Authors: Raymond Carver
All of Us (45 page)
25
NIGHT DAMPNESS
(
CHEKHOV
): from “Across Siberia”,
The Unknown Chekhov
, vol. 14 of
The Tales of Chekhov
, trans. Avrahm Yarmolinsky (1954; New York, NY: Ecco Press, 1987) 270.
26
ANOTHER MYSTERY
:
1st
in
Poetry
[Chicago, Ill.] 154.1 (Apr. 1989): 3. Lineation varies considerably in
1st
:
| 2—6 | What’d I know then about Death? Dad comes out carrying a black suit in a |
| | plastic bag. Hangs it up behind the back seat of the old coupe |
| | and says, “This is the suit your grandpa is going to leave |
| | the world in.” What on earth could he be talking about? I wondered. |
| 8—9 | that was going away, along with my grandpa. Those days it |
| | was just another mystery. |
| 10—13 | Then there was a long interval, a time in which relatives departed this |
| | way and that, left and right. Then it was my dad’s turn. |
| | I sat and watched him rise up in his own smoke. He didn’t |
| | own a suit. So they dressed him gruesomely |
| 25—7 | from the dry cleaners and hung it carefully |
| | behind the back seat. I drove it home, opened the car door |
| | and lifted it out into the sunlight. I stood there a minute |
27
RETURN TO KRAKÓW IN
1880 (
CZESLAW MILOSZ
):
The Collected Poems 1931—1987
(New York, NY: Ecco Press, 1988) 416.
28
SUNDAY NIGHT
:
1st in December
[Highland Park, Ill.] 9.2—3 (1967): 64; in
TD
13.
29
THE PAINTER & THE FISH
: separately published in a limited edition (Concord, NH: William B. Ewert, 1988).
30
AT NOON
(
CHEKHOV
): from “Across Siberia”,
The Unknown Chekhov
, vol. 14 of
The Tales of Chekhov
, trans. Avrahm Yarmolinsky (1954; New York, NY: Ecco Press, 1987) 281.
31
ARTAUD
:
1st
in
Discourse
[Concordia College (Moorhead, Minn.)] 9.2 (Spring 1966): 183; in
NK
[25]. All lines begin with capital letters in
1st
and
NK.
In AUP the sequence of this poem and the following one is reversed.
| Title: | “Antonin Artaud: From a Photograph” 1st |
| | “Antonin Artaud” NK |
| 5—7 | One at the desk, the one with the cigarette and no teeth |
| | To speak of, is prone to boldness, to a certain excess 1st, NK |
| 8 | in speech, in gesture / In his speech, his gesture 1st, NK |
| 9 | even. But / even, but 1st, NK |
| 10—11 | At certain moments, hints broadly of his existence. 1st, NK |
| 12 | masterpieces. / masterpieces, 1st, NK |
| 13 | hands / hand 1st |
| 14—15 | And behind every arras there was a rustling. 1st, NK |
32
CAUTION
: In AUP the sequence of this poem and the preceding one is reversed.
33
ONE MORE
:
1st
in
Hayden’s Ferry Review
[Arizona State Univ.] 4 (Spring 1989): 135—7.
| 36—7 | it occurred to him, he was sick of all business, but he went on in this |
| | fashion, finishing one last letter that should have been 1st , AUP |
34
AT THE BIRD MARKET
(
CHEKHOV
): from “The Bird Market”,
The Cook’s Wedding and Other Stories
, vol. 12 of
The Tales of Chekhov
, trans. Constance Garnett (1920; New York, NY: Ecco Press, 1986) 236.
35
HIS BATHROBE POCKETS STUFFED WITH NOTES
:
1st
in
Caliban
[Ann Arbor, Mich.] 1 (1986): 96—8; separately published in a limited edition “on the occasion of RC’s receiving an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from the Univ. of Hartford” on 15 May 1988 (Elmwood, Conn.: Raven Editions, 1988).
| 6 | sixteenth-century / 16th century 1st, Raven |
| 29 | in—/ in, 1st, Raven |
| 30 | words—/ words, 1st, Raven |
| 31 | Three / 3 1st, Raven |
| 37 | hook / receiver 1st, Raven , AUP |
36
SOME PROSE ON
POETRY
:
1st
in
Poetry
[Chicago, Ill.] 151.1—2 (Oct.—Nov. 1987): 204—7. Seventy-fifth anniversary issue of
Poetry.
