°With Usura
Canto LXV
With usura hath no man a house of good stone
each block cut smooth and well fitting
that delight might cover their face,with usura
hath no man a painted paradise on his church wall
harpes et luthes
or where virgin receiveth message
and halo projects from incision,with usura
seeth no man Gonzaga his heirs and his concubines
no picture is made to endure nor to live with
but it is made to sell and sell quicklywith usura, sin against nature,
is thy bread ever more of stale rags
is thy bread dry as paper,
with no mountain wheat, no strong flourwith usura the line grows thick
with usura is no clear demarcation
and no man can find site for his dwelling
Stone cutter is kept from his stone
weaver is kept from his loomWITH USURA
wool comes not to market
sheep bringeth no gain with usura
Usura is a murrain, usura
blunteth the needle in the the maid’s hand
and stoppeth the spinner’s cunning. Pietro Lombardo
came not by usura
Duccio came not by usura
nor Pier della Francesca; Zuan Bellin’ not by usura
nor was “La Callunia” painted.
Came not by usura Angelico; came not Ambrogio Praedis,
No church of cut stone signed: Adamo me fecit.
Not by usura St. TrophimeNot by usura St. Hilaire,
Usura rusteth the chisel
It rusteth the craft and the craftsman
It gnaweth the thread in the loom
None learneth to weave gold in her pattern;
Azure hath a canker by usura; cramoisi is unbroidered
Emerald findeth no MemlingUsura slayeth the child in the womb
It stayeth the young man’s courting
It hath brought palsey to bed, lyeth
between the young bride and her bridegroomCONTRA NATURAM
They have brought whores for Eleusis
Corpses are set to banquetat behest of usura.
Is this not ‘XLV’? Pound reading it himself, in the Harvard Readings of 1939:
http://www.writing.upenn.edu/pennsound/x/Pound.html
klaus k [March 21, 2009 @ 11:50 am]
Actually, yes. And I can only listen to him doing three or four lines - a little too creepy for me.
s0metim3s [March 21, 2009 @ 12:16 pm]
Hmmm, yes. Creepy is a good word. The Cantos are, I think, frequently awful, variously in the several senses of that word at different times throughout. I haven’t been able to get this one out of my head since you posted it: it has a rhythmic quality that insinuates itself like a buzzing or humming ‘chant’ just beneath consciousness.
klaus k [March 21, 2009 @ 12:40 pm]
“Just beneath consciousness” is a good way to put it - like a scene of “primitive accumulation,” I can almost smell the incense. And the witchburnings.
s0metim3s [March 21, 2009 @ 1:01 pm]