Reading Globally:
New Perspectives on Reading and the Humanities
A Reading
of Recent Verse on Future Pandemics
amid the Venetian Legacy of the Plague
Mark Olival-Bartley
Amerika-Institut, LMU München
19 May 2017
Ca' Bernardo, Università Ca' Foscari Venezia
For Laura,
who found our way back:
"Amor, che nel penser mio vive e regna..."
"The proper METHOD for studying poetry and good letters
is the method of contemporary biologists,..."
Ezra Pound, A B C of Reading
A Reading
of Recent Verse on Future Pandemics
amid the Venetian Legacy of the Plague
I. Of the Plague
A. Etiology
B. Muse
C. Thesis
II. Amid the Venetian Legacy
A. Epidemics
B. Measures
C. Votives
III. On Future Pandemics
A. News
B. Threat
C. Preparedness
IV. Of Recent Verse
A. Outreach
B. Ekphrasis
C. Poetics
V. A Reading
A. "Manumission"
B. "Chimera"
C. "Bunjil's Charge"
"St. Roch Heals Victims of the Plague" by Morlaiter
"Santa Maria della Salute" by Canaletto
"To go back to the beginning of history, you probably know that there is spoken
language and written language, and that there are two kinds of written language, one
based on sound and the other on sight. You speak to an animal with a few simple
noises and gestures."
Ezra Pound,
A B C of Reading
Manumission
Unclasp your claws to dance the rustling night.
Extend your tendons to their fullest splay.
Unfurl your fingered webs, their muscled rite.
For falling calls us to the tussled might
by ceasing comfort from the tangled fray,
unclasp your claws to dance the rustling night.
Allow your bones to bend, a bustling sleight,
in synchronized, asymmetrical play.
Unfurl your fingered webs, their muscled rite.
Engage alone to seek the justled sight
that others miss as dusk undoes the day.
Unclasp your claws to dance the rustling night.
To those who damn you as a hustling sprite,
the fatal beast of the vampiric fey,
unfurl your fingered webs, their muscled rite.
Unpenned as poets free opuscled flight
with moving hands that lift aloft the lay,
unclasp your claws to dance the rustling night.
Unfurl your fingered webs, their muscled rite.
mænjʊˈmɪʃən
ʌnˈklæsp jʊər klɔz tu dæns ðə ˈrʌslɪŋ naɪt
ɪkˈstɛnd jʊər ˈtɛndənz tu ðɛr ˈfʊləst spleɪ
ənˈfɜrl jʊər ˈfɪŋgərd wɛbz ðɛr ˈmʌsəld raɪt
fɔr ˈfɑlɪŋ kɔlz ʌs tu ðə ˈtʌsəld maɪt
baɪ ˈsisɪŋ ˈkʌmfərt frʌm ðə ˈtæŋgəld freɪ
ʌnˈklæsp jʊər klɔz tu dæns ðə ˈrʌslɪŋ naɪt
əˈlaʊ jʊər boʊnz tu bɛnd ə ˈbʌsəlɪŋ slaɪt
ɪn ˈsɪŋkrəˌnaɪzd ˌeɪsəˈmɛtrɪkəl pleɪ
ənˈfɜrl jʊər ˈfɪŋgərd wɛbz ðɛr ˈmʌsəld raɪt
ɛnˈgeɪʤ əˈloʊn tu sik ðə ˈʤʌsəld saɪt
ðæt ˈʌðərz mɪs æz dʌsk ənˈduz ðə deɪ
ʌnˈklæsp jʊər klɔz tu dæns ðə ˈrʌslɪŋ naɪt
tu ðoʊz hu dæm ju æz ə ˈhʌsəlɪŋ spraɪt
ðə ˈfeɪtəl bist ʌv ðə væmˈpɪrɪk feɪ
ənˈfɜrl jʊər ˈfɪŋgərd wɛbz ðɛr ˈmʌsəld raɪt
ʌnˈpɛnd æz ˈpoʊəts fri əˈpʌsəld flaɪt
wɪð ˈmuvɪŋ hændz ðæt lɪft əˈlɔft ðə leɪ
ʌnˈklæsp jʊər klɔz tu dæns ðə ˈrʌslɪŋ naɪt
ənˈfɜrl jʊər ˈfɪŋgərd wɛbz ðɛr ˈmʌsəld raɪt
"The news in the Odyssey is still news. Odysseus is still 'very human,' by no means a
stuffed shirt, or a pretty figure taken down from a tapestry. It is very hard to describe
some of the homeric conversation, the irony, etc., without neologisms, which my
publishers have suggested I eschew."
Ezra Pound,
A B C of Reading
E C O H E A LT H
2016 • VOLUME 13 NUMBER 2
ECOHEALTH
V O L U M E 13 N U M B E R 2 • 2016
One Health • Ecology & Health • Public Health
000–000
ISSN 1612-9202 (Print)
ISSN 1612-9210 (Electronic)
10393 • 13(2) 000-000 (2016)
Chimera
Odysseus, Odysseus, your way
is lost, and your appeal, its feinted whine,
is subtle as the scabbard's hilt, with which
you seem to think would somehow make me switch—
that is, whose sanguinary heft would sway
me to undo the spell that made them swine.
