Willows Revisited

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142Nothing had been said in the circular sent out of the possibility that the poems might later be published by the government, and this may account for the fact that only the six members of the originalRegina School were present, in spite of the the roads beingThese sixin fairly good condition, The six are said to have been tipped off,although John Swivel, who was the first to make the announcementthat the government was considering publication, denies anyprevious knowledge of the governments intention. The fortunateincident of Purge Potatok's appearance at the meeting whichchanged the Regina School of six, into the more formal Saskatchewan School of Seven, is also here recorded for the first time. For this reason, if for no other, the tape recording of the ceremony is of great historical and literary significance.The day, we are told, was very hot; as Dominion Days in Saskatchewan always are and there was the usual high wind. Visibility, however, was still fairly good, and the two elevators of Willows could still be discerned from the Wetery. No one had any difficulty reaching the scene although, because of a broken culvert, it was necessary to walk the last quarter of a mile and carry the lunches and the pall for coffee. (Fortunately the cemetery had a pump which, if worked very fast, would pump water after three or four minutes without being primed.) Nevertheless all arrived on time and John Swivel was able to call the meeting to order at eleven o'clock as planned. Except for the coffee, which was boiled on the ceremonial pyre, each of the poets present had brought his own lunch, although there was a community Jar of pickles donated by Bessie Udderton.
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143The afternoon wa3 regarded as "free" and was spent by Jones-Jones in birdwatching, and by some of the others in a last minute polishing up of their poems which, after John Swivel's announcement that they were to be published by the Government, were nowbeing scrutinised with care. John Swivel himself spent the afternoon carving his name in Sarah's monument, and Mrs/Martha Waffletook a nap. On the whole a pleasant afternoon marred only by theincident of the ceremonial pyre, which all believe to have by this time died down, creeping through the grass into an adjoining field of what was later called in the statement of claim to the Departmentof Agriculture and to the Canadian Author's Association, as "first class hayland." Actually, like Potatok's own farm, this haylandwas mostly Russian thistle, and no great damage was done; in factthe pasturage was considerably improved by the fire. But all writers,not only poets, were in disrepute around Willows for a long timeafter, and the Town Council of Willows refused to pass its annual appropriation for the straightening of Sarah a monument for two years in succession.Dr�Bedfellow who was Hearing a leather windbreaker ".iff case of rain" and which he pen/isted in wearing despite^.fcfte heat forat it be lost or/stolen, attempted to beat out the flames with Thfa^amtuvi it but succeeded only in spreading them further. But what he did succeed Iti doing to the satisfaction of the group with the exception pf Jordan Middleduck, was to set Wraltha Dovecote's skirt on flrey'with the resT*l,t that she was obliged.^r ^^^^^to wear a by no means adequate garment during the rest of the after-'fjf lit was ,at the cemeterynoon and at the duck dinner.i^mprovised^from Dr Bedfellow's Ph_.D.as a professor or English u hood which/he had been wearing (in honor of the dignity and liter-% xary importance of the occasion^ over the windbreaker.
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144No serious attempt to extinguish the fire could have been mad, sinceby this time all the coffee had disappeared and the cemetery pump had longsince lost its priming. Dr. Bedfellow at least tried valiantly to beat out+he flames with his leather windbreaker, but he succeeded only in spreadingthem further and, in the end, in setting fire to Wraitha Dovecote's skirtSince, however, everybody � with the possible exception of JordanMiddleduck � immediately came to her assistance, Wraitha soon emerged withoutdamage to herself, but was obliged to improvise a somewhat inadequate skirt from Dr. Bedfellow's Ph.D. hood. (That scholar had been wearing it throughout the afternoon, together with his windbreaker, despite the heat, to prevent Mrs. Waffle from requesting the use of them as a pillow for her nap. The hood itself had become somewhat damaged, but Wraitha was still able, with the assistance of Mrs. Waffle, who always carried a generous supply of pins, to appear at the duck dinner that evening, which, after retiring for a while behind Sarah's monument, she had despaired of doing.
