Trilogy (New Directions Classic)

by Hilda Doolittle

  87.2 transubstantiation The transubstantiation or the Eucharist (Gr., Thanksgiving) or communion is the Christian sacrament in which the worshiper eats the body of Christ, symbolized by bread, and drinks his blood, symbolized by wine. Catholic doctrine holds that the substances of bread and wine turn miraculously into the substance of Christ. It is based on the story of the Last Supper. See Mt. 26.26–28; Mk. 14.22–24; Lk. 22.19–20.

  87.11 the Angel which redeemed me Jacob (who wrestled with the angel) is dying and says to his sons: “The Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth” (Gen. 48.16). Jacob’s name was changed to Israel. He blesses his twelve sons, whose offspring became the twelve tribes of Israel, and from which the notion of the twelve apostles is derived.

  87.15–16 This is the flowering of the rood, / this is the flowering of the wood See note 70.9–10.

  89.1–2 no need / of the moon to shine in it See note 64.9–10.

  91.7–8 be not forgetful / for some have entertained angels unawares. “Let brotherly love continue. Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares” (Hebrews 13.1–2). In The Odyssey Telemachus encounters the goddess Athena, unaware who she is, but greets her with the courtesy due a stranger at the door: “Greetings stranger! Welcome to our feast.” Odyssey 1.94.

  93.3–6 Our Lady of the Goldfinch, / Our Lady of the Candelabra, // Our Lady of the Pomegranate, / Our Lady of the Chair The Goldfinch is associated with fruitfulness, gallantry, and the passion of Christ. There may also be an allusion here to the Salem witch trials. If a yellow bird flew to the hand of an accused, then she was deemed a witch. The Moravians, like the Salem Puritan women, were also persecuted for being heretics and witches. The Candelabra may refer to the candlesticks in the Revelation surrounding Christ (and which were probably a Menorah); H.D. puts the Lady at the center, rather than Christ. (See note 65.8.) The pomegranate is associated with the fertility of the Great Goddess and of the Virgin Mary; when Hera and Persephone are depicted holding a pomegranate, it symbolizes death and resurrection. Perhaps the Chair refers to the chair of justice or to a throne. See H.D.’s Tribute to Freud (36–38) for a discussion of her dream of the Lady.

  94.4 Levant The collective name for the states of the eastern Mediterranean, from Egypt to Turkey.

  94.6 the city of Constantine Constantinople was founded by Constantine I. The former capital of the Byzantine Empire and the Ottoman Empire has been officially called Istanbul since 1930. It was the greatest city in Europe in the Middle Ages. The church of Hagia Sophia (or Santa Sophia) is in Constantinople. Hagia Sophia is the masterpiece of Byzantine architecture. When the Turks conquered Constantinople, Hagia Sophia was converted to a mosque. The Muslim Turks plastered over the mosaics of Christian figures, including Santa Sophia, and obliterated the Christian symbols. Now many of the mosaics have been restored. See 101.1–2.

  96.8 Santa Maria dei Miracoli Saint Mary of the Miracles (It.).

  96.11 Maria von dem Schnee Mary of the Snow (Germ.).

  97.2–4 white as snow // so as no fuller on earth / can white them. “And his raiment become shining, exceedingly white as snow; so as no fuller on earth can white them” (Mark 9.3). H.D. is describing the Lady with the words used in Revelation for the description of Jesus Christ and in Mark to describe His Transfiguration. See also, “His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow” Rev. 1.14. Also see note 113.2.

  97.6–8 clothed with a garment // down to the foot … girt about with a golden girdle “And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.” Rev. 1.13.

  98.1–6 Hermes … Thoth … T-cross … caduceus … Hermes Trismegistus See notes 7.1, 7.5, 16.1, 48.8–12.

