Six Significant Landscapes

Harmonium (1923)

IAn old man sitsIn the shadow of a pine treeIn China.He sees larkspur,Blue and white,At the edge of the shadow,Move in the wind.His beard moves in the wind.The pine tree moves in the wind.Thus water flowsOver weeds.

IIThe night is of the colourOf a woman’s arm:Night, the female,Obscure,Fragrant and supple,Conceals herself.A pool shines,Like a braceletShaken in a dance.

IIII measure myselfAgainst a tall tree.I find that I am much taller,For I reach right up to the sun,With my eye;And I reach to the shore of the seaWith my ear.Nevertheless, I dislikeThe way ants crawlIn and out of my shadow.

IVWhen my dream was near the moon,The white folds of its gownFilled with yellow light.The soles of its feetGrew red.Its hair filledWith certain blue crystallizationsFrom stars,Not far off.

VNot all the knives of the lamp-posts,Nor the chisels of the long streets,Nor the mallets of the domesAnd high towers,Can carveWhat one star can carve,Shining through the grape-leaves.

VIRationalists, wearing square hats,Think, in square rooms,Looking at the floor,Looking at the ceiling.They confine themselvesTo right-angled triangles.If they tried rhomboids,Cones, waving lines, ellipses —As, for example, the ellipse of the half-moon —Rationalists would wear sombreros.

“Six Significant Landscapes” From Harmonium (1923)