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Arrangements had been made for the duck dinner at the Clarendon Hotel. At this dinner John Swivel made a speech i _ which he expressed the hope that the School of Seven might some day affiliate with The Canadian Author's, Association, and a vote of thanks was passed to the Committee in charge of the arrangements. After thesinging of God Save the Queen, and Saskatchewan, Thou Golden, themeeting adjourned. No minutes were kept of this dinner or the and proceedings, Jones-Jones having run out of tape during the afternoon in recording some new noises which at first were thought to be those of birds but which have later been shown to be those of a new type of cricket recently brought into Saskatchewan with the oil rigs from Texas. Fortunately the omission of the proceedings at the dinner are not serious since we are told that nowhich waspoems were recited, the one which was omitted at the ceremony that morning by Bessie Udderton not having been finished as promised on account of a headache. (It is given in Appendix Il)History will mark the day. The sonnets, the odes, the triolets the roundels, tossed so carelessly and casually into Edmund Spenser's grave these four or five centuries ago have been lost to posterity and perhaps we are none the poorer for it. But the dedicated School of Seven who stood around a hot fire under the blazing Saskatchewan sun, and tossed their quatrains, ribbons and all , in eloquent gesture at Sarah's feet, or at least where they thought her feet might be), deserve our undying gratitude, not only for their having prudently kept copies, but for their willingness to give these copies to the Department of Agriculture without thought of reward or remuneration
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146The Tape(There is a faint scratching sound, followed by afew faint chirps, finally the wind is heard and this sound of the wind remains as a background throughout the recording.) Tapping of a spoon on a cup. This is followed by the voice of John Swivel.Swivel: Ladies and Gentlemen, and fellow poets! Will you come to order please. Its getting on and its going to be a sizzler, so I think we'll just dispense with any formalities. You all know each other and you all got the circular we sent out or you wouldn't be here. I'm only sorry that more couldn't be present on this occasion but then I know, this being Dominion Day, there are a lot of counter attractions especially the Fair at Regina. Still, it seems to me that since we dont have the opportunity very often to celebrate the twenty fifth anniversary of the death of a greatI poet like Sarah Binks, we might have had a little better attendance, however, as I said Bedfellow; Get on with it, Swivel. Swivel: In a minute, Dr Bedfellow. I have an announcement to make before the regular proceedings which affects us all and I want to make it before we get under way with our program. The Government has just informed me that they intend to publish the poems which we recite here, that is, Dr Bedfellow, if they are fit to be published.Bedfellow; And Just what in hell is that crack? Swivel; Well you see, Doctor, next year, 1955, is going to be the fiftieth anniversary of the the founding of the province, and the government intends to get out a commemorative book about the |fifty years they have been in business. And of course they're going
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147to give the different activities, education and industry, and the churches, things like that, a write up to show the improvement they have made in the last fifty years. Now we've been after them to do a chapter on the cultural growth in this province, especially poetry, and when I told the Department about the celebration here today they seemed to be very keen on it and were willing to sponsor it providing we gave them the poems. But as I said, Dr Bedfellow, they've got to be fit to print because this Willows-Quagmire district is the Premier's own constituency, and they dont want anything offensive or communist or something like that, what with an election coming on. But what I wanted you all to know is that there is a reasonable hope of our poems here being published.(There is a smattering of applause followed by an especially loud howl of wind which then dies down again,)Bedfellow; I can see that damn bunch publishing any of my stuff.Wraitha, Dovecote; Pilt, do you have to be like that?Swivel; Well, dont say I didn't tell you. Now about the restof this program. First we �Bessie Udderton: When do we make the fire?Swivel: All in good time, Mrs Waffle. Bessie Udderton: I'm famished.Swivel: If you'll just let me finish. Now we are gathered here to do honor to our great predecessor, and I think we should open with ten minutes of silence to her memory. Then we read our poems. Now there is no particular order of precedence, although I think that as Chairman I had better start and you can see how it's done. Then I'll call out the names and the person called will step forward
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148and read his poem. We're going to build a small ceremonial fire, and I mean small what with this wind, at Sarah's feet,' and as each poemis read we toss it into the flames as our tribute to her and to mark this occasion,and you'll have to watch once its on that it doesn't blow all over the place. Jones-Jones: What about the Muse?Swivel: Oh yes, that's another thing I wanted to mention. Now we thoughtit would be a nice poetical idea and in keeping with the poeticaltradition if we had a Muse here, because poets are always supposed tobe inspired by Muses and things like that. Of course I needn't tellyou that Muses aren't real', they're Just supposed to be somethinglike a girl or other which inspire poets. Personally I've neverheld much with the idea �I've always done my best work in connectionwith this question of time, but its the poetic tradition which mattershere even if we dont take it too seriously. I dont know where theidea originated, Egypt or Greece or something like that way backin history - do you happen to know, Mr Middleduck, since your^somethingof an authority on history, they tell me?Mlddleduok;Whlle I was musing the fire burned: then spake I with my tongue." Swivel; Where's that from?Middleduck: Its from one of the psalms. Its from the thirty ninth.Swivel; I didn't know she was Biblical. I always thought she wasfrom the Latin or from Greece. Anyway, it's most appropriateespecially that bit about the fire, and Mr. Jones-Jones is going todo the Musing for us here to day. Bedfellow: Get it right, Swivel, the Muse was not Jewish; she wasGreek.Swivel; Look, Dr Bedfellow, let's not start arguing about