  98.5 Saint Michael A guardian archangel who in Christian tradition is the angel with a sword.

  101.1–2 this is Holy Wisdom, / Santa Sophia, the SS of the Sanctus Spiritus 101.4 Holy Ghost 101.7 the fruit of the Tree 101.8 Eve H.D. wrote: “The Latin in the last [part of Tribute to The Angels], vas spirituale / rosa mystica —are from the Laurentian Litany to the Virgin, R[oman] C[atholic] missal. I think [our friend] is wrong to say there is R.C. implication—1 distinctly link the LADY up with Venus-Annael, with the Moon, with the pre-Christian Roman Bona Dea, with the Byzantine Greek church Santa Sophia and the SS of the Sanctus Spiritus” (NHP x). Count Zinzendorf, the founder of the Moravian Church in which H.D. was raised, was denounced as a heretic for claiming that the human soul was female, anima, rather than animus, and connecting the soul with Sophia, the female Holy Spirit of Gnosticism. In her vision seen on her room wall in a Corfu hotel, which she calls the writing-on-the-wall, H.D. saw: “The Sor half-S face the angel; that is, the series of the S-pattern opens out in the direction of the angel; they are like question marks … this inverted S-pattern may have represented a series of question marks, the questions that have been asked through the ages, that the ages will go on asking” (TF 55). In her Gnostic quest for knowledge, she also links the S to the serpent. In Gnosticism the serpent is holy because it represents knowledge, and Eve is a savior because she gave knowledge, the fruit of the Tree, to humanity. The SS is not a sanctifying of the Nazi SS or the Swastika—H.D. actively opposed the Nazis—but a way of reclaiming her “spiritual realism” (see p. 48).

  101.12 she brings the Book of Life, obviously. In the Revelation the names written in the book of life are seen as proof of the doctrine of election: “And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works…. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire” (20.12–15). In describing God’s heavenly city, John writes: “And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (13.8). He also writes: “And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, no maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life” (21.27). H.D. quotes from chapter 21 of Revelation, which decribes “the holy city, new Jerusalem” (21.2) throughout Tribute to the Angels.

  102.5 Corinthian capitals The temple at Corinth was devoted to Aphrodite.

  102.6 Coptic nave The Coptics are Egyptian Christians.

  103.5–6 She is the Vestal / from the days of Numa Vesta is the goddess of the hearth, identified with the Greek goddess Hestia, whose temple contains a sacred fire tended by the vestal virgins. Numa Pompilius was a legendary king of Rome. He began these ceremonial and religious rites, including those of the vestal virgins.

  103.8 Bona Dea An ancient fertility goddess worshiped only by women. No man could be present at her festival, which was held in May. Bona Dea means “good goddess” (Lat.).

  103.9–12 She carries a book but it is not / the tome of the ancient wisdom, // the pages, I imagine, are the blank pages of the unwritten volume of the new Ezra Pound coined the famous exhortation to modernist writers “make it new.” In Revelation, John is instructed by God: “And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, write: for these words are true and faithful” Rev. 21.5. (See 65.4–5.) H.D.’s vision in which the “new Eve” or the Lady carries “the Book of Life” creates a contrast between her revelation and John’s. In John’s Revelation the text of the book is eternal and unchangable; in H.D.’s version the book has blank pages for new writers. See 65.1–3, 101.12.

  103.16 Sibyl There were several sibyls who had prophetic power. Apollo offered the Sibyl of Cumae anything she liked if she would become his lover. She asked to live as m
any years as the grains of dust contained in a pile of sweepings, but forgot to ask him for perpetual youth. She became so old and shriveled that she hung in a cave upside-down in a bottle. When children asked her what she wanted, she answered, “I want to die.” T.S. Eliot began The Waste Land (1922) with a epigraph that ends with the Sibyl’s words, “I want to die.”

  103.19 Psyche, the butterfly See note 53.9

  105.3 a tale of a Fisherman “Now as he walked by the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men.” Mk. 1.16–17. See also Mt. 4.18–19. See 40.19–20.

  105.4 a tale of a jar or jars In The Flowering of the Rod, H.D. refers to the biblical alabaster “box” as a “jar.” See 129.12 and 143.13–14.

