Book of Mercy #29-40

Debate on Leonard Cohen's poetry (and novels), both published and unpublished. Song lyrics may also be discussed here.
User avatar
mat james
Posts: 1844
Joined: Sat May 27, 2006 8:06 am
Location: Australia

Re: Book of Mercy #29-

Post by mat james »

Hi Cate and Doran and all.
I enjoyed reading your thoughts Cate and I too liked the 'sideways glance' interpretation.
It has been quiet for awhile on this thread and by now DB should be back home safely (hopefully) and ready for some thawing out. So here are a few of my 'thaw-ts'


II.36, ‘I made a crown for myself’

Below are a few important leads to the possible understanding/interpretation of this verse. For me it is summed up in the line ‘I made a crown for myself'.
He describes what that ‘crown’ is.
He removes the ‘crown’, and lifts again his ‘shield’, his G~d.

The leads:
‘I gave the world to the Accuser.’
Though I don’t believe, I come to you now,
Under the scorn of my own pride I open my mouth to ask you
you locked me down to self-mockery
‘...the world that is without me,
this wild degree of solitude.’ (a quote from where?)
I covered up the path (desire, tears –feelings)
Though I don’t believe,
This is huge!!!! ' Though I don't believe, I come to you now.'
Since when do we find Leonard saying, ' I don't believe' ?
So he defines himself as a ' ghost '. Something that has the appearance of existence, but is dead, dead to the world.
‘Give this ghost the form of tears, that he (may) move from nothing to sorrow, into Creation,’
(Leonard tires of the existential (Buddhist?) withdrawal/perspective, as interpreted by a western mind, like Leonard’s).
‘Discover him in tears and make a place for his longing.’
(Leonard wants to be able to cry and desire again. He has become so distanced in his (probably Buddhist) world that he can’t see a point to existence...there is no spark left in his life...and he is beginning to long for longing, and pain, anything that will reinforce to his lonely ghostly soul that he exists.
This dark night of distance, distance even from God, is just too much (or not enough!) for him. He needs protection. He needs a shield.
‘Where have I been?’
he asks, knowing that he does not want to return any more to that dark night of distance, distance from feeling, senses, emotions, nature and his (Most High) God.
‘The Accuser’
(who is the Accuser?) This ‘accuser’ is devoid of emotions, stillness, empty of life.
I gave the world to the Accuser. Where do I go?
I would suggest that the Accuser is dominantly ‘reason’, that aspect of the ‘Adversary’(Satan), reasoning, that argues Beauty (god, love, life, etc) out of existence.

Where do I go from here? he seems to ask. How do I escape this dark night of distance from all that has nurtured me and, even now, offers hope and gives meaning to my life? he asks. And he answers his own question, back to G~d, my ‘Most High’, my shield and my life.

Leonard recognises that he is a ‘Western man’, with a western mind, a western longing, western needs. This is not a criticism of the ‘Eastern man’ or the eastern perspective: but it is not him. Leonard longs again for his “shield” of meaning and purpose and deliverance; his western heritage, his Boogy Street and his G~d.
Though I don’t believe, I come to you now,
Though I don't believe........
"Faith" and hope defeat belief/non belief; for he returns to the 'Most High' despite his lack of belief.
( I have heard it said that faith comes from within and belief comes from without (external sources like culture). Maybe Leonard is making this kind of distinction here when he says, 'I don't believe'....? )
And still he says; 'I come to you now'. Though he does not 'believe', he still moves back to his G~d, (I come to you now). This is Leonard exercising his personal faith perhaps, his internal impulse is now to re-unite with the 'Most High', despite his loss/lack of belief.
Perhaps he has come to a personal understanding in the game of transience (the spiritual journey), or at least it appears he has moved off on a tangent from what we might call cultural 'belief systems', both East and maybe West as well(?)
So he removes his 'crown' and lifts his shield (god) once again, in pure faith and hope.

