On the Verbal Art of William Blake and Other Poet-Painters

Author(s): Roman Jakobson

Reviewed work(s):
Source: Linguistic Inquiry, Vol. 1, No. 1 (Jan., 1970), pp. 3-23
Published by: The MIT Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4177527 .
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Roman
Jakobson
On the Verbal Art
of W i lli am B lake
and Other Poet-Pai nters
To Meyer Schapi ro
I One of the Songs of Experi ence
Not a li ne i s d rawn wi thout i ntenti on ...
as Poetry ad mi ts not a Letter that i s
Insi gni f i cant so Pai nti ng ad mi ts not a
Grai n of Sand or a B lad e of Grass
Insi gni f i cant much less an Insi gni f i cant
B lur or Mark.
W . B lake, "A Vi si on of the Last Jud gment."
INFANT SORROW
,My
mother groand ! my f ather wept.
2Into the d angerous world I leapt:
3Helpless, naked , pi pi ng loud :
4Li ke a f i end hi d i n a cloud .
5Struggli ng i n my f athers hand s:
6Stri vi ng agai nst my swad li ng band s:
7B ound
and
weary
I
thought best
8 To sulk
upon my mothers breast.
The spelli ng and punctuati on of these li nes stri ctly f ollow the text whi ch was engraved
by W i lli am B lake (see i llustrati on I) i n hi s Songs of Experi ence
(I794)
and whi ch i s
enti rely uni f orm both i n all the early copi es owned by the Houghton and W i d ener
Memori al Li brari es of Harvard Uni versi ty and i n the f acsi mi le ed i ti on of the Songs
of Innocence and of Experi ence publi shed by Tri anon Press i n Lond on and B eccles (s.a.).
The two quatrai ns of the poem are d i vi d ed i nto f our clear-cut couplets. In par-
ti cular, the two li nes of each couplet are bound by a ri me, and the od d couplets of the
poem d i f f er f rom the even ones i n the structure of thei r ri mes. B oth ri mi ng word s of
any od d couplet belong to the same morphologi cal category, end wi th the i d enti cal
consonantal i nf lecti onal suf f i x, and are d evoi d of agreement i n thei r prevocali c
phonemes:
lwep-t:
2leap-t, 5hand -s: 6band -s. The si mi lar f ormal makeup of the two
od d ri mes und erscores the d i vergent semanti c ori entati on of the two quatrai ns, vi z.
the conceptual contrast between the i naugural preteri ts and the i nani mates loomi ng
Copyri ght
?
1970 by Roman Jakobson.
4 ROMAN JAKOB SON
over the second quatrai n whi ch are, nota bene, the sole plurals of the poem. The gram-
mati cal ri me i s combi ned wi th a d eep paralleli sm of the ri mi ng li nes. The thi rd
couplet consi sts of two stri ctly symmetri cal clauses: 5Struggli ng i n my f athers hand s:
6Stri vi ng agai nst my swad li ng band s. In the f i rst couplet two coord i nate clauses of the
i ni ti al li ne, the only parallel hemi sti chs wi thi n the
poem-,My
mother groand ! myf ather
......
,
.. ... "..
Y
* ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~. . . . .. X.. .. __
.....S
.
. -..E -
.....
*. tb zt 2 + A~~~~~~~~~~~~~~X.n [
. W i lli am B lake
Songs
of
Experi ence
wept-f i nd
thei r
response
i n the thi rd coord i nate clause:
21 leapt.
In contrad i sti ncti on
to the od d
couplets,
the even ni nes conf ront
grammati cally
d i ssi mi lar
word s; namely,
i n both cases an
ad jecti val
ad junct ni nes wi th an i nani mate noun. The enti re
phoneti c
makeup
of the f ormer word
appears
to be i nclud ed i n the second member of the
ri mi ng pai r: 3loud : 4cloud , 7best:
cbreast.
Thus,
the even
ni nes, nongrammati cal by themselves,
are
patently grammati cal
i n thei r
juxtaposi ti on.
In
parti cular,
they
assert the
ki nshi p
of two termi nal
i mages-
T HE VERB AL ARTr OF POET-PAINTERS
4a cloud as a metaphor of placenta and 8breast-two successi ve li nks between the i nf ant
and hi s mother.
The ei ght li nes of the poem bui ld an array of close and telli ng grammati cal cor-
respond ences. The f our couplets of the octasti ch are d i vi d ed i nto two pai rs i n three
d i f f erent ways si mi lar to the three types of ri mes wi thi n a quatrai n. B oth successi ve
pai rs of couplets-two anteri or couplets (I-IH) of the f i rst quatrai n (li nes
I-4)
and
two
posteri or
couplets (III-IV) of the second quatrai n (li nes 5-8) are comparable to
the two "pai red " (or "plai n") ri mes aabb wi thi n a quatrai n. The relati on between the
two od d couplets (I, III: li nes 1-2 and
5-6)
and the two even couplets (II, IV: li nes
3-4 and 7-8) i s analogous to the "alternate" ri mes abab. Fi nally, the contraposi ti on
of the outer couplets (I, IV: li nes I-2, 7-8) and the i nner couplets (II, III: li nes 3-6) i s
tantamount to the "embraci ng" ri mes abba. These three types of grammati cal cor-
respond ences are d i sti nctly i nterconnected i n "Inf ant Sorrow". An i someri sm, i .e.,
an equal number of equi valent components, und erli es the correlati on of the couplets
and presents two si gni f i cant vari eti es. A global symmetry equati ng both couplets of
one class wi th both couplets of the opposi te class, namely I + II = III + IV or
I + III =
II + IV or I + IV = II + III, d i f f ers f rom a secti onal symmetry whi ch
bui ld s an equati on between the couplets wi thi n each of the two opposi te classes,
namely I
= III and II
=
IV or I =
IV and II =
III.
Here i n each i nstance of global symmetry between the anteri or and posteri or
couplets, one of the two f urther correspond ences-outer/i nner or od d /even-i s also
global and supports the equi li bri um of the quatrai ns: i t assi gns the same total number
of si mi lar grammati cal uni ts to the two pai rs of opposi tes (i .e., to the enti re pai rs of od d
and even or of outer and i nner couplets), whereas the other d i splays a secti onal sym-
metry and assi gns a li ke number of si mi lar grammati cal enti ti es to both couplets of
one and the same pai r.
In ad d i ti on to the lead i ng constructi ve role assumed by the enti re couplets, the
autonomous part played by the si ngle li nes wi thi n the quatrai n must also be taken i nto
account. Thus, the two outer, margi nal li nes of each quatrai n and also of the whole
octasti ch appear to present parti cular correspond ences.
B lake's remi nd er that both Inventi on and Id enti ty "are Objects of Intui ti on"
provi d es a paramount clue to the poeti c netwvork of hi s word s. Each of the two
quatrai ns contai ns f i ve nouns and f i ve verbal f orms. These f i ve nouns are d i stri buted
i n an equal manner among the f our li nes of each quatrai n:
i . mother, f ather = 2 = f athers hand s 5.
2. world =
I =band s 6.
3.
= =
7.
4.
f i end , cloud = 2 - mothers breast 8.
In the d i sposi ti on of nouns all three composi ti onal correlati ons of the couplets prove
to be i nvolved .
6 ROMAN JAKOB SON
1 3 3
III.
II.2 2 IV.
The global symmetry between the anteri or and posteri or couplets (I + II = III +
IV = 5) i s accompani ed by a si mi lar global symmetry between the outer and i nner
couplets (I + IV = II + III =
5) and by a secti onal symmetry of the od d and even
couplets (I =
III = 3; II
=
IV = 2). Thi s secti onal symmetry i s not conf i ned to
the enti re couplets but appli es also to thei r consti tuent li nes: there are (i ) two nouns
i n the f i rst and one i n the second li ne of the od d couplets, (2) no nouns i n the f i rst
and two i n the second li ne of the even couplets. In thi s way the homogenei ty of the
od d couplets and that of thei r even opposi tes as well as the contrast of these two classes
are outli ned . In contrad i sti ncti on to all other li nes of the poem, the margi nal li nes of
both quatrai ns d i f f er f rom all other li nes of the octasti ch: each of the f our margi nal
li nes contai ns one pai r of nouns: 1mother, f ather; 4f i end , cloud ; 5f athers hand s, 8mothers
breast.
