Title: Behold this Dreamer
Author: Elizabeth Bartlett
Release date: October 30, 2018 [eBook #58207]
Language: English
Credits: Produced by Al Haines, produced from scans provided by Steven Bartlett
BEHOLD THIS DREAMER
Elizabeth Bartlett
Behold This Dreamer was originally published in 1959 by Editorial Jus in Mexico City, and is now out-of-print. The authors literary executor, Steven James Bartlett, has decided to make the book available as an open access publication, freely available to readers through Project Gutenberg under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-NoDerivs license, which allows anyone to distribute this work without changes to its content, provided that both the author and the original URL from which this work was obtained are mentioned, that the contents of this work are not used for commercial purposes or profit, and that this work will not be used without the copyright holder's written permission in derivative works (i.e., you may not alter, transform, or build upon this work without such permission). The full legal statement of this license may be found at:
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode
Behold this Dreamer
By ELIZABETH BARTLETT
BOOKS
poems of yes and no
Behold this Dreamer
POEMS
Accent, American Weave, Approach, Arizona Quarterly, Beloit Poetry Journal, Canadian Forum, Catholic World, Chelsea Review, Coastlines, Commentary, Cresset, Epos, Fiddlehead, Folio, four quarters, Harper's, Harper's Bazaar, Literary Review, Mexican Life, Naked Ear, New Mexico Quarterly, New Poems 2, New Voices 2, N. Y. Herald Tribune, N. Y. Times, Nimrod, Odyssey, Outposts, Personalist, Poetry Chapbook, Prairie Schooner, Quixote, Saturday Review, Shenandoah Review, Southwest Review, Sparrow, Step Ladder, Venture, Views, Western Review, Western Humanities Review, Whetstone, Wisconsin Poetry.
Acknowledgements: Certain of the poems in this collection have appeared in publications listed above.
The title, Behold This Dreamer, is taken from an anthology of that name, in tribute to its author, Walter de la Mare (1873-1956).
Elizabeth Bartlett
Editorial Jus, S. A.
Mexico City
  First Edition
  © 1959 Elizabeth Bartlett
To CHARLOTTE HOWELL REED
CONTENTS
  EYE center of the universe
  Whose pupil is the world
  Teach us to see the light
  Embracing night
Between the sunset and the dawn
  To see the unicorn
  Within that crystal ball
  Of pure recall
Where time is an iris mirror
  A pointillated blur
  Of image and of form
  Caught in its storm
With every moment held inside
  The frame of canvas mind
  Forever captive, stilled,
  Motion fulfilled
Where memory and dream evoke
  The future like a window
  Made of stained glass, one cast
  From the fractured past
As retina and perspective
  For our darkness, the bridge
  Connecting what has been
  With things foreseen
Through your bright lens, illuminate
  The galaxy that waits
  Invisible as trust
  In stars and dust
  WHEN the waters of the sun
  Fall on the flaming sea
When the desert rose is one
  With the snow sipping bee
All that our senses now shun
  Time's alchemy will free
On the coral shores of night
  The ghosts of fish shall wake
And offer incense to the light
  That gives them bread to break
From the singing shells with wings
  An artist's eye shall peer
With violin hands for strings
  And a poet's ear
Then white silence like a nun
  Shall lift her long white sleeves
And shake the treasures she has spun
  From dreams whose thread she weaves
From the surf of mountain caves
  A billion stars shall gush
And whirl on the windward waves
  Through the darkened hush
In the valley of moon trees
  The glowing fruit shall sway
And rise by twos and threes
  Above the cradled day
On the jungle's peaceful floor
  Lion and deer shall meet
A crucifix made of ore
  Between their kneeling feet
All of this and more shall be
  Within that shining net
When time redeems mortality
  From its mortal debt
Then magnet age shall point its north
  Towards youth's eternal pole
That alpha star in the fourth
  Dimension of the soul
Where love curves back in heartspace
  Within its chrysalis
And gravitates the imaged face
  Of the all creating this
From the light years of the past
  The undeflected force
Shall bind the future fast
  To God's own source
As cause and word unending
  Repeat the rhythmic plan
Of universe transcending
  Man's origin as man
  WHERE fireflies are stars
  And the evening sky a sea,
  There you will find me, far
  From the leveling demands
  That leveled you and me.
When distant mountains bend
  Like deep swells toward the shore,
  Then you will see the ends
  For which I built my dikes
  Against the lowly roar.
Though breath was all I owned
  To force my heart to climb,
  Though words were all the stones
  I had to seal my mind,
  You will know why, in time.
  THERE will never be another,
  That day was forever.
We dove through tropic noon
  Into a green sky.  The palms stood
  Quiet, still, their fronds
  Like swollen waves about
  To break, transparent, lime limned
  And streaked from base to rim
  With icy light.
Lungs gilled and arms finned wide,
  We slipped into the pale
  Of that dry sea, following downrays
  Until we reached the cool
  Of silence, a sandpaved lagoon
  Upholding its weight of time
  Under trees that climbed.
Perched on a log, we scanned
  The currents, the drifting shaft
  Of shadows, instinctively alert
  To armadillo's crawl, the stir
  Of something red,
  The eye of an iguana met...
