Charles Reznikoff at Sir George Williams University, The Poetry Series, 17 November 1967

CLASSIFICATION

Swallow ID:
1265
Partner Institution:
Concordia University
Source Collection Label:
SGWU Reading Series-Concordia University Department of English fonds
Series:
The Poetry Series
Sub Series:
SGWU Reading Series-Concordia University Department of English fonds

ITEM DESCRIPTION

Title:
Charles Reznikoff at Sir George Williams University, The Poetry Series, 17 November 1967
Title Source:
Cataloguer
Title Note:
"CHARLES REZNIKOFF I006/SR153" written on sticker on the spine of the tape's box. "I006-11-153" written on sticker on the reel
Language:
English
Production Context:
Documentary recording
Genre:
Reading: Poetry
Persistent URL:
http://archives.concordia.ca/I086
Identifiers:
[]

Rights

CREATORS

Name:
Reznikoff, Charles
Dates:
1894-1976
URL:
http://viaf.org/viaf/51811237
Role:
"Author", "Performer"
Notes:
American poet Charles Reznikoff was born on August 31, 1894, in Brooklyn, New York. His parents were Jewish Russian émigrés, and often encountered anti-semitism, which would have a strong influence on Reznikoff’s later work. An intelligent boy, Reznikoff finished high school in 1909, at the age of fifteen- three years ahead of his class. In the hopes of becoming a writer, Reznikoff entered the journalism department at the University of Missouri, but left after a year when he realized the priorities of a journalist and a poet were different. In 1912, he enrolled in New York University’s Law school, graduating at the top of his class in 1915, and entered the Bar of the State of New York the next year. Reznikoff spent a few years practicing as a lawyer, but again, he felt he needed to spend his energy writing, not working as a lawyer. Reznikoff published his first book of poems Rhythms in 1918, on his own small press, the next year printing Rhythms II. In 1920, he met Samuel Roth, who published Poems (S.Roth at the New York Poetry Book Shop), and during that decade he was able to publish more poems in magazines and plays. Reznikoff supported himself by working on the editorial board of the American Law Book Company, writing law encyclopedias. Reznikoff married his wife, Marie Syrkin in 1930. During the 1930s, Reznikoff met and joined the Objectivist group with Louis Zukofsky, George Oppen and Carl Rakosi. The Objectivist Press published three of Reznikoff’s books, Jerusalem the Golden (Objectivist Press, 1934), In Memoriam: 1933 (Objectivist Press, 1934) and Separate Way (Objectivist Press, 1936). Reznikoff spent a short time in Hollywood in the late 30’s, working as a screenwriter. Marie Reznikoff was hired by the English Department at Brandeis University in Boston, and throughout the 40’s Charles Reznikoff stayed in New York working on freelance contracts. Reznikoff published Going To and Fro and Walking Up and Down (Futuro Press, 1941). For a period of eighteen years, Reznikoff did not publish any poetry, until 1959, when Inscriptions: 1944-1956 was self-published. Reznikoff then published By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse (New Directions, 1962), his major works Testimony: The United States (1885-1890): Recitative (New Directions, 1965), Testimony: The United States (1891-1900): Recitative (Privately Published, 1968) and Holocaust (Black Sparrow Press, 1975). Reznikoff also published By the Well of Living and Seeing and The Fifth Book of the Maccabees (Self Published, 1969), By the Well of Living & Seeing: New & Selected Poems 1918-1973 (Black Sparrow Press, 1974), several works of prose including Testimony (The Objectivist Press, 1934) and Family Chronicle: An Odyssey from Russia to America (Norton Bailey with the Human Constitution, 1969). A lifelong resident of New York City, Charles Reznikoff died on January 22, 1976 after suffering from a heart attack. The most comprehensive collection of Reznikoff’s work can be found in Poems 1918-1975: The Complete Poems of Charles Reznikoff (Black Sparrow Press, 1976-77), edited by Seamus Cooney.

CONTRIBUTORS

Name:
Bowering, George
Dates:
1935-
URL:
http://viaf.org/viaf/34469976
Role:
"Series organizer", "Presenter"

MATERIAL DESCRIPTION

Recording Type:
Analogue
AV Type:
Audio
Material Designation:
Reel to Reel
Physical Composition:
Magnetic Tape
Storage Capacity:
Tape
Extent:
1/4 inch
Playback Mode:
Mono
Tape Brand:
Scotch
Sound Quality:
Good