The ten nouns of the poem are d i vi d ed evenly i nto f i ve ani mates and f i ve i n-
ani mates. The f i ve ani mates are conf i ned to the f our margi nal li nes of the two qua-
trai ns. The d i stri buti on of ani mates and i nani mates among the two anteri or couplets
of the f i rst quatrai n and the two posteri or couplets of the second quatrai n and , more-
over, among the outer and i nner couplets, f ollows the pri nci ple of anti symmetry:
Anteri or couplets: 3 ani mates, 2 i nani mates
Outer couplets: 3 ,, 2
Posteri or couplets: 2 ,, 3
Inner couplets: 2 ,, 3
A mani f estly spati al treatment opposes i nani mates to ani mates. The i nani mates
are constantly bound wi th locati ve preposi ti ons, whereas, of the f i ve ani mates, f our are
used wi thout any preposi ti on, and one wi th an equati onal preposi ti on (4Li ke a f i end ).
Two epi thets emerge i n the poem. B oth are attached to the second li ne of the
quatrai ns and pertai n to si mi lar syntacti c constructi ons: 2lnto the d angerous world I
leapt; 6Stri vi ng agai nst my swad li ng band s. Joi ntly wi th all other preposi ti ve attri butes-
possessi ve f orms of nouns and pronouns, d ef i ni te and i nd ef i ni te arti cles-these epi thets
perf orm a conspi cuously symmetri cal d esi gn i n the poem. Such attri butes occur twi ce
i n each li ne of both quatrai ns wi th the excepti on of thei r penulti mate li ne:
LMy,
my;
2the d angerous; 3L; 4a, a; 5my f athers; 6my swad li ng; 7#; 8my mothers. Si x of these attri butes
belong to the f i rst, and si x to the second quatrai n; correspond i ngly, an equal number
pertai n to the outer and i nner couplets of the poem. The od d couplets oppose f our
(2 + 2) preposi ti ve attri butes to two (# + 2) i n the even couplets.
As compared wi th the ten nouns, the ten verbal f orms present si gni f i cant si mi lari -
ti es and d i vergences i n thei r d i stri buti on among the f our couplets:
. 3 2 III.
11.2 3 IV.
THE VERB AL ART OF POET-PAINTERS
W e are f aced wi th the same global symmetry between the anteri or and
posteri or
couplets (I + II = III + IV = 5), but the treatment of the correlati ons
outer/i nner
and od d /even i s d i ametri cally opposi te i n the nomi nal and verbal sets. The
d i sposi ti on
of verbal f orms exhi bi ts a global symmetry between the od d and even
couplets
(I + III = II + IV =
5),
and a secti onal symmetry of the outer and i nner
couplets
(I = IV= 3; II = III = 2). Thi s symmetry appli es both to the couplets and to
thei r li nes. The f i rst li ne of the outer couplets contai ns two verbal f orms (1groand ,
wept; 7bound , thought), the second li ne contai ns one (21eapt; 8to sulk); and each li ne of
the i nner couplets contai ns one verbal f orm
(3pi pi ng, 4hi d ; 5struggli ng, 6stri vi ng).
There i s a sensi ble d i f f erence between a global symmetry of
outer/i nner
and
od d /even consti tuents: the f ormer suggests a closed conf i gurati on, and the latter, an
open-end chai n. B lake's poem associ ates the f ormer wi th nouns and the latter wi th
verbs, and one ought to recall Ed ward Sapi r's semanti c d ef i ni ti on of nouns as "exi s-
tents" and of verbs as "occurrents."
The passi ve parti ci ple appears once i n each even couplet (4hi d , 7bound ). No
transi ti ves occur among the acti ve verbal f orms. In the acti ve voi ce the f i rst quatrai n
counts three f i ni te and one nonf i ni te f orm, whi le the second quatrai n d i splays the
anti symmetri cal relati on of one f i ni te and three nonf i ni te f orms. All f our f i ni tes are
preteri ts. A sharp contrast ari ses between the i nner couplets, wi th thei r three gerund s
as the sole verbal f orms, and the outer couplets, whi ch possess no gerund s but have
f i ve verbs proper (f our f i ni tes and one i nf i ni ti ve). In both quatrai ns the i nner couplet i s
subord i nate to the conti guous li ne of the outer couplet: li nes
(3,
4) to the second li ne
of the octasti ch, and li nes
(5,
6) to the second li ne f rom i ts end .
Preposi ti ons parallel the verbs i n the global symmetry of thei r d i stri buti on.
Among the si x preposi ti ons i n the poem, three belong to the anteri or couplets (2i nto,
4li ke, i n) and three to the posteri or couplets
(5i n, 6agai nst,
upon) and , correspond i ngly,
three to the od d and three to the even couplets, whereas any outer couplet uses one
preposi ti on and any i nner couplet, two.
The i mpressi ve grammati cal balance between the correlati ve parts of the poem
f rames and sets of f the d ramati c d evelopment. The only f our i nd epend ent clauses
wi th the only f our f i ni te pred i cates and the only f our grammati cal subjects-two of
them pronomi nal and two, nomi nal-are all conf i ned to the outer couplets. W hi le
the pronomi nal clause wi th the f i rst person subject occurs i n both quatrai ns-i n the
next to the f i rst and next to the last li ne of the octasti ch (2I
leapt;
71 thought)-the two
nomi nal subjects d etach the f i rst li ne f rom the rest of the poem, and B lake conclud es
thi s li ne wi th a peri od . Inf ant, the ti tle hero, and the two other d ramati s personae are
presented wi th ref erence to the ad d resser of the message: I, my mother, my f ather. B oth
nouns along wi th thei r d etermi ners reappear i n the second quatrai n, however, wi th
si gni f i cant syntacti c and semanti c shi f ts. Grammati cal subjects are transf ormed i nto
possessi ve attri butes of i nd i rect objects, whi ch are governed by subord i nate verbal
f orms. The two matchi ng parts of the i naugural octosyllable become d i sjoi nted . The
8 ROMAN JAKOB SON
i ni ti al li ne of the second quatrai n conclud es wi th the same paternal evocati on as the
correspond i ng li ne of the f i rst quatrai n:
lmy
f ather
wept;
2my f athers hand s. The ori gi nal
vi si on of the weepi ng parent yi eld s to the twof old i mage of stri f e agai nst f athers hand s
and swad li ng band s, the hosti le f orces whi ch bef all the i nf ant at hi s leap i nto the
d angerous world .
The openi ng word s of the poem-,My mother-reappear once more at i ts end -
8my mothers-and , joi ntly
wi th the
subject
I of the second and seventh
li nes, they
d i splay mi rror symmetry. The f i rst of these two pronouns i s f ollowed by the pai r of
semi pred i cates 3Helpless, naked , whi le the second I i s preced ed by a syntacti cally
analogous pai r: 7B ound and weary. The placement and chi asti c structure of thi s pai r
retai n the pri nci ple of mi rror symmetry. The parti ci ple B ound supersed es the antonym
naked , and the pri mord i al helplessness turns i nto exhausti on. The loud pi pi ng of the
i nf ant, whi ch supplanted the d eep moan of the mother, yi eld s to an urge f or si lence:
71 thought best 8To sulk upon my mothers breast. The exod us f rom the mother portend s the
return to her, a new maternal screen f or shelter and protecti on (4hi d i n-8 To sulk
upon).
