Jeanne D'Orge
Untitled (from Lobos)I hear it far away and down
down under the sea.
The sound rushes up from the caves beneath the cliff
louder when a wave breaks;
but it is not the sound of a broken wave
(there are chariot wheels in that and horses' hoofs
and rough sailor voices shouting)
It is not the wind- yet it is music-
it is an orchestra- a full orchestra
playing a mad waltz time and a madder jig time
to a dizzy wild tune that will never stop,
never to the end of the world.I do not know who plays
far away and down
down under the sea;
but I know who they are that dance there-
who come shouting in chariots- shouting on horseback.
I know they are dead sailors with their bright sea brides
all the dead sailors
none missing- not one since the first ship drowned-
and could I find another way to go there
I would be dancing too.
Bio:
Jeanne D'Orge (1877-1964) was an accomplished writer when the poems in Lobos were first published. For the 1913 New York Armory Exhibit- so important in pointing directions for twentieth century art- she joined noted poets William Carlos Williams, Marianne Moore, and Wallace Stevens in "saying [her] little piece." In 1923 she was asked to write a series of poems to accompany Cornelius Botke drawings of Point Lobos for Scribner's Magazine. Turning to painting in the thirties, she still continued to write poetry, publishing Voice in the Circle in 1955. Williams selected Lobos as the best book of poems for the Saturday Review of Literature's annual poll. D'Orge founded the Carl Cherry Foundation in 1948. The Carl Cherry Center in Carmel, CA, is best known today for its collection of D'Orge paintings, visiting art exhibits, challenging lectures, intimate concerts, and wide array of theatrical productions.