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149things like that here today. We dont want anything that smacks of Anti- Semitism. The Department is sure to hear of it and what we are concerned about is getting these poems across. And after all, we dont really care about the Muse, because, as I pointed out, she really didn't exist and was Just meant to give inspirations She's like a lot of miasm these things which we dont believe in and never happened but we believe in because they're symbolical. If you were ever to go to church, Dr Swivel, you would toMam Bessle Udderton: I'm famished. When do we light the fire?Swivel; In a moment, Mrs Waffle. I m being interrupted continuallyhere and I want to get on with what Mr. Jones-Jones has prepared forus. As I said, we want to be in keeping with the poetic traditionand its a good idea to have a Muse even if she is Jewish and Mr,Jones-Jones here has gone to a lot of trouble and got some poemshere on tape^and he's going to play them back to us at the propermoments like she's the Muse, Of course it would be better if we could have rehearsed thiswhole ceremony, but what with the heat and its getting on anyway wehad better get under way. Now, did I understand you to say, Mr. Jones-Jones that you had made a preliminary one Just to try out so that we can see how its going to go?Jones-Jones; Yes, its kind of a dry run, as it were. Then we can getthe hang of it. Swivel: Lets have it.There is considerable static for a moment or two, and then the voiceof the Muse comes on. It is a rather pleasant feminine voice withsomewhat sad overtones.The Muse;Break not the lute � the poet' s spate / Shall flow as thesis for the Doctorate, And minstrel's tears, a-shedden 'til he dries, Embalmied be in Universitys:
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150If so, let voice of learning speak, In dialectic and critique, That thus the songs for learning's use Be squeezed of every living juice;And if not thus, may poet find A song to toss upon the wind, To drift �forgotten in a day, With kisses blown to speed their way:Speak up then, poet, let us know Do fresh poetic winds still blow, Across the prairie and the west? Step up then, poet, do your best!Wraitha Dovecote; Pilt, that's rather good. I like that third verse that says, "Kisses blown to speed their way." Don't you think its good, Pilt?Bedfellow: I hate rhyme, you know that. And especially I hate this damn stuff of rhyming Wind a with find. And Universities rhyming with dries is just affectation to go with a-shedden. Who did it for you Jones?Swivel: Now let's not criticise, Dr. Bedfellow. It's the way Musestalk, if you dont know, and in any case its just a dry run as Mr,Jones-Jones has just pointed out. And we dont want to waste any moretime. I hope you've got this Muse business straight, and the rest is more or less what was explained in the circulars we sent out. The idea, as you know, is to follow the traditions of the Elizabethan poets who tossed their poems and sonnets into the grave of William Shakespeare. Unfortunately we haven't got an open tomb here as they had, and I dont suppose they'd let us open it if we wanted to, not that we want to in this heat. But the ceremonial pyre will do Just as well. The main thing is to get rid of these poems we've written, and we dont have to slavishly follow tradition as long as we're in the spirit of the thing as poets. You all have copies of what you wrote, and if you
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151didn't you'd better. The Elizabethan poets didn't keep copies of what they tossed into the tomb, and I suppose they figured there was a lot more where that came from, or perhaps they figured that what they wrote that day wasn't really so hot and not worth keeping. Anyway, when they stepped up to the tomb of William Shakespeare as we are going to do to Sarah's �Bedfellow: Look, Swivel, you might as well get it right. It wasn't William Shakespeare, it was Edmund Spenser. Swivel: Who?Bedfellow: Spenser. Edmund Spenser. Want me to spell it for your Swivel; What did he write? Bedfellow; Plenty. He was a poet.Swivel: A poet? You say he was a poet? Well then, that's all right. It comes to the same thing. I'm not going to argue with you. I can check it when I get home. I dont profess to be up on these things, and after all you're a professor and should know. I'll concede the point for the present. If you say it was William Spenser � Bedfellow: Edmund!Swivel: Sorry! If you insist it was Edmund Spenser and that he was apoet I dont see what difference it can make as far as our programhere is concerned; although there is no reason to believe they didn'ttoss their poems into William Shakespeare's grave the same as theydid to this man Spence's. It seemed to be the custom at funeralsin those days. Now if anybody has a match we'll light the fire atSarah's feet and start the thing off.Bessie Udderton: Where do you suppose her feet are?Jordan Middleduck; Let's see. That is East, isn't it? They shouldbe about here. If they done it right in a God-fearing country sheshould be facing that way.
