John Ashbery: Hotel Lautréamont (Elfland Version)

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A girl of Voss, Hardanger Fjord, Norway, c. 1890: photochrome print, Detroit Publishing Co., 1905 (Library of Congress)

1.

Research has shown that ballads were produced by all of society

working as a team. They didn’t just happen. There was no guesswork.

The people, then, knew what they wanted and how to get it.

We see the results in works as diverse as “Windsor Forest” and “The Wife of Usher’s Well.”

Advent Bay, Spitzbergen, Norway, c. 1890: photochrome print, Detroit Publishing Co., 1905 (Library of Congress)

Working as a team, they didn’t just happen. There was no guesswork.

The horns of elfland swing past, and in a few seconds

we see the results in works as diverse as “Windsor Forest” and “The Wife of Usher’s Well,”

or, on a more modern note, in the finale of the Sibelius violin concerto.

Dalen, Telemarken, Norway, c. 1890: photochrome print, Detroit Publishing Co., 1905 (Library of Congress)

The horns of elfland swing past, and in a few seconds

the world, as we know it, sinks into dementia, proving narrative passé,

or in the finale of the Sibelius violin concerto.

Not to worry, many hands are making work light again.

View of Smeerenburg, Spitzbergen, Norway, c. 1890: photochrome print, Detroit Publishing Co., 1905 (Library of Congress)

The world, as we know it, sinks into dementia, proving narrative passé.

In any case the ruling was long overdue.

Not to worry, many hands are making work light again,

so we stay indoors. The quest was only another adventure.

Framnaes Hotel and Opheim Lake, Hardanger Fjord, Norway, c. 1890: photochrome print, Detroit Publishing Co., 1905 (Library of Congress)

2.

In any case, the ruling was long overdue.

The people are beside themselves with rapture

so we stay indoors. The quest was only another adventure

and the solution problematic, at any rate far off in the future.

In Nordlandsbaad, Nordland, Norway, c. 1890: photochrome print, Detroit Publishing Co., 1905 (Library of Congress)

The people are beside themselves with rapture

yet no one thinks to question the source of so much collective euphoria,

and the solution: problematic, at any rate far off in the future.

The saxophone wails, the martini glass is drained.

General view, Molde, Norway, c. 1890: photochrome print, Detroit Publishing Co., 1905 (Library of Congress)

Yet no one thinks to question the source of so much collective euphoria.

In troubled times one looked to the shaman or priest for comfort and counsel.

The saxophone wails, the martini glass is drained,

and night like black swansdown settles on the city.

The whaler "Nancy Grey" with a large finback whale, Skaaro, Norway, c. 1890: photochrome print, Detroit Publishing Co., 1905 (Library of Congress)

In troubled times one looked to the shaman or priest for comfort and counsel.

Now, only the willing are fated to receive death as a reward,

and night like black swansdown settles on the city.

If we tried to leave, would being naked help us?

The Seven Sisters, Nordland, Norway, c. 1890: photochrome print, Detroit Publishing Co., 1905 (Library of Congress)

3.

Now, only the willing are fated to receive death as a reward.

Children twist hula-hoops, imagining a door to the outside.

If we tried to leave, would being naked help us?

And what of older, lighter concerns? What of the river?

Lyngseidet from fjord, Lyngenfjord, Norway, c. 1890: photochrome print, Detroit Publishing Co., 1905 (Library of Congress)

Children twist hula-hoops, imagining a door to the outside,

when all we think of is how much we can carry with us.

And what of older, lighter concerns? What of the river?

All the behemoths have filed through the maze of time.

View from fjord, Lyngenfjord, Norway, c. 1890: photochrome print, Detroit Publishing Co., 1905 (Library of Congress)

When all we think of is how much we can carry with us

small wonder that those at home sit, nervous, by the unlit grate.

All the behemoths have filed through the maze of time.

It remains for us to come to terms with our commonality.

Sorfjord from Odde, Hardanger Fjord, Norway, c. 1890: photochrome print, Detroit Publishing Co., 1905 (Library of Congress)

Small wonder that those at home sit nervous by the unlit grate.

It was their choice, after all, that spurred us to feats of the imagination.

It remains for us to come to terms with our commonality

and in so doing deprive time of further hostages.

Svartisen, Nordland, Norway, c. 1890: photochrome print, Detroit Publishing Co., 1905 (Library of Congress)

4.

It was their choice, after all, that spurred us to feats of the imagination.

Now, silently as one mounts a stair we emerge into the open

and in so doing deprive time of further hostages,

to end the standoff that history long ago began.

Troldtinderne, Romsdalen, Norway, c. 1890: photochrome print, Detroit Publishing Co., 1905 (Library of Congress)

Now, silently as one mounts a stair we emerge into the open

but it is shrouded, veiled: We must have made some ghastly error.

To end the standoff that history long ago began

must we thrust ever onward, into perversity?

Loen, Kjendalskronebrae, Nordfjord, Norway, c. 1890: photochrome print, Detroit Publishing Co., 1905 (Library of Congress)

But it is shrouded, veiled: We must have made some ghastly error.

You mop your forehead with a rose, recommending its thorns.

Must we thrust ever onward, into perversity?

Only night knows for sure; the secret is safe with her.

General northward view, North Cape, Norway, c. 1890: photochrome print, Detroit Publishing Co., 1905 (Library of Congress)

You mop your forehead with a rose, recommending its thorns.

Research has shown that ballads were produced by all of society;

only night knows for sure. The secret is safe with her:

The people, then, knew what they wanted and how to get it.

A Lapp family, Norway, c. 1890: photochrome print, Detroit Publishing Co., 1905 (Library of Congress)

John Ashbery: Hotel Lautréamont, 1990, from Hotel Lautréamont, 1992