Berryman made notes in the margins of Fitzgerald’s and Wilbur’s letters, and on a copy of his table of contents he tallied their favorable and unfavorable recommendations of poems to keep or delete. He revised his table of contents and wrote to Giroux on October 23: “Here’s a better Table of Contents [of De]. I’ve kept several poems Dick Wilbur strongly supported (against Fitzgerald—without of course knowing it).” He enclosed a revised copy of “Nones” and added in the margin, “other revisions follow.” On November 12 he sent the revisions, and three days later Giroux responded: “I’ve received the revised poems and the new table of contents.… Everything seems to be in order for the manuscript now.”
Berryman’s letters to Giroux in November 1971 concerning his revisions of De do not give a precise record of all the poems he revised for the PMS. On November 12 he wrote to Giroux:
Herewith, except: (1) I can’t locate the carbons of several revised sections of Opus Dei—I may come on them over the weekend—or Bob Silvers has a revised master of the whole poem at The New York Review he could throw downtown; (2) Sonnet 116 has likewise disappeared and is to be replaced by ‘The Handshake, The Entrance’, enclosed. These others are substitutions and additions.
Although Berryman added a postscript indicating changes in “Damn You, Jim D., You Woke Me Up,” “‘How Do You Do, Dr Berryman, Sir?’,” and “Navajo Setting the Record Straight,” the other “substitutions and additions” he mentions cannot be determined. (Some of the revisions were probably the TS of poems that were incorporated in the PMS.) Likewise, in Giroux’s response two days after Berryman’s November 12 letter, the specific revisions are not mentioned. Giroux does say that he is “expecting the final drafts of the ‘Opus Dei’ poems from Bob Silvers” and that he does not have a copy of “Gislebertus’ Eve” (which Berryman sent to him two days later). Giroux’s next letter was to be his last to Berryman (November 19, 1971); the only mention of revisions is Giroux’s thanks for a copy of “Gislebertus’ Eve.”
Berryman did not proof the galleys of De because FSG posted them on January 4, 1972 three days before he died. The galleys were returned to Robert Giroux, who oversaw the collection through final printing. A second set of galleys was set on January 25, 1972. The FSG galleys of De were sent to Charles Monteith on February 3, 1972, and Giroux wrote to Monteith that FSG would have setting copy ready in a few weeks. Monteith received the finished copy on April 4 (FSG published De on April 28), and the FF edition was published on December 4, 1972, including several corrections that Giroux had written to Monteith about on April 7.
VARIANTS: Left of ] is the CP text based on TS-4 unless indicated otherwise; right of ] is the FSG 1972 first edition.
Editor’s Note: Although FF made several corrections in their edition of De, I have chosen the FSG edition as my comparative text because it is taken from Berryman’s MS. I have taken into account the misprints in the FSG first printing.
Title: Delusions etc of John Berryman] Delusions, Etc.
Editor’s Note: Berryman’s title in both TS-4 and the PMS is Delusions etc of John Berryman. On the title page of TS-4 and the PMS, “DELUSIONS etc” is centered approximately ten line spaces from the top of the page; approximately twelve line spaces farther down the page on the same margin is “of John Berryman.” In Robert Giroux’s file copy of the title page (a photocopy of Berryman’s title page), the “of” is crossed out, but Giroux’s penciled note in the margin restores it: “Stet ‘of’ not ‘by’ per author.” When the set copy was prepared for the printer, after Berryman’s death, a second title page apparently was added to the MS with “Delusions, Etc.” centered on a single page. In effect, two titles were published: the first with Delusions, Etc on the first unnumbered page and the second with Delusions, Etc. of John Berryman on the third unnumbered page with FSG’s colophon and credit. The longer title was easily overlooked by readers because the abbreviated title was most prominent and appeared as well on the jacket cover. Although Berryman referred to the volume in his correspondence as Delusions etc, there is no evidence in his MSS that he considered the abbreviated title for the final copy. I have restored the original long title based on the evidence in TS-4 and the PMS.
“Lauds”
Editor’s Note: See Stefanik, p. 134, on the misspelling of “parsecs” in l.4 of the FSG first printing.
1.9 raffish,] raffish. (Editor’s Note: The photocopy in the PMS does not show a comma as clearly as the original TS in TS-4.)
