But it is not with Williams or Pound that I would compare Helen in Egypt. “We all know the story of Helen of Troy but few of us have followed her to Egypt” the prose of Palinode begins.
Do not despair, the hosts
surging beneath the Walls,
(no more than I) are ghosts;
do not bewail the Fall,
the scene is empty and I am alone,
The antiphon of the verse takes up the theme. This art is of an unfolding, informing narrative, most aware from the first of its voice as a story. “I hear voices,” Helen tells us in this opening passage
there is no veil between us,
only space and leisure
•
H.D.’s counterparts in contemporary writing are the Thomas Mann of Joseph and Doctor Faustus and the Malraux of The Psychology of Art. Here the writer is aware of his art as the central drama—rhyme, meter, number; stanza, chapter, book are articulations that provide possibilities of an intricate fabric of parts, kept moving, without conclusion. The depths of the art, tho it has crisis, are sounded in reverberations and correspondences—a whole structure. While each poem participates in the life of other poems.
The multiple phases of Helen—in Troy, in Egypt, phantom and actual; the other beings of Helen, the girl that Theseus knew, the young matron who “had lost her childhood or her child” in Sparta, the obsessional paramour of Paris who died thrown from the walls of Troy, the wise Helen who never was at Troy but lived under the protection of Proteus—all the imaginations of what she was are gathered up into the great Persona of Helen for whom only Achilles—the other great Persona of the War—can be mate.
•
Yes, as we begin to see how these many articulations are moving, move as they do in-forming each other and in that unfolding a melody, we recognize that H.D. here and there is aware (as Shakespeare in The Tempest or Mann in Doctor Faustus is aware) that in this work the author seeks to reveal his/her identity. There is the personal signature, Hilda Doolittle’s “H.D.” in the Helena Dentritis, Helen of the trees. So, Helen, this dryad Helen, is the counterpart of another dryad, the H.D. of the very first poems. Everywhere in the world of this poem impersonation passes into our dwelling in and then living in one another. Phantom is complicit in the real: Helen “is both phantom and reality.”
•
Plato had read the truth of the Helen in Egypt to mean that men fought at Troy for an illusion, for a lie. “That story is not true,” Stesichorus had written:
You never went away in the launched ships.
You never reached the citadel of Troy.
Only these 3 lines remain of his Palinode. There is a hint in the Greek Anthology that Pythagoras believed Homer lived anew in Stesichorus and at last, finding the truth of Helen, “saw,” was no longer blind. The truth of Helen for Herodotus the historian and for Euripides the dramatist was the truth about the war. “Fought for me (except it was not I),” Helen says in Euripides’ play: “but my name only.”
Yet when we find Helen again in Goethe’s play (where the Helen of Tyre that Simon Magus knew has been gathered into the Persona of Helen, as Achilles–Simon Magus has been gathered into the Faustus role) the abducted wife of Homer’s epic, the phantom of Stesichorus’s Palinode and Euripides’ Helen of Egypt, the face that sank a thousand ships of Marlowe’s show—all the illusion, the lure, the cause of war has become Beauty: At least, Goethe remarked, there was once a war that was fought for Beauty.
•
What in-forms the Helen of H.D.’s masterwork anew is the analysis of the psyche (H.D. being an initiate of Freud himself).
Appendix 2 Composition and Publication History of The H.D. Book
BOOK 1: BEGINNINGS
Chapter 1: Written in 1960. Published in Coyote’s Journal 5/6 (1966): 8–31.
Chapter 2: Written in 1960. Published in Coyote’s Journal 8 (1967): 27–35.
Chapter 3, Eros: Written in 1961. Published in Tri-Quarterly 12 (Spring 1968): 67–82.
Chapter 4, Palimpsest: Written in 1961. Published in Tri-Quarterly 12 (Spring 1968): 82–98.
Chapter 5, Occult Matters: Written in 1961. Published in Aion: A Journal of Traditional Science (December 1964): 5–29; reprinted in Stony Brook Poetics Journal 1/2 (Fall 1968): 4–19.
Chapter 6, Rites of Participation: Written in 1961. Published in Caterpillar 1 (October 1967): 6–29, and Caterpillar 2 (January 1968): 124–54.
BOOK 2: NIGHTS AND DAYS
Chapter 1: Written March 10, 1961. Revised 1963. Published in Sumac 1, 1 (Fall 1968): 101–46.