  107.15–16 no need of the moon to shine … / I saw no temple. See 64.9–10.

  108.2 Zadkiel H.D. wrote: “Old Zadkiel is really our old Amen again—now having an angel-name; there is a traditional Zadkiel but do not know if mentioned in Writ—but there is Uriel, I believe, and some are named in the Aprocryphal Book of Enoch which I can never place” (NHP x).

  108.3 Jupiter The Roman father of the gods. In Greek he is Zeus.

  108.4 Zeus-pater or Theus-pater Zeus in ancient Greek religion is the great father-god. Theus is god (Gr.); pater is father (Lat.).

  109.11 I John saw. I testify See 65.1, 65.1–3.

  109.14 jasper See 33.19.

  109.19 vas spirituale Spiritual vessel. See 101.1–2.

  109.20 rosa mystica Mystical rose. See 101.1–2.

  THE FLOWERING OF THE ROD

  111 The Flowering of the Rod Refers to: the Caduseus of Hermes, Thoth, Mercury; the flowering of Aaron’s rod in the Old Testament, symbolizing authority over rebellious tribes who would turn to worshiping Baal; and the flowering of the cross of rods (roods) in the New Testament, symbolizing the resurrection of Jesus. See 7.1, 7.5, 70.9–10.

  113.2 the beautiful raiment Reference to the Transfiguration: “And after six days Jesus taketh with him Peter, and James, and John, and leadeth them up into an high mountain apart by themselves: and he was transfigured before them. And his raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on earth can white them” (Mark 9.2–3). To show that Jesus is His Son, God speaks: “and a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him.” Mk. 9.7. See Mt. 17.1–8, Lk. 9.28–36. See 97.2–4.

  113.8 Hermon One of the mountains in the Song of Solomon 4.8. Also the place of the Transfiguration, according to H.D. (though this is not probable). H.D. seems to be juxtaposing the Song of Solomon with the Transfiguration. See 160.1–2.

  113.16 the terrible banner “Thou art beautiful, O my love, as Tirzah, comely as Jerusalem, terrible as an army with banners.” Song of Solomon 6.4. See also Song of Solomon 6.10.

  115.17 The-place-of-the-skull Golgatha, which in Hebrew means the place of the skull, is where Jesus was crucified. Golgotha is also called Calvary, from the Latin Calvaria, meaning skull.

  116.9 wild-goose The goose is sacred to Isis, Osirus-Thoth, and to Aphrodite as a symbol of love.

  117.2 Atlantis In Greek legend, a wondrously beautiful island in the Atlantic ocean, which Plato describes as a Utopia in his dialogues Timaeus and Critias. This ideal state was destroyed by an earthquake. It is now believed that the island Thira (Santorini), with its great Bronze-Age civilization, may have been Atlantis. In the 13th century B.C., two-thirds of the island caved into the sea when a volcano erupted.

  117.5–6 to-day shalt thou be / with me in Paradise From Luke 23.43. Jesus is on the cross speaking to one of the criminals, also crucified, who defended him against the taunts of the other criminal.

  120.4–6 Hesperides … golden apple-trees The Hesperides were maidens who, along with a dragon or serpent, guarded the tree with the golden apples in a fabulous garden at the western edge of the world, on the Blessed Island of the Dead. The tree is also called the Tree of Life. See 128.8–9.

  121.6 Arcturus The fourth brightest star in the sky. When it rises at night it announces spring, when it rises at dawn, it announces the harvest. See 33.4.

  122.7 Islands of the Blest See 120.4–6.

  122.8 many waters can not quench love’s fire “Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods down it: if a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would be utterly contemned.” Song of Solomon 8.7.

  124.4 full of new wine In Acts, people speak in tongues in praise of God’s deeds. Some who hear are amazed that they speak in so many languages, while “others mocking said, These men are full of new wine” (Acts 2.13). Peter says that they are not drunk but acting according to the prophesy of Joel in which people will prophesy, see visions, and dream.

