Correspondence, Jay MacPherson

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MSS 6-1_1_A_96_001
Contt£PRIVATE PUBLICATIONS: a selective listContact Press, Toronto:Canadian Poems 1850-1952,Edited by Louis Dudek and Irving Layton. &2.00.Dudek, Louis.Twenty-four Poems. §l,<x>.Four French-Canadian Poets.Saint-Denya Garneau, Roland Giguere, Glllea
Renault, Paul-Marie Lapointe, with translations
by Jean Beaupre and Gael Turnbullt Set of four
pamphlets, ''-1.00. (Mimeographed* )Layton, Irving,The Cold Green Element. $£.50.Divers Press, Mallorca:
Layton, Irving.In the Midst of my Fever. §1.50,X Emblem Books, Toronto:_^ Hine, Daryl.^ Five Poems, 1954. $.50, (Mimeographed.)-, Liveaay, Dorothy.New Poems. >.50. (Mimeographed,)
Kacnherson, Jay.0 Earth Return. '),50. (Mimeographed.)Fiddlehead Poetry Books, Fredericton:
Cogswell, Fred.The Stunted Strong. $.50.
-> Downes, G. V.Lost Diver. §.50.First Statement Press, Toronto:
Smith, Kay.Footnote to the Lord's Prayer. §1,00.
Souster, Raymond.iTien We Are Young. "1,00,
Vaddineton, Miriam.Green World. fa.00.
Wilkinson, Anne.Counterpoint to Sleep, $1.00,Hornyansky, Michael,The queen of Sheba (The Hewdigate Prize Poem, 1951).
Blackwell, Oxford. $.75,LaBcoon Press, Montreal:
Dudek, Louis.Europe. $£,oo.This sheet represents an attempt to heln co-ordinate the
distribution of independent verse publications. Anyone
wishing to add to the list is asked to write to the
address given above.
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life h k<*sr fr***- fte • - *V^_ y^ ajiijPS. U.Vi y<r*SY by S*uh> s(U( qJ-rt uw, 'J. * yUUsbuirt tit Wrv LJ' ,
MSS 6-1_1_A_96_003
16New York Q/^^-£ 7 '"^ No. _AjZ:2&Thi£ GnASK-^tAJvfCA.'l'XAN Bank AzA» " _t -BriOAinVAY^AT T^RB ^'OUiKT- W"TP YORK. N. Y. 210
MSS 6-1_1_A_96_004
Ralph Guetafson, Eso.
2 West 67th St.
New York
NY.
MSS 6-1_1_A_96_005
19. iv.Sorry for. bothering you about 19P: shall nerJians
try Smith., not that it matters much. - Sorry,
lent my only cony of Forum & it hasn't been
returned; that again doesn't much matter, as I'm
concocting some sort of an ms with everything I
still like, & have a reasonable hone of getting it
done here. Hope you liked the bits & nieces.
Pamnhlet distribution is a chore, but gives one the
illusion of keening in touch & doing something
useful: must have donr all of ten dollars' worth of
business so far...Yours,Jew .
MSS 6-1_1_A_96_006
•at 67th Street
Hew York 23, N.Y.JUly 1, 1956Dear Jay,Kazqr thank; fox forwarding to aeDorothy Livesay's "Hot? Foejaa"— I wrote her
today.I notice you're in :Tew :7o oho Ha¬
lf you come in to Her York do phono BN if
you have a MtOMXt- for a drink or what you
vrill— it would Tie pleasant to see you again.
MSS 6-1_1_A_96_007
2 West 67th street
Heu Topic 23, H.X,
MgNk 12, 19;?Dear Jay,I':- finishing siy new Anthology or Canadian Poetry
to be pubila 1* wacaln 3ook» and -.touU like to ir-oludoof nuti "' a■■'" Hit?" from .iddlil-.gad Uoo 23A; th»Swan" fi-ora 2 Egyth Betray, ahloJi /ou' ;ja7e 30 at ."tajS'Soa: and
"The Fi*h«wwc^ .""1;; 'Jtia 7".3arno"'-t !I«rig» viii/v'Ji. I oan
offer ;5«0O n noeas. A acaii ni mflsedi rat [ .... I sity
have yo-rr panuiMiosiaif tCbfl a vjvc i: ngiweaTtlaj vrould y^u soad .ao a line
or tsro of via-v osas, mfelioatlons, era Jom, educated,for ^r ttlograpiiics.1 HotafHope the poetry businaas, flxruvisbaa. I iiavo 1 number
of raplan of tix Jrr-idia::. :;sr;i:i, of "v'-icea which 1'lglit be
a Canadian* -to:; ll%3) if you Uta fee Iw* It- fifty cents
it sold for.Any (MB) _ oc._; of yours— I enjoyed Sho laat Chicago
Poetry^ All best wishes,ftinoeroiy.
MSS 6-1_1_A_96_008
147 Bloor *»S
Toronto.
14. ill. 57.Deer Ralph:Of the three noems "ou mentioned, I heve the copyright only
of one, "Perdurobility", end rou're welcome to use it. The other
two, "Swan" find "Fisherman", nre to be published this snrini? by
OUP (Toronto) in a collection called The Boatmen, and I'm handing
your letter on to them to renly to,I'm "uite happy about the selection, eicent for one thin??:
Smith's putting Perd::rebility in the Mwraiitio-nxof iharSBnicTiBf.
