The Forgotten Paterson: A Tavern Song
Do you know
the Bourse?
to the west, go west, go west
Or the slow curve
of River
as the town moves back
from the Falls?
It's the haggle of the Hall,
the Bourse, on City, on West
that lends its name at interest,
to all who give it interest.
And interest is in the hollows,
the alleys cutting through;
a man out overhanging
Washington's thick
weatherboard sign:
This is Godwin's Taproom!
House Ten of Ten of Town!
Let the General INN! (bartender)
As Spirits Might Soothe Hys Thurst!
There are negroes in the dark
(do you see them?)
There are gypsies in the dark
(do you see them?)
There is Paterson on these streets
(oh, oldest man!)
There is a serpent not sleeping,
but coiling tightly
in this almond-gas swill
(Oh, Great God!)
From Park, from
Goffle, from
Boudinot, in oh;
From Collet,
Carrick, from Roswell
Colt;
From Dublin, New Dublin,
New
Dublin Spring, oh
Irish wave and wave:
The work-bell is ringing out --
Do you know this part?
Do you know this part?
KMC 9-23-06
2 comments:
So, I'm confused in the first few stanzas, up to the "Godwin's Taproom" stanza. Is the reference to _Paterson_ there something I've forgotten. I mean, sure, my copy of the book's across the room and you've given me page numbers, but I'd rather you tell me, TAS.
the "Bourse" is the common name the townspeople give City St. in the 1790s - the story being that the street, which partly boxed in City Hall, was often so noisy with political chatter that people avoided it for all purposes other than joining in the hullaballoo. "bourse" was the slang for "loudmouthed pundits" at the time, it seems. River is "River St." and the "man overhanging" is a textual reference to Ginsberg's note about a drunk bartender hanging over a balcony of a building with a gas leak, the smell being so strong it caused A.G. to hold his nose as he walked by and marvel that "the building did not explode." so that's the story. it wouldn't be a poem about paterson without footnotes, huh?
(whatcha think?)
Post a Comment