The author's d raf ts of a longer poem (see Erd man I965, 719-72 I) were red uced
to i ts f i rst ei ght li nes f or hi s Songs of Experi ence. The i nqui ry i nto the verbal texture of
these two quatrai ns corroborates and strengthens the i ntui ti ve grasp expressed
astutely by J. B ronowski (I965, i 6 i ): "The whole progressi on li es coi led i n the f i rst
helplessness." A scruti ny of the chi selled octasti ch wi th i ts f ar-f lung grammati cal f rame-
work may i llustrate and speci f y another perti nent conclusi on of the same monograph:
"B lake's was an i magi nati on of pi ctures, astoni shi ng i n i ts geometri cal i nsi ght" (p.
139).
In thi s connecti on i t seems to me sui table to restate the "remarkable analogy
between the role of grammar i n poetry and pai nter's composi ti on based on a latent
or patent geometri cal ord er or on a revulsi on agai nst geometri cal arrangements"
(cf . Jakobson, I968,
605).
In parti cular, the head word s, the pri nci pal clauses and
the promi nent moti f s whi ch f i ll the d i vergi ng outer couplets stand out agai nst accessory
and subord i nate contents of the conti guous i nner couplets, qui te si mi lar to the con-
vergi ng li nes of a background i n a pi ctori al perspecti ve.
The f i rm and plasti c relati onal geometri ci ty of B lake's verbal art assures a
startli ng d ynami sm i n the d evelopment of the tragi c theme. The coupled anti sym-
metri cal operati ons outli ned above and the categori al contrast of the two parallel
grammati cal ri mes und erscore the tensi on between the nati vi ty and the ensui ng
world ly experi ence. In li ngui sti c terms, the tensi on i s between the i ni ti al supremacy
of ani mate subjects wi th f i ni te verbs of acti on and the subsequent prevalence of con-
crete, materi al i nani mates used as i nd i rect objects of gerund s, mere verbals d eri ved
f rom verbs of acti on and subord i nate to the only f i ni te
7thought, i n i ts narrowed meani ng
of a wi sh concei ved .
The peculi ar f eature of B lake's punctuati on i s hi s use of colons. The colons of
THE VERB AL ART OF POET-PAINTERS
"Inf ant Sorrow" si gnal the d i vi si on of the i nner couplets i nto thei r consti tuent li nes
and d i ssoci ate the i nner couplets f rom the outer ones. Each of the i nner li nes con-
tai ni ng a gerund i al constructi on end s i n a colon and i s separated by a colon f rom the
anteced ent clause of the same sentence.
The growi ng moti f of weary resi gnati on f i nd s i ts gri ppi ng embod i ment also i n
the rhythmi cal course of the poem. Its i ni ti al octosyllable i s the most symmetri cal of
the ei ght li nes. It consi sts of two tetrasyllabi c coord i nate clauses wi th an expressi ve
pause between them, rend ered i n B lake's text by means of an exclamati on poi nt. An
opti onal second ary pause emerges between the subject and pred i cate of both juxta-
posed clauses. The consequent of these contrasti ve pauses preced es the f i nal syllable
of the li ne: 1My mother groand ! my f ather wept. In the next li ne, whi ch conclud es the
f i rst od d couplet, the i nternal syntacti c pause ari ses bef ore the second to the last
syllable (6 + 2), and wi th each li ne the i nterval between the f i nal and the i nternal
pause becomes one syllable longer, unti l the last li ne of the second od d couplet f i xes
the i nternal pause af ter the second syllable of the li ne: 2 + 6. Thus, the wi d est swi ng
whi ch the verse takes (21nto the d angerous world / I
leapt)
changes grad ually i nto the
shortest, bated , constrai ned span: (6Stri vi ng / agai nst my swad li ng band s).
Each quatrai n i nclud es two i ambi c octosyllables and two trochai c heptasyllables.
One observes the i ambi c d esi gn i n the two margi nal li nes of the octasti ch, both of them
wi th the evocati on my mother, and i n the f i nal li ne of both od d couplets, each of them
characteri zed by an opposi ti ve i mpetus-i n the f i rst case toward s, and i n the second ,
away f rom the "d angerous" envi ronment. The si mi lar length of these two correlati ve
li nes lend s a parti cular cogency to the d ouble contrast of thei r rhythmi cal phrasi ng
and semanti c ori entati on. The thought of salvati on upon my mothers breast as a
retort to the i mage of hatef ul swad li ng band s rei nf orces the associ ati on between the
two even li nes of the second quatrai n by thei r rhythmi cal i d enti ty: 6Stri vi ng / agai nst
my swad li ng band s and 8To sulk
/
upon my mothers breast. The i ntermed i ate li ne whi ch
opens the last even couplet shares, as menti oned above, several structural f eatures
wi th the i ni ti al li ne of the f i rst even couplet and d upli cates i ts trochai c measure wi th
a med i al pause
(4
+ 3).
In the i ambi c li nes the mai n or only pause always f alls bef ore an upbeat. In the
trochai c li nes the pause occurs bef ore the d ownbeat or, excepti onally, bef ore an up-
beat f ulf i lled by a stressed syllable (4Li ke a f i end / hi d i n a cloud ). The d i stri buti on of
pauses i n B lake's octasti ch may i llustrate i ts stunni ng symmetry. In our table numerals
f ollowed by a d ot show the ord er of the ei ght li nes; the subsequent verti cal i nd i cates
the begi nni ng, and the oblong verti cal at the ri ght of the table, the end of the li ne.
The syllables of the li ne f rom i ts end toward i ts begi nni ng are d esi gnated by the upper
hori zontal row of numerals. The verti cal between the two li mi ts of each li ne rend ers i ts
i nner pause, whi le the second ary, opti onal i nner pause i s represented by a d otted
verti cal. A slant marks the i ncreasi ngly regressi ve tend ency d i splayed by the d i sposi -
ti on of the i nterli near and then, i n the last couplet, preli near pauses.
10 ROMAN JAKOB SON
As the poet hi mself asserts i n the Foreword to "Jerusalem", i nd eed he has attai ned
"a vari ety i n every li ne, both of cad ences & number of syllables" wi thi n i ts segments.
The i ni ti al heptasyllabi c li ne of each even couplet i s li nked wi th the octosyllabi c
end of the f oregoi ng od d couplet by means of an alli terati on of the two f i nal word s
(2Leapt-3LOud , 5B and s-7B est),
and
by
a
paronomasti c af f i ni ty
between the f i nal and
i ni ti al word of both successi ve li nes (2LEAPI-3hELPleSS, 6B aNDS-7B OUND). W i thi n a
couplet the li nes are pari syllabi c i n the f i rst quatrai n, i mpari syllabi c i n the second .
Two word s alli terate i n the f ormer case, three i n the latter: 1wept-2world , 3Loud -
4Li ke; 7B ound -B est-8B reast. In the f i rst, paralleli sti c couplet of the second quatrai n,
the alli terati on d evelops i nto a paronomasti c blend of two subsequent word s i n the
anteced ent member of a tri ple chai n: 5STRUggLING-6STRi VING-Swad LING. The si mi lar-
i ty of clusters counterbalances the d i ssi mi lar d i stri buti on of d ownbeats and upbeats
SYLLAB LES
8
7
6
5 4 3
2 1
2.
3.
LINES X END OF LINES
5.
6.
7.
VI8.
i n both conf ronted gerund s, one of whi ch
begi ns
a trochai c
(5Struggli ng i n)
and the
other an i ambi c li ne (6Sti vi ng agai nst).
At the li mi t of both quatrai ns the pari syllabi c conti guous
li nes of two i nner
couplets, one even and the next od d , d i splay a mani f old propi nqui ty i n thei r sound
texture: Fi eND-Hi D IN-5IN my
FatherS HaNDS. No sooner has the f ourth
li ne, the only
si mi le of the poem, i ntrod uced a
mythi ci zed hero, than the ad verse
i mage of the
f ather's f etteri ng hand s, i n a ki nd of f i lmi c
"d i ssolve", appears sli ghtly und er the f i rst
"shot", whereupon the sali ent
metamorphosi s comes i nto
bei ng: the would -be super-
natural hero (4Li ke a f i end
hi d i n a
cloud )
i s vi cti mi zed
(5Struggli ng
i n
my f athers hand s).