  Ourselves.  Perceiving
We were not alone in breathing,
  Being witness,
  As well as evidence
  In that primal air,
  How all of us shared
  In the serene of a sunless glow
  Which waterless flowed.
Gently, we moved along a path
  That opened as we passed,
  Whispering our affirmations
  To those secret ones
  Who flickered and flashed,
  Carrying our echoes back
  From near, then far, far off.
And slowly, the silence arced,
  Leaped high—and broke,
  With parrots in the undertow
  As the waves rolled over
  And the green tide flooded
  The forest floor, whirling,
  Swirling a world set free.
Now all of us were cells
  In a chemistry of shells
  Older than snails,
  Plankton or sunbaked clay,
  Fellow creatures in an afternoon
  As joyous as a long lost tune
  About to be remembered.
Oh all of us there
  In that drenched, tropic green
  Began to sing and sing,
  Shedding our ties
  With root and rock and sky,
  As we found our song
  In our living bond.
Pod and leaf, mouth and beak,
  Whatever lived and breathed
  That sudden afternoon,
  Sang wonder through the woods,
  As we heard and discovered
  Each in the other
  Without a word.
Until a metallic bird,
  On roaring wings,
  Crashed our song beneath
  The hammered surf,
  As it thundered,
  Like lightning in a storm,
  Fearfully born.
Then all of us
  Grew motionless
  In the sculptured undersea
  Of silenced green,
  Knowing, as we did again,
  The thing forbidden and forgotten
  In a world of men.
There will never be another,
  That day was forever.
  DROP by drop
  The earth is born
  A billion years
  From dark to dawn
Drop by drop
  As rivers flow
  Past sunless cliffs
  No wind has known
Where no grass blows
  And no birds sing
  There time drips slow
  And patient clings
Drop by drop
  Till waterfalls
  Are turned to stone
Here new stars form
  And mountains rise
  Clear of the storms
  That twist the sky
Drop by drop
  While caverns tall
  Carve crystal bones
What dream lies walled
  Within this night
  What shape shall crawl
  Up to the light
Drop by drop
  As silence grows
  Inside its vault
  Of carbon snow
When glaciers halt
  Before no zones
  When both the poles
  At last are one
Drop by drop
  The dawn shall come
  A billion years
  From cave to sun
  HE who would climb the heights of tone
  And scale the peaks beyond the listening ear,
  Must first walk over water
  And learn to stand on air, alone.
He who would swim the waves of light
  And dive past shores into a sunless glow,
  Must first merge with his shadow
  And melt through solid glass, like night.
Where eyes are fins and sound is leap,
  The rhythmic force performs its own ballet;
  When dreams are fired in clay,
  They burn a path through timeless sleep.
  WHO has not looked into the heart of night
      and seen the darker light,
      concealed like spectral stars
      beyond the rim of Mars,
Who has not listened to the sound of mind
      and heard the silence wind,
      like rivers underground
      out to a sea profound,
      has only eyes and ears.
Who has not reached above the clouded span
      and touched the cosmic plan,
      upheld like spider's climb
      upon the spokes of time,
Who has not followed the labyrinthine thread
      And crushed the monstrous dread,
      that other men may gleam
      the glory of the dream,
      has only hands and feet.
Who has not lived within his hour of space
      and etched it with his face,
      as portrait of the sun
      reflects the solar one,
      is only shape and dust.
  I RACED, I rushed, I ran,
  to catch the empty hand of time—
  Before the wind, the blowing wind,
  This breathless gift.
I willed, I worked, I wept,
  To melt the frozen face of time—
  Before the sun, the burning sun,
  This frenzied bone.
I drank, I danced, I dared,
  To tempt the stony foot of time—
  Before the rain, the driving rain,
  This raptured flame.
I leaped, I laughed, I loved,
  To ease the burdened heart of time—
  Before the dust, the settling dust,
  This flesh and blood.
  OUT of the white and the blue
  Out of the mist and the ice
  Out of the wind and the flame
  The creature came.
With eyes as brilliant as the light
  With ears as lucid as the sound
  With feet as sudden as the thought
  The creature caught
A breath from the yawning sky
  A drop from the nodding sea
  A root from the sleeping earth
  And from their birth
Measured the length of the seasons
  Balanced the rhythm of the tides
  Secured the growing of the seed
  And woke the need
Of the dream inside the egg
  Of the thirst within the cell
  Of the shape beneath the bone
  Then took a stone
And breaking the silent void
  And loosing the swollen stream
  And cutting the golden thread
  The creature said:
Here on this dot of bounded space
  Here in this point of moving time
  Here with this seal of life and death
  I fix my breath
That all the works of my hands
  That all the passions of my heart
  That all the wonders of my brain
  Shall here remain.
I, Gilgamesh, Rama, Adam
  I, Phoenician, Saxon, Mayan
  I, Peasant, Leader, Architect
  By this reject
Perpetual day or night
  Everlasting rain or drought
  Eternal struggle or peace
  Until words cease
Between infinite men and gods
  Between partisan young and old
  Between ultimate right and wrong
  For each is strong.
