Collected Poems Anthony Burgess (best pdf reader for ebooks txt) 📖

38. Holy King David. Previously unpublished variant. Same order as the version published in ABBA ABBA. Was published as ‘David 2’. ‘He spoke with God, he much preferred the bar-p-/Arlour’ was originally intended as ‘And that, off duty, he much preferred the bar-p-/(Hic) Arlour’. See ABBA ABBA, p. 110.

39. The Judgment of Solomon. Unpublished variant. Published as ‘Wisdom’ in ABBA ABBA, p. 111.

40. The Fair Judith. Unpublished variant. Same order as the version published as ‘Judith’ in ABBA ABBA, p. 111, with variant indentation.

41. Guessing Game. Unpublished variant. Same order as the version published in ABBA ABBA. Was published as ‘Susannah’ with slight differences in punctuation in the last six lines, and the ‘Ach’ substituted for ‘Aaaargh’. See ABBA ABBA, p. 112.

42. Belshazzar’s Feast. Previously unpublished variant. Same title and order as the version published in ABBA ABBA, p. 112.

43. The Eighth of December. Unpublished variant. Same title (as ‘Dec. 8’) and order as the version published in ABBA ABBA. Burgess substituted the original ‘Absquatulate’ for ‘Evacuate’. The MS here has a short a sequence of 13 sonnets that were originally selected for inclusion into Playboy, which then carry on in the correct sequence from 44 onwards. Each page in the ‘Playboy’ selection is simply marked ‘Playboy’ at the bottom of each presumed photocopy MS. Burgess evidently intended the following sonnets for publication in Playboy, and presumably in this order: ‘27. Joseph the Jew (II)’; ‘7. All About Eve’; ‘8. A Reply’; ‘11. The First Clothes’; ‘12. The State of Innocence’; ‘13. The State of Innocence’, and; ‘24. Joseph the Jew (I)’. See ABBA ABBA, p. 113.

44. The Annunciation. Unpublished variant. Same title (as ‘Annunciation’) and order as the version published in ABBA ABBA. In the first line, ‘day’ was inserted by hands, the ‘even the year’ was originally written as ‘you even know the year’. Line five (deleted and corrected by hand) originally read: ‘He crashed a window like a well-aimed spear’. The last two lines were subject to substantial redrafts, and were originally written as:

‘A hen?’ she blushed, ‘for I know nothing of –’

Gabriel nodded, knowing that she meant cocks.

Line thirteen has a corresponding handwritten note, which reads ‘A hen, they say, if she knew nothing of (so leer the blasphemous facetious) cocks.’ See ABBA ABBA, p. 113.

45. The Madonna’s Marriage. Previously unpublished variant. Same order as the version published in ABBA ABBA. Was published as ‘Enter Joseph’. In line 12, the word ‘dribbler’ was substituted for the original ‘fellow.’ See ABBA ABBA, p. 114.

46. The Visit. Previously unpublished variant. Same title, order, and wording as the version published in ABBA ABBA. See ABBA ABBA, p. 115.

47. Epiphany. Previously unpublished variant. Eventually published in ABBA ABBA as ‘The Magi’. Minor handwritten corrections were added by Burgess: ‘painted’ was originally ‘rainbow’; ‘with their caravan’ was originally ‘in their caravan’, and ‘it seems’ was originally ‘alas’. See ABBA ABBA, p. 115.

48. The Circumcision. Previously unpublished variant. Same title (as ‘Circumcision’), order, and wording as the version published in ABBA ABBA. Line six was eventually published as ‘The Jewish law, so look the Lord of Earth’, but no pen corrections were made to this effect on the original MS. See ABBA ABBA, p. 115.

49. Christ’s Foreskin. Previously unpublished variant. Same order and wording as the version published in ABBA ABBA. Eventually published as ‘The Living Prepuce’. The MS was originally typed with following order in the second stanza:

You look incredulous, my friend. But know

That faith, though buffeted, must never fail.

In eighty other Christian lands they show

This self-same prize for reverent eyes to hail.

Arrows are drawn on by Burgess that indicate the final change in order. Another heavily hand-corrected variant in included elsewhere in the MS, as follows:

The sacred relic that had long been hid,

Preserved in camphor, pickled or else iced

So previous that its worth could not be priced,

At last we saw. His Holiness undid

The holy lock, then raised the holy lid –

Behold, the foreskin of our saviour Christ,

Shimplike in shape, most elegantly sliced,

To profane eyes, exhibited.

You look incredulous. I know, I know –

But faith, though fiercely tried, should never fail.

In eighty other Christian lands they show

This self-same prize for reverent eyes to hail.

His heavenly father must have made it grow,

When was stripped out just like a fingernail.

See ABBA ABBA, p. 116.

50. The Flight of the Holy Family. Previously unpublished variant. Same order and wording as the version published in ABBA ABBA. Later published as ‘The Slaughter of the Innocents 1’. See ABBA ABBA, p. 116.

51. The Slaughter of the Innocents. Previously unpublished variant. Same order and wording as the version published in ABBA ABBA. Later published as ‘The Slaughter of the Inncents II’. Lines nine and ten were originally intended as: ‘Christ, as I said, was halfway to the delta / So did not smell the filthy bloody water.’ See ABBA ABBA, p. 117.

52. Original Sin. Previously unpublished variant. Same order and wording as the version published in ABBA ABBA. Later published as ‘Baptism’. Line ten was originally intended as: ‘As staunch a Jew as any on the earth.’ See ABBA ABBA, p. 117.

53. The Wedding at Cana (1). Previously unpublished variant. Same order and wording as the version published in ABBA ABBA. Originally titled using Roman numerals with no brackets. Has been altered for the purposes of consistency. See ABBA ABBA, p. 118.

54. The Wedding at Cana (2). Previously unpublished variant. Same order and wording as the version published in ABBA ABBA. ‘Teeth’ was originally intended as ‘pegs’. Originally titled using Roman numerals with no brackets. Has been altered for the purposes of consistency. See ABBA ABBA, p. 118.

55. The Wedding at Cana (3). Previously unpublished variant text. Same order and wording as the version published in ABBA ABBA. ‘Rhapsody’ was originally intended as ‘symphony’. Originally titled using Roman numerals with no brackets. Has been altered for the purposes of consistency. See ABBA ABBA, p. 119.

56. The House of God. Previously unpublished variant. Same order and wording as the version published in ABBA ABBA, as