DIGITAL FILE DESCRIPTION

File URL:
https://files.spokenweb.ca/concordia/sgw/audio/all_mp3/charles_reznikoff_i006-11-153.mp3
Show Content
File Path:
files.spokenweb.ca>concordia>sgw>audio>all_mp3
Duration:
00:54:21
Size:
130.4 MB
Content:
George Bowering 00:00:00 I'd like to welcome you all to our third reading, and announce just before I have to say what I say that the next reading will be with Daryl Hine on the first of December. Tonight's reading will be by, as you probably all know, Mr. Charles Reznikoff , whom I'm very happy to have the job, the chore of introducing, because I've been interested in his work for many years. He was born in Brooklyn , 1894, and graduated from the law school of New York University , admitted to the bar of the state of New York but never practiced, however, the law experience has stood him in good stead for his later poetry. He's published a number of volumes of verse and several volumes of prose, but most to the point, books that you probably saw on the table outside, in print by New Directions and the San Francisco Review , By the Waters of Manhattan, which was this joint effort's first book in 1962, and in 1965, Testimony, which is the first volume in a projected series of volumes about the moral and legal history of the United States . The main--my--the reason I said that I'm very happy about Mr. Reznikoff is because when I was going to university I was very hard looking for an alternative to the kind of poetry that was in vogue, especially in the universities, that is, that which tended towards T.S. Eliot and highly symbolic language, and Mr. Reznikoff was one of the first poets I found able to do that for me, and I found a short poem of his which I would like to be brash enough to read, as introduction. He said, "Not because of victories I sing, having none, but for the common sunshine, the breeze, the largesse of spring. Not for victory, but for the day's work done, as well as I was able, not for a seat upon the dais, but at the common table." So to this common table, rather than dais, I'd like to welcome Mr. Charles Reznikoff. Audience 00:02:34 Applause. Charles Reznikoff 00:02:56 Very much obliged to the gentleman who introduced me, among other things, for reading something I did. Perhaps I should ask him to read all that I brought along. But to get down to what I have here, let me say, to begin with, a few days ago, I came across in a bookshop a collection of Chinese verse translated into English. At the beginning was the following, written a thousand years ago, and I was very much impressed with it, and permit me to read it to you as a sort of an introduction. This man who wrote in the 11th century, this Chinese, said this: "Poetry presents the thing in order to convey the feeling. It should be precise about the thing and reticent about the feeling." I thought that was...expressed exactly what I feel, and what I have tried to do, not always, not always, I'm afraid, as well as called for, but a recipe. Among other things, let me begin by reading a couple of things I did also on the way I think verse should be written. And this is from this, By the Waters of Manhattan. Charles Reznikoff 00:04:47 Reads "Salmon and Red Wine" from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse [also published in Inscriptions: 1944-1956]. Charles Reznikoff 00:05:39 That's the first in this. And the second, I did on the same theme, in a way. Charles Reznikoff 00:05:47 Reads "I have neither the time nor the weaving skill, perhaps" from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse [also published in Inscriptions: 1944-1956]. Charles Reznikoff 00:06:13 Now, let me start with a group which I've written about the city I come from, New York, and its suburbs, and some of its residents, including myself. Charles Reznikoff 00:06:27 Reads "The winter afternoon darkens" [from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse]. Charles Reznikoff 00:06:44 And this I call "The Scrubwoman". Charles Reznikoff 00:06:48 Reads "The Scrubwoman" [from Rhythms II and from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse]. Charles Reznikoff 00:07:07 Reads "The peddler who goes from shop to shop". Charles Reznikoff 00:07:27 And this next. Charles Reznikoff 00:07:31 Reads “The elevator man" [from Going To and Fro and Walking Up and Down and from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse]. Charles Reznikoff 00:07:54 Reads "The shopgirls leave their work" [from Five Groups of Verse, Rhythms, and from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse]. Charles Reznikoff 00:08:16 This one I call "Cooper Union Library". I should add, it's no longer that way, this is the way it used to be. Charles Reznikoff 00:08:23 Reads "Cooper Union Library" [from "Going To and Fro and Walking Up and Down and from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse]. Charles Reznikoff 00:08:42 Reads "Showing a Torn Sleeve" [from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse and published later in Poems 1918-1936: The Complete Poems of Charles Reznikoff]. Charles Reznikoff 00:09:06 Reads "Two girls of twelve or so at a table" [from Inscriptions: 1944-1956 and from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse]. Charles Reznikoff 00:09:54 Reads "I am always surprised to meet" [from Going To and Fro and Walking Up and Down and from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse]. Charles Reznikoff 00:10:23 Reads "Rails in the Subway" [from Jerusalem the Golden and from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse]. Audience 00:10:35 Laughter. Charles Reznikoff 00:10:41 Reads "This subway station, with its electric lights" [from Going To and Fro and Walking Up and Down and from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse]. Audience 00:10:58 Laughter. Charles Reznikoff 00:11:06 Reads "Among the heaps of brick and plaster lies" [from Jerusalem the Golden and from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse]. Charles Reznikoff 00:11:18 Reads "The sky is blue" [from Jerusalem is Golden]. Charles Reznikoff 00:11:42 This I call "Suburban River, Winter". Charles Reznikoff 00:11:48 Reads "Suburban River, Winter" [from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse]. Charles Reznikoff 00:12:07 And this too I call "Suburban River," this is "Summer". Charles Reznikoff 00:12:13 Reads "Suburban River, Summer" [from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse]. Charles Reznikoff 00:12:38 This I call "Twilight". Charles Reznikoff 00:12:40 Reads "Twilight" [from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse and published later in The Poems Of Charles Reznikoff 1918–1975]. Charles Reznikoff 00:12:56 Reads "Fraser, I think, tells of a Roman" [from Inscriptions: 1944-1956 and from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse; audience laughter throughout]. Charles Reznikoff 00:13:21 Reads "The dogs that walk with me” [from Inscriptions: 1944-1956 and from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse]. Charles Reznikoff 00:13:44 This I call a "Fable". Charles Reznikoff 00:13:46 Reads "Fable" [from Inscriptions: 1944-1956 and from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse]. Charles Reznikoff 00:14:15 Reads "Scrap of paper" [from Inscriptions: 1944-1956 and from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse]. Charles Reznikoff 00:14:28 Reads "One of my sentinels, a tree" [from Inscriptions: 1944-1956 and from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse]. Charles Reznikoff 00:14:45 Reads "I have not even been in the fields" [from Rhythms ll and from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse]. Charles Reznikoff 00:15:01 Reads "How grey