  124.10–14 iron, steel, metal … into the Golden Age In Works and Days, by the Greek poet Hesiod (8th century B.C.), there are five ages of humans: the Golden Age, Silver Age, Bronze Age, Heroic Age, and Iron Age. The Golden Age ruled by Kronos is a period of peace and eternal spring.

  126.5–6 from a frozen Priestess, / a lonely Pythoness The Pythoness is the Pythian. See 4.3

  126.15 lily See 7.3.

  127.5–12 the least of all seeds … it is the greatest among herbs / and becometh a tree In the parable of the mustard seed, Jesus says, “The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof” (Lk. 13.31–32). See also Mk. 4.31, Mt. 13.31.

  128.7–9 He was the first to wing / from that sad Tree // but having flown, the Tree of Life The sad Tree is the cross; the Tree of Life stood in the Garden of Eden next to the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. See 120.4–5.

  128.18 to-day shalt thou be / with me in Paradise See 117.5–6.

  129.7–9 who was naturally reviled for having left home / and not caring for housework … or was that / Mary of Bethany? // in any case—as to this other Mary In Luke, Martha receives Jesus in her home, and is upset that her sister Mary cares more for hearing the Lord’s word that for doing housework. When Martha asks Jesus to tell Mary to help her, Jesus replies: “Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: And Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her” (Lk. 10.41–42). At the tomb of Jesus: “And there was Mary Magdalene and this other Mary, sitting over against the sepulchre.” Mt. 27.61. See 135.9–10.

  129.12 the alabaster jar H.D. calls the biblical alabaster box a “jar.” See Luke 7.37, Mk. 14.3, and Mt. 26.7. See 143.13–14.

  129.16 neither purse nor script Jesus is instructing seventy new followers: “Carry neither purse, nor script, nor shoes: and salute no man by the way. And into whatever house ye enter, first say, Peace be to this house.” Lk. 10.4–5.

  129.17–18 no gold-piece or silver / stamped with the image of Caesar Jesus asks those who bring him a penny, “Whose is this image and superscription? And they said unto him, Caesar’s. And Jesus answering said unto them, Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Mk. 12.16–17). See Mt. 22.21–22, Lk. 20.24–25.

  132.14 the Princesses of the Hyksos Kings The Hyksos were a Semitic people who conquered Egypt between 1720–1710 B.C. and who subdued the pharaohs of the Middle Kingdom. They introduced Canaanite deities into Egypt.

  135.9–10 I am Mary—O, there are Marys a-plenty, / (though I am Mara, bitter) I shall be Mary-myrrh For Mara, see 71.9, 71.12. For Mary-myrrh, see 10.17–18, 33.8, 135.16, 143.13–14. The name Mary is Maria or Mariam in the New Testament, the Greek form of the Hebrew Miriam. The name may be derived from the Egyptian Maryē, meaning “Beloved.” There are several Marys in the New Testament (Marys a-plenty). Mary is the mother of Jesus. Mary of Bethany is the sister of Martha and Lazarus, and John claims it was this M
ary that anointed Jesus: “(It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick)” Jn.11.2. All four Gospels have an account of a woman anointing Jesus (Mt. 26.6–13, Mk. 14.3–9, Lk. 7.37–50, Jn. 12.1–8), but it is not clear whether they are referring to the same woman. The sinful woman in Luke 7 has been identified as Mary Magdalene, though Luke does not name her. Jesus casts out seven devils from Mary Magdalene in Mk. 16.9, Lk. 8.2. Mary Magdalene appears at the crucifixion with Mary the mother of James and Joses. When the women arrive at the tomb they “had brought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him” (Lk. 16.1). Another Mary appears when Peter escapes from prison: “he came to the house of Mary, the mother of John, whose surname was Mark; where many were gathered together praying” (Acts 12.12). There is also a Mary who is greeted by St. Paul in Rom. 16.