The ei ght li nes of "Inf ant Sorrow" are
remarkably
ri ch i n what Gerald Manley
Hopki ns i nf ers by "f i gures
of
grammar" and
"f i gures of sound ", and i t i s to thei r
eloquent symmetry and palpable i nterplay i mbued wi th
d i aphanous symboli sm that
thi s succi nct, i ngenuous story
owes most of i ts
mythologi cal power
and
suggesti veness.
The Douani er Rousseau has been
compared wi th B lake and sai d to be close to
THE VERB AL ART OF POET-PAINTERS
hi m (see Frye i 9652,
IO5).
An octasti ch of the French pai nter wi ll be our next
topi c.
II Henri Rousseau's Poeti c Append i x to hi s Last Pai nti ng
J'ai conserve ma nai vete'. . . Je ne pourrai mai ntenant
changer ma mani 6re quej'ai acqui s par un travai l opi ni atre.
Henri Rousseau to And re Dupont, Apri l Ist, I9IO.
Shortly bef ore the arti st's d eath (September 2, I9IO), he exhi bi ted one si ngle pai nti ng,
The Dream, at the Salon d es Ind epend ants (March i 8-May I of the same year) and wrote
to Gui llaume Apolli nai re: "J'ai envoye mon grand tableau, tout le mond e le trouve
bi en, je pense que tu vas d eployer ton talent li tterai re et que tu me vengeras d e toutes
les i nsultes et af f ronts recus" (March i I, I9IO: see Apolli nai re I9I3,
56).
Apolli nai re's
commemorati ve paper "Le d ouani er" recounts that Rousseau had never f orgotten
hi s early, Poli sh love, Yad wi gha (= Jad wi ga), "qui lui i nspi ra le Reve, son chef -
d d euvre" whi ch at present belongs to the Museum of Mod ern Art, and among a
f ew i nstances of the pai nter's poeti c acti vi ti es ("genti ls morceaux d e poesi e") hi s
"Inscri pti on pour Le Reve" supplements Apolli nai re's essay (i bi d em, i I,
65):
1r ad wi gha d ans un beau reve
2S'etant
end ormi e d oucement
3Entend ai t les sons d 'une musette
4Dontjouai t un charmeur bi en pensant.
5Pend ant que la lune
ref li te
6Sur
lesf leuves,
les arbres verd oyants,
7Les
f auves serpents pretent l'orei lle
8Aux
ai rs
gai s
d e l'i nstrument.
A nearly li teral Engli sh translati on may be ad d ed :
Yad wi gha i n a beauti f ul d ream
Havi ng f allen asleep peacef ully
W as heari ng the sound s of a reed
Upon whi ch a well-meani ng charmer was playi ng.
W hi le the moon casts a ref lecti on
Of the greeni ng trees on the ri vers,
The savage serpents lend thei r ear
To the gay tunes of the i nstrument.
Thi s octasti ch was alleged ly attached to the exhi bi ted pi cture. In the Catalogue d e la
26eme Exposi ti on of the Soci lte d es Arti stes Ind 6pend ants (Pari s I9IO, 294) the ref erence to
Henri Rousseau's "4468 Le Reve" i s accompani ed by the same verses, pri nted , how-
ever, wi th gross errors and d i storti ons, e.g., Yad urgha, so that Apolli nai re's versi on sti ll
appears to be the only reli able one.
The f our even, "masculi ne" li nes of the poem end i n one and the same nasal
vowel, whereas the f our od d , "f emi ni ne" li nes end i n a closed syllable wi th a short
or long vari ety of
[E]
as i ts nucleus. Among the approxi mate ri mes d i splayed by these
II Henri
Rousseau,
The
Dream,
i 910
(Collecti on,
The Museum
of
Mod ern
Art,
New
rork)
THE VERB AL ART OF POET-PAINTERS
two sets of li nes, those whi ch ti e together the two i nner couplets (li nes 3-4 wi th 5-6)
and , i n turn, the ri mes of the two outer couplets (I-2 wi th 7-8) exhi bi t a supple-
mentary si mi lari ty between the ri mi ng word s i n compari son wi th the ri mes wi thi n
the quatrai ns: i n the outer couplets the complete i d enti ty of syllabi c vowels i s rei n-
f orced by a supporti ng prevocali c consonant (RE've-oREi lle; 2d oUceMENT-8i nstruMENT)
and i n the i nner couplets a si mi lar vocali c i d enti ty i s second ed by the postvocali c
consonant of the f emi ni ne ni nes
(3musETTE-5ref ti TE)
or by the sali ent grammati cal
sameness of the word s shari ng the masculi ne ri me (4pensant-6verd oyants, the only two
parti ci pi al f orms i n the poem).
As the ri mes und erscore i t, the octasti ch presents a clear-cut d i vi si on i nto the
outer (I, IV) and i nner couplets (II, III). Each of these two pai rs of couplets contai ns
an equal number of si x nouns wi th the same bi f urcati on i nto f our masculi nes and two
f emi ni nes. The i ni ti al as well as the f i nal li ne wi thi n each of these two pai rs of couplets
contai ns two nouns: one f emi ni ne and one masculi ne i n the i ni ti al li ne
(lrad wi gha,
ri ve; 3sons, musette), two masculi nes i n the f i nal (8ai rs, i nstrument; 6f i euves, arbres). The
global symmetry d i splayed by the nouns of the outer and i nner couplets f i nd s no
support i n the d i stri buti on between od d and even or anteri or and posteri or coup-
lets, but both i nner couplets compri se one and the same number of three nouns i n
mi rror symmetry (II: 3sons, musette, 4charmeur; III: 51une,
6f i euves,
arbres), and , con-
sequently, the relati on between nouns of the even and od d couplets-seven to f i ve
-i s preci sely the same as the relati on between nouns of the posteri or and anteri or
couplets.
Each of the two quatrai ns compri ses one sentence wi th two subjects and two f i ni te
pred i cates. Every couplet of the octasti ch contai ns one subject, whi le i n the d i stri bu-
ti on of the f i ni tes-three to one-the even couplets have the same relati on to the od d
ones as the i nner to the outer couplets.
The subjects of the outer couplets pertai n to the two mai n clauses of the poem,
whereas both subjects of the i nner couplets f orm a part of subord i nate clauses. The
mai n subjects begi n the li ne
(1-rad wi gha
d ans un beau reve; 7Les f auves serpents) i n
contrad i sti ncti on to the noni ni ti al posi ti on of the subord i nate subjects (4Dont jouai t
un charmeur; 5Pend ant que la lune). The f emi ni ne subjects emerge i n the od d couplets
of the octasti ch, and the masculi ne subjects i n i ts even couplets. Thus, i n each quatrai n
the f i rst subject i s f emi ni ne and the second , masculi ne: 1rad wi gha-4charmeur; 51une-
7serpents. Consequently, both anteri or couplets (the f i rst quatrai n of the poem) wi th
the f emi ni ne gend er of thei r mai n subject rad wi gha and the masculi ne of thei r sub-
ord i nate subject charmeur are d i ametri cally opposed to the posteri or couplets (second
quatrai n), where the mai n subject serpents i s masculi ne and the subord i nate subject
lune i s f emi ni ne. The personal (human) gend er d i sti ngui shes the grammati cal subjects
of the anteri or couplets
(1rad wi gha, 4charmeur) f rom the nonpersonal subjects of the
posteri or couplets (51une, 7serpents).
