For the assignment:
Student: Does it rhyme?
AG: Does this [“I sing of a mayden…”] rhyme?
Student: Yeah. I mean (should) our (assignment) poems?
AG: Well, “was-grass”, “hour-flower”, “lay-spray”, “she-be” – it’s pretty simple rhymes – “makeles” – that is “makele-” (“I sing of a mayden that is makeless? makeless? – I don’t know how to pronounce “makeles”, actually. I think ‘mackalas” (probably “mackalas”) – “I sing of a mayden that is mackalas” (because it means “matchless”) – “I sing of a mayden that is makeles/>”King of all kings/that her son she chose” – I don’t know how it would be pronounced then.
Student: Should it be right up in front of your nose?
AG: The rhyme or the imagery? The imagery or the rhyme?
Student: I beg your pardon.
AG: The imagery or the rhythm? Speaking of the…
Student: The..
AG: Close to the nose? You mean the subject-matter? If you can do it. However, the problem here is just getting the rhythm.
Just write a little piece of rhythm is what I’m saying. Just write a piece of rhythm.
I just began the whole discourse by pointing out the fact that reality is real, and that you can deal with reality in poetry. Then, I switch now to the sound, to some classical sound, and I’m more interested right now in the sound, so you can write all the fairy… fairy flake on the universal snow trees that you want, you can write as romantic and stupid as you want, or as meaningless as you want, or as misty, romantic, as you want, just as long as you can get the rhythm. (It’d be powerful) if you can do both. Then you got something going.
I’ll probably wind up doing something nonsensical, but I’ll try it (the assignment) too.
“I found out a teacher that was naked” – That would be the rhythm – ” I found out a teacher that was naked.”
Student: What page is that on?
AG: “I sing of a mayden that is makeles” – I was just trying to parallel. I was just wondering what would be a parallel, modern words parallel – “I found out a teacher that was naked” – “I sing of a mayden that was naked” –
[Audio for the above can be heard here, beginning at approximately thirty-seven-and-three-quarter minutes in, and concluding at approximately forty-and-a-quarter minutes in]