The cantos of ezra pound [from The Cantos of Ezra Pound (1972)]
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971 And old Wattle-wattle slipped into Milan 972 But he couldn't stand Sidg being so high with the Venetians 973 And he talked it over with Feddy; and Feddy said "Pesaro" [Page 36] 974 And old Foscari wrote "Caro mio 975 "If we split with Francesco you can have it 976 "And we'll help you in every way possible." 977 But Feddy offered it sooner. 978 And Sigismundo got up a few arches, 979 And stole that marble in Classe, "stole" that is, 980 Casus est talis: 981 Foscari doge, to the prefect of Ravenna 982 "Why, what, which, thunder, damnation????" 983 Casus est talis: 984 Filippo, commendatary of the abbazia 985 Of Sant Apollinaire, Classe, Cardinal of Bologna 986 That he did one night (quadam nocte) sell to the 987 Illmo Do, Do Sigismund Malatesta 988 Lord of Arimininum, marble, porphyry, serpentine, 989 Whose men, Sigismundo's, came with more than an hundred 990 two wheeled ox carts and deported, for the beautifying 991 of the tempio where was Santa Maria in Trivio 992 Where the same are now on the walls. Four hundred 993 ducats to be paid back to the abbazia by the said swindling 994 Cardinal or his heirs. 995 grnnh! rrnnh, pthg. 996 wheels, plaustra, oxen under night-shield, 997 And on the 13th of August: Aloysius Purtheo, 998 The next abbot, to Sigismundo, receipt for 200 ducats 999 Corn-salve for the damage done in that scurry. 1000 And there was the row about that German-Burgundian female 1001 And it was his messianic year, Poliorcetes, 1002 but he was being a bit too Polumetis 1003 And the Venetians wouldn't give him six months vacation. 1004 And he went down to the old brick heap of Pesaro 1005 and waited for Feddy [Page 37] 1006 And Feddy finally said "I am coming!... 1007 ... to help Alessandro." 1008 And he said: "This time Mister Feddy has done it." 1009 He said: "Broglio, I'm the goat. This time 1010 Mr. Feddy has done it (m'l'ha calata)." 1011 And he'd lost his job with the Venetians, 1012 And the stone didn't come in from Istria: 1013 And we sent men to the silk war; 1014 And Wattle never paid up on the nail 1015 Though we signed on with Milan and Florence; 1016 And he set up the bombards in muck down by Vada 1017 where nobody else could have set 'em 1018 and he took the wood out of the bombs 1019 and made 'em of two scoops of metal 1020 And the jobs getting smaller and smaller, 1021 Until he signed on with Siena; 1022 And that time they grabbed his post-bag. 1023 And what was it, anyhow? 1024 Pitigliano, a man with a ten acre lot, 1025 Two lumps of tufa, 1026 and they'd taken his pasture land from him, 1027 And Sidg had got back their horses, 1028 and he had two big lumps of tufa 1029 with six hundred pigs in the basements. 1030 And the poor devils were dying of cold. 1031 And this is what they found in the post-bag: 1032 Ex Arimino die xxii Decembris 1033 "Magnifice ac potens domine, mi singularissime 1034 "I advise yr. Lordship how 1035 "I have been with master Alwidge who 1036 "has shown me the design of the nave that goes in the middle, 1037 "of the church and the design for the roof and ..." 1038 "JHesus, 1039 "Magnifico exso. Signor Mio 1040 "Sence to-day I am recommanded that I have to tel you my
1042 "valts of the cherch ... etc ... 1043 "Giovane of Master alwise P. S. I think it advisabl that 1044 "I shud go to rome to talk to mister Albert so as I can no 1045 "what he thinks about it rite. 1046 "Sagramoro ..." 1047 "Illustre signor mio, Messire Battista ..." 1048 "First: Ten slabs best red, seven by 15, by one third, 1049 "Eight ditto, good red, 15 by three by one, 1050 "Six of same, 15 by one by one. 1051 "Eight columns 15 by three and one third 1052 etc ... with carriage, danars 151 [1053] "Monseigneur: 1054 "Madame Isotta has had me write today about Sr. Galeazzo's 1055 "daughter. The man who said young pullets make thin 1056 "soup, knew what he was talking about. We went to see the 1057 "girl the other day, for all the good that did, and she denied 1058 "the whole matter and kept her end up without losing her 1059 "temper. I think Madame Ixotta very nearly exhausted the 1060 "matter. Mi pare che avea decto hogni chossia. All the 1061 "children are well. Where you are everyone is pleased and 1062 "happy because of your taking the chateau here we are the 1063 "reverse as you might say drifting without a rudder. Madame 1064 "Lucrezia has probably, or should have, written to you, I 1065 "suppose you have the letter by now. Everyone wants to be 1066 "remembered to you. 21 Dec. D. de M." 1067 "... sagramoro to put up the derricks. There is a supply of 1068 "beams at ..." 1069 "Magnificent Lord with due reverence: 1070 "Messire Malatesta is well and asks for you every day. He 1071 "is so much pleased with his pony, It wd. take me a month 1072 "to write you all the fun he gets out of that pony. I want to 1073 "again remind you to write to Georgio Rambottom or to his