These d ata may be summari zed i n a table wi th i tali c i nscri pti ons i nd i cati ng the
14 ROMAN JAKOB SON
placement of the f our subjects i n the
composi ti on
of the octasti ch and wi th roman
type
d enoti ng thei r grammati cal properti es:
anteri or posteri or
e4
personal non-personal N
i nner CHARMEUR LUNE
subord i nate
outer
YADW IGHA S RPENTS
mai n/\
Thi s d i stri buti on of the f our grammati cal subjects proves to
correspond
to the relati ve
d i sposi ti on of thei r pi ctori al ref erents on Rousseau's canvas
(see i llustrati on
II) :*
upper
background
lower f oreground
The pi ctori al f i gures of the f oreground areas are rend ered i n the
poem by the
mai n subjects' placement i n the
d i vergi ng, outer
couplets, whereas the background
f i gures whi ch have been moved upward s and shortened i n the pai nti ng prod uce
subord i nate subjects assi gned to the
convergi ng, i nner couplets of the octasti ch.
Tri stan Tzara's suggesti ve essay, publi shed as a pref ace to the exhi bi ti on of Henri
Rousseau's pai nti ngs i n the Si d ney Jani s Gallery (New York
I95i ),
d i scusses "The
Role of Ti me and Space i n hi s W ork" and poi nts out the relevance and
peculi ari ty of
"perspecti ve as Rousseau concei ved i t"
and , i n
parti cular, a si gni f i cant trai t of hi s
great composi ti ons: a seri es of movements spli t up "i nto i nd i vi d ual elements, veri table
sli ces of Ti me bound together by a sort of ari thmeti cal operati on."
*
Thanks are d ue to The Museum of Mod em Art i n New York Ci ty f or the excellent reprod ucti on of
The Dream and f or thei r ki nd permi ssi on to use i t as an i llustrati on i n thi s
paper, and to the Associ ate Curator
of The Museum, B etsy Jones, f or her i nvaluable i nf ormati on.
THE VERB AL ART OF POET-PAINTERS
W hi le the charmer and the f ull moon f ace the spectator, the prof i le f i gures of
Yad wi gha and the snake are turned toward s each other; the snake's wi nd i ngs parallel
the curve of the woman's hi p and leg, and the verti cal green f erns jut out und er both
of these curves and poi nt to Yad wi gha's hi p and to the upper curve of the repti le. In
f act, thi s bri ght and sli m snake emerges agai nst the background of another, thi cker,
black, and hard ly d i scerni ble serpent; the latter mi rrors the ski n of the charmer whi le
the f ormer correspond s to the color of a stri pe i n hi s vari egated belt. The blue and
vi olet f lowers ri se above Yad wi gha and the two snakes. In the poem two parallel
constructi ons connect the heroi ne wi th the repti les: 3Entend ai t les sons d 'une musette
and 7prf tent l'orei lle 8Aux ai rs gai s d e l'i nstrument.
Some challengi ng questi ons of grammati cal gend er ari se i n thi s connecti on. To
the two f emi ni ne subjects of the poem the pai nti ng respond s wi th two sali ent f eatures
characteri sti c of Yad wi gha and the moon, thei r d i verse paleness i n compari son wi th
the d eeper colors of the envi ronment and especi ally of the charmer and repti les, and
the si mi lar round ness of the f ull moon and of the f emale's breast i n compari son wi th
the poi nted bod y of the bri ght snake and the charmer's reed . The "sexui semblance"
of the f emi ni ne and masculi ne gend ers experi enced by any member of the French
speech communi ty was scruti ni zed luci d ly and exhausti vely by J. Damourette and E.
Pi chon i n the f i rst volume of thei r hi stori c accompli shment, Des mots a la Pensee-
Essai d e Grammai re d e la Langue
Franf ai se
(Pari s 19I I-I927), Chap. IV:
Tous les substanti f s nomi naux f ransai s sont masculi ns ou f emi ni ns: c'est la un f ai t
i ncontestable et i nconteste. L' i magi nati on nati onale a ete jusqu'a ne plus concevoi r d e
substances nomi nales que contenant en elles-memes une analogi e avec l'un d es d eux
sexes; d e sorte que la sexui semblance arri ve a etre un mod e d e classi f i cati on generale
d e ces substances (?302) .. . Elle a d ans le parler, d onc d ans la pensee, d e chaque
Franqai s
un r6le d e tout i nstant (?306) ... Cette reparti ti on n'a evi d emment pas un
caractere purement i ntellectuel. Elle a quelque chose d 'af f ecti f ... La sexui semblance
est tellement nettement une compari son avec le sexe que les vocables f ransai s f emi ni ns
en arri vent a ne pouvoi r au f i gure etre compares qu't d es f emmes (?307) ... Le repar-
ti toi re d e sexui semblance est le mod e d 'expressi on d e la personni f i cati on d es choses
(?309).
It i s noteworthy that the f our f emi ni nes of Rousseau's poem are ti ed to i ts f our
od d li nes. They i naugurate the li ne when f uncti oni ng as grammati cal subjects i n the
od d couplets, and they termi nate the li ne when they act as mod i f i ers i n the even
couplets.
The mand atory associ ati on of the f emi ni ne gend er wi th od d , vi z. "f emi ni ne",
li nes asks f or an i nterpretati on. The tend ency to d i f f erenti ate f emi ni ne and masculi ne
f orms by the closed and open end of the word (cf . Damourette & Pi chon ?272)
creates an associ ati on between the f i nal syllable of the li ne, closed or open, and the
gend er, f emi ni ne or masculi ne. Also the term "f emi ni ne ri mes", popular even i n
French elementary textbooks, may have f avored the d i stri buti on of f emi ni ne nouns
among those li nes.
i 6 ROMAN JAKOB SON
In Rousseau's verses the d i stri buti on of gend ers
i s submi tted to a d i ssi mi lati ve
pri nci ple. The closest object of the verb belongs to the
gend er opposi te
to that of the
subject of the gi ven clause, and i f there i s a f urther
governed mod i f i er,
be i t ad verbal
or ad nomi nal, i t retai ns the gend er of the subject; i n thi s way the role of
gend ers i n
the poem becomes parti cularly accentuated :
1rad wi gha (f .) .. .
3entend ai t
les sons (m.)
d 'une musette (f .); 4Dont [ref erri ng to musette (f .)] jouai t un charmeur
(i .); 51a
lune
(f .)
reJte 6... les arbres (m.); 7Lesf auves serpents (m.) prAtent
l'orei lle
(f .) 8Aux
ai rs
gai s (m.).
The f oreground of Rousseau's pai nti ng and
poem belongs
to
Yad wi gha and the
snakes; one i s prompted to recall Eve, hi s somewhat earli er pi cture, wi th i ts
stupend ous
d uet of two prof i les, the naked woman and the serpeni t (see Valli er
I962, i llustrati on
I32). Thi s hi erarchy of the d ramati s personae was
overlooked , however, by cri ti cs.
Thus Apolli nai re's eulogy of March
i 8, I9IO (I960,
76): "De ce tableau se
d egage
d e la beaute"'-saw the nud e woman on a
sof a, tropi cal vegetati on around her wi th
monkeys and bi rd s of parad i se, a li on, a
li oness,
and a
f luti ng Negro-"personnage d e
mystere". B ut the snakes and the moon remai ned unmenti oned . Jean B ouret (I96I,
5o)
also conf i nes hi s d i scussi on of the composi ti onal ord er i n The Dream to the f lute
player, the ti ger(?), the bi rd , and the recli ni ng woman. These observers stop at the
lef t, larger secti on of the pai nti ng wi thout shi f ti ng to the mi nor ri ght part, the topi c
of the second quatrai n. The i ni ti al
stage of
i nspecti on of the pi cture i s, naturally, i ts
lef t si d e: "cette f emme end ormi e sur ce canape" who d reams that she has been
transported "d ans cette f oret, entend ant les sons d e l'i nstrument d u charmeur",
accord i ng to the pai nter's explanati on of hi s own pi cture (Apolli nai re I9I3,
57).