you are! No, white!” [from Inscriptions: 1944-1956 and from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse]. Charles Reznikoff 00:15:25 Reads "Blurred sight, and trembling fingers" [from Inscriptions: 1944-1956 and from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse]. Charles Reznikoff 00:15:47 Reads "You were young and contemptuous" [from Inscriptions: 1944-1956 and from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse]. Charles Reznikoff 00:16:03 This I call "Heart and Clock", there's a series in here. Charles Reznikoff 00:16:09 Reads "Heart and Clock” [from Separate Way and from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse]. Charles Reznikoff 00:16:51 Reads "If my days were like the ant's" [published as “Heart and Clock II” in By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse]. Charles Reznikoff 00:17:18 Reads "Our nightingale, the clock" [from Jerusalem the Golden and from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse]. Charles Reznikoff 00:17:32 Reads "The clock on the bookcase ticks" [from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse and published later in The Poems Of Charles Reznikoff 1918–1975]. Charles Reznikoff 00:17:47 Reads "My hair was caught in the wheels of a clock" [from Jerusalem the Golden and from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse]. Charles Reznikoff 00:17:58 Reads "Of course we must die" [from Inscriptions: 1944-1956 and from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse]. Charles Reznikoff 00:18:20 Reads "Now it is cold" [from Going To and Fro and Walking Up and Down and from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse]. Charles Reznikoff 00:19:33 Reads "It had been snowing at night" [from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse and published later in The Poems Of Charles Reznikoff 1918–1975]. Charles Reznikoff 00:19:54 Reads "Hardly a breath of wind" [from Inscriptions: 1944-1956 and from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse]. Charles Reznikoff 00:20:14 Reads "After I had worked all day" [from Five Groups of Verse and from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse]. Charles Reznikoff 00:20:42 Now I have a group that I will call 'religious,' for perhaps no better word, and this I call "Meditations on the Fall and Winter Holidays", and the first is “New Year's”. As many of you, or some of you may know, no doubt, the Jewish New Year's comes in the fall. This is based on it. Charles Reznikoff 00:21:11 Reads "Meditations on the Fall and Winter Holidays: New Year's" [from Inscriptions: 1944-1956 and from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse]. Charles Reznikoff 00:23:19 And I call the next one "The Day of Atonement". Charles Reznikoff 00:23:24 Reads "The Day of Atonement" [from Inscriptions: 1944-1956 and from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse]. Charles Reznikoff 00:24:50 And this I call "Hanukkah" which incidentally is a holiday that's just about to come, and it, as some of you may know, it represents the victory, a festival celebrating the victory of the Maccabees over the Syrians, about 150 B.C.E. Charles Reznikoff 00:25:14 Reads "Hanukkah" [from Inscriptions: 1944-1956 and from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse]. Charles Reznikoff 00:26:59 I don't know why I should be having a cold on this occasion but, [laughter], these things [blows nose]. Charles Reznikoff 00:27:18 Reads "The lamps are burning in the synagogue" [from Inscriptions: 1944-1956]. Charles Reznikoff 00:28:40 This one I call "Samuel". Samuel in the Bible, of course. Charles Reznikoff 00:28:47 Reads "Samuel" [from Five Groups of Verse and from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse]. Charles Reznikoff 00:30:06 These are all from By the Waters of Manhattan, and I'm going to read you, if I may, something quite different, from the volume called Testimony, and which I call "Recitative". Charles Reznikoff 00:30:27 Reads "Recitative" [from Testimony: the United States (1885-1890); Recitative]. Charles Reznikoff 00:31:15 That's the first. This, these, incidentally, I might say, are all based on law cases. Ah...I don't know what...whether that'll excuse their ferocity, but apparently something like that once happened. The names are different. The facts are the same. Charles Reznikoff 00:31:39 Reads "Tilda was just a child...” [from Testimony: the United States (1885-1890); Recitative]. Charles Reznikoff 00:32:49 And this is the third in this. Charles Reznikoff 00:32:53 Reads "Years ago, a company procured a body of land..." [from Testimony: the United States (1885-1890); Recitative]. Charles Reznikoff 00:33:44 Now...let's see, if I may, the time...Here is a poem with which I generally end these readings but I don't intend to end this unless you wish me to because I have some other things to read. But I'll end it right here anyway and then we'll see how much time is left. I call this "Kaddish". Now, it's not the Kaddish for mourners that you might know about. It was written at the beginning of the rise of Hitler . I did it; I mean, I did the writing, not the Kaddish, which is very old. It was written at the beginning of the rise of Hitler and his influence, and before his extermination program was put into effect. It's really an ancient blessing in the Jewish ritual. And incidentally, I use that word "Torah," and I doubt, it may be strange to many, but James Parks, I notice, in his History of the Jewish People, has defined it, correctly, I think, "The word Torah," he says, "has been defined as law, but is much wider in meaning. It applies a way of life". Now this is this "Kaddish". Charles Reznikoff 00:35:09 Reads "Kaddish" [from Separate Way and from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse]]. Charles Reznikoff 00:36:43 This ends the, let's say the first part. And I'll continue, if you like, with some others, unless you're all...[inaudible] Audience 00:36:51 Applause. Charles Reznikoff 00:37:04 Well I, if, I shall continue, if you're not all exhausted. I have here, quite a few things that are not arranged in any way, so they're more or less haphazard. And...this is one. Let's see...well this one is “After Reading Translations of Ancient Texts on Stone and Clay”. Charles Reznikoff 00:37:37 Reads “After Reading Translations of Ancient Texts on Stone and Clay”. Charles Reznikoff 00:38:47 Now, these, these are much less organized than that, haphazard, you'll have to take them as they come if we keep on. Charles Reznikoff 00:39:00 Reads "As I was wandering with my unhappy thoughts" [from Inscriptions: 1944-1956 and from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse]. Charles Reznikoff 00:39:36 Reads "The young fellow walks about with nothing to do" [from Going To and Fro and Walking Up and Down and from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse]. Charles Reznikoff 00:40:09 Reads “A well-phrased eulogy" [from Inscriptions: 1944-1956 and from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse]. Charles Reznikoff 00:40:44 Reads "On a Sunday, when the place was closed" [from Going To and Fro and Walking Up and Down]. Charles Reznikoff 00:41:12 Now here are two earlier testimony, two or more things based on a law case, which I call "Testimony", and these were included in that same By the Waters of Manhattan. By the Waters of Manhattan. 