Authors: Lorine Niedecker
stanza 11, line 5 is deleted.
stanza 12, line 1: The Christian cacophony
The present text does not reflect LZ's “re-working.”
NEXT YEAR OR I FLY MY ROUNDS TEMPESTUOUS
Unpublished.
Dated by LZ “Xmas 1934” (found by the editor in the LZ Collection, HRHRC, Austin, Texas in 1996). Handwritten on small pieces of paper pasted over the printed text of a bi-weekly calendar, 27 sheets long; each sheet is 5½ × 4
3/8
inches. The calendar's original text is only just legible bearing platitudes such as “True bravery is/shown by performing/without witness what/ one might be capable/ of doing before all the/world” (Jan. 13-26).
DOMESTIC AND UNAVOIDABLE
Unpublished in book form.
Undated MS.
Published—with minor revisions to the stage or camera directions—in
Bozart-Westminster
(Spring/Summer 1935): 27-28. These revisions may have been made by Jerry Reisman. Early in 1935, LZ had sent Pound a copy of Reisman's short scenario of LN's “
DOMESTIC AND UNAVOIDABLE.
” Many years later, Reisman recalled, “Actually I did nothing to LN's play. I simply added instructions for a cameraman. Lorine's plays struck me as being conceived for the screen rather than the stage” (letter to editor, April 5, 1989).
The present text is drawn from
Bozart-Westminster.
THE PRESIDENT OF THE HOLDING COMPANY
and
FANCY ANOTHER DAY GONE
Unpublished in book form.
Published together and titled
“TWO POEMS”
in
New Democracy
(May 1936): 60-62, in a section called “New Directions” edited by James Laughlin.
Published together in
New Directions
1 (1936): n.p.
No MSS or printer's typescripts survive. In both appearances of “
FANCY
…” the first two speakers are “
HE
“. I take this to be a printing error and change the first speaker to “
SHE
”.
News
Unpublished.
Undated MS. Speculatively dated early 1936: lines 64-65 “over and down Payroll Hill/fashions mornings after” are adapted in “My coat threadbare” (see p. 95) published in 1936.
MS annotations are addressed to Zukofsky: “I first had as first line
Your
wit, the lover said. Maybe
To Wit:
shd be title and leave out the lover said since I'm no longer in depression [] (Zu)” And referring to the last line or lines, she says, “might leave out but (…) feeling of wings, wingjabs.”
1936-1945
This is the period of LN's folk project. Of the total 88 folk poems, 70 were grouped in two collections—41 in the published volume
New Goose
(Prairie City, Ill.: The Press of James A. Decker, 1946) and 29 in the unpublished manuscript also titled “
NEW GOOSE.
” The two collections are preceded here by 16 uncollected poems which appeared in two earlier overlapping sequences: a 13-poem undated “
MOTHER GOOSE
” MS, very likely one that LN submitted unsuccessfully to
Poetry
on Feb. 25, 1936, and a 17-poem “
MOTHER GEESE
” selection published in
New Directions
1 (1936): n.p.
These 16 poems do not yet register the local speech habits or the local history that enter her work once she starts research for the WPA's Wisconsin state guide in 1938.
O let's glee glow as we go Unpublished in book form.
In the 13-poem
“MOTHER GOOSE”
MS probably sent to
Poetry
on Feb. 25, 1936.
In the 17-poem group, “
MOTHER GEESE,
”
New Directions
1 (1936): n.p.
Troubles to win Unpublished in book form.
In the 13-poem “
MOTHER GOOSE
” MS probably sent to
Poetry
on Feb. 25, 1936.
A country's economics sick Unpublished in book form.
In the 13-poem “
MOTHER GOOSE
” MS probably sent to
Poetry
on Feb. 25, 1936.
Lady in the Leopard Coat
Unpublished in book form.
In the 13-poem “
MOTHER GOOSE
” MS probably sent to
Poetry
on Feb. 25, 1936.
In the 17-poem group, “
MOTHER GEESE,
”
New Directions
1 (1936): n.p.
Jim Poor's his name Unpublished in book form.
In the 13-poem “
MOTHER GOOSE
” MS probably sent to
Poetry
on Feb. 25, 1936.
