Produced by Al Haines, produced from scans provided by Steven Bartlett
[Illustration: Cover art]
BEHOLD THIS DREAMER
Elizabeth Bartlett
_Behold This Dreamer_ was originally published in 1959 by Editorial Jus
in Mexico City, and is now out-of-print. The authors literary
executor, Steven James Bartlett, has decided to make the book available
as an open access publication, freely available to readers through
Project Gutenberg under the terms of the Creative Commons
Attribution-Noncommercial-NoDerivs license, which allows anyone to
distribute this work without changes to its content, provided that both
the author and the original URL from which this work was obtained are
mentioned, that the contents of this work are not used for commercial
purposes or profit, and that this work will not be used without the
copyright holder's written permission in derivative works (i.e., you
may not alter, transform, or build upon this work without such
permission). The full legal statement of this license may be found at:
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode
[Illustration: Creative Commons logo]
_Behold this Dreamer_
_By_ ELIZABETH BARTLETT
BOOKS
_poems of yes and no_
_Behold this Dreamer_
POEMS
_Accent, American Weave, Approach, Arizona Quarterly, Beloit Poetry
Journal, Canadian Forum, Catholic World, Chelsea Review, Coastlines,
Commentary, Cresset, Epos, Fiddlehead, Folio, four quarters, Harper's,
Harper's Bazaar, Literary Review, Mexican Life, Naked Ear, New Mexico
Quarterly, New Poems 2, New Voices 2, N. Y. Herald Tribune, N. Y.
Times, Nimrod, Odyssey, Outposts, Personalist, Poetry Chapbook, Prairie
Schooner, Quixote, Saturday Review, Shenandoah Review, Southwest
Review, Sparrow, Step Ladder, Venture, Views, Western Review, Western
Humanities Review, Whetstone, Wisconsin Poetry._
Acknowledgements: Certain of the poems in this collection have appeared
in publications listed above.
The title, _Behold This Dreamer_, is taken from an anthology of that
name, in tribute to its author, Walter de la Mare (1873-1956).
_Behold this Dreamer_
_Elizabeth Bartlett_
_Editorial Jus, S. A._
_Mexico City_
First Edition
© 1959 Elizabeth Bartlett
_To_ CHARLOTTE HOWELL REED
CONTENTS
Vision
The poet's dream
Time will tell
Afternoon of a journey
The cave
The test
In his image
All this, before
The creation
_Vision_
EYE _center of the universe
Whose pupil is the world
Teach us to see the light
Embracing night_
_Between the sunset and the dawn
To see the unicorn
Within that crystal ball
Of pure recall_
_Where time is an iris mirror
A pointillated blur
Of image and of form
Caught in its storm_
_With every moment held inside
The frame of canvas mind
Forever captive, stilled,
Motion fulfilled_
_Where memory and dream evoke
The future like a window
Made of stained glass, one cast
From the fractured past_
_As retina and perspective
For our darkness, the bridge
Connecting what has been
With things foreseen_
_Through your bright lens, illuminate
The galaxy that waits
Invisible as trust
In stars and dust_
_The Poet's Dream_
WHEN _the waters of the sun
Fall on the flaming sea_
_When the desert rose is one
With the snow sipping bee_
_All that our senses now shun
Time's alchemy will free_
_On the coral shores of night
The ghosts of fish shall wake_
_And offer incense to the light
That gives them bread to break_
_From the singing shells with wings
An artist's eye shall peer_
_With violin hands for strings
And a poet's ear_
_Then white silence like a nun
Shall lift her long white sleeves_
_And shake the treasures she has spun
From dreams whose thread she weaves_
_From the surf of mountain caves
A billion stars shall gush_
_And whirl on the windward waves
Through the darkened hush_
_In the valley of moon trees
The glowing fruit shall sway_
_And rise by twos and threes
Above the cradled day_
_On the jungle's peaceful floor
Lion and deer shall meet_
_A crucifix made of ore
Between their kneeling feet_
_All of this and more shall be
Within that shining net_
_When time redeems mortality
From its mortal debt_
_Then magnet age shall point its north
Towards youth's eternal pole_
_That alpha star in the fourth