Untitled in
1st.
37
LETTER
:
1st
in
Michigan Quarterly Review
[Univ. of Michigan] 28.1 (Winter 1988): 73—4.
| 7 | our doctor friend, Ruth, / our friend, Dr R.— 1st |
| 9 | the doctor’s / Dr R.’s 1st |
| 10 | that her / her 1st |
| 45—6 | stays longest—the hands.” And the woman’s hands. I made a note at the time, as if I could see them anchored on her 1st |
38
THE YOUNG GIRLS
:
1st
in
Tendril
[Green Harbor, Mass.] 19—20 (1985): 409.
39
from
EPILOGUE
(
ROBERT LOWELL
):
Day by Day
(New York, NY: Farrar Straus Giroux, 1977) 127.
40
SORREL
(
CHEKHOV
): from “An Unpleasantness”,
The Unknown Chekhov
, vol. 14 of
The Tales of Chekhov
, trans. Avrahm Yarmolinsky (1954; New York, NY: Ecco Press, 1987) 142—3.
41
MARGO
:
1st
in
Poetry
[Chicago, Ill.] 151.5 (Feb. 1988): 416. A version of “Margo” appears in the AUP of
U
but does not appear in the finished book. See note
this page
.
| 6 | Commanding / A commanding U , AUP |
| 10 | places / those places U , AUP |
42
FIVE O’CLOCK IN THE MORNING
(
CHEKHOV
): from “Difficult People”,
The Wife and Other Stories
, vol. 5 of
The Tales of Chekhov
, trans. Constance Garnett (1918; New York, NY: Ecco Press, 1985) 84—5.
43
HUMMINGBIRD
:
1st
in
Poetry
[Chicago, Ill.] 154.1 (Apr. 1989): 4.
44
OUT
: Lineation differs in AUP.
| 19—20 | about logging for Mormons on Prince of Wales Island (no booze, no |
| | swearing, no women. Just no , except for work |
| 23—5 | All morning you’d wanted to tell me something and now you began |
| | to tell me; how your wife wants you out of her life, wants |
45
DOWNSTREAM
(
CHEKHOV
): from “Across Siberia”,
The Unknown Chekhov
, vol. 14 of
The Tales of Chekhov
, trans. Avrahm Yarmolinsky (1954; New York, NY: Ecco Press, 1987) 289—90; separately published with
“Looking for Work” [2]
as a broadside (n.p.: 1988).
46
THE NET
:
1st
in
Quarry West
[Univ. of California, Santa Cruz] 20 (1984): 49; in
Poetry
[Chicago, Ill.] 151.1—2 (Oct.—Nov. 1987): 28.
The texts in
Poetry
and
ANP
agree. The following is the
Quarry West
version in full:
Toward evening, the wind changes. What boats
are left on the bay
head for shore. A man with one arm
sits on the keel of a rotting-away boat,
working on a glimmering net.
He raises his eyes. Pulls something to
with his teeth, and bites hard.
I go past without a word.
Reduced to confusion
by the variableness of this weather,
the importunities of my heart.
Then turn back to look.
47
FOREBODING
(
CHEKHOV
): from “Perpetuum Mobile”,
The Unknown Chekhov
, vol. 14 of
The Tales of Chekhov
, trans. Avrahm Yarmolinsky (1954; New York, NY: Ecco Press, 1987) 40. Title omitted in AUP.
48
SPARROW NIGHTS
(
CHEKHOV
): from “A Dreary Story”,
The Wife and Other Stories
, vol. 5 of
The Tales of Chekhov
, trans. Constance Garnett (1918; New York, NY: Ecco Press, 1985) 203—4, 205.