From Yad wi gha and the mysteri ous charmer the f ocus shi f ts to the second f old of the
d i ptych, separated f rom the f i rst one by a blue f lower on a long stem, whi ch parallels
a si mi lar plant on the lef t si d e of the heroi ne. The narrati ve ord er and successi ve
cogni ti on and synthesi s of the canvas Dream (cf . A. Luri a, Hi gher Corti cal Functi ons
i n Man and Thei r Di sturbances i n Local B rai n Lesi ons, Moscow i 962) f i nd thei r terse
correspond ence i n the transi ti on f rom the f i rst quatrai n wi th i ts two parallel i m-
perf ects-or present preteri ts, i n L. Tesni ere's termi nology- (3entend AIT-4jOUAIT)
to the two ri mi ng presents of the second quatrai n (5ref i i TE-7prETEnt) and i n the
substi tuti on of mere d ef i ni te arti cles (51a lune, 6lesf teuves, les arbres, 7les serpents, l'orei lle,
8aux ai rs, l'i nstrument)
to the i nd ef i ni te
arti cles, whi ch,
wi th the sole excepti on of 3les
sons, d omi nate the preced i ng quatrai n (1un reve, 3une musette, 4un charmeur).
In Rousseau's poeti c as well as pi ctori al composi ti on the d ramati c acti on i s
borne by the f our subjects of the poem and thei r vi sual ref erents on the canvas. As
outli ned above, all of them are i nterconnected by three bi nary contrasts, glari ngly
expressed by the poet-pai nter and transf ormi ng thi s unusual quartet i nto si x opposi te
pai rs whi ch d etermi ne and d i versi f y the verbal and graphi c plot. In the "Inscri pti on"
each of the f our subjects i s end owed wi th a f urther categori al f eature whi ch contrasts
i t wi th the three other correspond ents: rad wi gha i s the only proper name i n the poem;
un charmeur, i ts sole personal appellati ve; les serpents, i ts only ani mate plural; and la
THE VERB AL ART OF POET-PAINTERS
lune i s the one i nani mate among the f our subjects. Thi s d i versi ty i s accompani ed by a
d i f f erence of arti cles-the zero arti cle whi ch si gnals the proper name, the i nd ef i ni te
un, f ollowed by the plural les and the f emi ni ne la of the d ef i ni te arti cle.
A multi f ari ous i nterplay of concurrent si mi lari ti es and d i vergences und erli es and
vi vi f i es the wri tten and pai nted Dream i n all i ts f acets: the si lence of the moonli t ni ght
i nterrupted by the tunes of a swarthy charmer; the enchantment of moonshi ne and
musi cal charms; the f emale's moonli ght d ream; two aud i tors of the magi c tunes, the
woman and the serpent, both ali en and alluri ng to each other; the serpent as the
legend ary tempter of the woman and the i nveterate target of the snake charmer and ,
on the other hand , the maxi mal contrast and mysteri ous af f i ni ty between the palli d
Yad wi gha on her old -f ashi oned sof a and the well-meani ng tropi cal f luti st ami d hi s
vi rgi n f orest; and , af ter all thi s, i n the eyes of the i nhabi tant of 2 bi s, rue Perrel, the
equally exoti c and attracti ve ti nge of the Af ri can magi ci an and the Poli sh enchantress
wi th her i ntri cate name.
As to the li on escorted by a li oness and omi tted i n the poem, i n the pi cture i t
belongs to the f luteplayer's tri angle and , as B ouret (loc. ci t.) has observed , bui ld s i ts
"apex" poi nti ng d ownward s. Thi s f ront f ace seems to be a d ouble of the superposed
charmer and i n a si mi lar way the bri ght half -f aced bi rd over Yad wi gha looks li ke
her d ouble. Yet i n the i conographi c compari son of Rousseau's canvas and poem our
attenti on has been f ocused upon thei r common d enomi nator, easi ly extractable d espi te
thei r d i f f erent props, such as the ri vers ref lecti ng the trees i n the verse or the zoologi cal
abund ance i n the pai nti ng.
Li ke B lake's "Inf ant Sorrow", Rousseau's octasti ch, i n ord er to i nsure the cohesi on
of i ts expressly d i f f erenti ated couplets, connects them wi th tough phonologi cal bond s
between the even and the subsequent od d li nes: /2setd td d armi d usmd t 3d ted e /;
/ 4pa5a 5pd d d /. Moreover, the last two couplets are ti ed by a palpable sound texture:
6les FLeuves-7Les Fauves (wi th two correspond i ng round ed vowels); 6SUR . . les
aRB Res-7seRPents PR6tent (where the phoneme
/R/
alternates wi th hi ssi ng conti nuants
and labi al stops).
In my natural conclusi on I am f ollowi ng Vrati slav Ef f enberger (I963) when thi s
Czech expert on Henri Rousseau's work d ef i nes i t as "a si gn of ri si ng symbi osi s be-
tween pai nti ng and poetry." A si mi lar apprai sal of Paul Klee by Carola Gled i on-
W elcker (I946)-i n thi s arti st "i st d er Di chter mi t d em Maler eng verkni i pf t"-i m-
pels us to go on to Klee's poeti c remai ns.
I8 ROMAN JAKOB SON
III Paul Klee's Octasti ch
Sprache ohne Vernunf t ... Hat d i e Inspi rati on Augen
od er schlaf wand elt si e?
Das Kunstwerk als Akt. Ei ne Tei lung d er Zehen i n
d rei Tei le: I + 3 + I.
From Klee's d i ari es of I9OI (Nos. 183, 3IO).
The pai nter's poem of I903 about beasts, god s, and
men, wri tten
d own, accord i ng
to
the author's custom, wi thout any verti cal arrangement of verses, d i splays nonetheless
a clear-cut rhythmi cal d i vi si on i nto ei ght li nes of two hemi sti chs; the second hemi sti ch
i n the f i rst and thi rd li nes carri es three, and each of the other hemi sti chs bears two
strong word stresses. Actually, the author hi mself separates the verses of thi s poem
by spaci ng the i ntervals between them, expeci ally when these verses are not d i vi d ed
f rom one another by a punctuati on mark (see the autograph reprod uced by the
pai nter's son, Feli x Klee 1960, 56):
lZwei B erge gi bt
es
/
auf
d enen es
hell
i st und
kld r,
2d en B e'rg d er Ti ere / und d en B e'rg d er Gotter.
3Dazwi schen aber lzegt / d as d d mmeri ge Td l d er Menschen.
4W enn ei ner ei nmal / nach oben si eht,
5erf d sst i hn d hnend / ei ne gnsti llbare Si hnsucht,
6'hn, d er wei ss, / d ass e' ni cht weass
7nach i hnen d i e ni cht wi ssen, / d ass ste ni cht wi ssen
8znd nach i hnen, / d i e wzssen d ass si e wi ssen.
A li teral translati on:
,There
are two mountai ns on whi ch i t i s bri ght and clear,
2the mountai n of beasts and the mountai n of god s.
3B ut i n between there li es the d usky valley of men.
4W hen
once someone looks upward s,
5an unquenchable longi ng sei zes hi m f orebod i ngly,
6hi m who knows that he d oesn't know
7
af ter them who d on't know that they d on't know
8and
af ter them who know that
they
know.
Klee's punctuati on i n hi s autograph of thi s poem reveals a si gni f i cant d i f f erence
between the rhythmi cal phrasi ng of syntacti c constructi ons i n the two f i nal li nes:
7nach i hnen d i e ni cht wi ssen, d ass si e ni cht wi ssen and , on the other hand , 8und nach i hnen,
d i e wi ssen d ass si e wi ssen. The comma i nd i cates the d i f f erent place of the bound ary
between the hemi sti chs i n these two li nes. Thus, the read i ng gnd nach thnen, / d i e wzssen
d ass si e wi ssen wi th an emphati c stress on the anti theti cal conjuncti on appears to be the
only correct one.