SMsdisHxyprtry^ oxford Book of Can. Verse, and the Swan in the
new edition of the Book of Canadian Poetry: do you mind overlaying ?
I don't awfully want to see the seme noems revested in anthologies,
as it irritates me in selections from anrtk other writers: can send
you any quantity of more recent verse if vou want to reconsider the
selection. However, tbat's of course ui to you. I don't doubt
Oxford will be auite happy whatever.As for the notes you asked for: born June 1931. educated mostly
Ottawa jtmfcxlBTiratB (biphsohool end Carleton College) end Toronto (MA,
workin-- for doctorate). Publications: Nineteen Egggg (."eizin Pr.,
Mallorce, 195f).C ""°rth Return (^:iibl<=m ' oiks," '■.ronto, 1954), The
Boatman (OUP, Toronto, 1957) DllE). Also poems in most Canadian &
two US magazines ft several on CBC "Anthology".OK ? please don't ask again where born, am not proud of.I'll be delighted to list the Cen. issue of "Voices" when and
if I get another li=t out - not until I do another osmphlet, probably,
% have no takers for the moment.<Jflai)st OUP waitr a few daya before
the selection - ell right ?
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2 West o7th Street
Hew York 23, H.Y.March 18, 1957Dear Jay,Many thani:s for your permissions.I suppose a certain amount of overlapping in
anthologies is inevitable, a good poen if a good poem and
so on. Perdurability. I'd ilka to be the first with new
work. I'm indexing— but if it can be somewhat posthaste,
would you send down the recent poems? I'll get another one
in in place of "Swan . Id any ease I'd like to read them.That would leave "fisherman" aa the only one
concerning OUP— and I suppose copyright is yours until
the book lias publication.ACon;jratulations to OUP on doing
a book of your poem3. I look foi'ward to it.Could you send we a copy of nineteen Poems
published by Seizin Press for me bo xiava— and 1*11 send
up the reimbursement:?Yours,^•I'll write them if "iisherman"
finally left in.
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I'll 1.t'a «In the book, ha also including some bits of Oxford proof: a few of
those poems have been in magazines, but none anthologized. Oxford
by the way consider that their responsibility dstes from my signing
their contract some weeks back; are being in Reneral very nice about
things, ft, not taking the nercentage they're entitled to from anthology
fees. Book is expected May or so.I supnose the trouble with me for anthology purposes is that the
pofms ere all connected ft don't stand ur- too well by themselves, &
my peculiar favourites like the last in "0 Snrth" ft "Boatmen1' respec¬
tively (I wanted book called ^fter the latter, ''The Anogoeic Kan", but
Oxf wasn't baring any) are so because of their connections, not whet
they ne in themselves: am not at ell fond of 7 our ft Smith's net
"Perdurability", . in fact threw it out of fie book. Oh well: nice of
you to struKFle with all this.Sorry to say I cen't fiunr-ly n conv of !■ irieteen "'o^ms: r.ot even
ure now that I own one myself, h^vin" lent mine to Sompon* - o hr.p
forgotten ell about it. There were onl- a hundred irinted, of vhich
Graves ft I had fifty each: and they were all given away to all askers,
not sold* That's the delight of nrlvrte publishing, one can scatter
the stuff around if production costs ar* n'fligibla.If you nre horrified by the nresent lot ft want to stick to Swan,
you're ouite welcome.You*a,PS. I should explain that the Oxford book is more or less of a
collected poems to dste. The first section is teken from 19 Poems,
the second is 0 Earth complete, the third the pieman thr,t belongs
with it (Forum printed last spring), the fourth a set of partore 1
efforts called The Sleepers, the fifth Ark plus some, the sixth The
FlBhennsn as in Tamarack, So vou've seen most of it.t^fl
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INLAND \i\x.^0/^Let fire and tempest wage around
Their ever-furious war:
The seaman far from ocean1s sound
Sets up his dripping oar.Where never mower1s boot has trod
Nor sickle sheared the hours,
Till plant you as my garden's god,
And twine you round with flowers.(to be published in Jay
Ivlacpherson' s new book,
The Boatman.)
MSS 6-1_1_A_96_012
*-»/,<]The Weofta Ko WoreWe'll wander to the woods no more,
Nor beat about the junlnex tree.
My tears run down, my heart is sore,
And none Shall m=ke a p-ame of me.But come, my love, enother day,
I'll "ive you cherries with no stones,
And -ilver bells, and nuts in May
- But make no bones.Come, shaping fir.i-er, set -.'our imare free,
Soft infant father, sturdy child of man.Poor vessel, flimsy shell.Th=t serves no crs^ture wellBut sparely shows the traveller lip-litIn paths of night,On the dark hours efloet,To on" she is a cradle end e boat,And holds his lightClose ir her arm? sll ni^ht.The Journey"uick, find me, or foT ever miss
In me is no delry:
Like wpve, like flame my iourney
That ^tand but never stay.I'll be a cavern, vou en ocean poured
Inward to flee the whirling void -bout us,
And both lie low, 'nd let our broodin" Lord
Make thp next world without us.

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