1075 "uses, for it is all flat on the ground now as I have already told 1076 "him a lot of times, for all the good that does, so I am writing 1077 "to your lordship in the matter I have done all that I can, for 1078 "all the good that does as noboddy hear can do anything 1079 "without you. 1080 "your faithful 1081 Lunarda da Palla. 1082 20 Dec. 1454." 1083 "... gone over it with all the foremen and engineers. And 1084 "about the silver for the small medal ..." 1085 "Magnifice ac potens ... 1086 "because the walls of ..." 1087 "Malatesta de Malatestis ad Magnificum Dominum Patremque 1088 "suum. 1089 "Exso Dno et Dno sin Dno Sigismundum Pandolfi Filium 1090 "Malatestis Capitan General 1091 "Magnificent and Exalted Lord and Father in especial my 1092 "lord with due recommendation: your letter has been pre- 1093 "sented to me by Gentilino da Gradara and with it the bay 1094 "pony (ronzino baiectino) the which you have sent me, and 1095 "which appears in my eyes a fine caparison'd charger, upon 1096 "which I intend to learn all there is to know about riding, in 1097 "consideration of yr. paternal affection for which I thank 1098 "your excellency thus briefly and pray you continue to hold 1099 "me in this esteem notifying you by the bearer of this that 1100 "we are all in good health, as I hope and desire your Exct 1101 "Lordship is also: with continued remembrance I remain 1102 "Your son and servant 1103 Malatesta de Malatestis. 1104 Given in Rimini, this the 22nd day of December 1105 anno domini 1454" 1106 (in the sixth year of his age)
1107 "Illustrious Prince: 1108 "Unfitting as it is that I should offer counsels to Hannibal ..." 1109 " Magnifice ac potens domine, domine mi singularissime, 1110 "humili recomendatione premissa etc. This to advise your 1111 "Mgt Ldshp how the second load of Veronese marble has 1112 "finally got here, after being held up at Ferrara with no end 1113 "of fuss and botheration, the whole of it having been there 1114 "unloaded. 1115 "I learned how it happened, and it has cost a few florins to 1116 "get back the said load which had been seized for the skipper's 1117 "debt and defalcation; he having fled when the lighter was 1118 "seized. But that Yr Mgt Ldshp may not lose the moneys 1119 "paid out on his account I have had the lighter brought here 1120 "and am holding it, against his arrival. If not we still have 1121 "the lighter. 1122 "As soon as the Xmas fêtes are over I will have the stone 1123 "floor laid in the sacresty, for which the stone is already cut. 1124 "The wall of the building is finished and I shall now get the 1125 "roof on. 1126 "We have not begun putting new stone into the martyr 1127 "chapel; first because the heavy frosts wd. certainly spoil 1128 "the job; secondly because the aliofants aren't yet here and 1129 "one can't get the measurements for the cornice to the columns 1130 "that are to rest on the aliofants. 1131 "They are doing the stairs to your room in the castle ... I 1132 "have had Messire Antonio degli Atti's court paved and the 1133 "stone benches put in it. 1134 "Ottavian is illuminating the bull. I mean the bull for 1135 "the chapel. All the stone-cutters are waiting for spring 1136 "weather to start work again. 1137 "The tomb is all done except part of the lid, and as soon as 1138 "Messire Agostino gets back from Cesena I will see that he 1139 "finishes it, ever recommending me to yr Mgt Ldshp 1140 "believe me yr faithful 1141 Petrus Generaiis." [Page 41] 1142 That's what they found in the post-bag 1143 And some more of it to the effect that 1144 he "lived and ruled" 1145 "et amava perdutamente Ixotta degli Atti" 1146 e "ne fu degna" 1147 "constans in proposito 1148 "Placuit oculis principis 1149 "pulchra aspectu" 1150 "populo grata (Italiaeque decus) 1151 "and built a temple so full of pagan works" 1152 i. e. Sigismund 1153 and in the style "Past ruin'd Latium" 1154 The filigree hiding the gothic, 1155 with a touch of rhetoric in the whole 1156 And the old sarcophagi, 1157 such as lie, smothered in grass, by San Vitale.