Dimension of the soul_
_Where love curves back in heartspace
Within its chrysalis_
_And gravitates the imaged face
Of the all creating this_
_From the light years of the past
The undeflected force_
_Shall bind the future fast
To God's own source_
_As cause and word unending
Repeat the rhythmic plan_
_Of universe transcending
Man's origin as man_
_Time Will Tell_
WHERE _fireflies are stars
And the evening sky a sea,
There you will find me, far
From the leveling demands
That leveled you and me._
_When distant mountains bend
Like deep swells toward the shore,
Then you will see the ends
For which I built my dikes
Against the lowly roar._
_Though breath was all I owned
To force my heart to climb,
Though words were all the stones
I had to seal my mind,
You will know why, in time._
_Afternoon of a Journey_
THERE _will never be another,
That day was forever._
_We dove through tropic noon
Into a green sky. The palms stood
Quiet, still, their fronds
Like swollen waves about
To break, transparent, lime limned
And streaked from base to rim
With icy light._
_Lungs gilled and arms finned wide,
We slipped into the pale
Of that dry sea, following downrays
Until we reached the cool
Of silence, a sandpaved lagoon
Upholding its weight of time
Under trees that climbed._
_Perched on a log, we scanned
The currents, the drifting shaft
Of shadows, instinctively alert
To armadillo's crawl, the stir
Of something red,
The eye of an iguana met...
Ourselves. Perceiving_
_We were not alone in breathing,
Being witness,
As well as evidence
In that primal air,
How all of us shared
In the serene of a sunless glow
Which waterless flowed._
_Gently, we moved along a path
That opened as we passed,
Whispering our affirmations
To those secret ones
Who flickered and flashed,
Carrying our echoes back
From near, then far, far off._
_And slowly, the silence arced,
Leaped high--and broke,
With parrots in the undertow
As the waves rolled over
And the green tide flooded
The forest floor, whirling,
Swirling a world set free._
_Now all of us were cells
In a chemistry of shells
Older than snails,
Plankton or sunbaked clay,
Fellow creatures in an afternoon
As joyous as a long lost tune
About to be remembered._
_Oh all of us there
In that drenched, tropic green
Began to sing and sing,
Shedding our ties
With root and rock and sky,
As we found our song
In our living bond._
_Pod and leaf, mouth and beak,
Whatever lived and breathed
That sudden afternoon,
Sang wonder through the woods,
As we heard and discovered
Each in the other
Without a word._
_Until a metallic bird,
On roaring wings,
Crashed our song beneath
The hammered surf,
As it thundered,
Like lightning in a storm,
Fearfully born._
_Then all of us
Grew motionless
In the sculptured undersea
Of silenced green,
Knowing, as we did again,
The thing forbidden and forgotten
In a world of men._
_There will never be another,
That day was forever._
_The Cave_
DROP _by drop
The earth is born
A billion years
From dark to dawn_
_Drop by drop
As rivers flow
Past sunless cliffs
No wind has known_
_Where no grass blows
And no birds sing
There time drips slow
And patient clings_
_Drop by drop
Till waterfalls
Are turned to stone_
_Here new stars form
And mountains rise
Clear of the storms
That twist the sky_
_Drop by drop
While caverns tall
Carve crystal bones_
_What dream lies walled
Within this night
What shape shall crawl
Up to the light_
_Drop by drop
As silence grows
Inside its vault
Of carbon snow_
_When glaciers halt
Before no zones
When both the poles
At last are one_
_Drop by drop
The dawn shall come
A billion years
From cave to sun_
_The Test_
HE _who would climb the heights of tone
And scale the peaks beyond the listening ear,
Must first walk over water
And learn to stand on air, alone._
_He who would swim the waves of light
And dive past shores into a sunless glow,
Must first merge with his shadow
And melt through solid glass, like night._
_Where eyes are fins and sound is leap,
The rhythmic force performs its own ballet;
When dreams are fired in clay,
They burn a path through timeless sleep._
_In His Image_
WHO _has not looked into the heart of night
and seen the darker light,