“Matins”
Editor’s Note: Berryman misspelled “scotographer” in l.21 as “scoteographer”; I have accepted the FSG correction.
“Terce”
Title: “Terce”] “Tierce” (Editor’s Note: In the photocopy of a TS in the PMS, a HW “i” is added to “Terce,” but it is uncertain whether or not the change is in Berryman’s hand. Since “Terce” is an acceptable spelling and since all other extant copies show “Terce,” I have chosen to emend the spelling to that of the MS copies.)
Stanzas 7 and 8: Editor’s Note: I have restored the two concluding stanzas (i.e., 7 and 8) of “Terce.” Except for the PMS, all extant copies (CTSS, TS-4, and the copy in Giroux’s file) show them. Neither Fitzgerald nor Wilbur recommended dropping the stanzas, and I do not find that Berryman made notes, as he often did, suggesting that he considered dropping them. Indeed, frequently his pattern of composition was to write the concluding lines or stanzas of a poem early (sometimes first) in composition and then work toward (or against) his ending. I find only one instance—from his earliest MSS to the end of his life—where he dropped the conclusion of a poem.
And, too, one might wonder, in light of the concluding affirmations of all other “Opus Dei” poems, why “Terce” stands alone in its bitter ending: “‘In sex my husband is brutal, beating, dirty, and drunk.’ / Has this become Thy will, Thou Reconciler?”
Berryman’s writing habits and the restoration of the thematic movement consistent with the whole of “Opus Dei” seem to me reasonable arguments for recovering the stanzas, but a third circumstance suggests the most persuasive evidence. Since stanzas 7 and 8 appear on the second page of all extant typed copies of “Terce,” it appears that somewhere in the process of routing the copy to Giroux and into the PMS it was mislaid. (The “master copy” of “Opus Dei” was sent by Bob Silvers of The New York Review of Books to Giroux; see above, in the “Publication & Composition History,” the exchange of letters between Berryman and Giroux on November 12 and 14, 1971.) The printer apparently did not receive the second page, as the PMS shows.
1.30 Editor’s Note: Berryman misspelled “Gethsemane” as “Gethsemani” which I have corrected.
“Sext”
Editor’s Note: In TS-4, Berryman wrote in the margin of a TS of “Sext” the following stanza to be inserted between stanzas 3 and 4:
I personally call it: outmoded biology
of even mutation ignorant,
and in that, that a bare one in 100 is benevolent.
Berryman noted, in his ledger comparing Fitzgerald’s and Wilbur’s recommendations, that Fitzgerald marked an X over the HW insertion. Nevertheless, since Berryman did not do likewise in TS-4 (he did not take several of Fitzgerald’s suggestions), I have included the stanza.
1.17: In TS-4 and the PMS Berryman misspelled “millennia” as “millenia”; FSG corrected the error, which I have admitted.
“Nones”
Editor’s Note: “Nones” is not in TS-4, but the original TS is in the PMS. The TS appears to be Berryman’s final revision, the one he sent to Giroux on October 23, 1971.
“Vespers”
1.19: not] not (Editor’s Note: On a photocopy of “Vespers” in file 2, Berryman noted: “Be very chary w. these italics leave all out when I re-type.” The TS is TS-4 appears to be the retyped and revised version of “Vespers,” but he changed only one italics, “not” to “not.”)
1.20: only] only.
1.23: In TS-4 and the PMS Berryman misspelled “millennia” as “mil
lenia”; FSG corrected the error, which I have admitted.
“Compline”
1.20: thro’] Out (HW in TS-4)
1.23: engulphing] engulfing
1.31: snore & drowse.] hymn & sleep. (HW in TS-4)
“Washington in Love”
1.2: musketry (my first) is] musketry is
1.4: Editor’s Note: I have emended the number of ellipsis points, that is, John Adams of Massachusetts . . I] Adams of Massachusetts … I
1.6: 174’] 174’,
1.7: BRING THE WOUNDED, MEN.] Bring the wounded, men.
Editor’s Note: The above emendations are taken from the TS in TS-4. Between stanzas IV and V three asterisks appear, centered. On the photocopy of “Washington in Love” in the PMS, Berryman queried the italics in l.7, “or all caps?” On the CTS, in the unnumbered De folder, he wrote “yes.” The original TS in TS-4 shows that he revised and retyped the poem after he sent the PMS to FSG.