MatbbgJ
"Without light or guide, save that which burned in my heart." San Juan de la Cruz.
DBCohen
Posts: 623
Joined: Thu Nov 02, 2006 8:31 am
Location: Kyoto, Japan

Re: Book of Mercy #29-

Post by DBCohen »

Mat,

Thanks for the interesting interpretations. I don’t have much to add, perhaps only draw your attention to the symbol of the crown.
I made a crown for myself with your blessings, and you locked me down to self-mockery.
The crown appeared before in #5 & 6. We discussed it there:
viewtopic.php?f=10&t=7801&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&start=120

The crown has a very important place in Kabbalah, as one of the sefirot, or manifestations of God. Here the speaker makes a crown for himself, which is denounced as “self-mockery”. This is not absolutely clear to me, and I would love to hear other people’s interpretations of this verse.

“Crown” also brings to mind the king in Hallelujah and elsewhere, and there are also very conspicuous places in the songs, such as in “Boogie Street” (which you’ve also mentioned, Mat), where it also has a Kabbalistic flavor:
O Crown of Light, O Darkened One,
I never thought we’d meet.
You kiss my lips, and then it’s done:
I’m back on Boogie Street
And also in “Here It Is”, where it is used ironically for the mortal on the edge of death (luckily, LC is not there yet, although when the song first appeared it shocked me greatly):

Here is your crown,
And your seal and rings;
And here is your love
For all things.

Here is your cart,
And your cardboard and piss;
And here is your love
For all of this.

May everyone live,
And may everyone die,
Hello, my love,
And my love, Goodbye.
So the crown, as can be expected, is a very charged symbol, with various uses and interpretations, some ambiguous, as is the case here.
User avatar
mat james
Posts: 1844
Joined: Sat May 27, 2006 8:06 am
Location: Australia

Re: Book of Mercy #29-

Post by mat james »

II.37
“It is all around me, the darkness. You are my only shield. Your name is my only light. What love I have, your law is the source, this dead love that remembers only its name, yet the name is enough to open itself like a mouth, to call down the dew, and drink. O dead name that through your mercy speaks to the living name, mercy harkening to the will that is bent toward it, the will whose strength is its pledge to you – O name of love, draw down the blessing of completion on the man whom you have cut in half to know you.”
Symbols: (as Carl J would say :) )
darkness
shield
light
love
dead love
name of love
law
dead name
living name
will (that is bent toward ...)
completion
cut in half

Commentary:
‘It is all around me, the darkness.’
Ignorance of god prevails. It prevails among Leonard’s associates and it prevails in his present state of mind.
‘...this dead love that remembers only its name,’
The commandments, the laws, words that speak of these things are ‘dead’ in that they convey no direct experience of god. They can merely point in the direction of god, but those laws and words are not god itself.
‘O dead name that through your mercy speaks to the living name’
The words like ‘law’, ‘god’, ‘light’ and so on, though (‘dead’) they do only point us in the right direction, they are at least useful for that function of assisting us onward. ‘...the living name’ suggests the authentic contact, the mystical union, the experience of god himself as one experiences the emotion of love, of being in love and of being loved. As this is often accepted as the most powerful positive experience a human being can have; it is therefore used to conjure up/convey the experience of experiencing god’s mercy/love.
‘O name of love’,
Here Leonard evokes the word ‘love’ to assist him to
‘draw down the blessing of completion’
(Oneness, or what Cruz calls “becoming god by participation” in the giving and receiving of divine love.
‘on the man whom you have cut in half to know you’
. This could mean many things but in the context of my interpretation of the last few verses, I suggest the ‘cut in half’ may refer to his being half Buddhist/half Jew. (?)

So what does all this mean???
(in my not so humble opinion) Leonard is after the real deal....the “I and the Father are One” scenario. The Mystic's Oneness.
Not some counterfeit-second-hand-hint of a message about Something that leads him only to darkness and anguish.
It is all or nothing for this Merlin. :lol: :lol: 8)

MatbbgJ
"Without light or guide, save that which burned in my heart." San Juan de la Cruz.
DBCohen
Posts: 623
Joined: Thu Nov 02, 2006 8:31 am
Location: Kyoto, Japan

Re: Book of Mercy #29-

Post by DBCohen »