The transcri pti on of thi s poem i n F. Klee's ed i ti on
(I957,
No. 539 and I960,
56)
unf ortunately reshapes the arti st's punctuati on accord i ng to the orthographi c norm.
Of these two publi cati ons the f ormer pri nts the octasti ch li ke prose, whi le i n the
latter i t i s arti f i ci ally broken i nto twelve li nes; namely, some of the hemi sti chs are
THE VERB AL ART OF POET-PAINTERS
treated as separate li nes, and , moreover, the i naugural procli ti c of the second hemi -
sti ch i s assi gned to the end of the f i rst hemi sti ch, e.g.
Dazwi schen aber li egt d as
d d mmeri ge Tal d er Menschen.
W i th the excepti on of the second , solemn amphi brachi c hemi sti ch of the f i rst
li ne-auf d i nen es hi ll i st und kld r-the verses of the poem d i splay a d uple, pred omi n-
antly i ambi c rhythm. The f i rst hemi sti ch, d i pod i c i n si x and tri pod i c i n two li nes,
looses the i ni ti al upbeat i n two i nstances: 6i hn, d er wei ss; 8zi nd nach i hnen. The second
hemi sti ch of two, three, or f our d uple f eet begi ns wi th an upbeat af ter a masculi ne
caesura (li nes 3 and 6) whi le af ter a f emi ni ne caesura i t begi ns ei ther wi th a d ownbeat,
thus preservi ng the metri cal uni f ormi ty of the enti re li ne (2d en B e'rg d er Tli ere
/
und d en
B erg d er Gotter; 5erf d sst i hn d hnend / ei ne znsti llbare Si hnsucht), or i t begi ns wi th an upbeat,
and thus achi eves i ts own autonomous i ambi c pattern ( W enn li ner
ei nmal
/ nach
d ben si eht; cf . li nes 7 and 8).
Three geni ti ve plurals, the only ani mate nouns of the poem-2d er Ti ere, d er
Gotter,
3d er
Menschen-poi nt to i ts tri ad i c heroes. The ternary pri nci ple, partly con-
nected wi th thi s themati c tri chotomy and partly autonomous, runs throughout the
enti re octasti ch. The poem encompasses three sentences (I-2; 3; 4-8) whi ch, i n turn,
compri se three i nd epend ent clauses wi th three f i ni tes:
lgi bt, 3li egt, 5erf asst, all three
of whi ch are placed bef ore the subject i n contrad i sti ncti on to the pred i cates of the
d epend ent clauses. The accusati ve plural 1B erge i s f ollowed by the d ouble apposi ti on
2B erg .. .
B erg,
and the relati ve
pronoun 1d enen by
the
cognate arti cles 2d en
... d en.
Three neuters wi th three f i ni te
pred i cates-1gi bt es, es hell i st, 3li egt d as-begi n the
poem. The d omi ci les of the threef old heroes-2B erg d er Ti ere, B erg d er Gotter, and
3Tal d er Menschen-are associ ated wi th three ad jecti ves: 1hell, klar, 3d d mmeri ge, and the
contrasti ng i mages whi ch end the f i rst two sentences are und erli ned by paronomasti c
contri vances: 2B erg d er Gotter (erg-erg); 3d ammeri ge... d er Menschen (d em.r-d erm).
The thi rd sentence, too, i s permeated by ternary repeti ti ons: 4ei ner, ei nmal, 5ei ne; 4nach,
7nacl, 8nach; 6i hn, d er wei ss, d ass er ni cht wei ss-7i hnen d i e ni cht wi ssen, d ass si e ni cht
wi ssen-E8i hnen,
d i e wi ssen d ass si e wi ssen-wi th the tri ple negati ve ni cht thoughtf ully
d i stri buted i n the si xth and seventh li nes. The thri ce occurri ng conjuncti on 1, 2, 8und
i s connected wi th a correspond ence between the f i rst and last sentences: the accusati ve
1B erge, f ollowed by an apposi ti on of the two pleonasti c accusati ves i nterli nked by
und , i s paralleled by the accusati ve 5i hn and i ts pleonasti c apposi ti on 6i kn wi th two
subsequent d ati ves 7nach i hnen . . . 8und nach i hnen.
A purely metaphori cal, spati al d esi gn of bi bli cal stamp und erli es the whole poem:
(see p. 20). The valley i s the only abod e of the unsolvable anti nomy between the two con-
trari es, the awareness of one's own unawareness, whi ch perhaps allud es to i ts li kewi se
anti nomi c reversal, the tragi c unawareness of one's own awareness.
The themati c tri parti ti on of the octasti ch superposes a symmetri cal pattern upon
20 ROMAN JAKOB SON
i ts syntacti c d i vi si on i nto three uneven sentences of two, one, and f i ve li nes. The f i rst
three li nes of the poem d epi ct the permanent quasi -materi al status of i ts heroes; the
outer, i ni ti al couplet (li nes i and 2) i s d evoted to beasts and god s, whi le the thi rd
li ne d eals wi th men. Correspond i ngly, the last three li nes of the poem characteri ze
the permanent mental status of i ts heroes, and the outer, f i nal couplet (li nes 7-8)
contemplates the beasts and god s, whereas the thi rd li ne f rom the end (6) i s consa-
crated to men. The central of the three secti ons (li nes 4-5) may
be d ef i ned as
d ynami c
and i s concerned wi th acti ve processes whi ch occur-once agai n wi th
permanence-
i n "the d usky valley of men." Each of these three secti ons i s
si gnaled by
a stressed
monosyllable at the end of i ts i ni ti al li ne (1klar, 4si eht, and 6wei ss), whereas the other
f i ve li nes of the poem are closed wi th a paroxytone.
bri ght clear
mountai n mountai n
negati on af f i rmati on
of of
negati on af f i rmati on
d usky
valley
af f i rmati on
of
negati on
Si nce the two-li ne central secti on
(4, 5)
joi ntly wi th the two ad jacent li nes
(3
and
6) f ocus on men, all f our i nner li nes may be treated i n a certai n regard as a whole
opposed to the toweri ng theme of the two outer couplets. The bord erli nes
(3
and 6)
are evoked by a stressed monosyllable at the end of thei r f i rst hemi sti ch (two parallel
verbal f orms 3li egt, 6wei ss), whi le the two pai rs of li nes surround i ng each of these
bord erli nes d i splay a f emi ni ne caesura.
In thei r grammati cal shape (3 and 6) occupy an obvi ously transi ti onal posi ti on;
each of them i s basi cally aki n to the conti guous outer couplet, but at the same ti me
they share certai n f ormal f eatures wi th the two central li nes.
Thi s central d i sti ch, the most d ramati c part of the poem, i s end owed wi th verbs
of process (4nach oben si eht, 5ergrei f t), i n contrad i sti ncti on to the verbs of state i n (I-3)
and to the verba sci end i i n (6-8). The abstract noun 5Selnsucht d i f f ers f rom the si x con-
crete substanti ves of the three preced i ng li nes and f rom the total absence of nouns i n
the next three li nes. The components of Sehnsucht are related , one wi th the verb
sehnen, and the other, through f olk etymology, wi th the verb suchen. The enti re li ne
d i splays an ostensi bly verbal leani ng, and besi d es the transi ti ve verb ergrei f t wi th the
d i rect object i An, i t contai ns a gerund ahnend and a d everbati ve ad jecti ve unsti llbare.
THE VERB AL ART OF POET-PAINTERS
The temporal ad verbi al clause
(1
W enn ..
