Burbank with a Baedeker: Bleistein with a Cigar

BurbankBurbankBurbank reference topics discussion of Burbank discussion of Bleistein discussion of Burbank and Bleistein discussion of Baedeker back to "Burbank"Click for the full annotation → crossed a little bridgelittle bridge...little bridge... A little bridge in Venice is very common, of course, but a bridge is also a conventional symbol for making a decision, and this one is presumably taken from Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man , where Stephen Daedalus, rather than taking ord…Click for the full annotation →
Descending at a small hotel;descending at...descending at... The line presumably refers to Freud's Interpretation of Dreams . In the first draft the line read "And Triton blew his wrinkled shell." against which Pound wrote "if you 'hotel' this rhythm shd be weighted a bit, I think." reference topics Bur…Click for the full annotation →
Princess VolupinePrincess VolupinePrincess Volupine Volupine, from voluptas and "pine," is the personification of Venice, who is traditionally represented in poetry as a woman. Eliot suitably names her "decaying beauty." Princess is, among others, a euphemism for whore. reference topics Prince…Click for the full annotation → arrived,
They were together, and he fell.
Tennyson NoteThey were... From Alfred Tennyson's "The Sisters". Note that Tennyson's poem reads 'she' instead of 'he.' reference topics Tennyson's The Sisters "The Sisters" and "Burbank" Structural analysis back to "Burbank"Click for the full annotation →
Defunctive musicDefunctive musicDefunctive music From William Shakespeare's "The Phoenix and the Turtle." The whole stanza reads: " Let the priest in surplice white, / That defunctive music can, / Be the death-divining swan, / Lest the requiem lack his right." reference topics "The Phoenix a…Click for the full annotation → under seaunder seaunder sea From William Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra. The music that signifies Hercules' departure (see God Hercules), "i' the air" and "Under the earth" (4.3.14-5), passes "under sea" in Eliot's poem, thus made suitable for Venice. reference topics Anton…Click for the full annotation →
Passed seawardpassed seaward...passed seaward... presumably from Rostand, Cyrano : " Not Venus' self can mount her conch blown seaward, / As she can step into her chaise a porteurs." The first draft read "passed slowly like the passing bell." reference topics Cyrano and "Burbank" "Burbank's…Click for the full annotation → with the passing bellpassing bellpassing bell Bell rung in moment of person's death. Cf. John Ruskin, The Stones of Venice , who wished to record " the warning which seems to me to be uttered by every one of the fast gaining waves, that beat, Eke passing bells, against the Stones of Venice." …Click for the full annotation →
SlowlySlowlySlowly Cf. "With even feet," next stanza. Presumably meant to indicate the steady pace of the gondola. The first draft read "Seaward:" reference topics Cyrano and "Burbank" "Burbank's" first draft Princess Volupine discussion of Burbank back to "Burbank"Click for the full annotation →: the God Hercules
Had left him,The God Hercules...The God Hercules... From William Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra: "'Tis the god Hercules, whom Antony lov'd / Now leaves him ." (4.3.30-1). Notice the difference in capitalisation between Shakespeare and Eliot, which is a kind of clarification on Eliot's pa…Click for the full annotation → that had loved him wellloved him...loved him... The line occurs twice in Shakespeare, in II King Henry IV (3.2.42) and Macbeth (4.3.18). The context of the latter suits the poem slightly better, for it fits the reference to Joyce; in the fromer death is caused by arrows, which may refer to the …Click for the full annotation →.

The horsesthe horsesthe horses There are two possible interpretations: the horses may be drawing Phoebus' chariot, but they may also be beating up the dawn on earth, with the sun rising overhead. Hence they would represent the army approaching from Istria, converging Venice's fal…Click for the full annotation →, under the axletreeaxletreeaxletree The axletree is the tree of which the axis of Chariots used to be made and in classical times the burning chariot driven by Phoebus was the sun. Eliot refers to a similar image in Seneca's Hercules Furens and Chapman's Bussy D'Ambois , two fragments w…Click for the full annotation →
Beat up the dawnbeat up the...beat up the... The dawn is beat up by the horses of Phoebus, who rides the sun across the sky every day in his chariot, called by Ovid the burning axle-tree. There is another echo from Ovid's Metamorphoses , the story of Niobe: "With even surface, far extendin…Click for the full annotation → from IstriaIstriaIstria Pronounce ['istry-ay] . Peninsula currently belonging to the republic of Croatia, but formerly belonging to Austria-Hungary and Venice. Herod relates in his history how Eatarchus confused the Ister for the Nile and thus Itria for Egypt, whence Antony's …Click for the full annotation →
With even feetwith even feetwith even feet Cf. "Slowly" in the previous stanza. Apart from indicating the steady and inevitable approach of the horses, the line might also be a reference to Emily Dickinson: " We trust, in plumed procession, / For such the angels go, / Rank after rank, wi…Click for the full annotation →. Her shuttered barge
Burned on the watershuttered bargeHer shuttered barge... Cf. Enobarbus in Shakespeare, Antony and Cleopatra : "The barge she sat in, like a burnished throne / Burned on the water." (2.2.201-2) . Shuttered, which has an erotic connotation, refers to a gondola, which is the 'barge' used in Venic…Click for the full annotation → all the dayall the dayall the day Perhaps an ironic reference to Spenser, Faerie Queene : "All night she spent in bidding of her bedes, / And all the day in doing good and godly deedes." - Volupine has been with Burbank all night and vainly displays her in her shuttered barge all d…Click for the full annotation →.