Chapter 2: Written March 11, 1961. Revised 1963. Published in Caterpillar 6 (January 1969): 16–38.
Chapter 3: Written March 12, 1961. Revised 1963. Published in Io 6 (Summer 1969): 117–40.
Chapter 4: Written March 13, 1961. Revised 1964. Published in Caterpillar 7 (April 1969): 27–60.
Chapter 5: Written March 14, 1961. Revised 1963. Published in Stony Brook Poetics Journal 3/4 (Fall 1969): 336–47 [section I]; Credences 1, 2 (July 1975): 50–52 [extract from section II]; Sagetrieb 4, 2–3 (Fall/Winter 1985): 39–86 [complete].
Chapter 6: Written March 15, 1961; September 2, September 3, September 4 and 10, October 1, 1964. Published in Southern Review 21 (Winter 1985): 27–48.
Chapter 7: Written March 20, 1961; October 8, 1964. Published in Credences 1, 2 (July 1975): 53–67.
Chapter 8: Written March 21, 1961. Published in Credences 1, 2 (July 1975): 68–94.
Chapter 9: Written March 22, March 24, 1961. Published in Chicago Review 30 (Winter 1979): 37–88.
Chapter 10: Written March 25, March 28, March 29, 1961. Published in Ironwood 11, 2 [#22] (Fall 1983): 48–64.
Chapter 11: Written May 25, 1961. Published in Montemora 8 (1981): 79–113. A selection of passages from Book 2, revised and supplemented with new material, appeared in Origin (second series) 10 (July 1963): 1–47, as “The Little Day Book.”
BOOK 3 [APPENDIX 1]
Part 1 (“Exchanges”): Written 1961. Published in West Coast Line 60 (42, 4) (2009): 100–117.
Part 2 (“Dreams” and “ ‘Art to Inchant’ ”): Written 1961. Published in The Capilano Review 3, 9 (Fall 2009): 80–101.
Appendix 3 A List of Works Cited by Robert Duncan in The H.D. Book
In the course of writing The H.D. Book, Robert Duncan refers to hundreds and hundreds of texts. This is part of his summoning of a world and all its proliferating implications, as well as the incarnation of his conversation with the great minds of the world. This is a world of mind at work in the work of minds. Sometimes his references are substantial. Sometimes they are simply passing mentions of titles that illustrate a point. In compiling this list, we decided to include only those works which Duncan goes on to quote substantially or discuss. Where possible we have tried to cite the editions that he worked with, or at least the editions that were in his personal library or otherwise available to him at the time. We have not included works cited in Book 3 (Appendix 1).
Aldington, Richard. Life for Life’s Sake. New York: Viking Press, 1941.
Ambelain, Robert. La Kabbale Pratique. Paris: Edition Niclaus, 1951.
Apuleius. The Transformations of Lucius, Otherwise Known as “ The Golden Ass.” Translated by Robert Graves. Harmondsworth, Eng.: Penguin, 1950.
Augustine, Saint, Bishop of Hippo. The City of God. London: Dent, 1945.
Baudelaire, Charles. Mon coeur mis à nu. Paris: J. Corti, 1949.
Bergson, Henri. Evolution Créatrice. Translated by Arthur Mitchell. New York: Modern Library, 1944.
Bettelheim, Bruno. “A Case History of a Schizophrenic Child Who Converted Himself into a ‘Machine’ Because He Did Not Dare Be Human.” Scientific American, March 1959.
Blackwood, Algernon. The Bright Messenger. New York: E. P. Dutton and Co., 1921.
——— . The Centaur. London: Macmillan, 1911.
——— . The Promise of Air. London: Macmillan, 1918.
Blake, William. “Annotations to
Lavater’s Aphorisms on Man.” In The Complete Poetry and Prose of William Blake. Edited by David V. Erdman. New York: Anchor Books, 1965.
——— . Letter to Thomas Butts, 22 Nov. 1802. In The Complete Poetry and Prose of William Blake.
——— . Letter to John Flaxman, 21 Sept. 1800. In The Complete Poetry and Prose of William Blake.
——— . Letter to William Hayley, 6 May 1800. In The Complete Poetry and Prose of William Blake.
Blavatsky, Helena Petrovna. Isis Unveiled. New York: J. W. Bouton, 1889.
——— . The Secret Doctrine. London: Theosophical Society, 1908.
Bogan, Louise. Review of The Walls Do Not Fall. The New Yorker, October 21, 1944, p. 89.
