Interlinear Readings of The Bridge (6)
I. Ave Maria (s. 1)
- Be with me, Luis de San Angel, now--
- Columbus is addressing one of his "faithful partisans of his quest," a "collector of church revenues in Spain, who pleaded Columbus's scheme to Queen Isabella." (Ellman & O'Clair, eds., The Norton Anthology of Modern Poetry, second ed., 1988, p. 614)
- Witness before the tides can wrest away
- The word I bring, O you who reined my suit
- Here rein is to guide (OED 4b). Cf. the word (s. 5)
- Into the Queen's great heart that doubtful day;
- Isabella I (1451-1504).
- For I have seen now what no perjured breath
- Of clown nor sage can riddle or gainsay;--
- To you, too, Juan Perez, whose counsel fear
- Perez is the "queen's confessor, who also aided Columbus" (The Norton Anthology of Modern Poetry, p. 614)
- And greed adjourned,--I bring you back Cathay!
This is an interlinear reading of Hart Crane's The Bridge by Eiichi Hishikawa.
Copyright (c) 1996 Eiichi Hishikawa.
The source of Crane texts is The Bridge (NY: Liveright, 1970). Copyright (c) 1933, 1958, 1970 Liveright Publishing Corporation.
Last updated: 31 October, 1996
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