But this or such was Bleistein's wayBut this or...But this or... Cf. Robert Browning, "How it Strikes a Contemporary": "and this, or something like it, was his way." Bleistein, being misrepresented in the three ways that Joyce describes in the the portrait, himself points out Venice's misrepresentation. This …Click for the full annotation →:
A saggy bending of the kneesa saggy bending...a saggy bending... Symbolises humility. Cf. Dante, Purgatory I.51: " My guide, then laying hold on me, by words / And intimations given with hand and head, / Made my bent knees and eye submissive pay / Due reverence." Saggy colours the representation slightly …Click for the full annotation →
And elbows, with the palms turned outand elbows, with...and elbows, with... Cf. Sadi, Gulistan : " O thou who showest virtues on the palms of the hand / But concealest thy errors under the armpit / What wilt thou purchase, O vain-glorious fool, / On the day of distress with counterfeit silver?" reference topics Gul…Click for the full annotation →,
ChicagoChicagoChicago Bleistein is from Chicago, and thus, like Burbank, an American. Chicago at the beginning of the century was a prosperous trade-city and Americans were in fact a minority group - in 1903 the city's population consisted of several racial groups, the larg…Click for the full annotation → SemiteChicagoSemite Bleistein is identified as a Semite. Since Jews were always so independent of nation, having none of their own, they have been recognisable throughout much of the history of time and were never afraid to settle in new countries, often without losing the…Click for the full annotation → VienneseChicagoViennese Bleistein has a Viennese attribute, which presumably means that he has moved from Vienna to Chicago, or that his immediate ancestor has done so. Vienna was, like Venice and Chicago, an important city of trade and the home of many nationalities and rac…Click for the full annotation →.

A lustrelessa lustreless...a lustreless... Bleistein overviews history with cold and detached reason. Perhaps, as the Marchesa in Poe's Venetian tale "The Assignation," Bleistein sees in the perspective of Canaletto, "the eye, like a shattered mirror, multiplies the images of its sorrow…Click for the full annotation → protrusiveprotrusiveprotrusive If Bleistein is thinking of racism back home in America, he might be thinking of Walt Witman's racistic Salut au Monde (12): " You Austral negro, naked, red, sooty, with protrusive lip, groveling, seeking your food! / You Caffre, Berber, Soudanese! …Click for the full annotation → eyeeyeeye Presumably the eye is Bleistein's - however, in the previous stanza Bleistein's features were described in the plural, and 'eyes' would be expected here. Hence it is often thought that this eye does not refer to Bleistein, but someone else. But single eye …Click for the full annotation →
Stares from the protozoic slimeprotozoic slimeprotozoic slime PROTOZOIC = "containing the earliest traces of living beings ." Hence the lustreless eye stares from the dawn of living time, in continuance of the evolutionist version of contemporary anti-Semitism. The slime of the Nile was long thought to co…Click for the full annotation →
At a perspective of Canalettoperspective of Canalettoperspective of Canaletto Giovanni Antonio Canal (1697-1768). Venetian painter whose name is almost synonymous with Venice; cf. Gautier, Le Carnaval de Venise, where he calls Venice: " La ville de Canaletto!" Hence Bleistein has a perspective of the history of …Click for the full annotation →.
The smoky candle end of time

Declines.The smoky candle end of timethe smoky candle end... A complex line, which combines Mantegna's image of history as a burning candle, Shelley's image of esthetic perception as a burning coal, and Bleistein's cigar. It marks that stage at which Bleistein achieves the third of Aquinas aesthe…Click for the full annotation → On the Rialto onceOn the RialtoOn the Rialto Cf. Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice : "Signoir Antonio, many a time and oft / In the Rialto you have rated me / about my moneys and my usances: / Still I have borne it with a patient shrug" (1.3.101-4) . From his historical perspective of his…Click for the full annotation →.
The rats are underneath the pilesrats...pilesrats...piles The piles of Venice are the heavy beams which support the buildings from sinking into the soft sea-bed of the Adriatic sea. Rats gnawed at these wooden piles, sometimes causing a building to collapse. reference topics back to "Burbank"Click for the full annotation →.
The JewJewJew This line has caused a lot of controversy in the criticism. Bleistein here reminds Burbank of The Merchant of Venice, the speech in which Shylock in turn reminds Antonio of his racist insults. The insults have been paraphrased, like the rest of Bleistein's…Click for the full annotation → is underneath the lotew...lotJ ew...lot ie. the Jew is even lower than the rat - Jews were at times believed to poison people and cause the destruction of cities and nations. Pile also refers to the hair of an animal, for instance the wool of sheep. Again the joke has been made contempora…Click for the full annotation →.
Money in fursMoneyMoney in furs "The Jew under the rat" leads to the joke "Money in furs" which Eliot may have picked up close at home - there was a Bleistein fur-trader registered at Lloyd's bank when Eliot worked there. Later, in 1927, another Bleistein moved to London from L…Click for the full annotation →. The boatman smiles,