00:41:28 Reads "The Company had advertised for men" from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse. Charles Reznikoff 00:43:13 That's the first, and this is the second. Charles Reznikoff 00:43:16 Reads "Amelia was just fourteen" from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse. Charles Reznikoff 00:44:33 That's the second. I have some more I'd like to get at before I close. Well, this I wrote for my wife. Pity she isn't here, but we'll read it in her absence. Charles Reznikoff 00:44:55 Reads "Malicious women greet you, saying..." [from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse and published later in The Poems Of Charles Reznikoff 1918–1975]. Charles Reznikoff 00:45:38 Now, this, this is a kind of counterpiece to this I have just read. It was not written for my wife. [Laughter]. Charles Reznikoff 00:45:56 Reads "He had with him a bag" [from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse and published later in The Poems Of Charles Reznikoff 1918–1975]. Audience 00:46:38 Laughter. Charles Reznikoff 00:46:42 I'm reading this 'cause..."On a seat"...maybe it would....I think this is rather appropriate in view of all the Hebrew things I read. Charles Reznikoff 00:46:56 Reads "On a seat in the subway" [from Going To and Fro and Walking Up and Down]. Charles Reznikoff 00:47:41 Reads "Permit me to warn you" [from Jerusalem the Golden and from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse]. Audience 00:47:51 Laughter. Charles Reznikoff 00:47:59 Reads "These days, the papers in the street" [from Jerusalem the Golden and from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse]. Charles Reznikoff 00:48:36 Let me close, unless it...if I should...with something that I tried to do which may be something to close with. This is based on the Book of Ezra , and the Book of Ezra, according to my note, I've probably forgotten by this time, is, 'This is a rearrangement and a versification of parts of the Fourth Book of Ezra.' And that's what it's called in the appendix to the Vulgate , or two Esdras of the Protestant Apocrypha. And I based this upon a translation of this Book of Ezra from the Syriac by a friend of mine who taught, and I have their permission and all, but the original was probably, there's quite a discussion as to what the original was right, and some scholars believe that it was in Greek, and a Doctor Bocks, who was in, G.H. Bocks, thinks that it was in Hebrew, and Bloch, who was, they had in 42nd Street at the library, didn't think that it was in either Greek or Hebrew, but Aramaic. Anyway, excuse me just, [laughter], anyway, I will read it, and its adaptation of it, and see what one can do with things that you...clear up. Charles Reznikoff 00:50:12 Reads “Because I saw the desolation of Zion" [from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse and published later in The Poems of Charles Reznikoff: 1918-1975]. Charles Reznikoff 00:53:33 And I think this is enough, perhaps, for a time. Audience 00:53:36 Applause. George Bowering 00:54:01 What else, thank you very much, Mr. Reznikoff, and I'd just like to repeat that the next reading is at, two weeks from tonight, December the first, Daryl Hine, who's a graduate of the other university. END 00:54:21
Notes:
Charles Reznikoff reads poems from several books, including Jerusalem the Golden (Objectivist Press, 1934), Inscriptions: 1944-1956 (Shulsinger Brothers, 1959), Going To and Fro and Walking Up and Down (Futuro Press, 1941), and By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse (New Directions, 1962). Many of the poems were later re-organized, edited, and included in other publications, such as Poems 1918-1975:The Complete Poems of Charles Reznikoff (Black Sparrow, 1989). 00:00- Unknown Introducer introduces Charles Reznikoff. [INDEX: Daryl Hine reading on December 1, 1967; born in Brooklyn in 1894, graduated from law school New York University, state bar of NY, New Directions Press and the San Francisco Review, By the Waters of Manhattan (1962), Testimony (1965), moral and legal history of United States; Reznikoff as an alternative to popular poetry taught at universities; quote from “Te Deum” by Charles Reznikoff.] 02:56- Charles Reznikoff introduces “Salmon and Red Wine”. [INDEX: collection of Chinese verse translated in English, quotes from it as introduction, 11th century, "Poetry presents the thing in order to convey the feeling. It should be precise about the thing and reticent about the feeling"; reading from By the Waters of Manhattan (New Directions, 1962).] 04:47- Reads first line “Salmon and red wine”. [INDEX: process, writing life, travel, Bible; found in By the Waters of Manhattan (New Directions, 1962).] 05:39- Introduces first line “I have neither the time nor the weaving skill, perhaps...”. [INDEX: second poem in the same theme; found in By the Waters of Manhattan (New Directions, 1962).] 05:47- Reads first line “I have neither the time nor the weaving skill, perhaps...”. [INDEX: craft, descriptive.] 06:13- Introduces unknown poem, first line “The winter afternoon darkens...” [INDEX: group of poems about New York.] 06:27- Reads unknown poem, first line “The winter afternoon darkens...”. [INDEX: cities, New York, work.] 06:44- Introduces “The Scrubwoman”. 06:48- Reads “The Scrubwoman”. [INDEX: cities, New York, work, poverty.] 07:07- Reads unknown poem, first line “The peddler who goes from shop to shop...”. [INDEX: cities, New York, Work.] 07:31- Reads first line “The elevator man”. [INDEX: cities, New York, poverty, work; from the poem “Autobiography: New York” in By the Waters of Manhattan (New Directions, 1962).] 07:54- Reads unknown poem, first line “The shopgirls leave their work...”. [INDEX: cities, New York, work.] 08:16- Introduces “Cooper Union Library”. 08:23- Reads “Cooper Union Library”. [INDEX: cities, New York, reading, from the poem “Autobiography: New York” in By the Waters of Manhattan (New Directions, 1962).] 08:42- Reads unknown poem, first line “Showing a torn sleeve...”. [INDEX: cities, New York, poverty, food, age.] 09:06- Reads “Two girls of twelve or so at a table”. [INDEX: cities, New York, poverty, food, age; from Inscriptions: 1944-1956.] 09:54- Reads first line “I am always surprised to meet...” [INDEX: cities, New York, death; from the poem “Autobiography: New York” in Going To and Fro and Walking Up and Down (1941).] 10:23- Reads unknown poem, first line “Rails in the subway”. [INDEX: cities, New York, transportation, building.] 10:41- Reads unknown poem, first line “This subway station, with its electric lights”. [INDEX: cities, New York, transportation, building, from the poem “Autobiography: New York” in Going To and Fro and Walking Up and Down (1941).] 11:06- Reads unknown poem, first line “Among the heaps of brick and plaster lies...”. [INDEX: cities, New York, building.] 11:18- Reads unknown poem, first line “The sky is [a peculiar] blue...”. [INDEX: cities, New York, water, pollution; from “Sightseeing Tour: New York”, from Inscriptions: 1944-1956 (1959), By the Waters of Manhattan (1962).] 11:48- Reads “Suburban River, Winter”. [INDEX: cities, New York, water.] 12:13- Reads “Suburban River, Summer”. [INDEX: cities, New York, water, women.] 12:40- Reads “Twilight”. [INDEX: nature, sky, horse.] 13:16- Reads first line “Frasier, I think, tells of a Roman...”. [INDEX: nature, New York; from poem “Sightseeing Tour: New York” from Inscriptions: 1944-1956 (1959), By the Waters of Manhattan (1962).] 13:31- Reads first line “The dogs that walk with me...”. [INDEX: time, nature, now, here, if; from By the Waters of Manhattan.] 13:46- Reads “Fable”. [INDEX: solitude, friendship, woods, song, joke, from By the Waters of Manhattan.] 14:15- Reads first line “Scrap of paper”. [INDEX: money, streets, from Inscriptions: 1944-1956 (1959), By the Waters of Manhattan (1962).] 14:28- Reads first line “One of my sentinels, a tree...”. [INDEX: summer, seasons, time, nature, from Inscriptions: 1944-1956 (1959), By the Waters of Manhattan (1962).] 