.),
as compared wi th the relati ve clauses i n
the other two secti ons, und erli es the pri macy of the verb i n the central li nes. The
verb-ori ented hexapod i c li ne whi ch conclud es the central d i sti ch 5ed f d sst i hn d /nend
/ ei ne znsti llbare Se'hnsucht-contrasts i n parti cular wi th the termi nal, purely nomi nal
pentapod y of the i ni ti al d i sti ch-2d en B e'rg d er Ti ere / und d en B erg d er Gotter-the only
two i ntegrally i ambi c li nes wi th f emi ni ne end i ngs of both hemi sti chs. The i nd ef i ni te
tri plet 4ei ner--ei nmal-5ei ne contrasts wi th two chai ns of "d etermi nates": 1d enen-2d en-
d er-d en-d er-3d azwi schen-d as-d er (i nclud i ng the alli terati ve d d mmeri ge)
i n the f i rst sec-
ti on and 6d er-d ars-7d i e-d ass-8cd i e-d ass i n the f i nal tercet. The vocali c onset of the thri ce
repeated ei n- i s rei nf orced by the si mi lar i ni ti als of the surround i ng word s-4ei ner
ei nmal ... oben ... 5erf asst i hn ahnend ei ne unsti llbare . . . -whi le the f i nal word s of thi s
d i sti ch prod uce a tri ple alli terati on of hi ssi ng conti nuants: 4si eht-Sehnsucht.
W i th the anteced ent transi ti onal li ne the central d i sti ch shares the only nomi nal
subjects and the only epi thets i n the octasti ch; by the way, these two tetrasyllabi c
attri butes i n the uni que tetrapod i c hemi sti chs-3d Ammeri ge
and 4unsti llbare-are the
lengthi est vocables of the enti re text. These sole nouns i n the nomi nati ve case together
wi th thei r ad jecti ve mod i f i ers ref er i nd i rectly to men and are contraposed to the three
nomi nal accusati ves of the i ni ti al d i sti ch, whi ch poi nts to beasts and god s. Furthermore,
the gend er opposes the obscure 3Tal, the only neuter noun of the poem, and especi ally
i ts only f emi ni ne, the af f ecti ve 5Sehnsucht, to the f i ve masculi ne nouns of the i ni ti al
d i sti ch, as i f thi s d i f f erence were to conf i rm the peerlessness of human whereabouts
and troubles. In general, opposi ti ons of contrari es and of contrad i ctori es are much
more typi cal of Klee's grammati cal texture than the numeri cal correspond ences
between i ts d i f f erent secti ons.
W i th the subsequent transi ti onal li ne the central d i sti ch shares the
only si ngular
f orms of masculi ne pronouns (4ei ner; 5i hn; 6i hn, d er, er) and the absence of plurals,
agai nst the numerous nomi nal, pronomi nal, and verbal plurals of the other li nes.
Thi s si ngular loneli ness, graphi cally d eli neated i n the acme of Klee's poem,
f i nd s a ki nd red preamble i n the i mmed i ately preced i ng li nes of hi s d i ary (No. 538):
"..0 . ganz auf si ch selber abstellen, si ch auf grosste Ei nsamkei t vorberei ten. Abnei gung
gegen d i e Fortpf lanzung (ethi sche tYberempf i nd li chkei t)."
The three f i nal, stri ctly relati onal and cogi tati ve li nes mani f esti ng three vari eti es
of a d ouble hypotaxi s and consi sti ng of ni ne pronouns, si x f orms of the verb "to
know", three ti mes wi th and three ti mes wi thout the negati ve ni cht, and of si x conjunc-
ti ons and preposi ti ons, put an end to the metaphori cal network of the two pri or
secti ons wi th thei r conventi onally f i gurati ve i nani mates and verbs. The read er i s
called upon to proceed f rom spati al vi si ons to stri ngent spi ri tual abstracti ons.
In agreement wi th the longi ng of the termi nal d i sti ch f or the i nhabi tants of the
mountai ns, auf d enen es hell i st und klar, or perhaps i n agreement rather wi th the ter-
mi nal stri vi ng f or the hei ghts of abstract med i tati on, seven f ull stresses of the two f i nal
li nes f all on the acute and d i f f use vowel
/i l-7nach
lhnen d i e ni cht wi ssen, d ass sz'e ni cht
22 ROMAN JAKOB SON
wi ssen
8End
nach i hnen, d i e wi ssen d ass si e wzssen. Also i n the three li nes of the i ni ti al sec-
ti on, i t i s /i / that carri es the last stress of the f i rst hemi sti ch. Among the thi rty-f our
strong stresses of the octasti ch, twenty-three f all on f ront (vi z. acute) vowels, and , i n
parti cular, thi rteen f all on
/i /.
The f our d i phthongs
/ai /
wi th thei r acute termi nati on
i n turn rei nf orce the "bri ght" ti nge of Klee's poem, whi ch mani f estly avoi d s back
round ed vowels und er stress and tolerates merely two /u/ and one /o/.
An astound i ng uni on of rad i ant transparence and masterf ul si mpli ci ty wi th
multi f orm i ntri cacy enables Klee the pai ni ter and the poet to d eploy a harmoni ous
d i sposi ti on of unusually vari ed d evi ces ei ther on a stri p of canvas or i n a f ew li nes of
a notebook. The append ed scheme may summari ze those concurrent, bi nary and
ternary arrangements of subject matter and grammati cal exped i ents whi ch lent d epth
and monumentali ty to the arti st's verbal mni ni ature and whi ch appear to exempli f y
Klee's d i alecti c of arti sti c marked ness wi th hi s acute sense f or correlati ons of d ynami c
and stati c, of bri ght and d eep, of i ntensi ve and extensi ve, of grammati cal and geo-
metri cal concepts, and , f i nally, of rule and overruli ng, all of whi ch he i nti mated i n
hi s d i ary of I908 (No. 832):
Hand lung sei ausserord entli ch und ni cht Regel. Hand lung i st aori sti sch, muss si ch
abheben von Zustand li chem. W i ll i ch hell hand eln, so muss d er Zustand d unkel zu
Grund li egen. W i ll i ch ti ef hand eln, setzt d as helle Zusti i nd e voraus. Di e W i rkung d er
Hand lung erh6ht si ch bei starker Intensi tat und klei ner Ausd ehnung, aber auf geri nger
zusti i nd li cher Intensi tat und grosser zustand li cher Ausd ehnung ... Auf mi tteltoni ger
Zustai nd li chkei t aber i st d oppelte Hand lung m6gli ch, nach hell und nach ti ef hi n
gesi chtete.
1St B easts i . Ini ti al I
sentence and 2. d i sti ch Externali zed
god s
2nd 3. status
sentence Imagery
3rd 4. Central II
sentence: d i sti ch
Men E 5.
men i n .o
0
Moti on
relati on to
beasts and
god s 6. Internal
B easts 7- status
and Termi nal
god s d i sti ch
8. Abstracti on
THE VERB AL ART OF POET-PAINTERS
Ref erences
Apolli nai re, Gui llaume (1913) Ed i tor of Les Soi rees d e Pari s, III, No. 20, Jan. 15, 1913
(actually 1914) Pari s.
Apolli nai re, Gui llaume (I960) Chroni ques d 'art, Pari s.
B ouret, Jean (I96I) Henri Rousseau, Neuchatel.
B ronowski , J. (i 965) W i lli am B lake and the Age of Revoluti on, New York.
Ef f enberger, Vrati slav (I963) Henri Rousseau, Prague.
Erd man, D. V. (I965) Ed i tor of The Poetry and Prose of W i lli am B lake, New York.
Frye, Northrop (i 9652) Fearf ul Symmetry: A Stud y of W i lli am B lake, B oston.
Gled i on-W elcker, Carola (1946) Anthologi e d er Absei ti gen, B ern.
Jakobson, Roman (I968) "Poetry of Grammar and Grammar of Poetry," Li ngua, 2I.
Klee, Feli x
(I957)
Ed i tor of Tagebi i cher von Paul Klee i 898-i 9i 8, Cologne.
Klee, Feli x (I960) Ed i tor of Ged i chte von Paul Klee, Zuri ch.
Valli er, Dora (i 962) Henri Rousseau, New York.
B oylston Hall 301
Harvard Uni versi ty
Cambri d ge, Mass. 02138