Browning, Robert. Dramatis Personae. Hammersmith, Eng.: Doves Press, 1910.
Bryher, Winnifred. Heart to Artemis. New York: Harcourt, Brace and World, [1962].
Bunyan, John. Pilgrim’s Progress. London: Dent, 1954.
Burkhardt, Jacob. Force and Freedom: Reflections on History. New York: Pantheon Books, 1943.
Butts, Mary. Armed with Madness. London: Wishart, 1928.
——— . Ashe of Rings. New York: Albert and Charles Boni, 1926.
——— . The Death of Felicity Taverner. London: Wishart, 1932.
——— . Imaginary Letters. Paris: E. W. Titus [At the sign of the Black Manikin], 1928.
——— . Speed the Plow. London: Chapman and Hall, 1923.
——— . Traps for Unbelievers. London: Desmond Harmsworth, 1932.
Carlyle, Thomas. On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and the Heroic in History. New York: Macmillan, 1918.
Carroll, Lewis. Sylvie and Bruno. London and New York: Macmillan, 1889.
Cocteau, Jean. Orphée: A Tragedy in One Act and an Interval. Translated by Carl Wildman. London: Oxford University Press, 1933.
Corbin, Henry. Avicenna and the Visionary Recitals. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1961.
Crow, W. B. Mysteries of the Ancients. Issues no. 1–18. London: Michael Houghton, 1942–45. Includes: (1) Planets, Gods and Anatomical Organs; (2) The Astrological Correspondences of Animals, Herbs & Jewels; (3) The Planetary Temples; (4) Human Anatomy in Temple Architecture; (5) Noah’s Ark; (6) Astrological Religion; (7) The Calendar; (8) Seven Wonders of the World; (9) The Mysteries; (10) The Cosmic Mystery Drama; (11) The Historical Jesus—High Priest of the Mysteries; (12) The Law of Correspondences; (13) The Symbolism of Chess and Cards; (14) Druids and the Mistletoe Sacrament; (15) The Symbolism of the Coronation; (16) Initiation; (17) The Nature Mysteries; (18) Appendices to the Series.
Cumont, Franz. The Mysteries of Mithra. London: Kegan Paul, Trench and Trübner, 1903.
——— . The Oriental Religions in Roman Paganism. New York: Dover, 1956.
Dante Alighieri. De Monarchia. Translated by Herbert W. Schneider. New York: Liberal Arts Press, [1957].
——— . De Vulgari Eloquentia. In A Translation of the Latin Works of Dante Alighieri. Translated by A. G. Ferrers Howell and Philip H. Wicksteed. London: Dent, 1904.
——— . The Divine Comedy. 3 vols. Translated by Charles S. Singleton. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1977.
——— . The Inferno. London: J. M. Dent and Co., 1946. The Temple Classics.
——— . The Paradiso. London: J. M. Dent and Co., 1946. The Temple Classics.
——— . The “Vita Nuova” and “Canzoniere” of Dante Alighieri. London: J. M. Dent, 1948.
Dewey, John. Art as Experience. New York: Capricorn Books, 1959 [orig. pub. 1934].
Dodds, E. R. The Greeks and the Irrational. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1951.
Eisler, Robert. Orpheus the Fisher. London: Watkins, 1921.
Eliot, T. S. Four Quartets. London: Faber and Faber, 1960.
——— . The Waste Land and Other Poems. London: Faber and Faber, 1940.
Faure, Elie. The History of Art: The Spirit of Forms. New York and London: Harper and Brothers, c. 1921–30.
Fenollosa, Ernest. The Chinese Written Character as a Medium for Poetry. [San Francisco]: City Lights Books, [1936].
Festugière, A. J. La Révélation d’Hermès Trismégiste. 4 vols. Paris: J. Gabalda, 1949–54.
Fitts, Dudley. “Celebration of Man and God.” Saturday Review of Literature 22 (February 1947): 19.
——— . Review of Tribute to the Angels. Partisan Review 13 (Winter 1946): 113–20.
Flaubert, Gustave. Trois Contes. London: Harrap, 1959.
Fletcher, John Gould. Review of Sea Garden. Egoist 3 (December 1916): 183–84.
Frazer, James George. The Golden Bough, 3rd ed. 12 vols. New York: Macmillan, 1951.
Freud, Sigmund. Civilization and Its Discontents. London: Hogarth Press, 1957.
