A familiar chunk of the Pisan Cantos by Ezra Pound (I know, I know...)
What thou lovest well remains, the rest is dross 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 . . .
("Paquin" was, evidently, some kind of fancy dress designer. "Blunt" was an old fashioned poet. Poetry is a pain in the ass and I don't really get it, but this piece from the old psycho/fascist always got me.)
One great fucking record... "Sugar Man" by Sixto Rodriguez
The lure of oblivion.
Sugar man Won't ya hurry Coz I'm tired of these scenes For the blue coin Won't ya bring back All those colors to my dreams Silver magic ships, you carry Jumpers, coke, sweet Maryjane Sugar man Met a false friend On a lonely, dusty road Lost my heart When I found it It had turned to dead, black coal Silver magic ships, you carry Jumpers, coke, sweet Maryjane Sugar man You're the answer That makes my questions disappear Sugar man Coz I'm weary Of those double games I hear...