Mat,

You’re anything if not consistent, being able to find the wish for mystical union in every prayer. I’m not going to argue with you on this, but I suddenly had a thought about “the man whom you have cut in half”. Remember Plato’s “Symposium”? There we find the idea about the primeval human creatures, who were half male, half female, but were cut in half, and since then are searching for their missing halves, claiming to find them through love. So perhaps “love” here is not only a divine attribute, but, as often with LC, also the human love we’re all craving for. 8)
Last edited by DBCohen on Mon Dec 22, 2008 8:43 am, edited 1 time in total.
DBCohen
Posts: 623
Joined: Thu Nov 02, 2006 8:31 am
Location: Kyoto, Japan

Re: Book of Mercy #29-

Post by DBCohen »

I guess it’s time for the next installment:
II.38
As my fathers wrote, as my mothers spoke, to be so blessed as to know your name. Not far from here, where Rashi taught, to lift my voice in open thought. Beside the church where we were struck to prove some point on Christmas Eve, to be here still with broken heart and joyous word. To have this work, to fill this line, to be so blessed for my mother’s sake, for my father’s wine
More than in some other cases in the book, this is evidently a poem (although written in prose lines), and it brings to mind some of LC’s early poetry, from Let Us Compare Mythologies or The Spice-Box of Earth (there is no period after the last sentence, by the way – whether intentionally or by mistake, I don’t know). In verse form it could look something like this:

As my fathers wrote,
as my mothers spoke,
to be so blessed as to know your name.

Not far from here,
where Rashi taught,
to lift my voice in open thought.

Beside the church where we were struck
to prove some point on Christmas Eve,
to be here still with broken heart and joyous word.

To have this work, to fill this line,
to be so blessed for my mother’s sake,
for my father’s wine


In this piece, more than in any other so far in this book, LC expresses clearly his attachment to Jewish history and his commitment to the tradition.

As my fathers wrote, as my mothers spoke – It is a sad fact that for many centuries all Jewish men were taught to read and write, but most women were not. Only in the 18th century did women begin gradually to gain formal education. LC may have used “wrote” and “spoke” for poetic reasons, but he may also be referring to the historical fact.

Not far from here, where Rashi taught – LC wrote BoM in Provence, southern France; Suzzane Elrod and their two children were then living in Bonnieux, and he would go there on visits. Rashi is the acronym of Rabbi Shlomo Yitzhaki (1040-1105), considered the greatest traditional interpreter of the Torah and Talmud. Here LC may be stretching a point, because Rashi was from Troyes, and was active in different parts of Lorraine, a considerable distance to the north of Provence, although in Provence too there were important Jewish communities at the time, including those of the early Kabbalists. And by the way, Rashi only had daughters, and they were famous for their knowledge of the Torah and Talmud, but they were exceptional. Also, “Rashi” no doubt sounds a little like “Roshi”, so LC may be hinting here - perhaps tongue in chick - to his personal combination of Jewish tradition with Zen.

Beside the church where we were struck to prove some point on Christmas Eve – Rashi lived during the Crusades, when great many Jewish communities were massacred. LC may also be referring here to the disputations, which Jewish rabbis were occasionally forced by the Catholic establishment to hold in order to defend their faith, in the form of a debate or a trial that they could never win. One such trial, held in Paris in 1240, led to the burning of the Talmud. LC could be referring here to a specific Church where a massacre of Jews occurred, perhaps the church of Bonnieux, although this should be studied further.

Well, luckily things have changed considerably since those times (although the twentieth century was no less “medieval” in its barbarism), but we still have some way to go as far as tolerance and mutual respect and understanding are concerned. It’s good to have LC as the embodiment of those qualities, although he too is stung by history occasionally.

