The Domestic Stones (fragment)
Jean Arp 1886 (Hans Peter Wilhelm Arp Straßburg, Alsace-Lorraine) – 1966 (Basel, Canton of Basel-Stadt)
(Translated from the French by David Gascoyne)
The feet of morning the feet of noon and the feet of evening
walk ceaselessly round pickled buttocks
on the other hand the feet of midnight remain motionless
in their echo-woven baskets
consequently the lion is a diamond
on the sofas made of bread
are seated the dressed and the undressed
the undressed hold leaden swallows between their toes
the dressed hold leaden nests between their fingers
at all hours the undressed get dressed again
and the dressed get undressed
and exchange the leaden swallows for the leaden nests
consequently the tail is an umbrella
a mouth opens within another mouth
and within this mouth another mouth
and within this mouth another mouth
and so on without end
it is a sad perspective
which adds an I-don't-know-what
to another I-don't-know-what
consequently the grasshopper is a column
the pianos with heads and tails
place pianos with heads and tails
on their heads and their tails
consequently the tongue is a chair
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 18, 2023
- 51 sec read
- 57 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | a xxxx x xbxxabx x cCCxxdd a eee x |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 977 |
Words | 169 |
Stanzas | 9 |
Stanza Lengths | 1, 4, 1, 7, 1, 7, 1, 3, 1 |
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"The Domestic Stones (fragment)" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 13 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/21294/the-domestic-stones-(fragment)>.
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