X 1158 And the poor devils dying of cold, outside Sorano, 1159 And from the other side, from inside the château, 1160 Orsini, Count Pitigliano, on the 17th of November: 1161 "Siggy, darlint, wd. you not stop making war on 1162 "insensible objects, such as trees and domestic vines, that have 1163 "no means to hit back ... but if you will hire yourself out to a 1164 "commune (Siena) which you ought rather to rule than 1165 "serve ..." 1166 which with Trachulo's damn'd epistle ... 1167 And what of it anyhow? a man with a ten acre lot, 1168 Pitigliano ... a lump of tufa, 1169 And S. had got back their horses 1170 And the poor devils dying of cold ... 1171 (And there was another time, you know, 1172 He signed on with the Fanesi, 1173 and just couldn't be bothered ...) 1174 And there were three men on a one man job 1175 And Careggi wanting the baton, 1176 And not getting it just then in any case. 1177 And he, Sigismundo, refused an invitation to lunch 1178 In commemoration of Carmagnola 1179 (vide Venice, between the two columns 1180 where Carmagnola was executed.) 1181 Et 1182 "anno messo a saccho el signor Sigismundo" 1183 As Filippo Strozzi wrote to Zan Lottieri, then in Naples, 1184 "I think they'll let him through at Campiglia" 1185 Florence, Archivio Storico, 4th Series t. iii, e 1186 "La Guerra dei Senesi col conte di Pitigliano." 1187 And he found Carlo Gonzaga sitting like a mud-frog 1188 in Orbetello [Page 43] 1189 And he said: 1190 "Caro mio, I can not receive you 1191 It really is not the moment." 1192 And Broglio says he ought to have tipped Gorro Lolli. 1193 But he got back home here somehow, 1194 And Piccinino was out of a job, 1195 And the old row with Naples continued. 1196 And what he said was all right in Mantua; 1197 And Borso had the pair of them up to Bel Fiore, 1198 The pair of them, Sigismundo and Federico Urbino, 1199 Or perhaps in the palace, Ferrara, Sigismund upstairs 1200 And Urbino's gang in the basement, 1201 And a regiment of guards in, to keep order, 1202 For all the good that did: 1203 "Te cavero la budella del corpo!" 1204 El conte levatosi: 1205 "Io te cavero la corata a te!" 1206 And that day Cosimo smiled, 1207 That is, the day they said: 1208 "Drusiana is to marry Count Giacomo ..." 1209 (Piccinino) un sorriso malizioso. 1210 Drusiana, another of Franco Sforza's; 1211 It would at least keep the row out of Tuscany. 1212 And he fell out of a window, Count Giacomo, 1213 Three days after his death, that was years later in Naples, 1214 For trusting Ferdinando of Naples, 1215 And old Wattle could do nothing about it. 1216 Et: 1217 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1218 Interea pro gradibus basilicae S. Pietri ex arida materia 1219 ingens pyra extruitur in cujus summitate imago Sigismundi 1220 collocatur hominis lineamenta, et vestimenti 1221 modum adeo proprie reddens, ut vera magis persona, 1222 quam imago videretur; ne quem tamen imago falleret, [Page 44] 1223 et scriptura ex ore prodiit, quae diceret: 1224 Sigismundis hic ego sum 1225 Malatesta, filius Pandulphi, rex proditorum, 1226 Deo atque hominibus infestus, sacri censura senatus 1227 igni damnatus; 1228 scripturam 1229 multi legerunt. deinde astante populo, igne immisso, 1230 et pyra simulacrum repente flagravit. 1231 Com. Pio II, Liv. VII, p. 85. 1232 Yriarte, p. 288. 1233 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1234 So that in the end that pot-scraping little runt Andreas 1235 Benzi, da Siena 1236 Got up to spout out the bunkum 1237 That that monstrous swollen, swelling s. o. b. 1238 Papa Pio Secundo 1239 Æneas Silvius Piccolomini 1240 da Siena 1241 Had told him to spout, in their best bear's-greased latinity; 1242 Stupro, cæde, adulter, 1243 homocidia, parricidia ac periurus, 1244 presbitericidia, audax, libidinosus, 1245 wives, jew-girls, nuns, necrophiliast, fornicarium ac sicarium, 1246 proditor, raptor, incestuosus, incendiarius, ac 1247 concubinarius, 1248 and that he rejected the whole symbol of the apostles, 1249 and that he said the monks ought not to own property 1250 and that he disbelieved in the temporal power, 1251 neither christian, jew, gentile, 1252 nor any sect pagan, nisi forsitan epicureæ. 1253 And that he did among other things 1254 Empty the fonts of the chiexa of holy water 1255 And fill up the same full with ink