Best wishes to all those celebrating Hanukah or Christmas or any other celebration this week, and a happy new year to everyone. May the coming year be as glorious for LC and his dedicated fans as this passing one has been.
User avatar
mat james
Posts: 1844
Joined: Sat May 27, 2006 8:06 am
Location: Australia

Re: Book of Mercy #29-

Post by mat james »

It’s good to have LC as the embodiment of those qualities, although he too is stung by history occasionally.
Well said DB.
Thanks for the historical perspectives, which I had no idea of.
"as my fathers wrote, as my mothers spoke." is a fascinating topic/fact to explore.
...written history verses oral history. Oral, of course is the oldest.
Scientists in Australia discovered 12,000 year old giant wombat bones after taking directions from an aboriginal man who knew the whereabouts of the bones, thanks to local legends (oral traditions). The bones were found, submerged in a dry lake (mud-pan). The aboriginal man told the (scientists) that they were the last of the giant wombats,( which are long since extinct) and it appears that the aboriginal fellow was correct.
A 12,000 year (oral) record/history of events. No books (records) can beat that!
In the light of this, 'as my mothers spoke' sounds fascinatingly interesting to me.

Thanks for the info, DB.
Seasons greetings to you too.

MatbbgJ
"Without light or guide, save that which burned in my heart." San Juan de la Cruz.
User avatar
mat james
Posts: 1844
Joined: Sat May 27, 2006 8:06 am
Location: Australia

Re: Book of Mercy #29-

Post by mat james »

DB,
Today I see Leonard. I'll think of you tonight at the concert !
"Without light or guide, save that which burned in my heart." San Juan de la Cruz.
DBCohen
Posts: 623
Joined: Thu Nov 02, 2006 8:31 am
Location: Kyoto, Japan

Re: Book of Mercy #29-

Post by DBCohen »

Thanks, Mat!

I hope you’ll have an experience as great as I had in Lucca last year.

I also have to apologize for the neglect of this thread for a month now. Since further comments on #38 are not coming, apparently, I’ll try to introduce #39 soon.
DBCohen
Posts: 623
Joined: Thu Nov 02, 2006 8:31 am
Location: Kyoto, Japan

Re: Book of Mercy #29-

Post by DBCohen »

II. 39

From you alone to you alone, everlasting to everlasting, all that is not you is suffering, all that is not you is solitude rehearsing the arguments of loss. All that is not you is the man collapsing against his own forehead, and the forehead crushes him. All that is not you goes out and out, gathering the voices of revenge, harvesting lost triumphs far from the real and necessary defeat. It is to you I speak, solitude to unity, failure to mercy, and loss to the light. It is you I welcome here, coming through the coarse glory of my imagination, to this very night, to this very couch, to this very darkness. Grant me a forgiving sleep, and rest my enemy.
All that is not you – this recurring phrase brings to mind the pantheistic notion that can be found in various formulations in the history Judaism, as well as in various forms of mysticism. “There is no place empty of Him”, is a famous Rabbinic dictum. On the other hand, we have to take into account the tension expressed in this piece between the everlasting and the private self; solitude, failure and loss are contrasted with unity, mercy and light. For a moment they seem like opposite poles. But then he says: It is you I welcome here… This brings to mind another famous dictum, by the Hassidic sage Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Kotzk: “Where does God reside? Wherever He is welcome” (a more common translation is: "Where is God to be found? In the place where He is given entry").

Incidentally, there are other interesting similarities between the teaching of that unique rabbi and the writing of LC, especially in this book. Unlike other Hassidic rabbis, the rabbi of Kotzk emphasized the conflict in human life, rather than happiness, and demanded that his followers will act in extreme ways (“Only horses walk in the middle of the road; men should walk on the edges”). Apparently he suffered of acute depressions, and even spent many years secluded in his room. Remember the ape we encountered in #2 and again in #20? There were some interesting interpretations of its meaning, but it makes special sense when viewed against another saying by the same rabbi: "Just as it is the way of an ape to imitate humans, so too, a person, when he has become old, imitates himself, and does what was his manner previously." We’d better keep that in mind.

Grant me a forgiving sleep, and rest my enemy – The whole piece could be regarded as a prayer before sleep. I believe that the traditional Christian form is called “before bed”, since it is uttered kneeling down, but the Jewish one is taken in bed before falling asleep. In the Jewish prayer God is requested to give the person a sound sleep, and to restore light to his/her eyes in the morning, lest they will sleep the sleep of death. The “enemy” here may be death.
User avatar
Joe Way
Posts: 1216
Joined: Fri Jun 28, 2002 5:50 pm
Location: Wisconsin, USA

Re: Book of Mercy #29-

Post by Joe Way »

I apologize for my long absence-I have been following and trying to catch-up, but haven't had anything to post. I will jump in now with a few casual observations.

