Fornalutx

by Layton, Irving

• ISBN13: 9780773509634
• ISBN10: 0773509631
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1992-10-01
• Publisher: McGill Queens Univ

Summary

Brian Trehearne provides an lyric introduction that explores the "voices" and "vision" of Layton's poetry, particularly the present collection. "'Fornalutx,' the poem from which this volume takes its title, sets out the clash of joyful expectation and frustrated desire that lies at the heart of this late retrospective collection of the poems of Irving Layton ... The poem's bitter descent, with its rich epic overtones, may be taken as an emblem of Irving Layton's poetic vision and nature. In it is contained his instinc-tual readiness for joy and its persistent confounding by the sour earth on which he finds himself. Here is his willingness to damn; here too are his favoured symbols, twisted by a vile human nature into sources of suffering and confusion. Here is that striking casualness of tone that disguises the meticulous rhythmic expression of his poems. And here, too, is the self-irony that has generated his most successful and compelling poetry." from the Introduction

Table of Contents

Abbreviations
Introduction
Fornalutx	p. 3
The Halo	p. 5
Vigil	p. 6
Fog	p. 7
No Exit	p. 8
Nominalist	p. 9
Redemption	p. 10
Stillness	p. 11
One View of Dead Fish	p. 12
Pigeons	p. 13
Ends	p. 14
The Black Tom	p. 15
Encounter	p. 16
On Being Bitten by a Dog	p. 17
Therapy	p. 18
The Lyric	p. 19
Still Life	p. 20
Molibos Cat	p. 21
Golfers	p. 22
Breakdown	p. 23
Nail Polish	p. 24
Beatitude	p. 25
Kore	p. 26
The Last Survivor	p. 27
Zoroastrian	p. 28
Political Economy	p. 29
Oil Slick on the Riviera	p. 30
Modern Greek Poet	p. 31
The Way of the World	p. 32
Music Hath Such Charms	p. 34
O Say Can You See	p. 35
The Way Keats Never Would Have Told It	p. 36
Dracula	p. 37
NBC: Late Night News	p. 38
Poet at Sinai	p. 39
My Eyes Have Seen the Glory	p. 40
The Lesson	p. 41
The Music of Energy	p. 42
The Hairy Monster	p. 43
Ambiguities of Conduct	p. 44
Runts	p. 45
Nazi Airman	p. 47
Eros	p. 48
Lust	p. 49
Aesthetic Cruelty	p. 50
Original Sin	p. 51
Mount Royal Cemetery	p. 52
Final Reckoning: After Theognis	p. 53
Hero of Babi Yar	p. 54
The Coming of the Messiah	p. 55
Maimonidean Perplexity	p. 57
The Violent Life	p. 58
Moutarde	p. 59
The Absurd Animal	p. 60
Silence	p. 61
A Spider Danced a Cosy Jig	p. 62
Veni, Vidi, Vinci	p. 63
O.B.E.	p. 64
Two Ladies at Traymore's	p. 65
At the Iglesia de Sacromonte	p. 66
Rose Lemay	p. 67
My Queen, My Quean	p. 68
Ville Marie	p. 69
Shlemihl	p. 70
Male Chauvinist	p. 71
Nepalese Woman and Child	p. 72
Apostate	p. 73
To the Woman with the Speaking Eyes	p. 74
Florence	p. 75
Piazza San Marco	p. 76
Beach Romance	p. 77
Injustice	p. 78
The New Breed	p. 79
Project	p. 80
Diverse Pleasures	p. 81
Neighbour Love	p. 82
Vin Ordinaire	p. 83
Free Djilas	p. 84
Flights	p. 85
Beutel's Name Is Inscribed for Eternal Life	p. 86
Anglo-Canadian	p. 87
The Petits Hommes	p. 88
Hurrah for the Elephant	p. 89
Elan	p. 90
Bacchanal	p. 91
The Glimpse	p. 92
Cleavages	p. 93
Street Violinist	p. 94
For Priscilla	p. 95
Individualists	p. 96
Ganymede	p. 97
How Poems Get Written	p. 98
Paul Verlaine	p. 99
Plaza de Toros	p. 100
The Investiture	p. 101
Bicycle Pump	p. 102
Peacemonger	p. 103
Calibrations	p. 104
Moral with a Story	p. 105
Dionysus	p. 106
Libido	p. 107
Summer Idyll	p. 108
The Gardener	p. 109
After the Chinese	p. 110
Aran Islands	p. 112
At the Alhambra	p. 113
The Fool's Song	p. 114
Ch'an Artist	p. 115
Woman and Poet	p. 116
Esthetique	p. 117
Whom I Write For	p. 118
For My Friend Who Teaches Literature	p. 120
Dudelus, Poetaster	p. 121
The Well-Wrought Urn	p. 122
T.S. Eliot	p. 123
Herzl	p. 124
On Seeing an Old Poet and His Wife	p. 125
Gathering of Poets	p. 126
The Camera Eye	p. 127
The Carved Nakedness	p. 129
Mexico as Seen by the Reverent Dudek	p. 130
Latria	p. 131
Pole-Vaulter	p. 132
Etruscan Tombs	p. 133
Androgyne	p. 134
Attending Suzanne's Funeral	p. 135
Bunt Offering	p. 136
When Death Says 'Come'	p. 137
The Final Memo	p. 138
Thanatos and Eros	p. 139
Death of a Construction Worker	p. 140
Street Funeral	p. 141
Smoke	p. 142
The Long Shade	p. 143
Obit	p. 144
The Final Coming	p. 145
When It Came to Santayana's Turn	p. 146
On the Death of Pope Paul VI	p. 147
Death Washes the Face of the World	p. 148
Cemetery in August	p. 149
Gift	p. 150
Beginnings and Other Starts	p. 151
Lake Selby	p. 152
Innocence	p. 154
Red Chokecherries	p. 155
Arachnid	p. 156
Old Men	p. 157
The Execution	p. 158
End of the Summer	p. 159
The Madonna of the Magnificat	p. 160
Index of Titles	p. 161
Index of First Lines	p. 167
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