THE SAILOR'S STORY

Evenings on cobbled streets
leading down to the wharves

Where boys matched oars with men,
straining pride and muscle

Their boats nosing the wind
to catch the next tide's run.

But it was not fish food
I hungered for, or proof

As I walked back each time,
the youngest son of five

With alien eyes and thoughts
reaching out to starboard.

There was no goodbye
that last night, no righteous words.

I left silently
with no one to look at me

But my own shadow,
the wind lifting my footsteps

Down stone passageways,
lantern, pack and gear in hand.

Until, there it was,
riding at anchor, far out.

I paused a moment
and then ran, homeless, from home.

Always a convoy
for the long sea voyages

The ship like a whale
or a shark with pilot fish

The hills receding
as our masts climbed up the sky

And I knew it would be weeks
before we returned

Though we had strong sails, good winds
and plenty of hands.

Yet I never can recall
the last trip of all.

I remember the islands
flashing in the sun

Mostly barren rocks
and slopes of tattered vineyards

The waterfronts deserted
except by seabirds

No one to trade with
and our vessel filled with jars.

So we headed past the coast
toward open ocean

Where strange crews hailed us,
and for honey, gave us salt.

Then came fever
and all the sick were put ashore.

We had good care:
warm milk, vinegar baths and beds.

When my head cleared,
there was a road along the cliffs

Which I followed
past the village behind the goats

Feeling the ground
steady and true for a good house.

Until sunset,
when I saw the sea flowing west.

So I left that past
and shipped into the future

A boy born on land
with sea legs, a strange creature

Neither fish nor fowl,
yet something of each, between.

My head at the bow,
my feet at the stern, who dreamed

Whose ribs creaked and strained
to outride wind, tide and stars.

Blood of the sailor,
a part of me forever.

"Her poems give one a sense of intelligence and sensibility."
Wallace Stevens.

"Her work is clear, swift, and strong."
Mark Van Doren

"Her poems assuredly justify the writer, and should console the right reader (if anything can)."
Marianne Moore

"I like her poems; they think, and they mean what they say."
Conrad Aiken

"Certainly impressive work."
Kenneth Rexroth

"Mature, her poems have a bite to them."
Richard Eberhart

"The new form is most interesting; the poems beautiful and distinguished."
Allen Tate

The poems in this book are written in a new form—they are called twelve-tone poems. The form was adapted by the author from Arnold Schoenberg's musical system, using speech sounds in place of notes.

This autographed edition is limited to 100 copies, designed and illustrated by Paul Bartlett. The poems are set in Regal 14 type on Westland stock. Printed by Impresora Gutenberg, Colima, Mexico.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Elizabeth Bartlett (1911-1994) was an American poet and writer noted for her lyrical and symbolic poetry, creation of the new twelve-tone form of poetry, founder of the international non-profit organization Literary Olympics, Inc., and known as an author of fiction, essays, reviews, translations, and as an editor. She is not to be confused with the British poet (1924-2008) of the same name. For more detailed information about her life, work, and critical commendations, see the Wikipedia article [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Bartlett_%28American_poet%29].

Bartlett's most notable achievements include:

* Creation of a new form of poetry, "the twelve-tone poem," adapting Arnold Schoenberg's musical system to the verbal, accented sounds of language. Called "the Emily Dickinson of the 20th Century," her concise lyrics have been praised by poets, musicians, and composers alike.

* Publication of 16 books of poetry, a group of edited anthologies, and more than 1,000 poems, short stories, and essays published, for example, in Harper's, Virginia Quarterly, New York Times, North American Review, Saturday Review, Prairie Schooner, and in numerous international collections.

* Recipient of many fellowships, grants and awards, including NEA, PEN Syndicate, fellowships at the Huntington Hartford Foundation, Montalvo, Yaddo, MacDowell, Dorland Mt. Colony and Ragdale, travel grants, and honors for introducing literature as part of the Olympics.

* Founder of the Literary Olympics, to restore literature, specifically poetry, as a vital part of the Olympics as it once had been in ancient Greece.

Bartlett's poetry came to the attention of leading poets, writers, and critics as diverse as Marianne Moore, Wallace Stevens, Mark Van Doren, Conrad Aiken, Allen Tate, Alfred Kreymborg, Robert Hillyer, Louis Untermeyer, Rolfe Humphries, John Ciardi, Richard Eberhart, Richard Wilbur, Maxine Kumin, Robert M. Hutchins, Kenneth Rexroth, William Stafford, and others. Over the years, Bartlett maintained an active and extensive correspondence with eminent poets, writers, and literary critics; evident throughout this collected literary correspondence are strong statements attesting to the importance of her work. Extensive permanent collections of Elizabeth Bartlett's papers, literary correspondence, publications, unpublished manuscripts, and art have been established, one as part of the Archive for New Poetry maintained by the Mandeville Department of Special Collections at the University of California, San Diego, and the second by the Rare Books Collection of the University of Louisville. Bartlett's readings of her poetry have been recorded for the Library of Congress, Yale, Harvard, Stanford, and other collections.

Bartlett's twelve-tone form of poetry was introduced in her book, Twelve-Tone Poems, published in 1968. In Bartlett's words: "The 12-tone poem is a new form.... It was inspired by Arnold Schoenberg's musical system. The poem consists of 12 lines, divided into couplets. Each couplet contains 12 syllables, using the natural cadence of speech. The accented sounds of the words are considered tones. Only 12 tones are used throughout the poem, repeated various times. As a result, the poem achieves a rare harmony that is purely lyrical, enriching its imagery and meaning."

About this work, Allen Tate wrote: "The new form is most interesting, the poems quite beautiful and distinguished." Encouraged by this and other commendatory responses to her twelve-tone poems by poets, musicians, and composers including Stephen Sondheim, Bartlett continued to develop the new form. The House of Sleep, published in 1975, was the result, consisting of 62 poems related to dreams and written in the new form. Of these poems, William Stafford wrote: "There is a trancelike progression in these poems, in which all unfolds quietly, with a steady holding of a certain pervasive tone." Robert M. Hutchins wrote: "I am much impressed. The poems seem to me what is called an important contribution, and a beautiful one."

A third collection of twelve-tone poems, In Search of Identity, was published in 1977, further establishing the diversity and versatility of ways in which Bartlett was able to make use of the new form. A fourth collection of twelve-tone poems was published in 1981, Memory Is No Stranger.

Her husband, Paul Alexander Bartlett (1909 1990) was an American writer, artist, and poet. He made a large-scale study of more than 350 Mexican haciendas, published novels, short stories, and poetry, and worked as a fine artist in a variety of media. For more detailed information about his life and work, see the Wikipedia article [ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Alexander_Bartlett].

Elizabeth Bartlett's son, Steven James Bartlett (1945 ), is a psychologist and philosopher who has many published books and articles in the fields of philosophy and psychology. For more detailed information about his life and work, see the Wikipedia article [ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_James_Bartlett].

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