[Tim Murphy]

Introduction to Robert Mezey

My intent is not to write an essay or a review; rather, I want appreciatively to introduce ‘Spherians to our most distinguished member, Professor Robert Mezey. Born in 1935, he began translating Ovid at age 13. He studied with John Crowe Ransom at Kenyon, served in Korea, and was graduated from Iowa in 1960. In that year The Lovemaker was published. Winner of the Lamont Award, this precocious first book showed a sure command of meter and a gift for ingenious rhyme unusual in so youthful a poet.

Perhaps in deference to the temper of the times, Mezey then turned to the mastery of his free verse. It is characterized by an unerring sense of line, a trait which is woefully lacking in most practitioners—then or now. It is proof of what my tutor, RP Warren, told me in my teens, that good practitioners of free verse are those who first master formal verse.

The Oxford Companion to Twentieth Century Poetry calls Mezey “a gifted metaphysical poet.” Metaphysical yes, but I think his chief attractions are wit, passion, and deep learning. One of the best verse translators America has ever produced, Mezey has absorbed the great influences of the Classics, Japan, the Near East, and the Romance languages. He and his collaborator, the late Richard Barnes, have translated The Complete Poems of Borges. In an unspeakable blow to English letters, Borges’ widow has refused them permission to publish, instead granting exclusive rights to a publisher who first commissioned this majestic tome, then switched tracks in favor of a version by divers hands, the likes of Bly, Merwin and Strand. John Hollander and Dick Wilbur were so outraged at this treatment, they refused permission for their own acclaimed translations to appear in the volume. Alan Sullivan will soon post a few poems on the Mastery Board. This great samizdat text can be acquired by a lucky few who secretly transmit a private message to Mezey. I swear it’s the greatest book of English-language verse I’ve read since the publication of The Collected Poems of Auden.

What we can legally acquire, however, is The Collected Poems of Mezey, just issued by the University of Arkansas Press. Its 300 pages collect Bob’s poems from 1952 to 1999. By insidious coincidence, UPS delivered the first copies to Pomona College the very day last November when I arrived to read and lecture as Bob’s guest. Diving into the book that night was an intimidating preparation for my own performances. Let me close by printing the penultimate poem from the book.


Tea Dance at the Nautilus Hotel
(1925)

The gleam of eyes under the striped umbrellas—
We see them still, after so many years,
(Or think we do)--the young men and their dears,
Bandying forward glances as through masks
In the curled bluish haze of panatellas,
And taking nips from little silver flasks.

They sit at tables as the sun is going,
Bent over cigarettes and lukewarm tea,
Talking small talk, gossip and gallantry,
Some of them single, some husbands and wives,
Laughing and telling stories, all unknowing
They sit here in the heyday of their lives.

And some then dance off in the late sunlight,
Lips brushing cheeks, hands growing warm in hands,
Feet gliding at the lightest of commands,
All summer on their caught or sighing breath
As they whirl on toward the oncoming night,
and nothing further from their thoughts than death.

But they danced here sixty-five years ago!--
Almost all of them must be underground.
Who could be left to smile at the sound
Of the oldfangled dance tunes and each pair
Of youthful lovers swaying to and fro?
Only a dreamer, who was never there.

(after a watercolor by Donald Justice)

[Michael Juster]

One volunteers here primarily for the pleasant surprises, one of which was seeing Mr. Mezey's name suddenly pop up. We are very lucky to have him.

[Tim Murphy]

I'm moving this over from Wakefield's Discerning Eye archive to reintroduce everyone to Professor Mezey who is by far the most senior and distinguished member of the Sphere.

[Brett Thibault]

Tim,

Your statement is ad hominem, I’ve owned the “Lovemaker” for many years. I’m a Spanish ex-patriat, but still find Mr. Mezey’s translations exquisite. I’m always glad to see his name appear in BAPs and on this board. I don’t use my current thinking as stick, and don’t try to stand on some else’s back to make a point.

By the way, your callous insinuation toward my grandmother is not appreciated, and is certainly not equal to the needs of the board. Personal attack is simply not good enough. Make what you think is a rational case and discuss it, or please leave my name off your posts.

[Tim Murphy]

Brett, no offense to your grandmother was intended, and I apologize for any that was taken. You write discursive prose very well, but I find your arguments betray a complete lack of understanding of the primacy, indeed the "infinite variety," of metered verse in all languages, all cultures, in every millenium. However there's no accounting for taste, and I've edited my post.

[robert mezey]

Brett, Tim was not referring to your actual
grandmother, God bless her. He meant the
grandmother of the old idiom, as in Frost's
poem An Importer, which ends

Teach those Asians mass production?
Teach your grandmother egg suction.

[Solan]

I certainly hope to see more of Robert's poems posted here. As for the Borges translation, it was probably a very good one. Sad to have lost it.

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Svein Olav
http://nonserviam.com/solan/

[robert mezey]

Solan, don't know what Borges translation
you're referring to, but if you can remember
the title or something specific about it,
I'll be happy to post it here.

[robert mezey]

p.s.
Every time Tim writes about me, he is
generous to a fault (I'm not complaining)
and he says I served in Korea. With all
the ruckus about that prof at Mt Holyoke
pretending Vietnam service, I'd better
correct Tim's fact once again. I was in
Fort Bragg in the 182nd Airborne toward
the end of the Korean War and during the
peace talks, and I prayed every way I knew
that I wouldn't have to go. None of us
wanted to go (except for a few crazy jumpers,
who had no imagination).

[Solan]

Robert, if I understood Tim right,

He and his collaborator, the late Richard Barnes, have translated The Complete Poems of Borges. In an unspeakable blow to English letters, Borges’ widow has refused them permission to publish [...]

none of your Borges translations were published.

I browsed through the Penguin edition of Borges's Selected Poems yesterday, and wondered two things: What would your translation have been like? How would Borges's poems have been critiqued in a workshop?

I see Tim has posted some here now, so I'll have a look at that. With the comments, I'm sure there's a lot to learn from it, and - not to forget - enjoy!


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Svein Olav
http://nonserviam.com/solan/