14:45- Reads poem, first line “I have not even been in the fields...”. [INDEX: age, time, seasons, wind.] 15:01- Reads poem, first line “How grey are you, no white...”. [INDEX: age, body, death, friends, dog; from Inscriptions: 1944-1956 (1959), By the Waters of Manhattan (1962).] 15:25- Reads poem, first line “Blurred sight, and trembling fingers...”. [INDEX: age; from “Notes on the Spring Holiday” from Inscriptions: 1944-1956 (1959), By the Waters of Manhattan (1962).] 16:03- Introduces “Hardened Clock”. [INDEX: series.] 16:09- Reads “Hardened Clock”. [INDEX: time, sun, cycles, clocks, stars.] 16:51- Reads poem, fist line “If my days were like the ant’s...”. [INDEX: time, ant, carpe diem; perhaps part of “Hardened Clock”.] 17:18- Reads poem, first line “Our nightingale, the clock...”. [INDEX: time, clocks, birds, nightingale, nature; perhaps part of “Hardened Clock”.] 17:32- Reads poem, first line “The clock on the bookcase ticks...”. [INDEX: time, clocks, insects, consumption; perhaps part of “Hardened Clock”.] 17:47- Reads poem, first line “My hair was caught in the wheels of a clock...”. [INDEX: age, clocks, time, baldness; perhaps part of “Hardened Clock”.] 17:58- Reads poem, first line “Of course we must die...”. [INDEX: death, telephone numbers; perhaps from “Hardened Clock”, from By the Waters of Manhattan.] 18:20- Reads poem, first line “Now it is cold...”. [INDEX: age, winter, time, seasons, death, birds, sparrow, sun, tree, anger, statues, weather, Don Juan, St. Francis; perhaps part of “Hardened Clock”.] 19:33- Reads poem, first line “It had been snowing at night...”. [INDEX: winter, time, snow, weather, morning; perhaps part of “Hardened Clock”.] 19:54- Reads poem, first line “Hardly a breath of wind...”. [INDEX: wind, leaves, fate; perhaps part of “Hardened Clock”.] 20:14- Reads poem, first line: “After I had worked all day...”. [INDEX: work, fatigue, strength, tide; perhaps part of “Hardened Clock”.] 20:42- Introduces group called ‘religious’, poem called “Meditations on the Fall and Winter Holidays”. [INDEX: religious, Jewish New Year's.] 21:11- Reads “New Year’s” from “Meditations on the Fall and Winter Holidays”. [INDEX: religious, holiday, water, farewell, death, harvest, autumn, trees, beginning, God, holidays, seasons, Israel, Judaism, grief, peace, servants, inheritance, remembrance; from Inscriptions: 1944-1956 (1959), By the Waters of Manhattan (1962).] 23:19- Introduces “Day of Atonement”. [INDEX: from “Meditations on the Fall and Winter Holidays” from Inscriptions: 1944-1956 (1959), By the Waters of Manhattan (1962).] 23:24- Reads “Day of Atonement”. [INDEX: time, religious holidays, Judaism, Yom Kippur, God, time, day, write, rabbi, creation, world, men.] 24:50- Introduces “Hanukah”. [INDEX: victory of Maccabees over Syrians in 150 BCE, festival celebration; from “Meditations on the Fall and Winter Holidays”, from Inscriptions: 1944-1956 (1959), By the Waters of Manhattan (1962).] 25:14- Reads “Hanukah”. [INDEX: religious holiday, Judaism, death, water, songs, remembrance, power, God.] 27:18- Reads poem, first line, “The lamps are burning in the synagogue...” [INDEX: religious, Judaism, travel, tradition, remembrance, names, knowledge, ignorance, eternal life; from “Meditations on the Fall and Winter Holidays”, from Inscriptions: 1944-1956 (1959), By the Waters of Manhattan (1962).] 28:40- Introduces “Samuel”. [INDEX: Samuel in the Bible.] 28:47- Reads “Samuel”. [INDEX: religious, Judaism, Bible, tradition, spirit, fire, seasons, waiting, service.] 30:06- Introduces “Recitative”. [INDEX: from Inscriptions: 1944-1956 (1959), By the Waters of Manhattan (1962), Testimony (1965-8).] 30:27- Reads “Recitative”. [INDEX: birth, water, fire, murder, death] 31:15- Introduces poem, first line “Tilda was just a child...”. [INDEX: Testimony about law cases, different names, facts same.] 31:59- Reads poem, first line “Tilda was just a child...”. [INDEX: adolescence, girl, menstruation, work, rural, domestic; from “The North: Boys & Girls, 5.” from Testimony.] 32:53- Reads poem, first line, “Years ago, a company procured a body of land...”. [INDEX: company land, urban planning, city, Mississippi City, streets, railroad, depot, pier, bankruptcy; from “The South: Negroes, X” from Testimony.] 33:44- Introduces “Kaddish”. [INDEX: mourning, written at the beginning of the rise of Hitler, extermination program, ancient blessing in the Jewish ritual, Torah, quote from James Parks’ History of the Jewish People; from Going To and Fro and Walking Up and Down (1941).] 35:09- Reads “Kaddish”. [INDEX: religious, Judaism, Kaddish, Torah, Israel, blessing.] 37:04- Introduces “After Reading Translations of Ancient Texts on Stone and Clay”. [INDEX: from Going To and Fro and Walking Up and Down (1941).] 37:37- Reads “After Reading Translations of Ancient Texts on Stone and Clay”. [INDEX: religious, Bible, Judaism, Moses, Israel, Pharaoh, Egypt, soldiers.] 38:47- Introduces “As I was wandering with my unhappy thoughts...” 39:00- Reads “As I was wandering with my unhappy thoughts...”. [INDEX: unhappiness, sun, wind, paradise, Adam.] 39:36- Reads “The young fellow walks about with nothing to do”. [INDEX: work, unemployment, cigarettes, youth, stranger.] 40:09- Reads “A well-phrased eulogy”. [INDEX: funeral, death, eulogy, politeness.] 40:44- Reads “On a Sunday, when the place was closed”. [INDEX: mouse, food, God, blessing.] 41:12- Introduces “Testimony”. [INDEX: earlier testimony, based on law case, included in By the Waters of Manhattan.] 41:28- Reads “The company had advertised for men...”. [INDEX: company, work, dock, water, ice, river, death.] 43:13- Introduces “Amelia was just fourteen...”. 43:16- Reads “Amelia was just fourteen...” [INDEX: work, orphanage, youth, girl, books, wound.] 44:33- Introduces “Malicious women greet you, saying...”. [INDEX: poem written for his wife, wife not in attendance.] 44:55- Reads “Malicious women greet you, saying...”. [INDEX: love poem, women, beauty, timeless.] 45:38- Introduces “He had with him a bag”. [INDEX: counter-piece, not written for wife.] 45:56- Reads “He had with him a bag”. [INDEX: scolding, walking, wives, husbands, marriage.] 46:38- Introduces “On a seat in the subway”. [INDEX: Hebrew.] 46:56- Reads “On a seat in the subway”. [INDEX: cities, subway, Judaism, work, discrimination, racial, sadness, Aryan.] 47:41- Reads “Permit me to warn you...”. [INDEX: car, accident.] 47:59- Reads “These days, the papers in the street...”. [INDEX: cities, streets, sun.] 48:36- Introduces “Because I saw the desolation of Zion...”. [INDEX: Book of Ezra, fourth book of Ezra, appendix to the Vulgate, Protestant Apocrypha, translation, Syriac, original, Greek, Doctor G.H. Bocks, Hebrew, Bloch, 42nd Street Library, Aramaic.] 50:12- Reads “Because I saw the desolation of Zion”. [INDEX: Bible, Judaism, Ezra, Zion, God, prayer, angel, heaven, hell, fire, wind, sea, dialogue, Israel, plants, seeds, earth.] 54:01- Unknown introducer thanks Charles Reznikoff, announces next reading: Daryl Hine on December 1st. [INDEX: Daryl Hine reading, December 1.]
Content Type:
Sound Recording
Featured:
Yes
File URL:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1-0cAe1GF8xZsc62jpUDXwgvyCd6ZmvSw
Show Content
Title:
Charles Reznikoff Tape Box - Back
Credit:
Drew Bernet
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Show Content
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Charles Reznikoff Tape Box - Front
Credit:
Drew Bernet
Content Type:
Photograph
File URL:
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Show Content
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Charles Reznikoff Tape Box - Spine
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Dates

