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Sunday, April 18, 2004

23/5: That evening she danced merengues with us

[Note: The origin of this text is described in the comments to the post on the book meme. Thanks to Dr. Omed for the suggestion.]

That evening she danced merengues with us

We can express the difference
by defining the romantic,
nineteenth-century periodical
as essentially an organ of opinion,
exercising an avant-garde function
only insofar as it leads and precedes
a vast corps of readers
in the labyrinth of ideas and issues;
but the avant-garde periodical
functions as an independent and isolated
military unit,
completely and sharply detached
from the public, quick to act,
not only to explore but also
to battle, conquer, and adventure
on its own.

The stars he pastes up are colored
only to go with how he feels that day,
blue on up to golden.

It is not that the idea is attributed
to man's inordinate conceit
(though this is sometimes done by the unreflecting);
for, all said and done, a navvy who can walk
into a public-house and order a pot of beer
is an infinitely more wonderful thing
than is the biggest lump of cooling mud
that ever swam in the skies.

And tell me whether any literary work whatsoever
is compatible with states of this kind.

Smilers, all who stand on promontories,
slinkers, whisperers, deliberate approaches,
echoes, time, promises of mercy,
what dreams or goes masked, embraces that fail,
insufficient evidence,
touches of the old wound.

But it is quite natual that sensations
so familiar should be little noticed
and that attention should be drawn to them
only under special circumstances when
they occur unexpectedly or with
unusual strength.

None of the pictures is very large,
which doesn't mean they aren't
valuable.

My own experience of Thomas might be limited,
but Kate had written me quite detailed reports
of her acquaintance with him,
and I think I can safely say that
'exaggerating'
is not a word that either of us would ever use
in connection with him.

Tami's bust
probably measured
fifty-five
or
sixty
inches.

She was an explorer and a pioneer
at the high art of terraforming,
and her techniques in building
living worlds were still the standard,
and her name didn't even need
'Chamberlain'
attached to it.

They find cover among small patches of
natural vegetation, agricultural fields,
and tree plantations to the south,
near the seacoast.

Wilde scuffed the surface of the canal-bank path—
it had changed from trodden dust
to a strip of fused sand
which broadened and merged with the street ahead,
the permanent way made from the same material
as if the finger of a god
had drawn the lines from space—
and waited for the machine to reply.

My protestations of friendship
are not like other people's.

"Classy, virile, Teutonic,"
growls the Old Man.

i said, "i love to. but
i thought you knew everything
about me."

There are just as many differences
among followers of the Sacred King
system, except that none of them
had definite names for their
religion
as such.

...

"Classy,
virile,
Teutonic,"
growls
the
Old
Man.


[p.s. While I was doing this, Dr. Omed was doing his own... like him, i'm interested in seeing your version so send me a copy....]

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