“Beethoven Triumphant”
Editor’s Note: “Beethoven Triumphant” is based on the TS in the PMS.
1.38: often] Often (Editor’s Note: The TS in PMS shows a lowercase “o.”)
1.66: also,] also
1.127: class’] class (Editor’s Note: The closing quotation mark is not in the original TS in PMS, but in all extant versions before the TS, the quotation is closed. Also, see Stefanik, p. 134, for a comment on “them] then” in stanza 27, l.128.
There are several variants between the TS in the PMS and the FSG published version: in stanza 19, l.94 in the TS “á” is “à” in FSG; in stanza 22, l.107 in the TS “Winterreise” is “Winterreise” in FSG; and in stanza 24, l.11 in the TS “Moliere” is “Molière” in FSG. I have admitted all the FSG emendations except the italicizing of “Winterreise.”)
“Your Birthday in Wisconsin You Are 140”
1.5: (the other reader)?] the other reader? (HW in TS-4)
“In Memoriam (1914–1953)”
Editor’s Note: “In Memoriam (1914–1953)” is based on the TS in the PMS.
1.22: thát] that (Editor’s Note: The printer missed the accent mark on “that” in the TS in the PMS.)
“Gislebertus’ Eve”
Editor’s Note: “Gislebertus’ Eve” is based on the TS in the PMS.
“Scholars at the Orchid Pavilion” (Editor’s Note: Does not appear in the TS-4, but the original TS is in the PMS.)
1.22: Halls,’] Halls’
“The Handshake, The Entrance”
Editor’s Note: “The Handshake, The Entrance” is based on the TS in the PMS.
1.3: ‘Ain’t] Ain’t
1.4: yourself.’] yourself. (Editor’s Note: At the beginning of 1.3 [‘Ain’t], in the TS in the PMS, the quotation mark is opened but not closed. FSG deleted the opening mark, but since ll.3 and 4 are a single quotation—as l.1 and l.2 are each quotations—I have assumed that Berryman forgot to close the quotation. I have restored the opening quotation mark and added the closing mark.)
“He Resigns”
1.10: ever] or ever (Editor’s Note: The HW deletion of “or” is indicated in the PMS, but, perhaps because the PMS is a photocopy, the instruction is unclear; the HW deletion on the TS in TS-4 is clear.)
“The Form”
Editor’s Note: All the following changes are taken from Berryman’s MSS in De files 2 and 3. The CTS in file 2 appears to be the carbon of the TS Berryman sent to Esquire, where it was published (LXXV, May 1971). Since the FSG and FF copy was taken from Esquire rather than from a MS, their version incorporates Esquire’s emendations and errors, which are not accepted.
1.1: &] and
1.4: kind] kind,
1.10: convulsing] confulsing (Editor’s Note: In the combination TS-HWMS of “The Form” in De file 2, “confulsing” appears as “convulsing”; in the CTS in De file 3, “convulsing” is changed to “confulsing.” Although the CTS postdates the TS-HWMS, I believe the CTS spelling is a typing error.)
1.11: thro’] through
1.15: wide-eyed &] wide-eyed and
1.18: &] and
1.20: &] and
Editor’s Note: See Stefanik, p. 134, for a note on the roman / italics type of “The Form.” In all of Berryman’s extant MSS of “The Form,” he does not indicate italics for stanzas 2 through 6 as in the FSG first printing. Giroux noted, in an April 3, 1972, letter to Charles Monteith of FF, that “ [‘The Form’] should be in roman throughout.”
“Ecce Homo”
1.8: thro’] through (Editor’s Note: No MS of “Ecce Homo” appears in the De files. In the PMS, the copy of “Ecce Homo” is cut out from The New Yorker (XLVII, April 10, 1971, p. 38), and it is the same as the FSG version. I have followed the New Yorker version, with one exception. Since throughout Berryman’s MSS of De he spells “through” as “thro’,” I have assumed he spelled it the same in the copy he sent to The New Yorker.)
“A Prayer After All”
1.7 worshippéd] worshipped (HW in TS-4) (Editor’s Note: The accent mark on “worshippéd” appears also in the PMS, which the printer evidently overlooked.)
1.21: find none] find none (HW in TS-4)
“Navajo Setting the Record Straight”
Editor’s Note: This poem is based on the TS in the PMS.
