Poems - The Original Classic Edition. Eliot T

Display me Aeolus above Reviewing the insurgent gales Which tangle Ariadne's hair

       And swell with haste the perjured sails.

       Morning stirs the feet and hands (Nausicaa and Polypheme), Gesture of orang-outang

       Rises from the sheets in steam.

       This withered root of knots of hair Slitted below and gashed with eyes, This oval O cropped out with teeth: The sickle motion from the thighs

       Jackknifes upward at the knees

       Then straightens out from heel to hip Pushing the framework of the bed And clawing at the pillow slip.

       Sweeney addressed full length to shave Broadbottomed, pink from nape to base, Knows the female temperament

       And wipes the suds around his face.

       (The lengthened shadow of a man

       Is history, said Emerson

       Who had not seen the silhouette

       Of Sweeney straddled in the sun).

       Tests the razor on his leg

       Waiting until the shriek subsides.

       The epileptic on the bed

       Curves backward, clutching at her sides.

       The ladies of the corridor

       Find themselves involved, disgraced,

       Call witness to their principles

       And deprecate the lack of taste

       Observing that hysteria

       Might easily be misunderstood; Mrs. Turner intimates

       It does the house no sort of good.

       But Doris, towelled from the bath, Enters padding on broad feet, Bringing sal volatile

       And a glass of brandy neat.

       A Cooking Egg

       5

       En l'an trentiesme de mon aage Que toutes mes hontes j'ay beues... Pipit sate upright in her chair

       Some distance from where I was sitting; Views of the Oxford Colleges

       Lay on the table, with the knitting.

       Daguerreotypes and silhouettes,

       Her grandfather and great great aunts, Supported on the mantelpiece

       An Invitation to the Dance.

       . . . . . .

       I shall not want Honour in Heaven For I shall meet Sir Philip Sidney And have talk with Coriolanus

       And other heroes of that kidney.

       I shall not want Capital in Heaven For I shall meet Sir Alfred Mond: We two shall lie together, lapt

       In a five per cent Exchequer Bond.

       I shall not want Society in Heaven, Lucretia Borgia shall be my Bride; Her anecdotes will be more amusing

       Than Pipit's experience could provide.

       I shall not want Pipit in Heaven: Madame Blavatsky will instruct me In the Seven Sacred Trances;

       Piccarda de Donati will conduct me.

       . . . . . .

       But where is the penny world I bought To eat with Pipit behind the screen? The red-eyed scavengers are creeping

       From Kentish Town and Golder's Green; Where are the eagles and the trumpets?

       Buried beneath some snow-deep Alps. Over buttered scones and crumpets Weeping, weeping multitudes

       Droop in a hundred A.B.C.'s

       ["ABC's" signifes endemic teashops, found in all parts of London. The initials signify "Aerated Bread Company, Limited."--Project Editor's replacement of

       original footnote]

       Le Directeur

       Malheur a la malheureuse Tamise! Tamisel Qui coule si pres du Spectateur.

       6

       Le directeur Conservateur Du Spectateur

       Empeste la brise. Les actionnaires Reactionnaires Du Spectateur Conservateur

       Bras dessus bras dessous

       Font des tours A pas de loup. Dans un egout Une petite fille En guenilles Camarde Regarde

       Le directeur Du Spectateur Conservateur

       Et creve d'amour.

       Melange adultere de tout

       En Amerique, professeur; En Angleterre, journaliste; C'est a grands pas et en sueur

       Que vous suivrez a peine ma piste. En Yorkshire, conferencier;