And, yet, I wonder: What, indeed, are swine
but beasts amid their filth that swill their way
to corpulence and, sated so, then sway
their monstrous haunches, as beset by wine,
upon the solitary sow and switch
as each has fed? This wonder needs no witch.
You spit and damn me polydactyl witch
for penning piggish boors as they were swine—
and, yet, not one among your men would switch
back to his erstwhile form and former way
before this honey-flavored Pramnian wine
unmasked a nature made of porcine sway.
kaɪˈmɛrə
oʊˈdɪsiəs oʊˈdɪsiəs jʊər weɪ
ɪz lɔst ænd jʊər əˈpil ɪts ˈfeɪntɪd waɪn
ɪz ˈsʌtəl æz ðə ˈskæbərdz hɪlt wɪð wɪʧ
ju sim tu θɪŋk wʊd ˈsʌmˌhaʊ meɪk mi swɪʧ
ðæt ɪz huz ˈsængwɪnari hɛft wʊd sweɪ
mi tu ənˈdu ðə spɛl ðæt meɪd ðɛm swaɪn
ænd jɛt aɪ ˈwʌndər wʌt ɪnˈdid, ɑr swaɪn
bʌt bists əˈmɪd ðɛr fɪlθ ðæt swɪl ðɛr weɪ
tu ˈkorpjulɛns ænd ˈseɪtɪd soʊ ðɛn sweɪ
ðɛr ˈmɑnstrəs ˈhɑnʧɪz æz bɪˈsɛt baɪ waɪn
əˈpɑn ðə ˈsɑləˌtɛri soʊ ænd swɪʧ
æz iʧ hæz fɛd ðɪs ˈwʌndər nidz noʊ wɪʧ
ju spɪt ænd dæm mi ˈpɑlidæktəl wɪʧ
fɔr ˈpɛnɪŋ ˈpɪgɪʃ bʊrz æz ðeɪ wɜr swaɪn
ænd jɛt nɑt wʌn əˈmʌŋ jʊər mɛn wʊd swɪʧ
bæk tu hɪz ˈərˌstwaɪl fɔrm ænd ˈfɔrmər weɪ
bɪˈfɔr ðɪs ˈhʌniˈfleɪvərd ˈpræmniən waɪn
ənˈmæskt ə ˈneɪʧər meɪd ʌv ˈporsin sweɪ
Perhaps, dear man, your legendary sway
of wily charms finds favor with this witch,
who might, for you, decant her sweetest wine,
whose potent draft could slake the thirst of swine
or sluice the poets past Parnassus' way.
Now, drink, and bid no more whom I should switch.
You brandish flowers now to hex my switch!
Have you forgotten with the hour's sway
that Hermes' powers vanish fast away?
Then let me grant your wish and so bewitch
the game that you have sought. Your men from swine
will be procured once they have drunk this wine—
yet, stay, Odysseus, and heed, for wine
that mines a greater transubstantial switch
will one day mingle flesh of men with swine
where theurgists' appeals will hold no sway;
so casting this chimera, I, as witch,
divine how all your kind have lost their way:
As they eschewed the vintner's way to wine
and to the witch's kitchen made their switch,
their sphere had swilled its sway beyond mere swine.
pərˈhæps dir mən jʊər ˈlɛʤənˌdɛri sweɪ
ʌv ˈwaɪli ʧɑrmz faɪndz ˈfeɪvər wɪð ðɪs wɪʧ
hu maɪt fɔr ju dəˈkænt hɜr ˈswitəst waɪn
huz ˈpoʊtənt dræft kʊd sleɪk ðə θɜrst ʌv swaɪn
ɔr slus ðə ˈpoʊəts pæstˌ pɑrˈnæsəs weɪ
naʊ drɪŋk ænd bɪd noʊ mɔr hum aɪ ʃʊd swɪʧ
ju ˈbrændɪʃ ˈflaʊərz naʊ tu hɛks maɪ swɪʧ
hæv ju fərˈgɑtən wɪð ði ˈaʊərz sweɪ
ðæt ˈhɜrmiz ˈpaʊərz ˈvænɪʃ fæst əˈweɪ
ðɛn lɛt mi grænt jʊər wɪʃ ænd soʊ bɪˈwɪʧ
ðə geɪm ðæt ju hæv sɔt jʊər mɛn frʌm swaɪn
wɪl bi proʊˈkjʊrd wʌns ðeɪ hæv drʌŋk ðɪs waɪn
jɛt steɪ oʊˈdɪsiəs ænd hid fɔr waɪn
ðæt maɪnz ə ˈgreɪtər ˌtrænsəbˈstænʃəl swɪʧ
wɪl wʌn deɪ ˈmɪŋgəl flɛʃ ʌv mɛn wɪð swaɪn
wɛr ˈθɛrʤɪsts əˈpilz wɪl hoʊld noʊ sweɪ
soʊ ˈkæstɪŋ ðɪs ʧɪˈmɛrə aɪ æz wɪʧ
dɪˈvaɪn haʊ ɔl jʊər kaɪnd hæv lɔst ðɛr weɪ
æz ðeɪ ˌɛˈʃud ðə ˈvɪntnərz weɪ tu waɪn
ænd tu ðə ˈwɪʧɪz ˈkɪʧən meɪd ðɛr swɪʧ
ðɛr sfɪr hæd swɪld ɪts sweɪ bɪˈɑnd mɪr swaɪn
"Then comes Shakespeare in division: the sonnets where he is, I think, practising his
craft. The lyrics where he is learning, I believe from Italian song-books in which the
WORDS were printed WITH the music."