Scuttle up the workshop, Unpublished in book form.
In the 13-poem “
MOTHER GOOSE
” MS probably sent to
Poetry
on Feb. 25, 1936.
In the 17-poem group, “
MOTHER GEESE,
”
New Directions
1 (1936): n.p.
There was a bridge once that said I'm going Unpublished in book form.
In the 13-poem “
MOTHER GOOSE
” MS probably sent to
Poetry
on Feb. 25, 1936.
When do we live again Ann, Unpublished in book form.
In the 13-poem “
MOTHER GOOSE
” MS probably sent to
Poetry
on Feb. 25, 1936.
Missus Dorra Unpublished in book form.
In the 13-poem “
MOTHER GOOSE
” MS probably sent to
Poetry
on Feb. 25, 1936.
In the 17-poem group, “
MOTHER GEESE,
”
New Directions
1 (1936): n.p.
No retiring summer stroke Unpublished in book form.
In the 13-poem “
MOTHER GOOSE
” MS probably sent to
Poetry
on Feb. 25, 1936.
To war they kept Unpublished in book form.
In the 17-poem group, “
MOTHER GEESE,
”
New Directions
1 (1936): n.p.
Petrou his name was sorrow Unpublished in book form.
In the 17-poem group, “
MOTHER GEESE,
”
New Directions
1 (1936): n.p.
The eleventh of progressional Unpublished in book form.
In the 17-poem group, “
MOTHER GEESE,
”
New Directions
1 (1936): n.p.
Young girl to marry, Unpublished in book form.
In the 17-poem group, “
MOTHER GEESE,
”
New Directions
1 (1936): n.p.
I spent my money Unpublished in book form.
In the 17-poem group, “
MOTHER GEESE,
”
New Directions
1 (1936): n.p.
Trees over the roof Unpublished in book form.
In the 17-poem group, “
MOTHER GEESE,
”
New Directions
1 (1936): n.p.
NEW GOOSE
The completed typescript of
New Goose
went to the Press of James A. Decker in Sept. 1944, and was published in March 1946, a small book 4½ × 6 inches.
Don't shoot the rail!
NG, MFT, T&G, MLBW
[EA].
MFT
variant line 4: he is falling asleep.
Bombings NG, T&G, MLBW.
Hop press NG.
Ash woods, willow, close to shore,
NG, T&G, MLBW
[EA].
NG
variant line 7: the wornout roof hanging there
LN regretted that this poem was excluded from
MFT.
EA variant line 1: Ash woods, willows close to shore
An undated letter (probably late 1930s) from LZ to LN letter finds signs of Thomas Hardy in the poem, especially in the inversions of speech for rhyme. He praises the movement of the poem, particularly “now twitter.”
The music, lady,
NG.
Titled
“Fascist Festival”
in the 13-poem “
MOTHER GOOSE
” MS (probably sent to
Poetry
on Feb. 25, 1936) and in the 17-poem group, “
MOTHER GEESE,
”
New Directions
1 (1936): n.p.
For sun and moon and radio
NG.
In the 17-poem group, “
MOTHER GEESE,
”
New Directions
1 (1936): n.p., as a two-stanza poem, beginning with the following stanza:
In speaking spokes the mighty
come down from welding wires
to light up the farmers
with electricity.
She had tumult of the brain
NG, T&G, MLBW
[EA, VV].
In the 13-poem “
MOTHER GOOSE
” MS probably sent to
Poetry
on Feb. 25, 1936.
In the 17-poem group, “
MOTHER GEESE,
”
New Directions
1 (1936): n.p.
My coat threadbare
NG, T&G, MLBW.
In the 17-poem group, “
MOTHER GEESE,
”
New Directions
1 (1936): n.p. Possibly derived from the longer, unpublished, undated poem
“News,”
speculatively dated 1936 (see p. 79). The spelling “Capital” occurs in all appearances of the poem.
Mr. Van Ess bought 14 washcloths.?
NG, T&G, MLBW.
In
NG
the “14” of line 1 is “fourteen” and “church” of line 4 is “Methodist Church”.
