed, but of course there is no way of knowing.
1/18/10
,
Had the speech of Hamlet’s Ghost been shorter
Hamlet might have listened to the Ghost,
the play about him cut down to a quarter,
with Hamlet quickly making Claudius toast.
They say that brevity’s the soul of wit.
If you’re as prolix as the Ghost of Ham-
let or the most long-winded Holy Writ,
you may ignore laws like, “Do not eat ham.”
Inspired by Mozart’s thoughts expressed while composing the music to Idomeneo, quotedin an article by Dennis Pajot on Mozart forum.com, “Mozart and Shakespeare's The Tempest,” by Dennis Pajot, and used in a previous poem, “Tempus Fugit”:
In 1790 the Weimar courtier Friedrich Hildebrand von Einsiedel sent an adaptation of the Shakespeare work he made into an opera libretto to his friend, the poet Friedrich Wilhelm Gotter in Gotha. For several years this work, to be known as Die Geisterinsel was worked on by Gotter, and eventually became known as his work. As early as Mach 24, 1791 Gotter wrote to Einsiedel that Heinrich Beck (an actor friend of Gotter) recommended Mozart as composer of the libretto. But on April 7, Beck wrote to Einsiedel that he did not think Mozart would be interested, as "he composes everything for Vienna where German opera is not given, only Italian opera". Beck recommended Dittersdorf for the job. A month later Gotter tells Einsiedel he spoke to another actor friend of his [Schröder] , who also thought Mozart had too much work for the opera buffa, and thought Dittersdorf "would not measure up to a subject of this sort". Schröder recommended Christian Friedrich Gottlieb Schwenke of Hamburg. Word was spreading, for on October 31, 1791 the Göttingen poet Gottfried August Berger wrote his pupil August Wilhelm Schlegel of Gotter's "marvelous free adaptation" of The Tempest and that "Mozart is composing the piece". Three days later Gotter wrote Einsiedel the piece was almost ready to be sent to Mozart: "After a joint revision of the work, a letter, with the first act, goes immediately to Vienna". However it is clear Mozart did not confirm he would set the libretto to music: "We may with certainty be allowed to anticipate a prompt and obliging answer from Mozart...In the unhoped-for case, however, that he is overburdened with work, I would be in favor of Reichard above all"….
An interesting letter from Gotter on March 2, 1793, might help us imagine some problems that might have come about between Mozart and the poet. Karl Dittersdorf had been sent a draft of the libretto in late 1792. He sent some suggestions for revisions back to Gotter. Gotter wrote "The suggestion of Herr von Dittersdorf for shortening the opera betrays too clearly the children of what kind of spirit are the insipid poetic products that for some time now he has thought to compose and to send into the world to the exasperation of good taste". With this we must keep in mind Mozart's dealings with some of his librettists, especially those with Giambattista Varesco regarding Idomeneo. And keeping in mind that Gotter was unhappy with Dittersdorf's suggestions for shortening his opera, here is Mozart's thought on one Shakespeare moment, in regard to Idomeneo:
"Imagine yourself in the theatre, and that the voice must be terrifying--it must be terrifying--it must be penetrating--and one must believe that it is real--how can this be believed, when the speech is too long, for during this time the hearer will become increasingly sure that it is meaningless? If the ghost's speech in Hamlet were not so long it would have a better effect.--This speech can easily be made shorter and will gain more by it than it will lose". Possibly Gotter and Mozart might have clashed, but of course there is no way of knowing.
1/18/10
,
Sunday, January 17, 2010
bottle labeled coke
A BOTTLE LABELED COKE
One gets a glimpse, when peeping through the door hole,
of art turned into pop, turned into Warhol,
but no one really can be said to get the joke
until they realize Andy is a bottle, labeled Coke.
Brillo soap pads, Kellog’s Corn Flakes, Heinz
tomato ketchup he preserves for shrines,
museums of contemporary art
in which his image is the sacred heart.