Princess Volupine extends
A meagremeagre, phthisicmeagre, phthisic Burbank's eyes have been opened by Bleistein and finally sees Volupine for who she really is - a declining beauty. Cf. Byron's Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, Canto LXXIX: "The Niobe of Nations! there she stands, / Childless and crownless, in her …Click for the full annotation →, blue-nailedblue-nailedblue-nailed Cf. Dante, Inferno . "As one, who hath an ague fit so near, / His nails already are turn'd blue, and he / Quivers all o'er, if he but eye the shade" (Canto XVII, 85-7) This is Dante's fear as he climbs the monster Geryon who will bring him and Virg…Click for the full annotation →, phthisicmeagre, phthisicmeagre, phthisic Burbank's eyes have been opened by Bleistein and finally sees Volupine for who she really is - a declining beauty. Cf. Byron's Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, Canto LXXIX: "The Niobe of Nations! there she stands, / Childless and crownless, in her …Click for the full annotation → hand
To climb the waterstair. Lights, Lights,Lights, LightsLights, Lights In Shakespeare's play, Hamlet has had a vision of his father who told him that his uncle killed his father. To find out whether his vision was true, he stages a play for his uncle which contains a similar murder, called the Mousetrap, "a tale of…Click for the full annotation →
She entertainsshe entertainsshe entertains Cf. the line in the epigram from John Marston's "entertainment." Princess Volupine is the Niobe which offers Sir Ferdinand a cabinet, which is the poem of literary Venice we've seen thus far. Ferdinand in response reacts like King Claudius in Ha…Click for the full annotation → Sir FerdinandSir Ferdinand KleinSir Ferdinand Klein The most likely candidate for Sir Ferdinand Klein is Francis Ferdinand (1863-1914), heir to the Austrio-Hungarian crown, who was murdered on 28 June 1914 and was known for his diminutative stature ( klein is German for "small"). The histori…Click for the full annotation →

St Mark and the Winged Lion

KleinSir Ferdinand KleinSir Ferdinand Klein The most likely candidate for Sir Ferdinand Klein is Francis Ferdinand (1863-1914), heir to the Austrio-Hungarian crown, who was murdered on 28 June 1914 and was known for his diminutative stature ( klein is German for "small"). The histori…Click for the full annotation →. Who clippedclippedclipped Burbank perceives Venice, symbolised by the winged lion of St. Mark, with clipped wings, a flea'd rump, and pared claws. The idea is that Venice has been dressed up and domesticised, as for a cat-show, an image Eliot may have gotten from Théophile Gaut…Click for the full annotation → the lion's wingsOn the Rialtolion's wings The original draft read lion's mane , and wings was suggested by Pound. The winged lion is the symbol of St. Mark and hence of Venice, of whom St. Mark was the patron saint. The idea is that Venice has been dressed up and domesticised, as for a ca…Click for the full annotation →
And flea'd his rumpflea'dflea'd Burbank perceives Venice, symbolised by the winged lion of St. Mark, with clipped wings, a flea'd rump, and pared claws. The idea is that Venice has been dressed up and domesticised, as for a cat-show, an image Eliot may have gotten from Théophile Gauti…Click for the full annotation → and pared his clawsPared his clawsPared his... Burbank perceives Venice, symbolised by the winged lion of St. Mark, with clipped wings, a flea'd rump, and pared claws. The idea is that Venice has been dressed up and domesticised, as for a cat-show, an image Eliot may have gotten from Théophile…Click for the full annotation →?
Thought BurbankBurbankBurbank reference topics discussion of Burbank discussion of Bleistein discussion of Burbank and Bleistein discussion of Baedeker back to "Burbank"Click for the full annotation →, meditating on
Time's ruinsTimes' ruinsTimes' ruins In The Education of Henry Adams , Adams discusses what time's ruins, of Rome in particular, have taught him: "Young men as a rule saw little in Italy, or anywhere else, and in after life, when Adams began to learn what some men could see, he shran…Click for the full annotation →, and the seven lawsthe seven lawsthe seven laws In The Stones of Venice , in the chapter on the St. Mark, John Ruskin explains his seven laws of architecture. At the conclusion, comparing Venice to the tall buildings of the North, he wrote: " we have here low walls spread before us like the p…Click for the full annotation →.