——— . The Future of an Illusion. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1957.
——— . The Interpretation of Dreams. New York: Basic Books, 1959.
——— . Moses and Monotheism. New York: Vintage Books, 1955.
——— . “Screen Memories.” In vol. 3 of The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud. 24 vols. London: Hogarth, 1953–74.
——— . “Thoughts on War and Death.” In vol. 4 of Collected Papers. Edited by Joan Riviere. 5 vols. New York: Basic Books, 1959.
——— . Three Contributions to the Theory of Sex. New York: E. P. Dutton, 1920.
——— . Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality. Translated by James Strachey. New York: Basic Books, 1962.
Frobenius, Leo. African Genesis. New York: Stackpole Sons, 1937.
Giedion, Seigfried. The Eternal Present: The Beginnings of Art. New York: Pantheon, 1962. Bollingen Series 35.6.1.
Graves, Robert. King Jesus. New York: Creative Age Press, 1946.
——— . The White Goddess: A Historical Grammar of Poetic Myth. New York: Vintage Books, 1958.
H.D. Bid Me to Live. New York: Grove Press, 1960.
——— . By Avon River. New York: Macmillan, 1949.
——— . Choruses from “Iphigenia at Aulis” and the “Hippolytus” of Euripides. London: The Egoist, 1919.
——— . Collected Poems. New York: Boni and Liveright, 1925.
——— . Euripides’ “Ion.” Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1937.
——— . The Flowering of the Rod. London: Oxford University Press, 1946.
——— . The Hedgehog. London: Brendin Publishing Co., 1936.
——— . Hedylus. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1928.
——— . Helen in Egypt. New York: Grove Press, 1960.
——— . Hermetic Definitions.[Newburyport: Frontier Press], 1971. Reprinted as Hermetic Definition, New York: New Directions, 1972.
——— . Hippolytus Temporizes. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1927.
——— . Kora and Ka / Mire-Mare. Paris: Contact Editions, 1934.
——— . “Narthex.” In Second American Caravan. Edited by Alfred Kreymborg et al. New York: Macaulay Co., 1928.
——— . Nights. Dijon: Darantiere, 1935.
——— . Palimpsest. Paris: Contact Editions, 1926.
——— . Red Roses for Bronze. New York: Random House, 1929.
——— . “Sagesse.” Evergreen Review 2, 5 (Summer 1958): 27–36.
——— . Tribute to Freud. Boston: Godine, 1974.
——— . Tribute to the Ange ls. London: Oxford University Press, 1945.
——— . The Usual Star / Two Americans. Paris: Contact Editions, 1934.
——— . The Walls Do Not Fall. London: Oxford University Press, 1944.
Harrison, Jane Ellen. Prolegomena to the Study of Greek Religion. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1903.
——— . Themis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1912.
Harvey, William. Anatomical Disquisition on the Motion of the Heart and Blood in Animals. London: Dent, [1908].
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. “The Birthmark.” In Mosses from an Old Manse. New York: Crowell, 1902.
Hesiod.
Theogony. Translated by Norman O. Brown. New York: Liberal Arts Press, [1953].
Hockett, Charles D. “The Origins of Speech.” Scientific American, September 1960.
Hoffmann, E. T. A. “Don Juan, or A Fabulous Adventure That Befell a Music Enthusiast on His Travels.” In Tales from Hoffmann. Edited by Christopher Lazare. New York: A. A. Wyn, 1946.
Hofmann, Werner. The Earthly Paradise: Art in the Nineteenth Century. New York: George Braziller, 1961.
Hugo, Victor. “Pleurs dans la nuit.” In Les Contemplations. Paris: Nelson, [1935].
James, Henry. The Wings of the Dove. New York: Dell, 1958.
James, William. Principles of Psychology. New York: Dover, [1950].
Jarrell, Randall. Review of Tribute to the Angels. Nation 29 (December 1945): 741.
——— . Review of The Walls Do Not Fall. Partisan Review 12 (Winter 1945): 120–26.
Jonas, Hans. The Gnostic Religion. Boston: Beacon Press, 1958.
Joyce, James. Dubliners. New York: Modern Library, 1954.
——— . Exiles. New York: Viking Press, 1951.
——— . Finnegans Wake. New York: Viking Press, 1957.
——— . “I hear an army charging upon the land.” In Collected Poems. New York: Viking Press, 1937.
——— . Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. New York: Viking Press, 1956.
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