Heard through lids slammed down over darkened glass [ ... ]
The Head of the Bed
Song Cycle by Milton Byron Babbitt (1916 - 2011)
For Robert Penn Warren At the mountainous border of our two countries there is a village; it stands just below a pass, but some of the older houses lie higher up along the road, overlooking more of the valley than one might think. The border has never been heavily guarded, and our countries are peaceful. Theirs lies beyond the pass; in the other valley a large village looks up toward the mountains and toward us. The border itself is marked only by an occasional sign; but then there is the Trumpeter. His clear, triadic melodies break out through the frosty air, or through the swirling mists. From below, from above, the sound is commandingly clear, and it seems to divide the air as the border divides the land. It can be heard at no fixed intervals, and yet with a regularity which we accept, but cannot calculate. No one knows whether the Trumpeter is theirs or ours.
1.
Language: English
Text Authorship:
- by John Hollander (b. 1929), appears in Tales Told of the Father, in The Head of the Bed, no. 1, first published 1975, copyright ©
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Language: English
Where, where, where? Where is here? Where is Herr Haar [ ... ]
Text Authorship:
- by John Hollander (b. 1929), appears in Tales Told of the Father, in The Head of the Bed, no. 2, first published 1974, copyright ©
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Language: English
Floor lamps and their shadows warmed the room where [ ... ]
Text Authorship:
- by John Hollander (b. 1929), appears in Tales Told of the Father, in The Head of the Bed, no. 3, first published 1974, copyright ©
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Language: English
Slanting lean, gray rain washing the palace [ ... ]
Text Authorship:
- by John Hollander (b. 1929), appears in Tales Told of the Father, in The Head of the Bed, no. 4, first published 1974, copyright ©
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Language: English
Coarse breath fanning the closed air by his ear [ ... ]
Text Authorship:
- by John Hollander (b. 1929), appears in Tales Told of the Father, in The Head of the Bed, no. 5, first published 1974, copyright ©
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Language: English
He felt his hand feeling another hand [ ... ]
Text Authorship:
- by John Hollander (b. 1929), appears in Tales Told of the Father, in The Head of the Bed, no. 6, first published 1974, copyright ©
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Language: English
Down the shaded street, toward an avenue [ ... ]
Text Authorship:
- by John Hollander (b. 1929), appears in Tales Told of the Father, in The Head of the Bed, no. 7, first published 1974, copyright ©
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Language: English
The Hyperboreans gathered him up [ ... ]
Text Authorship:
- by John Hollander (b. 1929), appears in Tales Told of the Father, in The Head of the Bed, no. 8, first published 1974, copyright ©
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Language: English
Leaving that unfair, seasonless land was [ ... ]
Text Authorship:
- by John Hollander (b. 1929), appears in Tales Told of the Father, in The Head of the Bed, no. 9, first published 1974, copyright ©
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Language: English
Beyond the cold, blue mountain and beyond [ ... ]
Text Authorship:
- by John Hollander (b. 1929), appears in Tales Told of the Father, in The Head of the Bed, no. 10, first published 1974, copyright ©
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Language: English
Half his days he had passed in the shadow [ ... ]
Text Authorship:
- by John Hollander (b. 1929), appears in Tales Told of the Father, in The Head of the Bed, no. 11, first published 1974, copyright ©
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Language: English
When, as if late some night of festival [ ... ]
Text Authorship:
- by John Hollander (b. 1929), appears in Tales Told of the Father, in The Head of the Bed, no. 12, first published 1974, copyright ©
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Language: English
He awoke. Low in the sky in August [ ... ]
Text Authorship:
- by John Hollander (b. 1929), appears in Tales Told of the Father, in The Head of the Bed, no. 13, first published 1974, copyright ©
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Language: English
Grayish flakes like clay are falling as if [ ... ]
Text Authorship:
- by John Hollander (b. 1929), appears in Tales Told of the Father, in The Head of the Bed, no. 14, first published 1974, copyright ©
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Language: English
The bright moon offends him: he plucks it out [ ... ]
Text Authorship:
- by John Hollander (b. 1929), appears in Tales Told of the Father, in The Head of the Bed, no. 15, first published 1974, copyright ©
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This text may be copyright, so we will not display it until we obtain permission to do so or discover it is public-domain.Total word count: 1640