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Brief ­T able of Contents  v ii

PART THREE Drama


25 Drama: Reading, Responding, Writing 1194

UNDERSTANDING THE TEXT 1221

26 Ele­ments of Drama 1221

EXPLORING CONTEXTS 1332

27 The Author’s Work as Context:


William Shakespeare 1332
28 Cultural and Historical Contexts: Lorraine
Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun 1496
29 Critical Contexts: Sophocles’s Antigone 1600

READING MORE DR AMA 1665

PART FOUR Writing about Lit­er­a­t ure


30 Basic Moves: Paraphrase, Summary, Description 1914

31 The Lit­er­a­ture Essay 1918

32 The Writing Pro­cess 1938

33 The Lit­er­a­ture Research Essay 1951

34 Quotation, Citation, and Documentation 1962

35 Sample Research Essay 1992

Critical Approaches A1
Permissions Acknowl­edgments A27
Index of Authors A45
Index of Titles and First Lines A52
Glossary/Index of Literary Terms A61

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nintrlit13esht_9pp_ch00_i-xxxiv.indd 8 8/29/18 1:04 PM
Contents

Preface for Instructors xxviii


Introduction 1
What Is Lit­er­a­ture? 1
What Does Lit­er­a­ture Do? 3
John Keats , On First Looking into Chapman’s Homer 4
What Are the Genres of Lit­er­at­ ure? 4
Why Read Lit­er­a­ture? 6
Why Study Lit­er­a­ture? 9
Hai-­D ang Phan, My F
­ ather’s “Norton Introduction to Lit­er­a­t ure,”
Third Edition (1981) 10
AUTH O R S O N TH EIR WO R K : Hai-­D ang Phan 12
John Crowe R ansom , Bells for John Whiteside’s D
­ aughter 13

PART ONE Fiction


1 Fiction: Reading, Responding, Writing 16
anonymous , The Elephant in the Village of the Blind 17
Reading and Responding to Fiction 20
linda brewer , 20/20 20
SAM PLE WR ITING: Annotation and Notes on “20/20” 21
Reading and Responding to Graphic Fiction 23
jules feiffer , Superman 23
Writing about Fiction 27
r aymond carver , Cathedral 28
SAM PLE WR ITING: Reading Notes on “Cathedral” 39
SAM PLE WR ITING: Response Paper on “Cathedral” 42
SAM PLE WR ITING: Essay on “Cathedral” 45

Telling Stories: An ­Album 49


gr ace paley, A Conversation with My F
­ ather 50
AUTH O R S O N TH EIR WO R K : Grace Paley 54
anton chekhov, Gooseberries 55
tim ­o ’brien, The Lives of the Dead 63

ix

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x Contents

UNDERSTANDING THE TEXT 75

2 Plot 75
Plot versus Action, Sequence, and Subplot 75
Pace 76
Conflicts 76
gary trudeau, Doonesbury 77
jacob and wilhelm grimm , The Shroud 77
The Five Parts of Plot 78
Common Plot Types 82
r alph ellison, King of the Bingo Game 83
james baldwin, Sonny’s Blues 91
joyce carol oates , Where Are You ­G oing, Where Have You
Been? 114
AUTH O R S O N TH EIR WO R K : Joyce Carol Oates 126
viet thanh Nguyen, I’d Love You to Want Me 127
SAM PLE WR ITING: Essay on “King of the Bingo Game” 141

Initiation Stories: An ­Album 144


toni cade bambar a , The Lesson 146
AUTH O R S O N TH EIR WO R K : Toni Cade Bambara 152
alice munro, Boys and Girls 152
john updike , A & P 163
AUTH O R S O N TH EIR WO R K : John Updike 168

3 Narration and Point of View 169


Types of Narration 170
Tense 171
Narrator versus Implied Author 171
edgar allan poe , The Cask of Amontillado 173
george saunders , Puppy 179
AUTH O R S O N TH EIR WO R K : George Saunders 186
­v irginia woolf, The Mark on the Wall 186
adam johnson, In­ter­est­i ng Facts 192

4 Character 210
Heroes and Villains versus Protagonists and Antagonists 211
Major versus Minor Characters 212
Flat versus Round and Static versus Dynamic Characters 212
Stock Characters and Archetypes 213
Reading Character in Fiction and Life 213
william faulkner , Barn Burning 217
toni morrison, Recitatif 230

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Contents  x i

AUTH O R S O N TH EIR WO R K : Toni Morrison 244


david foster wallace , Good P ­ eople 245
alissa nut ting , Model’s Assistant 250