Let calendar be as record
  Let monument be as witness
  Let history here determine
  Which shall win.
Then the sky hurled its lightning
  Then the sea roared its thunder
  Then the earth reared its fire
  To show their ire
At the vanity of the ego
  At the rashness of the sower
  At the folly of the dreamer
  And redeemer
Who would thus destroy the sun
  Who would thus defy the flood
  Who would thus pollute the air
  And showed him there
The blinding vision of the truth
  The deafening echoes of the damned
  The crashing madness of the plan
  That he began.
And when he saw the faces
  And when he heard the weeping
  And when he knew the sickness
  That men possess
As mortal children of ambition
  As transient strangers of desire
  As fatal victims of perfection
  Released by none
From the essence of the grape
  From the music of the reed
  From the incense of the bowl
  The creature stole
The power of forgetfulness
  The illusion of contentment
  The promise of exaltation
  Making them one
That the lost and unfulfilled
  That the laughter and the pain
  That the glory and defeat
  Be complete
Seeing how frail is the candle
  Hearing how brief is the song
  Knowing how soon is the temple
  Darkened and still.
Then slipped the root from his feet
  Then poured the sound from his ears
  Then blew the light from his eyes
  And went more wise
Into the white and the blue
  Into the mist and the ice
  Into the wind and the flame
  The way he came.
[Editorial note: The author's literary executor discovered in Elizabeth Bartlett's personal autographed hardbound copy of Behold This Dreamer her own marginal notations relating to the next-to-the-last stanza of the above poem, accompanied by her confirming handwritten revision of that stanza. The stanza as printed here incorporates her revision.]
Behold This Dreamer
  is a signed, limited edition
  designed by the author
  on Corsican rag paper
  in Baskerville type
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Elizabeth Bartlett (1911-1994) was an American poet and writer noted for her lyrical and symbolic poetry, creation of the new twelve-tone form of poetry, founder of the international non-profit organization Literary Olympics, Inc., and known as an author of fiction, essays, reviews, translations, and as an editor. She is not to be confused with the British poet (1924-2008) of the same name. For more detailed information about her life, work, and critical commendations, see the Wikipedia article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Bartlett_%28American_poet%29 .
Bartletts most notable achievements include:
• Creation of a new form of poetry, "the twelve-tone poem," adapting Arnold Schonbergs musical system to the verbal, accented sounds of language. Called "the Emily Dickinson of the 20th Century," her concise lyrics have been praised by poets, musicians, and composers alike.
• Publication of 16 books of poetry, a group of edited anthologies, and more than 1,000 poems, short stories, and essays published, for example, in Harpers, Virginia Quarterly, New York Times, North American Review, Saturday Review, Prairie Schooner, and in numerous international collections.
• Recipient of many fellowships, grants and awards, including NEA, PEN Syndicate, fellowships at the Huntington Hartford Foundation, Montalvo, Yaddo, MacDowell, Dorland Mt. Colony and Ragdale, travel grants, and honors for introducing literature as part of the Olympics.
• Founder of the Literary Olympics, to restore literature, specifically poetry, as a vital part of the Olympics as it once had been in ancient Greece.
Bartletts poetry came to the attention of leading poets, writers, and critics as diverse as Marianne Moore, Wallace Stevens, Mark Van Doren, Conrad Aiken, Allen Tate, Alfred Kreymborg, Robert Hillyer, Louis Untermeyer, Rolfe Humphries, John Ciardi, Richard Eberhart, Richard Wilbur, Maxine Kumin, Robert M. Hutchins, Kenneth Rexroth, William Stafford, and others. Over the years, Bartlett maintained an active and extensive correspondence with eminent poets, writers, and literary critics; evident throughout this collected literary correspondence are strong statements attesting to the importance of her work.
Behold This Dreamer was published in Mexico City in 1959. By 1961, Jonathan Williams wrote of the book: "Your language is cultivated, employed consistently and lucidly. To my observation, it seems fair to say that you belong with the best of your generation, which I would say includes May Swenson, Denise Levertov, Garrigue, et al." Louis Untermeyer added his voice: "I particularly like your fusion of observation and whimsicality, as well as your avoidance of the poetic stereotypes." Rolfe Humphries was intrigued by Bartletts poetic techniques: "I enjoyed your poems and admire many...." About Behold This Dreamer, Gustav Davidson wrote: "I enjoyed reading these poems. I was impressed by their precision, clarity, and technical competence." About the same work, critic Paul Jordan-Smith wrote: "Your poems were begotten of a strong, imaginative sense. My congratulations on this beautiful collection."
Elizabeth Bartlett's husband, Paul Alexander Bartlett (19091990) was an American writer, artist, and poet. He made a large-scale study of more than 350 Mexican haciendas, published novels, short stories, and poetry, and worked as a fine artist in a variety of media. For more detailed information about his life and work, see the Wikipedia article https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Alexander_Bartlett .
Elizabeth Bartletts son, Steven James Bartlett (1945 ), is a psychologist and philosopher who has published many books and articles in the fields of philosophy and psychology. For more detailed information about his life and work, see the Wikipedia article https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_James_Bartlett .