The Inner Thing"When I was a Parisian dandy
I took my youth for audacity
My wit I took for profundity
And my poetry I took for amusement
"But something other
I took my youth for audacity
My wit I took for profundity
And my poetry I took for amusement
"But something other
Was in me;
An inner something
I knew not what...
"It started at Stravinsky's Le Sacre...
"It started at Stravinsky's Le Sacre...
With five she-devils of terrible aspect;
I determined then I should come to the arts
As a monk goes to monastic orders
As a monk goes to monastic orders
"It was then I believe
I became possessed
By some ferocious inner thing;
A thing that has remained unknown to me.
By some ferocious inner thing;
A thing that has remained unknown to me.
"Was that fierce thing an inner being
Or an unknown form of memory?
What was that thing? Ideas came
And I hurried myself to write them down:
"The mathematical calculation
The language
The content
The apparent simplicity -
"All were there to serve that thing
Which was a thing
With a subtle and secret mechanism;
"How came those words
To send those poems
Into the sky?
"That inner thing,
What is it?"
_____
gw2011
What was that thing? Ideas came
And I hurried myself to write them down:
"The mathematical calculation
The language
The content
The apparent simplicity -
"All were there to serve that thing
Which was a thing
With a subtle and secret mechanism;
"How came those words
To send those poems
Into the sky?
"That inner thing,
What is it?"
_____
gw2011
I'm sure there are books that attempt to answer those last two questions, and we'd be no closer to the answer after we'd read them. It's a subtle and secret mechanism for sure.
ReplyDeleteLovely
ReplyDeleteST, many thanks.
ReplyDeleteMairi, Cocteau felt that he was possessed by a thing he couldn't identify. Was it some kind of madness? Or just a symptom thereof? Perhaps all who are under the spell of the 5 muses are so affected? Or maybe as Mercury (Queen) sings "It's a kind of magic". I hope it's the latter.