concealed like spectral stars
beyond the rim of Mars,_
_Who has not listened to the sound of mind
and heard the silence wind,
like rivers underground
out to a sea profound,_
_has only eyes and ears._
_Who has not reached above the clouded span
and touched the cosmic plan,
upheld like spider's climb
upon the spokes of time,_
_Who has not followed the labyrinthine thread
And crushed the monstrous dread,
that other men may gleam
the glory of the dream,_
_has only hands and feet._
_Who has not lived within his hour of space
and etched it with his face,
as portrait of the sun
reflects the solar one,_
_is only shape and dust._
_All This, Before_
I RACED, _I rushed, I ran,
to catch the empty hand of time--
Before the wind, the blowing wind,
This breathless gift._
_I willed, I worked, I wept,
To melt the frozen face of time--
Before the sun, the burning sun,
This frenzied bone._
_I drank, I danced, I dared,
To tempt the stony foot of time--
Before the rain, the driving rain,
This raptured flame._
_I leaped, I laughed, I loved,
To ease the burdened heart of time--
Before the dust, the settling dust,
This flesh and blood._
_The Creation_
OUT _of the white and the blue
Out of the mist and the ice
Out of the wind and the flame
The creature came._
_With eyes as brilliant as the light
With ears as lucid as the sound
With feet as sudden as the thought
The creature caught_
_A breath from the yawning sky
A drop from the nodding sea
A root from the sleeping earth
And from their birth_
_Measured the length of the seasons
Balanced the rhythm of the tides
Secured the growing of the seed
And woke the need_
_Of the dream inside the egg
Of the thirst within the cell
Of the shape beneath the bone
Then took a stone_
_And breaking the silent void
And loosing the swollen stream
And cutting the golden thread
The creature said:_
_Here on this dot of bounded space
Here in this point of moving time
Here with this seal of life and death
I fix my breath_
_That all the works of my hands
That all the passions of my heart
That all the wonders of my brain
Shall here remain._
_I, Gilgamesh, Rama, Adam
I, Phoenician, Saxon, Mayan
I, Peasant, Leader, Architect
By this reject_
_Perpetual day or night
Everlasting rain or drought
Eternal struggle or peace
Until words cease_
_Between infinite men and gods
Between partisan young and old
Between ultimate right and wrong
For each is strong._
_Let calendar be as record
Let monument be as witness
Let history here determine
Which shall win._
_Then the sky hurled its lightning
Then the sea roared its thunder
Then the earth reared its fire
To show their ire_
_At the vanity of the ego
At the rashness of the sower
At the folly of the dreamer
And redeemer_
_Who would thus destroy the sun
Who would thus defy the flood
Who would thus pollute the air
And showed him there_
_The blinding vision of the truth
The deafening echoes of the damned
The crashing madness of the plan
That he began._
_And when he saw the faces
And when he heard the weeping
And when he knew the sickness
That men possess_
_As mortal children of ambition
As transient strangers of desire
As fatal victims of perfection
Released by none_
_From the essence of the grape
From the music of the reed
From the incense of the bowl
The creature stole_
_The power of forgetfulness
The illusion of contentment
The promise of exaltation
Making them one_
_That the lost and unfulfilled
That the laughter and the pain
That the glory and defeat
Be complete_
_Seeing how frail is the candle
Hearing how brief is the song
Knowing how soon is the temple
Darkened and still._
_Then slipped the root from his feet
Then poured the sound from his ears
Then blew the light from his eyes
And went more wise_
_Into the white and the blue
Into the mist and the ice
Into the wind and the flame
The way he came._
[Editorial note: The author's literary executor discovered in Elizabeth
Bartlett's personal autographed hardbound copy of _Behold This Dreamer_
her own marginal notations relating to the next-to-the-last stanza of
the above poem, accompanied by her confirming handwritten revision of
that stanza. The stanza as printed here incorporates her revision.]