Date:
1967 11 17
Type:
Performance Date
Source:
Supplemental Material
Notes:
Date specified in The Georgian's "Op-Ed"

LOCATION

Address:
1455, Boul de Maisonneuve Ouest, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Venue:
Hall Building Art Gallery
Latitude:
45.4972758
Longitude:
-73.57893043
URL:
https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/22080570
Notes:
Location specified in The Georgian's "Op-Ed"

CONTENT

Contents:
charles_reznikoff_i006-11-153.mp3 George Bowering 00:00:00 I'd like to welcome you all to our third reading, and announce just before I have to say what I say that the next reading will be with Daryl Hine on the first of December. Tonight's reading will be by, as you probably all know, Mr. Charles Reznikoff , whom I'm very happy to have the job, the chore of introducing, because I've been interested in his work for many years. He was born in Brooklyn , 1894, and graduated from the law school of New York University , admitted to the bar of the state of New York but never practiced, however, the law experience has stood him in good stead for his later poetry. He's published a number of volumes of verse and several volumes of prose, but most to the point, books that you probably saw on the table outside, in print by New Directions and the San Francisco Review , By the Waters of Manhattan, which was this joint effort's first book in 1962, and in 1965, Testimony, which is the first volume in a projected series of volumes about the moral and legal history of the United States . The main--my--the reason I said that I'm very happy about Mr. Reznikoff is because when I was going to university I was very hard looking for an alternative to the kind of poetry that was in vogue, especially in the universities, that is, that which tended towards T.S. Eliot and highly symbolic language, and Mr. Reznikoff was one of the first poets I found able to do that for me, and I found a short poem of his which I would like to be brash enough to read, as introduction. He said, "Not because of victories I sing, having none, but for the common sunshine, the breeze, the largesse of spring. Not for victory, but for the day's work done, as well as I was able, not for a seat upon the dais, but at the common table." So to this common table, rather than dais, I'd like to welcome Mr. Charles Reznikoff. Audience 00:02:34 Applause. Charles Reznikoff 00:02:56 Very much obliged to the gentleman who introduced me, among other things, for reading something I did. Perhaps I should ask him to read all that I brought along. But to get down to what I have here, let me say, to begin with, a few days ago, I came across in a bookshop a collection of Chinese verse translated into English. At the beginning was the following, written a thousand years ago, and I was very much impressed with it, and permit me to read it to you as a sort of an introduction. This man who wrote in the 11th century, this Chinese, said this: "Poetry presents the thing in order to convey the feeling. It should be precise about the thing and reticent about the feeling." I thought that was...expressed exactly what I feel, and what I have tried to do, not always, not always, I'm afraid, as well as called for, but a recipe. Among other things, let me begin by reading a couple of things I did also on the way I think verse should be written. And this is from this, By the Waters of Manhattan. Charles Reznikoff 00:04:47 Reads "Salmon and Red Wine" from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse [also published in Inscriptions: 1944-1956]. Charles Reznikoff 00:05:39 That's the first in this. And the second, I did on the same theme, in a way. Charles Reznikoff 00:05:47 Reads "I have neither the time nor the weaving skill, perhaps" from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse [also published in Inscriptions: 1944-1956]. Charles Reznikoff 00:06:13 Now, let me start with a group which I've written about the city I come from, New York, and its suburbs, and some of its residents, including myself. Charles Reznikoff 00:06:27 Reads "The winter afternoon darkens" [from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse]. Charles Reznikoff 00:06:44 And this I call "The Scrubwoman". Charles Reznikoff 00:06:48 Reads "The Scrubwoman" [from Rhythms II and from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse]. Charles Reznikoff 00:07:07 Reads "The peddler who goes from shop to shop". Charles Reznikoff 00:07:27 And this next. Charles Reznikoff 00:07:31 Reads “The elevator man" [from Going To and Fro and Walking Up and Down and from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse]. Charles Reznikoff 00:07:54 Reads "The shopgirls leave their work" [from Five Groups of Verse, Rhythms, and from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse]. Charles Reznikoff 00:08:16 This one I call "Cooper Union Library". I should add, it's no longer that way, this is the way it used to be. Charles Reznikoff 00:08:23 Reads "Cooper Union Library" [from "Going To and Fro and Walking Up and Down and from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse]. Charles Reznikoff 00:08:42 Reads "Showing a Torn Sleeve" [from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse and published later in Poems 1918-1936: The Complete Poems of Charles Reznikoff]. Charles Reznikoff 00:09:06 Reads "Two girls of twelve or so at a table" [from Inscriptions: 1944-1956 and from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse]. Charles Reznikoff 00:09:54 Reads "I am always surprised to meet" [from Going To and Fro and Walking Up and Down and from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse]. Charles Reznikoff 00:10:23 Reads "Rails in the Subway" [from Jerusalem the Golden and from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse]. Audience 00:10:35 Laughter. Charles Reznikoff 00:10:41 Reads "This subway station, with its electric lights" [from Going To and Fro and Walking Up and Down and from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse]. Audience 00:10:58 Laughter. Charles Reznikoff 00:11:06 Reads "Among the heaps of brick and plaster lies" [from Jerusalem the Golden and from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse]. Charles Reznikoff 00:11:18 Reads "The sky is blue" [from Jerusalem is Golden]. Charles Reznikoff 00:11:42 This I call "Suburban River, Winter". Charles Reznikoff 00:11:48 Reads "Suburban River, Winter" [from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse]. Charles Reznikoff 00:12:07 And this too I call "Suburban River," this is "Summer". Charles Reznikoff 00:12:13 Reads "Suburban River, Summer" [from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse]. Charles Reznikoff 00:12:38 This I call "Twilight". Charles Reznikoff 00:12:40 Reads "Twilight" [from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse and published later in The Poems Of Charles Reznikoff 1918–1975]. Charles Reznikoff 00:12:56 Reads "Fraser, I think, tells of a Roman" [from Inscriptions: 1944-1956 and from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse; audience laughter throughout]. Charles Reznikoff 00:13:21 Reads "The dogs that walk with me” [from Inscriptions: 1944-1956 and from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse]. Charles Reznikoff 00:13:44 This I call a "Fable". Charles Reznikoff 00:13:46 Reads "Fable" [from Inscriptions: 1944-1956 and from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse]. Charles Reznikoff 00:14:15 Reads "Scrap of paper" [from Inscriptions: 1944-1956 and from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse]. Charles Reznikoff 00:14:28 Reads "One of my sentinels, a tree" [from Inscriptions: 1944-1956 and from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse]. Charles Reznikoff 00:14:45 Reads "I have not even been in the fields" [from Rhythms ll and from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse]. Charles Reznikoff 00:15:01 Reads "How grey you are! No, white!” [from Inscriptions: 1944-1956 and from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse]. Charles Reznikoff 00:15:25 Reads "Blurred sight, and trembling fingers" [from Inscriptions: 1944-1956 and from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse]. Charles Reznikoff 00:15:47 Reads "You were young and contemptuous" [from Inscriptions: 1944-1956 and from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse]. Charles Reznikoff 00:16:03 This I call "Heart and Clock", there's a series in here. Charles Reznikoff 00:16:09 Reads "Heart and Clock” [from Separate Way and from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse]. Charles Reznikoff 00:16:51 Reads "If my days were like the ant's" [published as “Heart and Clock II” in By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse]. Charles Reznikoff 00:17:18 Reads "Our nightingale, the clock" [from Jerusalem the Golden and from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse]. Charles Reznikoff 00:17:32 Reads "The clock on the bookcase ticks" [from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse and published later in The Poems Of Charles Reznikoff 1918–1975]. Charles Reznikoff 00:17:47 Reads "My hair was caught in the wheels of a clock" [from Jerusalem the Golden and from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse]. Charles Reznikoff 00:17:58 Reads "Of course we must die" [from Inscriptions: 1944-1956 and from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse]. Charles Reznikoff 00:18:20 Reads "Now it is cold" [from Going To and Fro and Walking Up