Revised to the present text for
T&G
and
Origin
ser. 3, 2 (July 1966): 5.
Not feeling well, my wood uncut.
NG, MFT, T&G, MLBW
[EA].
Remember my little granite pail?
NG, MFT, T&G, MLBW
[EA].
In
NG
and
MFT
line 3 ends with an exclamation point.
A lawnmower's one of the babies I'd have
NG.
My man says the wind blows from the south,
NG, MFT, T&G, MLBW
[EA,VV].
An undated letter from LZ to LN has high praise for this poem, seeing it as quintessential Niedecker.
Du Bay NG.
I'm a sharecropper
NG, MFT, T&G, MLBW.
Here it gives the laws for fishing thru the ice—
NG.
On Columbus Day he set out for the north
NG.
Black Hawk held: In reason
NG, MFT, T&G, MLBW
[EA].
LN's notes on
Life of Black Hawk
edited by J.B. Patterson are dated May 28, 1941 (HRHRC).
We know him—Law and Order League—
NG, T&G, MLBW.
In
Furioso: A Magazine of Verse
1.1 (Summer 1939): 5, with “A working man appeared in the street,” under the title of “
TWO POEMS FROM ‘NEW GOOSE.’
“
An undated letter from LZ to LN reports that his friends are crazy about this poem.
The clothesline post is set
NG, MFT, T&G, MLBW
[EA].
I said to my head, Write something.
NG.
Grampa's got his old age pension,
NG, T&G, MLBW.
NG
omits dollar sign in line 2.
LN ignores LZ's suggested revision of the final line: you can have everything I got.
There's a better shine
NG, MFT, T&G, MLBW
[EA].
In the 13-poem “
MOTHER GOOSE
” MS (probably sent to
Poetry
on Feb. 25, 1936) and in the 17-poem group, “
MOTHER GEESE,
”
New Directions
1 (1936) n.p., the poem has a variant line 4: and many's the time.
Revised to the present text for LZ's
A Test of Poetry
(New York: Objectivist Press, 1948).
MLBW
uses only three bullets between lines 4 and 5; the present text adopts the four used in all other appearances.
The museum man!
NG, T&G, MLBW
[EA].
Line 2 in
MLBW:
I wish he'd take Pa's spitbox!
The present text adopts the line 2 used in all other appearances including
Origin
ser. 3, 2 (July 1966): 5.
An undated letter from LZ to LN notes that she's right to spend half her time copying and editing her mother's statements. He says that the spitbox lines make a perfect poem and he envies the gold mine of poetry that LN has available to her.
LN to Ron Ellis in 1966 refers to this poem: “My mother who was a kind of Mother Goose, straight out of the people etc. told me this just as it is. You see at this time—1930s—there was this rage to get poetry into direct, simple speech…” (
LN:W&P
94).
That woman!—eyeing houses.
NG, T&G, MLBW
[EA].
Hand Crocheted Rug NG.
They came at a pace
NG.
I doubt I'll get silk stockings out
NG.
To see the man who took care of our stock
NG, T&G, MLBW
[EA].
NG
line 2: As we slept in the dark, blackbirds flying
Revised to the present text for
T&G
and
Origin
ser. 3, 2 (July 1966): 6.
Letter to Ron Ellis in 1966 refers to this poem: “This one not understood by most—it was a depression poem and those years were not over yet when I made my 1st visit to NY whose streets frightened me as much as not having money” (
LN:W&P
95).
A monster owl
NG.
An early version can be reconstructed from LZ's letter to LN, March 9, 1938:
A monster owl
out on the fence
flew away. Now
what's it the sign
of. The sign of
an owl I guess.
LN adopts LZ's revisions for
NG.
Gen. Rodimstev's story/(Stalingrad) NG, T&G, MLBW.
Birds' mating-fight
NG, MLBW.
From my bed I see
NG.
Asa Gray wrote Increase Lapham:
NG, T&G, MLBW.
According to LN's letter to LZ, July 11, 1961, she planned to use the following revision for
MFT:
Great grass! The shoots Michaux
brought back to Philadelphia
by way of Bartram and known to Linné
bear Jefferson's name.