49
LEMONADE
:
1st
in
Esquire
[New York, NY] 112.1 (July 1989): 78—9. A comment by Tess Gallagher accompanies the poem in
Esquire
: “This is a fictionalized account based on the death of a workman’s child who fell into a river and drowned. It was written in the last months of Ray’s life and is, in that proximity, elegiac of the life he knew he was losing. Read this poem aloud and something else takes hold—Ray’s genius for transmitting subtle inflections of emotion, including humor at the saddest moments. For when a sorrow is too relentlessly pursued, we can’t help ourselves—we laugh, refreshing ourselves for the hardest truths. The poem’s meditation forces reason as far as it will go until it erodes into unreason, and we’re thrown back upon the human voice, calming its pain. Story and prose elements are so strong that the boundary between fiction and poetry gives way. Poetry? Fiction? Who cares. It’s the haunting that matters” (78).
50
SUCH DIAMONDS
(
CHEKHOV
): from “A Nightmare”,
The Bishop and Other Stories
, vol. 7 of
The Tales of Chekhov
, trans. Constance Garnett (1919; New York, NY: Ecco Press, 1985) 72.
51
WAKE UP
:
1st
in
Michigan Quarterly Review
[Univ. of Michigan] 28.1 (Winter 1988): 71—2; in
Poetry
[Chicago, Ill.] 154.1 (Apr. 1989): 1—2.
| 1 | Kyborg / Kyburg Poetry |
| 22 | And / and, 1st |
| 23 | knows—/ knows? 1st |
| 26 | Jesu Christo / Jesu Christe Poetry Jesus Christo AUP |
52
WHAT THE DOCTOR SAID
:
1st in Granta
[London] 25 (Autumn 1988): 162.
53
LET’S ROAR, YOUR HONOR
(
CHEKHOV
): from “Across Siberia”,
The Unknown Chekhov
, vol. 14 of
The Tales of Chekhov
, trans. Avrahm Yarmolinsky (1954; New York, NY: Ecco Press, 1987) 270.
54
PROPOSAL
:
1st
in
Harper’s
[New York, NY] 278.1666 (Mar. 1989): 32.
| 13 | oh lethal / Oh lethal 1st |
| 39—40 | In Reno, I told her, it’s |
| | marriages and remarriages twenty-four hours a day seven days a week. No 1st |
55
CHERISH
:
1st
in
Hayden’s Ferry Review
[Arizona State Univ.] 4 (Spring 1989): 134.
| 13—14 | of promise, of treasure. My hand on her wrist to bring her close, her |
| | eyes green as river-moss. Saying it then, against 1st |
56
GRAVY
:
1st
in
New Yorker
[New York, NY] 64.28 (29 Aug. 1988): 28.
57
NO NEED
:
1st
in
Poetry
[Chicago, Ill.] 154.1 (Apr. 1989): 4.
58
AFTERGLOW
:
1st
in
New Yorker
[New York, NY] 65.10 (24 Apr. 1989): 36; in the
Sunday Times
[London] 27 Aug. 1989: G4. Title spelled “After-glow” in copy-text.
59
LATE FRAGMENT
:
1st
in
Granta
[London] 25 (Autumn 1988): 167. Accompanied by Tess Gallagher’s essay “Raymond Carver 1938 to 1988”.
No Heroics, Please
First edition: London: Harvill, 1991. Foreword by Tess Gallagher. Publication date: Nov. 1991.
First American edition: New York, NY: Vintage Contemporaries, 1992. Publication date: 24 June 1992.
Dedication: For Georgia Morris Bond. Georgia Morris Bond is Tess Gallagher’s mother, a longtime resident of Port Angeles, Washington.
Epigraph: From an interview with Raymond Carver, “The Art of Fiction LXXVI”, by Mona Simpson,
Paris Review
[Flushing, NY] 25.88 (Summer 1983): 214.
Copy-text: First edition, first printing, collated and corrected against later editions and printings.
Sequence: Chronological order by first publication.
Small-press sources and separate publications:
NK, WI, ANTSM, TD, Two Poems
(Ewert, 1986).
1
THE BRASS RING
: in
Targets
[Sandia Park, N. Mex.] 11 (Sept. 1962): 35,
NK
[33],
NHP
75. “The Brass Ring” is RC’s first published poem.