Art, thanks to him, is post-historical,
and he’s become of it the oracle;
in the process he’s made dealers rich,
while collectors’ corpuses are kitsch.
Philosophers, his priests, Warhol mocks
by drawing their attention to a box
of Brillo, that, like sacramental wine,
turn into Andy’s blood once he will sign
the illustration, even if he he’s not
the artist who produced this bloody clot.
Lifelike are his illusions, though most miss
the joke, like bottles where the Coke is piss.
And yet “200 One Dollar Bills were sold
for over forty million, turned to gold
by being not two hundred dollars but
an imitation. Copy me a cut!
Inspired by reading Louis Menand’s article on Andy Warhol in the January 8, 2010 issue of The New Yorker (“Top of the Pops Did Andy Warhol change everything?”). Menand focuses on “Pop’s changed everything” theory of Warhol’s art which has been most clearly propounded by Arthur Dino, professor of philosophy at Columbia University, in his latest book “Andy Warhol”. Danto went to see Warhol’s show at the Stable gallery in 1964. He declared that it was a transformative experience for hi. “It turned him into a philosopher of art, attempting to answer the question, “Why is something that looks exactly like a Brillo box a work of art, but a Brillo box is not?” Menand writes: “All styles were now available. And he decided that, with the Brillo box, the history of art had come to an end. Art had become post-historical.” “Andy had, by nature, a philosophical mind, Danto says in his new book; “he was really doing philosophy by doing the art that made him famous.” Menand writes: “Duchamp eliminated the element of imitation in art, and Warhol imitated him. He turned the screw one rotation further than Danto realized. The Brillo boxe did not break the illusion-reality barrier at all. They were just one move in the game; they didn’t bring it to an end.
© 2010 Gershon Hepner 1/17/10
One gets a glimpse, when peeping through the door hole,
of art turned into pop, turned into Warhol,
but no one really can be said to get the joke
until they realize Andy is a bottle, labeled Coke.
Brillo soap pads, Kellog’s Corn Flakes, Heinz
tomato ketchup he preserves for shrines,
museums of contemporary art
in which his image is the sacred heart.
Art, thanks to him, is post-historical,
and he’s become of it the oracle;
in the process he’s made dealers rich,
while collectors’ corpuses are kitsch.
Philosophers, his priests, Warhol mocks
by drawing their attention to a box
of Brillo, that, like sacramental wine,
turn into Andy’s blood once he will sign
the illustration, even if he he’s not
the artist who produced this bloody clot.
Lifelike are his illusions, though most miss
the joke, like bottles where the Coke is piss.
And yet “200 One Dollar Bills were sold
for over forty million, turned to gold
by being not two hundred dollars but
an imitation. Copy me a cut!
Inspired by reading Louis Menand’s article on Andy Warhol in the January 8, 2010 issue of The New Yorker (“Top of the Pops Did Andy Warhol change everything?”). Menand focuses on “Pop’s changed everything” theory of Warhol’s art which has been most clearly propounded by Arthur Dino, professor of philosophy at Columbia University, in his latest book “Andy Warhol”. Danto went to see Warhol’s show at the Stable gallery in 1964. He declared that it was a transformative experience for hi. “It turned him into a philosopher of art, attempting to answer the question, “Why is something that looks exactly like a Brillo box a work of art, but a Brillo box is not?” Menand writes: “All styles were now available. And he decided that, with the Brillo box, the history of art had come to an end. Art had become post-historical.” “Andy had, by nature, a philosophical mind, Danto says in his new book; “he was really doing philosophy by doing the art that made him famous.” Menand writes: “Duchamp eliminated the element of imitation in art, and Warhol imitated him. He turned the screw one rotation further than Danto realized. The Brillo boxe did not break the illusion-reality barrier at all. They were just one move in the game; they didn’t bring it to an end.
© 2010 Gershon Hepner 1/17/10
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