and Down and from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse]. Charles Reznikoff 00:19:33 Reads "It had been snowing at night" [from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse and published later in The Poems Of Charles Reznikoff 1918–1975]. Charles Reznikoff 00:19:54 Reads "Hardly a breath of wind" [from Inscriptions: 1944-1956 and from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse]. Charles Reznikoff 00:20:14 Reads "After I had worked all day" [from Five Groups of Verse and from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse]. Charles Reznikoff 00:20:42 Now I have a group that I will call 'religious,' for perhaps no better word, and this I call "Meditations on the Fall and Winter Holidays", and the first is “New Year's”. As many of you, or some of you may know, no doubt, the Jewish New Year's comes in the fall. This is based on it. Charles Reznikoff 00:21:11 Reads "Meditations on the Fall and Winter Holidays: New Year's" [from Inscriptions: 1944-1956 and from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse]. Charles Reznikoff 00:23:19 And I call the next one "The Day of Atonement". Charles Reznikoff 00:23:24 Reads "The Day of Atonement" [from Inscriptions: 1944-1956 and from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse]. Charles Reznikoff 00:24:50 And this I call "Hanukkah" which incidentally is a holiday that's just about to come, and it, as some of you may know, it represents the victory, a festival celebrating the victory of the Maccabees over the Syrians, about 150 B.C.E. Charles Reznikoff 00:25:14 Reads "Hanukkah" [from Inscriptions: 1944-1956 and from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse]. Charles Reznikoff 00:26:59 I don't know why I should be having a cold on this occasion but, [laughter], these things [blows nose]. Charles Reznikoff 00:27:18 Reads "The lamps are burning in the synagogue" [from Inscriptions: 1944-1956]. Charles Reznikoff 00:28:40 This one I call "Samuel". Samuel in the Bible, of course. Charles Reznikoff 00:28:47 Reads "Samuel" [from Five Groups of Verse and from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse]. Charles Reznikoff 00:30:06 These are all from By the Waters of Manhattan, and I'm going to read you, if I may, something quite different, from the volume called Testimony, and which I call "Recitative". Charles Reznikoff 00:30:27 Reads "Recitative" [from Testimony: the United States (1885-1890); Recitative]. Charles Reznikoff 00:31:15 That's the first. This, these, incidentally, I might say, are all based on law cases. Ah...I don't know what...whether that'll excuse their ferocity, but apparently something like that once happened. The names are different. The facts are the same. Charles Reznikoff 00:31:39 Reads "Tilda was just a child...” [from Testimony: the United States (1885-1890); Recitative]. Charles Reznikoff 00:32:49 And this is the third in this. Charles Reznikoff 00:32:53 Reads "Years ago, a company procured a body of land..." [from Testimony: the United States (1885-1890); Recitative]. Charles Reznikoff 00:33:44 Now...let's see, if I may, the time...Here is a poem with which I generally end these readings but I don't intend to end this unless you wish me to because I have some other things to read. But I'll end it right here anyway and then we'll see how much time is left. I call this "Kaddish". Now, it's not the Kaddish for mourners that you might know about. It was written at the beginning of the rise of Hitler . I did it; I mean, I did the writing, not the Kaddish, which is very old. It was written at the beginning of the rise of Hitler and his influence, and before his extermination program was put into effect. It's really an ancient blessing in the Jewish ritual. And incidentally, I use that word "Torah," and I doubt, it may be strange to many, but James Parks, I notice, in his History of the Jewish People, has defined it, correctly, I think, "The word Torah," he says, "has been defined as law, but is much wider in meaning. It applies a way of life". Now this is this "Kaddish". Charles Reznikoff 00:35:09 Reads "Kaddish" [from Separate Way and from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse]]. Charles Reznikoff 00:36:43 This ends the, let's say the first part. And I'll continue, if you like, with some others, unless you're all...[inaudible] Audience 00:36:51 Applause. Charles Reznikoff 00:37:04 Well I, if, I shall continue, if you're not all exhausted. I have here, quite a few things that are not arranged in any way, so they're more or less haphazard. And...this is one. Let's see...well this one is “After Reading Translations of Ancient Texts on Stone and Clay”. Charles Reznikoff 00:37:37 Reads “After Reading Translations of Ancient Texts on Stone and Clay”. Charles Reznikoff 00:38:47 Now, these, these are much less organized than that, haphazard, you'll have to take them as they come if we keep on. Charles Reznikoff 00:39:00 Reads "As I was wandering with my unhappy thoughts" [from Inscriptions: 1944-1956 and from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse]. Charles Reznikoff 00:39:36 Reads "The young fellow walks about with nothing to do" [from Going To and Fro and Walking Up and Down and from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse]. Charles Reznikoff 00:40:09 Reads “A well-phrased eulogy" [from Inscriptions: 1944-1956 and from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse]. Charles Reznikoff 00:40:44 Reads "On a Sunday, when the place was closed" [from Going To and Fro and Walking Up and Down]. Charles Reznikoff 00:41:12 Now here are two earlier testimony, two or more things based on a law case, which I call "Testimony", and these were included in that same By the Waters of Manhattan. By the Waters of Manhattan. 00:41:28 Reads "The Company had advertised for men" from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse. Charles Reznikoff 00:43:13 That's the first, and this is the second. Charles Reznikoff 00:43:16 Reads "Amelia was just fourteen" from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse. Charles Reznikoff 00:44:33 That's the second. I have some more I'd like to get at before I close. Well, this I wrote for my wife. Pity she isn't here, but we'll read it in her absence. Charles Reznikoff 00:44:55 Reads "Malicious women greet you, saying..." [from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse and published later in The Poems Of Charles Reznikoff 1918–1975]. Charles Reznikoff 00:45:38 Now, this, this is a kind of counterpiece to this I have just read. It was not written for my wife. [Laughter]. Charles Reznikoff 00:45:56 Reads "He had with him a bag" [from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse and published later in The Poems Of Charles Reznikoff 1918–1975]. Audience 00:46:38 Laughter. Charles Reznikoff 00:46:42 I'm reading this 'cause..."On a seat"...maybe it would....I think this is rather appropriate in view of all the Hebrew things I read. Charles Reznikoff 00:46:56 Reads "On a seat in the subway" [from Going To and Fro and Walking Up and Down]. Charles Reznikoff 00:47:41 Reads "Permit me to warn you" [from Jerusalem the Golden and from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse]. Audience 00:47:51 Laughter. Charles Reznikoff 00:47:59 Reads "These days, the papers in the street" [from Jerusalem the Golden and from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse]. Charles Reznikoff 00:48:36 Let me close, unless it...if I should...with something that I tried to do which may be something to close with. This is based on the Book of Ezra , and the Book of Ezra, according to my note, I've probably forgotten by this time, is, 'This is a rearrangement and a versification of parts of the Fourth Book of Ezra.' And that's what it's called in the appendix to the Vulgate , or two Esdras of the Protestant Apocrypha. And I based this upon a translation of this Book of Ezra from the Syriac by a friend of mine who taught, and I have their permission and all, but the original was probably, there's quite a discussion as to what the original was right, and some scholars believe that it was in Greek, and a Doctor Bocks, who was in, G.H. Bocks, thinks that it was in Hebrew, and Bloch, who was, they had in 42nd Street at the library, didn't think that it was in either Greek or Hebrew, but Aramaic. Anyway, excuse me just, [laughter], anyway, I will read it, and its adaptation of it, and see what one can do with things that you...clear up. Charles Reznikoff 00:50:12 Reads “Because I saw the desolation of Zion" [from By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse and published later in The Poems of Charles Reznikoff: 1918-1975]. Charles Reznikoff 00:53:33 And I think this is enough, perhaps, for a time. Audience 00:53:36 Applause. George Bowering 00:54:01 What else, thank you very much, Mr. Reznikoff, and I'd just like to repeat that the next reading is at, two weeks from tonight, December the first, Daryl Hine, who's a graduate of the other university. END 00:54:21
Notes:
Charles Reznikoff reads poems from several books, including Jerusalem the Golden (Objectivist Press, 1934), Inscriptions: 1944-1956 (Shulsinger Brothers, 1959), Going To and Fro and Walking Up and Down (Futuro Press, 1941), and By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse (New Directions, 1962). Many of the poems were later re-organized, edited, and included in other publications, such as Poems 1918-1975:The Complete Poems of Charles Reznikoff (Black Sparrow, 1989).

