"Bob Phossy Jaw"

Nidhhoggr
in the Library of Babel

dead armadillo as
the route tempestuous

doorways
through my larynx scintillate

simoom wars

wharf plethora
gun-shy

the survivors on the way

* * * *

Rings of refraction
in black and white. The lit
fountain, holding memories.
Flicker among loose things
i'm having this one

panelling
walks
strange encounters
uncued by any music
solemn and binding

frolic
the sideways rain
good lusty yell
silhouettes
pass and repass

trace
the contradictions
shining


   tr. Ghalib 27.

From delectation, all our taste was lost;
The more our thirst took in, the less we had.

We never knew a chance: a snare so close
Awaited us upon the very threshold.

The amputation of our hand did not
Suspend the writing of that tale one bit.

So it was not apostasy to turn
Mendicant, for there too we were kidding.


"...it is always prudent to consult Persian dictionaries when reading Ghalib; he often uses words of Persian origin with their original Persian meaning rather than, or in addition to, the adapted Urdu meanings of the same words." --Aijaz Ahmad, Ghazals of Ghalib (1971)


"One of his [Milton's] strangest devices is to use existing English words, not in their current sense, but in the sense which their Latin root possesses." --Gilbert Highet, The Classical Tradition (1949). Highet goes on to cite "pontifical" used as 'bridge-building', "astonished" as 'thunder-struck', and "exploded" as 'hissed off'...

Mallarmé probably can be added to this list (& certainly Celan), which i think i will call etymonarchical mode, as well.