The tenor of the last verse certainly reminds me of existentialism (or more properly a rejection of existentialism). I am certainly no expert, but from what little I understand about it, it is concerned with the contrast between the groundlessness and radical freedom of the human condition and the unproblematic being of the world of things. The narrator of the verse seems to reject this dichotomy and implies that both are contained in "all that is not you."

For people of my generation (and I believe Leonard's) the influence of Jean-Paul Sartre was not only philosophical, but cultural as well. The mention of Sartre's name immediately evokes an image of men and women, dressed in black, smoking cigarettes and drinking black coffee. The Beat generation poets certainly owe a debt to him.

I think back to Roshi urging Leonard to re-examine the roots of his Jewish tradition. One wonders how much of this was in response to the observation that the Bohemian lifestyle and modern angst were not serving Leonard well. While happiness may not have been the goal that Leonard was working towards, certainly having a better response to the conflict in human life, as the rabbi of Kotzk observed, was part of the process of this creation.

I would also like to mention both how much I am enjoying learning about the roots of the Jewish tradition and how valuable it is for me. While the work certainly stands on its own, it would be very difficult for a general reader like me to understand these references which add a level of richness and complexity to my reading that would be unavailable without Doron's help.

Joe
"Say a prayer for the cowboy..."
DBCohen
Posts: 623
Joined: Thu Nov 02, 2006 8:31 am
Location: Kyoto, Japan

Re: Book of Mercy #29-

Post by DBCohen »

Joe,

Welcome back, and thanks for your comments.

I tend to agree with you that LC must have examined modern existentialism, as promoted by Sartre & co., and found it wanting. He may have found greater affinity with other strains of existentialism, such as the one beginning with Kierkegaard, which has a theistic bent. But I don’t really know to what extant did he immerse himself in such writings. My impression of him is that he always preferred the practical over the philosophical, the sensual experience over the theoretical. BoM seems to me also a book of immediate experience, where even the spiritual is sensual. I hope this makes sense.
User avatar
Joe Way
Posts: 1216
Joined: Fri Jun 28, 2002 5:50 pm
Location: Wisconsin, USA

Re: Book of Mercy #29-

Post by Joe Way »

Hi All,
Grant me a forgiving sleep, and rest my enemy – The whole piece could be regarded as a prayer before sleep. I believe that the traditional Christian form is called “before bed”, since it is uttered kneeling down, but the Jewish one is taken in bed before falling asleep. In the Jewish prayer God is requested to give the person a sound sleep, and to restore light to his/her eyes in the morning, lest they will sleep the sleep of death. The “enemy” here may be death.
It is interesting that Jewish prayer is taken in bed before falling asleep. That is also the time in psychological terms that it is believed that human are able to reach the subconscious state or, perhaps, more properly, the creative subconsious that allows changes to what I've heard referred to as "second nature." For example, I had an instructor who advocated writing affirmations about behavior and placing them in the present tense to be reviewed during this time prior to sleep and upon waking in the morning. I do believe that there is something to this that allows us to develop a new conception of ourselves. Now, I realize that this is asking for more than just a sound sleep but in principle, I think there may be some relation.

The phrase, "rest my enemy"-do you think this means to allow the enemy to rest or re-charge or do you think that it means "rest" so as to cease and desist? If it is referring to death, then it probably is the latter.

By the way, I agree that Leonard allows prefers the sensual over the theoretical. I think probably all poets do, but they are generally grounded in some philosophical framework.