1257 Stand before the doors of the said chiexa 1258 Making mock of the inky faithful, they 1259 Issuing thence by the doors in the pale light of the sunrise 1260 Which might be considered youthful levity 1261 but was really a profound indication; 1262 "Whence that his, Sigismundo's, foetor filled the earth 1263 And stank up through the air and stars to heaven 1264 Where---save they were immune from sufferings--- 1265 It had made the emparadisèd spirits pewk" 1266 from their jeweled terrace. 1267 "Lussurioso incestuoso, perfide, sozzure ac crapulone, 1268 assassino, ingordo, avaro, superbo, infidele 1269 fattore di monete false, sodomitico, uxoricido" 1270 and the whole lump lot 1271 given over to ... 1272 I mean after Pio had said, or at least Pio says that he 1273 Said that this was elegant oratory "Orationem 1274 Elegantissimam et ornatissimam 1275 Audivimus venerabilis in Xti fratres ac dilectissimi 1276 filii ..." (stone in his bladder 1277 testibus idoneis) 1278 The lump lot given over 1279 To that kid-slapping fanatic il cardinale di San Pietro in Vincoli 1280 To find him guilty, of the lump lot 1281 As he duly did, calling rumour, and Messire Federico d'Urbino 1282 And other equally unimpeachable witnesses. 1283 So they burnt our brother in effigy 1284 A rare magnificent effigy costing 8 florins 48 bol 1285 (i.e. for the pair, as the first one wasn't a good enough likeness) 1286 And Borso said the time was ill-suited 1287 to tanta novità, such doings or innovations, [Page 46] 1288 God's enemy and man's enemy, stuprum, raptum 1289 I. N. R. I. Sigismund Imperator, Rex Proditorum. 1290 And old Pills who tried to get him into a front rank action 1291 In order to drive the rear guard at his buttocks, 1292 Old Pills listed among the murdered, although he 1293 Came out of jail living later. 1294 Et les angloys ne povans desraciner ... venin de hayne 1295 Had got back Gisors from the Angevins, 1296 And the Angevins were gunning after Naples 1297 And we dragged in the Angevins, 1298 And we dragged in Louis Eleventh, 1299 And the tiers Calixte was dead, and Alfonso; 1300 And against us we had "this Æneas" and young Ferdinando 1301 That we had smashed at Piombino and driven out of the 1302 Terrene of the Florentines; 1303 And Piccinino, out of a job; 1304 And he, Sidg, had had three chances of 1305 Making it up with Alfonso, and an offer of 1306 Marriage alliance; 1307 And what he said was all right there in Mantua; 1308 But Pio, sometime or other, Pio lost his pustulous temper. 1309 And they struck alum at Tolfa, in the pope's land, 1310 To pay for their devilment. 1311 And Francesco said: 1312 I also have suffered. 1313 When you take it, give me a slice. 1314 And they nearly jailed a chap for saying 1315 The job was mal hecho; and they caught poor old Pasti 1316 In Venice, and were like to pull all his teeth out; 1317 And they had a bow-shot at Borso 1318 As he was going down the Grand Canal in his gondola 1319 (the nice kind with 26 barbs on it) [Page 47] 1320 And they said: Novvy'll sell any man 1321 for the sake of Count Giacomo. 1322 (Piccinino, the one that fell out of the window). 1323 And they came at us with their ecclesiastical legates 1324 Until the eagle lit on his tent pole. 1325 And he said: The Romans would have called that an augury 1326 E gradment li antichi cavaler romanj 1327 davano fed a quisti annutii, 1328 All I want you to do is to follow the orders, 1329 They've got a bigger army, 1330 but there are more men in this camp.