NOTES

Type:
General
Note:
Year-Specific Information: In 1967, Reznikoff held several other readings, including one at the 92nd Street Y in New York City. The next year, 1968, Testimony: The United States (1891-1900): Recitative was published.
Type:
General
Note:
Local Connections: No direct connections to Sir George Williams University are known. However, Charles Reznikoff was an established and highly regarded poet from New York. Reznikoff was involved in the Objectivist movement and an important American poet during the 60’s and 70’s.
Type:
Preservation
Note:
Reel-to-reel tape>CD>digital file
Type:
Cataloguer
Note:
Original transcript by Rachel Kyne Original print catalogue, introduction, research and edits by Celyn Harding-Jones Additional research and edits by Ali Barillaro

RELATED WORKS

Citation:
Heller, Michael. “Reznikoff, Charles". The Oxford Companion to Twentieth-Century Poetry in English. Ian Hamilton (ed). Oxford University Press, 1996.
URL:
https://www.worldcat.org/title/oxford-companion-to-twentieth-century-poetry-in-english/oclc/807465072&referer=brief_results
Citation:
Nemiroff, Michael. “Nemiroff on Reznikoff.” OP-ED. Montreal: Sir George Williams University, 28 November 1967, p. 7.
URL:
https://montreal.spokenweb.ca/sgw-poetry-readings/charles-reznikoff-at-sgwu-1967/
Citation:
Parks, James Williams. A History of the Jewish People. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1952.
URL:
https://www.worldcat.org/title/history-of-the-jewish-people/oclc/32303940&referer=brief_results
Citation:
“Poetry: Bards Heard”. OP-ED. Montreal: Sir George Williams University, 14 November 1967, page 6.
URL:
https://montreal.spokenweb.ca/sgw-poetry-readings/charles-reznikoff-at-sgwu-1967/
Citation:
“Poetry Readings”. Post-Grad. Montreal: Sir George Williams University, Spring 1967, page 20.
URL:
https://www.concordia.ca/content/dam/concordia/offices/archives/docs/postgrad/Postgrad-1967-Spring.pdf
Citation:
“Poetry Readings - Sir George Williams”. Montreal: Sir George Williams University, 1967.
URL:
https://montreal.spokenweb.ca/sgw-poetry-readings/charles-reznikoff-at-sgwu-1967
Citation:
“The Register of Charles Reznikoff Papers 1912-1976”. Mandeville Special Collections Library, Geisel Library, University of California, San Diego.
URL:
https://library.ucsd.edu/speccoll/findingaids/mss0009.html
Citation:
“Reznikoff, Charles”. Poets.org. The Academy of American Poets, 2007-2009.
URL:
http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/694
Citation:
"Reznikoff, Charles". The Oxford Companion to American Literature. James D. Hart (ed.), Phillip W. Leininger (rev). Oxford University Press, 1995.
URL:
https://www.worldcat.org/title/oxford-companion-to-american-literature/oclc/54356940&referer=brief_results
Citation:
"Reznikoff, Charles". The Concise Oxford Companion to American Literature. James D. Hart (ed). Oxford University Press, 1986.
URL:
https://www.worldcat.org/title/concise-oxford-companion-to-american-literature/oclc/1146399202&referer=brief_results
Citation:
Reznikoff, Charles. By the Waters of Manhattan: Selected Verse. San Francisco: San Francisco Review, 1962.
URL:
https://www.worldcat.org/title/by-the-waters-of-manhattan-selected-verse-introduction-by-cp-snow/oclc/503805384&referer=brief_results
Citation:
Reznikoff, Charles. Five Groups of Verse. New York: Charles Reznikoff, 1927.
URL:
https://www.worldcat.org/title/five-groups-of-verse-by-charles-reznikoff/oclc/457809461&referer=brief_results
Citation:
Reznikoff, Charles. Going To and Fro and Walking Up and Down. New York: Futuro Press, 1941.
URL:
https://www.worldcat.org/title/going-to-and-fro-and-walking-up-and-down/oclc/644000166&referer=brief_results
Citation:
Reznikoff, Charles. Inscriptions: 1944-1956. New York: Shulsinger Brothers, 1959.
URL:
https://www.worldcat.org/title/inscriptions-1944-1956-by-charles-reznikoff/oclc/459778991&referer=brief_results
Citation:
Reznikoff, Charles. Jerusalem The Golden. New York: Objectivist Press, 1934.
URL:
https://www.worldcat.org/title/jerusalem-the-golden-poems/oclc/503805492&referer=brief_results
Citation:
Reznikoff, Charles. Rhythms. New York: Charles Reznikoff, 1918.
URL:
https://www.worldcat.org/title/rhythms/oclc/11216921&referer=brief_results
Citation:
Reznikoff, Charles. Rhythms ll. New York: Charles Reznikoff, 1919.
URL:
https://www.worldcat.org/title/rhythms-ii-poems/oclc/4400024&referer=brief_results
Citation:
Reznikoff, Charles. Separate Way. New York: Objectivist Press, 1936.
URL:
https://www.worldcat.org/title/separate-way/oclc/2377996&referer=brief_results
Citation:
Reznikoff, Charles. Testimony: The United States (1885-1890); Recitative. New York: Charles Reznikoff, 1965.
URL:
https://www.worldcat.org/title/testimony-the-united-states-1885-1890-recitative/oclc/1079271632&referer=brief_results
Citation:
Reznikoff, Charles. Testimony: The United States (1891-1900); Recitative. New York: Charles Reznikoff, 1968.
URL:
https://www.worldcat.org/title/testimony-the-united-states-1891-1900-recitative/oclc/49565&referer=brief_results
Citation:
Reznikoff, Charles. The Poems of Charles Reznikoff: 1918-1975. Los Angeles: Black Sparrow Press, 1989.
URL:
https://www.worldcat.org/title/poems-1918-1975-the-complete-poems-of-charles-reznikoff-edited-by-seamus-cooney/oclc/1167716778&referer=brief_results
Citation:
“SGWU To Have Poetry Series”. The Gazette. 14 September 1967, page 15.
URL:
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=np8tAAAAIBAJ&sjid=PKAFAAAAIBAJ&pg=4195,2837932&dq=sir+george+williams+poetry&hl=en
Citation:
“Poetry Readings”. OP-ED. Montreal: Sir George Williams University, 6 October 1967, page 6.
Citation:
“Reznikoff, Charles, 1894-1976”. Literature Online Biography. Cambridge: Chadwyck-Healey, 2000.

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