_Behold This Dreamer_
is a signed, limited edition
designed by the author
on Corsican rag paper
in Baskerville type
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Elizabeth Bartlett (1911-1994) was an American poet and writer noted
for her lyrical and symbolic poetry, creation of the new twelve-tone
form of poetry, founder of the international non-profit organization
Literary Olympics, Inc., and known as an author of fiction, essays,
reviews, translations, and as an editor. She is not to be confused with
the British poet (1924-2008) of the same name. For more detailed
information about her life, work, and critical commendations, see the
Wikipedia article
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Bartlett_%28American_poet%29.
Bartletts most notable achievements include:
* Creation of a new form of poetry, "the twelve-tone poem," adapting
Arnold Schonbergs musical system to the verbal, accented sounds of
language. Called "the Emily Dickinson of the 20th Century," her concise
lyrics have been praised by poets, musicians, and composers alike.
* Publication of 16 books of poetry, a group of edited anthologies, and
more than 1,000 poems, short stories, and essays published, for
example, in _Harpers_, _Virginia Quarterly_, _New York Times_, _North
American Review_, _Saturday Review_, _Prairie Schooner_, and in
numerous international collections.
* Recipient of many fellowships, grants and awards, including NEA, PEN
Syndicate, fellowships at the Huntington Hartford Foundation, Montalvo,
Yaddo, MacDowell, Dorland Mt. Colony and Ragdale, travel grants, and
honors for introducing literature as part of the Olympics.
* Founder of the Literary Olympics, to restore literature, specifically
poetry, as a vital part of the Olympics as it once had been in ancient
Greece.
Bartletts poetry came to the attention of leading poets, writers, and
critics as diverse as Marianne Moore, Wallace Stevens, Mark Van Doren,
Conrad Aiken, Allen Tate, Alfred Kreymborg, Robert Hillyer, Louis
Untermeyer, Rolfe Humphries, John Ciardi, Richard Eberhart, Richard
Wilbur, Maxine Kumin, Robert M. Hutchins, Kenneth Rexroth, William
Stafford, and others. Over the years, Bartlett maintained an active and
extensive correspondence with eminent poets, writers, and literary
critics; evident throughout this collected literary correspondence are
strong statements attesting to the importance of her work.
_Behold This Dreamer_ was published in Mexico City in 1959. By 1961,
Jonathan Williams wrote of the book: "Your language is cultivated,
employed consistently and lucidly. To my observation, it seems fair to
say that you belong with the best of your generation, which I would say
includes May Swenson, Denise Levertov, Garrigue, et al." Louis
Untermeyer added his voice: "I particularly like your fusion of
observation and whimsicality, as well as your avoidance of the poetic
stereotypes." Rolfe Humphries was intrigued by Bartletts poetic
techniques: "I enjoyed your poems and admire many...." About _Behold
This Dreamer_, Gustav Davidson wrote: "I enjoyed reading these poems.
I was impressed by their precision, clarity, and technical competence."
About the same work, critic Paul Jordan-Smith wrote: "Your poems were
begotten of a strong, imaginative sense. My congratulations on this
beautiful collection."
Elizabeth Bartlett's husband, Paul Alexander Bartlett (19091990) was
an American writer, artist, and poet. He made a large-scale study of
more than 350 Mexican haciendas, published novels, short stories, and
poetry, and worked as a fine artist in a variety of media. For more
detailed information about his life and work, see the Wikipedia article
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Alexander_Bartlett .
Elizabeth Bartletts son, Steven James Bartlett (1945 ), is a
psychologist and philosopher who has published many books and articles
in the fields of philosophy and psychology. For more detailed
information about his life and work, see the Wikipedia article
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_James_Bartlett.
End of Project Gutenberg's Behold this Dreamer, by Elizabeth Bartlett