“Henry By Night”
Title: By] by (Editor’s Note: In the CTS, file 3, the title appears as “HENRY BY NIGHT”; in the Table of Contents in TS-4, the title appears as “Henry By Night.” “Henry By Night” is not in TS-4; the copy-text is based on a photocopy in the PMS from The Harvard Advocate, CII, Spring 1969, p. 13.)
“Henry’s Understanding”
Editor’s Note: The copy-text of “Henry’s Understanding” is based on a photocopy in the PMS from The Harvard Advocate, CII, Spring 1969, p. 12.
“Defensio in Extremis”
Editor’s Note: “Defensio in Extremis” is based on the TS in TS-4 that appears to postdate the photocopied version in the PMS.
1.2: depth] skill
1.5: however their] whatever their
1.6: in a study of stillness I read my single] in quietness I read my newly simple
1.7: my collapsed] so far
1.8: Oh even A, great E, & tender M] O even X, great Y, fine Z
1.9: my immusical procedures & crude loves.] my procedures and my ends.
1.10: some] their
1.11: half-ful] half-full (Editor’s Note: Although “half-ful” would appear to be a misspelling, I have allowed it because I believe he intends the suffix “-ful,” meaning not only “full” but also “characterized by” and “having the qualities of” [cf. Berryman’s similar use of hyphenation in “Facts & Issues” in l.35, “far-away”].)
1.12: misunderstood orders.] insights.
“Damn You, Jim D., You Woke Me Up”
Editor’s Note: The title in TS-4 is “Damn You, Jim Dickey, You Woke Me Up,” but on the PMS “Jim Dickey” is changed to “Jim D.” Between lines 3 and 4 in TS-4 is “(we’re sounding just a bit like Frost here, aren’t we?).” In Berryman’s November 12, 1971, letter to Giroux, he said to “kill” the line; otherwise, the text of the poem in the FSG edition is the same as that in TS-4.
“Somber Prayer”
Editor’s Note: The CTS version in TS-4 appears to postdate the PMS version and is therefore the primary text for CP.
1.2: spoken . .] spoken …
1.12: half-effective,] half-famous & effective, (HW change in TS-4)
1.14: worth.] worthy. (HW change in TS-4) (Editor’s Note: l.14 originally read “not worth much.” On the CTS in TS-4, Berryman deleted “much” and placed a period after “worth.” The change of “worth” to “worthy,” which may or may not be in Berryman’s hand, was done in ballpoint on the photocopy in the PMS.)
“Unknowable? perhaps not altogether”
Editor’s Note: The FSG version of this poem is different from the one in TS-4, but since the FSG text is based on a TS, I have accepted it as the correct version. Berryman misspelled “pizzazz�
� in l.9 as “pizazz,” which FSG corrected and I have admitted.
“Minnesota Thanksgiving”
1.1: great] terrible (HW on the TS in TS-4)
1.14: Editor’s Note: On the TS in TS-4, Berryman commented that “conscience” is the French word.
“Overseas Prayer”
1.7: lest upon] lest at (HW in TS-4)
1.14: able tho’ of integrity father] able father (HW in TS-4)
1.20: beg] ask (HW in TS-4)
“Amos”
1.2: vex will I] will I vex
1.4: horror; thus] horror: so
1.6: present’, & the Urals] presently, & the Urals,
1.7: dachas,] Omsk,
1.8: home;] home:
1.21: them;] them: (Editor’s Note: This was l.13 in the FSG edition of De but is now l.21 in CP.)
Editor’s Note: The above changes of “Amos” are based on the TS in TS-4, which appears to postdate the PMS photocopy. The two new stanzas in CP—between stanzas 2 and 3 of the FSG edition—are in the same TS in TS-4.
“Certainty Before Lunch”
1.3: forever—] forever, (HW in TS-4)
“The Prayer of the Middle-Aged Man”
1.7: medium] mediam (Editor’s Note: Berryman’s HW instruction on the photocopy in the PMS is not clear as to whether “medio,” as it appears in the MS, is to be changed to “mediam” or “medium”; the TS in TS-4, however, clearly indicates “medium.”)
“How Do You Do Dr Berryman, Sir”
1.12 glory] glory)
Editor’s Note: None of the extant copies show that Berryman closed the parenthesis at the end of l.12.
John Berryman Page 36