Subject
Fwd: ANother LOLITA: Marjorie Allen Seiffert and the 'Poems of
Elijah Hay' in A Woman of Thirty.
Elijah Hay' in A Woman of Thirty.
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Date
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----- Forwarded message from clifford@tasmail.com -----
Date: Tue, 21 Sep 2004 17:10:23 +1000
From: Clifford Davy <clifford@tasmail.com>
MARJORIE ALLEN SEIFFERT
(1885-1970)
PUBLISHED HER FIRST VOLUME OF POEMS CALLED
_A Woman of Thirty _through Alfred A. Knopf in
1919. THIS WORK INCLUDED A SELECTION UNDER THEHEADING \'POEMS OF
ELIJAH HAY\' . READERS OF NABOKOV MIGHT BEINTERESTED BY A COUPLE OF
THESE POEMS, ONE OF THEM CALLED \'LOLITA\', THEOTHER \'LOLITA NOW IS
OLD\'.
Lolita
How curious to find in you, Lolita,The geishaWho sits and strums in
the immortalAttitude of submission.There is a ledger in place of her
soul!
Your shoulders sangFor admiration,Your hair wept for kisses,Your
voice curved softly, a caress--You came among us as a suppliant,What
had we you desired?
Bringing to market stolen goods,Holding to view used charms,Behold a
hawker's spirit!
Eagles perch proudlyIn isolation,They swoop to seize a living
prey--Crows hover to feed,Waiting with patience till the soul is
fledLeaving a helpless body--carrion--(Vile thoughts obsess me!)
What did you want, Lolita?
Lolita Now Is Old
Lolita now is old,She sits in the park, watching the young men
passAnd huddles her shawl against the cold.
One night last summer when the moon was red,Lolita, hearing an old
song sungAnd amorous laughter down the streetLeft her bed--Lolita
thought she was young.
With ancient finery on her back,A lace mantilla hiding her grey
head,She crept into the warm and alien night.
Her trembling knees remembered the languid paceOf beauty on adventure
bent--her fanWaved challenges with unforgotten grace.Cunningly she
played her partFor to her peering ageLove was a well-remembered art.
Footsteps followed her--footsteps drew near!She dropped a rose--hush,
he is here!There came hard arms and a panting kiss--
He felt the fraud of those withered lips,He cursed and spat--"Was it
for this,You came, old woman, to the park?"Lolita gathered skirts and
fledThrough the dim dark.
Lolita huddles her shawl against the cold,She sits and mumbles by the
fire. In truthLolita knows she is old.
The full text of _A Woman of Thirty_ by Marjorie AllenSeiffert,
including the
\'POEMS OF ELIJAHHAY\',
is available through Project
Gutenberg(http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/gutbook/lookup?num=4556[1]).
For some information about Seiffert, readers might like to have a
look atan article by Catherine Daly on
HER AND THE SPECTRAHOAX IN
_Jacket Magazine_
(HTTP://JACKETMAGAZINE.COM/17/DALY-SPEC.HTML[2]).
Alittle more information on 'Spectra' can be found
at:http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/spec-coll/Bai/roba2.htm[3].
Clifford Davy.
Links:
------
[1]
http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/gutbook/lookup?num=4556
[2] HTTP://JACKETMAGAZINE.COM/17/DALY-SPEC.HTML
[3] http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/spec-coll/Bai/roba2.htm
----- End forwarded message -----
Date: Tue, 21 Sep 2004 17:10:23 +1000
From: Clifford Davy <clifford@tasmail.com>
MARJORIE ALLEN SEIFFERT
(1885-1970)
PUBLISHED HER FIRST VOLUME OF POEMS CALLED
_A Woman of Thirty _through Alfred A. Knopf in
1919. THIS WORK INCLUDED A SELECTION UNDER THEHEADING \'POEMS OF
ELIJAH HAY\' . READERS OF NABOKOV MIGHT BEINTERESTED BY A COUPLE OF
THESE POEMS, ONE OF THEM CALLED \'LOLITA\', THEOTHER \'LOLITA NOW IS
OLD\'.
Lolita
How curious to find in you, Lolita,The geishaWho sits and strums in
the immortalAttitude of submission.There is a ledger in place of her
soul!
Your shoulders sangFor admiration,Your hair wept for kisses,Your
voice curved softly, a caress--You came among us as a suppliant,What
had we you desired?
Bringing to market stolen goods,Holding to view used charms,Behold a
hawker's spirit!
Eagles perch proudlyIn isolation,They swoop to seize a living
prey--Crows hover to feed,Waiting with patience till the soul is
fledLeaving a helpless body--carrion--(Vile thoughts obsess me!)
What did you want, Lolita?
Lolita Now Is Old
Lolita now is old,She sits in the park, watching the young men
passAnd huddles her shawl against the cold.
One night last summer when the moon was red,Lolita, hearing an old
song sungAnd amorous laughter down the streetLeft her bed--Lolita
thought she was young.
With ancient finery on her back,A lace mantilla hiding her grey
head,She crept into the warm and alien night.
Her trembling knees remembered the languid paceOf beauty on adventure
bent--her fanWaved challenges with unforgotten grace.Cunningly she
played her partFor to her peering ageLove was a well-remembered art.
Footsteps followed her--footsteps drew near!She dropped a rose--hush,
he is here!There came hard arms and a panting kiss--
He felt the fraud of those withered lips,He cursed and spat--"Was it
for this,You came, old woman, to the park?"Lolita gathered skirts and
fledThrough the dim dark.
Lolita huddles her shawl against the cold,She sits and mumbles by the
fire. In truthLolita knows she is old.
The full text of _A Woman of Thirty_ by Marjorie AllenSeiffert,
including the
\'POEMS OF ELIJAHHAY\',
is available through Project
Gutenberg(http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/gutbook/lookup?num=4556[1]).
For some information about Seiffert, readers might like to have a
look atan article by Catherine Daly on
HER AND THE SPECTRAHOAX IN
_Jacket Magazine_
(HTTP://JACKETMAGAZINE.COM/17/DALY-SPEC.HTML[2]).
Alittle more information on 'Spectra' can be found
at:http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/spec-coll/Bai/roba2.htm[3].
Clifford Davy.
Links:
------
[1]
http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/gutbook/lookup?num=4556
[2] HTTP://JACKETMAGAZINE.COM/17/DALY-SPEC.HTML
[3] http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/spec-coll/Bai/roba2.htm
----- End forwarded message -----