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152Bessie Udderton: There's a lot of ants. If we shifted it a bit wewouldn't he bothered so much with them when we have lunch. What abouthere?Swivel; We'll have to stick to the rules, Mrs Waffle. Build it where her feet are. Now who's got a match?Jones-Jones; Just a minute, Mr. Chairman. I've got the Muse on that. Swivel; Quite right, Mr. Jones-Jones. I had forgotten about that. Turn her on. The Muse;Too long delayed, too slow the match, Oh chips, oh grass, that mark the pyre, Give tongue to will the final scratch, That lights the souls poetic fire; Come forth, oh flame, to warm the chills, Of learned talk �the scene is laid, Bring wind to run poetic mills, And heat �a hundred in the shade.Wraitha Dovecote; Pilt, who wrote those things for him do you think? Bedfellow; Who wrote them, Jones?Swivel; Mr. Jones-Jones is committed not to reveal the authorship of the Muse. To do so would defeat the whole idea of a Muse. Bedfellow; Well it wasn't the psalmist, you can bet. If that's Jewish I'm Ukrainian.Bessie Udderton: Mr. Chairaman, do we have to put up with this? We came here to do the right thing by Sarah Binks and to have a bit of lunch and a good time generally, and all we're getting is a discussion about the Spensers and who wrote the psalms. I'm going to light this fire right here and now. There is the sound of a crackling fire. Swivel; Okay, Okay, we got the fire lit. Now we'll get going with these tributes. Did you want to bring the Muse in now, Mr, Jones-Jones? I understood you to say that they were going to be introduced as a group before each says his piece. Or are you going to play that other
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153one over again? You know, the dry run one you gave us before?There is a lot of static and the sound of tearing paper from Jones-Jones's, tape recorder, and finally the voice of the Muse is heardagain. It is a different voice from before with a kind of wailingquality and sounds as if it were coming from a long way off.The Muse:Woo-hoo, woo-hoo, woo-hool I am the Muse, the Muse,I am the poet's love, the mistress in the garret, The wine of spring, the vodka, and the claret, The sigh, the tear, the spirit of youth, the chaser, The unsullied page, the pen, the ink-eraser; I am despair, and hope, and the lonesome treadle, The lute, the laurel, the Governor General's Medal� Yet I am but voice � who woos me woos the Muse, Alas, I'm only voice, who woos the Muse woos ooze.Wraitha Dovecote: Sound like an owl to me.Bedfellow; My God, Wraitha, you don't think its an owl, do you? If there's owls around here I'm going home.Wraitha Dovecote; Don't be silly. Pilt, it's not owls I'm afraid of. Itssnakes. You dont think there might be snakes around here. If there's snakes around here I'm going home.Bedfellow; You and me,, both. Let's go back to the hotel. Middleduck; Mr. Chairman, what about the ten minutes silence? Swivel; Yes. of course. Thank you, Mr. Middlechick. I had forgotten all about the ten minutes silence. All this argument about William Spenser. Bedfellow: Shakespeare. Swivel: I thought you said Spenser. Bedfellow: I did, but it's not William.Bessie Udderton; Are we going to have this all over again? Because if we do I'm having lunch, and the rest of you can just starve for all I care.

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