Ezra Pound,
A B C of Reading
E C O H E A LT H
JUNE
2017
2009
• VOLUME
• VOLUME
14 NUMBER
6 NUMBER
2 2
ECOHEALTH
V O L U M E 14 N U M B E R 2 • 2017
Conservation Medicine • Human Health • Ecosystem Sustainability
One Health • Ecology & Health • Public Health
000–000
ISSN 1612-9202 (Print)
ISSN 1612-9210 (Electronic)
10393 • 14(2) 000-000 (2017)
ISSN 1612-9202 (Print)
ISSN 1612-9210 (Electronic)
10393 • 6(2) 000-000 (2009)
Bunjil's Charge
εν το παν
To heed the lamentations of the world,
concerning how what was immortal dies
and learning where such death lies hid and furled,
we read the burning whispers of its sighs;
to tend a course that sails and quickens us
toward spurning unity in all we see,
we rend the source that ails and sickens us
from churning pith from possibility—
accede, and seas will cease their seizing crest
when yearnings for a turning Dreamtime Pax
concede the weeds of reeds as our behest:
like stars astern discerned as parallax
impearled, from eye to hand, our charge is hurled
to heed the lamentations of the world.
bʌnʤɪlz ʧɑrʤ
hɛn tu pæn
tu hid ðə ˈlæmɛnˌteɪʃənz ʌv ðə wɜrld
kənˈsɜrnɪŋ haʊ wʌt wʌz ɪˈmɔrtəl daɪz
ænd ˈlɜrnɪŋ wɛr sʌʧ dɛθ laɪz hɪd ænd fɜrld
wi rid ðə ˈbɜrnɪŋ ˈwɪspərz ʌv ɪts saɪz
tu tɛnd ə kɔrs ðæt seɪlz ænd ˈkwɪkənz ʌs
təˈwɔrd ˈspɜrnɪŋ ˈjunəti ɪn ɔl wi si
wi rɛnd ðə sɔrs ðæt eɪlz ænd ˈsɪkənz ʌs
frʌm ˈʧɜrnɪŋ pɪθ frʌm ˌpɑsəˈbɪləti
ækˈsid ænd siz wɪl sis ðɛr ˈsizɪŋ krɛst
wɛn ˈjɜrnɪŋz fɔr ə ˈtɜrnɪŋ ˈdrimtaɪm pæks
kənˈsid ðə widz ʌv ridz æz ˈaʊər bɪˈhɛst
laɪk stɑrz astɜrn dɪˈsɜrnd æz ˈpɛrəˌlæks
ɪmˈpɜrld frʌm aɪ tu hænd ˈaʊər ʧɑrʤ ɪz hɜrld
tu hid ðə ˈlæmɛnˌteɪʃənz ʌv ðə wɜrld
Grazie mille.
Prof. Dr. Daniela Ciana,
Dipartimento di Studi Linguistici e Culturali Comparati,
Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia
Staff
Venice International University
Isola di San Servolo
Prof. Dr. Klaus Benesch,
Amerika-Instutut, LMU München
Dr. Anna Flügge,
Amerika-Institut, LMU München
Dr. Manlio Della Marca,
Amerika-Institut, LMU München
Dr. Peter Daszak,
EcoHealth, EcoHealth Alliance
Mr. Aleksei Chmura,
EcoHealth, EcoHealth Alliance
Mr. Brian Baker
EcoHealth, EcoHealth Alliance
finis
Reading Globally
New Perspectives on Reading and the Humanities
Venice, May 18-20, 2017
Contributors:
Immacolata Amodeo / Bryan Banker / Klaus Benesch / Manlio Della Marca / Christine Faber / Anna Flügge
Ines Ghalleb / Patrick Geiger / Kent Hufford / Mark Olival-Bartley / Daniel Rees / Julia Rössler / Giorgia Tommasi
Anita Vrzina / Magdalena Zalewski
Organizers: Klaus Benesch, Manlio Della Marca & Anna Flügge (LMU)
Information: www.amerikanistik.uni-muenchen.de
Contact: [email protected]
Cover image: "St. Mark Enthroned" by Titian