Joe
"Say a prayer for the cowboy..."
User avatar
mat james
Posts: 1844
Joined: Sat May 27, 2006 8:06 am
Location: Australia

Re: Book of Mercy #29-

Post by mat james »

II. 39
From you alone to you alone, everlasting to everlasting, all that is not you is suffering, all that is not you is solitude rehearsing the arguments of loss. All that is not you is the man collapsing against his own forehead, and the forehead crushes him. All that is not you goes out and out, gathering the voices of revenge, harvesting lost triumphs far from the real and necessary defeat. It is to you I speak, solitude to unity, failure to mercy, and loss to the light. It is you I welcome here, coming through the coarse glory of my imagination, to this very night, to this very couch, to this very darkness. Grant me a forgiving sleep, and rest my enemy.
For me; Leonard is repeating himself over and over again in these verses and I am tending to sound like a stuck gramaphone needle, as you have rightfully implied Doron:
yet hence;
“From you alone to you alone”
(The flight of the alone to the Alone...-Plotinus)
“all that is not you is suffering”
Buddha
“and the forehead crushes him.”
Reason (bodhi...Buddha the reason-able one. Bodhi means reason, I believe.)
“solitude to unity”
Plotinus and those fantastic Neo-platonists.

Joe writes:
“The phrase, "rest my enemy"-do you think this means to allow the enemy to rest or re-charge or do you think that it means "rest" so as to cease and desist? If it is referring to death, then it probably is the latter.”
“and rest my enemy”
reasoned doubt (Shaitan/Satan)
I get the feeling that doubt is his enemy, Joe. And this doubt leads to a constant internal dialogue for Leonard, which keeps him from being One with his God. The crushed forehead, the imagination, the going out and out instead of going in and in...to unity, are all related to his constant doubt.

“Grant me a forgiving sleep”...( “It is you I welcome here, coming through the coarse glory of my imagination”):
As if to say: if I (Leonard) could turn down; turn off, my silly rational doubting mind, then perhaps I would make room for You (God)to enter. Perhaps, as my mental chatter surrenders to “this very darkness” Your Alone will fly to my alone, to Unity everlasting.

That’s how I read it. I am sorry guys, I can’t help myself! :oops: :roll: :lol:

MatbbgJ
Last edited by mat james on Sat Feb 21, 2009 3:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"Without light or guide, save that which burned in my heart." San Juan de la Cruz.
DBCohen
Posts: 623
Joined: Thu Nov 02, 2006 8:31 am
Location: Kyoto, Japan

Re: Book of Mercy #29-

Post by DBCohen »

Joe,

Yes, sleep is a fascinating aspect of our lives, during which strange things may take place. There’s still much we don’t know about it (I’ve been reading good old Freud and some of his later interpreters on the subject of dreams lately, and was struck again by the realization of how huge is the subject, and by how the best efforts have not solved those mysteries sufficiently yet). And about “rest my enemy”, I tend to read it in the meaning of “keep him at rest” so he wouldn’t trouble me, and if it is indeed death, keep him away for another night.

Mat,

Good to hear from you, with all the terrifying news coming from Down under. I realize Australia is a big place, but it occurred to me you might have gone a-walking in the wrong place at the wrong time. And how was the concert?

As for your interpretation, as always, you make a strong case, but don’t blame LC for repeating himself. Indeed, the work has a unity of theme and purpose, so naturally it all sounds familiar after a while, but first, there often seems to be some new element or twist, and second, he expresses himself using various modes, and always so beautifully, so it is still a pleasure.

I especially like your interpretation of doubt as his enemy. But – and here I too repeat myself incessantly – several valid interpretations can coexist simultaneously.
User avatar
mat james
Posts: 1844
Joined: Sat May 27, 2006 8:06 am
Location: Australia

Re: Book of Mercy #29-

Post by mat james »

And how was the concert?
The concert (LC) was beautiful. So many happy people just luvin' it.
Interestingly enough, the concert venue is only a stone's throw from the worst of the fires. Nearby (only a few miles away)a whole town was wiped off the map. I drove all through this region less than three weeks ago on my way to and from the concert. It was a beautiful tall timber, forested area and now it is a burnt out graveyard, with around 300 people lost to the heat and flames as you have heard.
The daily temperatures were hovering between F110-120 for a week and then the wind and the crazy "fire-bugs" came. It looks like most of those people were killed because some fool thought it would be fun to light a fire or two.
You wonder about humanity sometimes.
"Without light or guide, save that which burned in my heart." San Juan de la Cruz.
Post Reply

Return to “Leonard Cohen's poetry and novels”