XI 1331 E gradment li antichi cavaler romanj 1332 davano fed a quisti annutii 1333 And he put us under the chiefs, 1334 and the chiefs went back to their squadrons: 1335 Bernardo Reggio, Nic Benzo, Giovan Nestorno, 1336 Paulo Viterbo, Buardino of Brescia, 1337 Cetho Brandolino, 1338 And Simone Malespina, Petracco Saint Archangelo, 1339 Rioberto da Canossa, 1340 And for the tenth Agniolo da Roma 1341 And that gay bird Piero della Bella, 1342 And to the eleventh Roberto, 1343 And the papishes were three thousand on horses, 1344 dilly cavalli tre milia, 1345 And a thousand on foot, 1346 And the Lord Sigismundo had but mille tre cento cavalli 1347 And hardly 500 fanti (and one spingard), 1348 And we beat the papishes and fought 1349 them back through the tents 1350 And he came up to the dyke again 1351 And fought through the dyke-gate 1352 And it went on from dawn to sunset 1353 And we broke them and took their baggage 1354 and mille cinquecento cavalli 1355 E li homini di Messire Sigismundo 1356 non furono che mille trecento 1357 And the Venetians sent in their compliments 1358 And various and sundry sent in their compliments; 1359 But we got it next August; 1360 And Roberto got beaten at Fano, 1361 And he went by ship to Tarentum, [Page 49] 1362 I mean Sidg went to Tarentum 1363 And he found 'em, the anti-Aragons, 1364 busted and weeping into their beards. 1365 And they, the papishes, came up to the walls, 1366 And that nick-nosed s.o.b. Feddy Urbino 1367 Said: "Par che è fuor di questo ... Sigis ... mundo."" 1368 "They say he dodders about the streets 1369 "And can put his hand to neither one thing nor the other," 1370 And he was in the sick wards, and on the high tower 1371 And everywhere, keeping us at it. 1372 And, thank God, they got the sickness outside 1373 As we had the sickness inside, 1374 And they had neither town nor castello 1375 But dey got de mos' bloody rottenes' peace on us--- 1376 Quali lochi sono questi: 1377 Sogliano, 1378 Torrano and La Serra, Sbrigara, San Martino, 1379 Ciola, Pondo, Spinello, Cigna and Buchio, 1380 Prataline, Monte Cogruzzo, 1381 and the villa at Rufiano 1382 Right up to the door-yard 1383 And anything else the Revmo Monsignore could remember. 1384 And the water-rights on the Savio. 1385 (And the salt heaps with the reed mats on them 1386 Gone long ago to the Venetians) 1387 And when lame Novvy died, they got even Cesena. 1388 And he wrote to young Piero: 1389 Send me a couple of huntin' dogs, 1390 They may take my mind off it. 1391 And one day he was sitting in the chiexa, 1392 On a bit of cornice, a bit of stone grooved for a cornice, 1393 Too narrow to fit his big beam, 1394 hunched up and noting what was done wrong,
1396 sitting there in the dark 1397 She nearly fell over him, 1398 And he thought: 1399 Old Zuliano is finished, 1400 If he's left anything we must see the kids get it, 1401 Write that to Robert. 1402 And Vanni must give that peasant a decent price for his horses, 1403 Say that I will refund. 1404 And the writs run in Fano, 1405 For the long room over the arches 1406 Sub annulo piscatoris, palatium seu curiam OLIM de Malatestis. 1407 Gone, and Cesena, Zezena d'''e b'''e colonne, 1408 And the big diamond pawned in Venice, 1409 And he gone out into Morea, 1410 Where they sent him to do in the Mo'ammeds, 1411 With 5,000 against 25,000, 1412 and he nearly died out in Sparta, 1413 Morea, Lakedæmon, Yüklə 2,9 Mb. Dostları ilə paylaş:
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