Monsters: An ­Album 259


margaret at wood, Lusus Naturae 260
k aren russell , St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves 265
jorge luis borges , The House of Asterion 277
AUTH O R S O N TH EIR WO R K : Jorge Luis Borges 280

5 Setting 282
Temporal and Physical, General and Par­tic­u­lar Setting 282
Functions of Setting 282
Vague and Vivid Settings 283
italo calvino, from Invisible Cities 284
margaret mitchell , from Gone with the Wind 284
Traditional Expectations of Time and Place 285
alice r andall , from The Wind Done Gone 286
james joyce , Araby 288
amy tan, A Pair of Tickets 293
judith ortiz cofer , Volar 306
annie proulx , Job History 308
SAM PLE WR ITING: Annotation and Close Reading on “Araby” 314

The ­Future: An ­Album 317


william gibson, The Gernsback Continuum 318
AUTH O R S O N TH EIR WO R K : William Gibson 327
r ay br adbury, The Veldt 328
AUTH O R S O N TH EIR WO R K : Ray Bradbury 339
octavia E. butler , Bloodchild 340
AUTH O R S O N TH EIR WO R K : Octavia E. Butler 354
jennifer egan, Black Box 355
AUTH O R S O N TH EIR WO R K : Jennifer Egan 378

6 Symbol and Figurative Language 380


Literary Symbolism 381
Figures of Speech 382
Interpreting Symbolism and Figurative Language 383
nathaniel haw thorne , The Birth-­Mark 385
a. s. byat t, The T
­ hing in the Forest 397
edwidge danticat, A Wall of Fire Rising 412
SAM PLE WR ITING: Comparative Essay on “The Birth-­M ark” and
“The T
­ hing in the Forest” 425

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x ii Contents

7 Theme 429
aesop, The Two Crabs 429
Theme(s): Singular or Plural? 430
Be Specific: Theme as Idea versus Topic or Subject 430
­Don’t Be Too Specific: Theme as General Idea 431
Theme versus Moral 431
stephen cr ane , The Open Boat 433
gabriel garcÍa mÁrquez , A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings:
A Tale for ­Children 451
yasunari k awabata , The Grasshopper and the Bell Cricket 456
junot dÍaz , Wildwood 459

Cross-­Cultural Encounters: An ­Album 477


bhar ati mukherjee , The Management of Grief 478
AUTH O R S O N TH EIR WO R K : Bharati Mukherjee 491
jhumpa lahiri , Interpreter of Maladies 491
AUTH O R S O N TH EIR WO R K : Jhumpa Lahiri 507
david sedaris , Jesus Shaves 508

EXPLORING CONTEXTS 512

8 The Author’s Work as Context: Flannery O’Connor 512


Biographical Approaches to Lit­er­a­ture 513
Implied Author or Narrator 514
Style and Tone 515
Three Stories by Flannery O’Connor 516
A Good Man Is Hard to Find 516
Good Country P ­ eople 527
Every­t hing That Rises Must Converge 540
Passages from Flannery O’Connor’s Essays and Letters 550
Critical Excerpts 554
mary gordon, from Flannery’s Kiss 554
ann e. reuman, from Revolting Fictions: Flannery O’Connor’s
Letter to Her ­Mother 557
eileen pollack , from Flannery O’Connor and the
New Criticism 560

9 Cultural and Historical Contexts: ­Women in


Turn-­of-­the-­Century Amer­i­ca 564
­ omen at the Turn of the ­Century: An Overview 565
W
­Women Writers in a Changing World 567
k ate chopin, The Story of an Hour 568
charlot te perkins gilman, The Yellow Wall­paper 571

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Contents  x iii

susan glaspell , A Jury of Her Peers 582


Contextual Excerpts 599
charlot te perkins gilman, from Similar Cases 599
from ­Women and Economics 600
barbar a boyd, from Heart and Home Talks: Politics and Milk 601
mrs. arthur ly t telton, from ­Women and Their Work 601
rheta childe dorr , from What Eight Million ­Women Want 602
The New York Times, from Mrs. Delong Acquitted 603
The Washington Post, from The Chances of Divorce 603
charlot te perkins gilman, from Why I Wrote “The Yellow
Wall­-­paper” 604
The Washington Post, The Rest Cure 604
The Washington Post, from Egotism of the Rest Cure 604

10 Critical Contexts: Tim O’Brien’s “The ­Things They Carried” 607


tim ­o ’brien, The T
­ hings They Carried 609
Critical Excerpts 622
steven k aplan, from The Undying Uncertainty of the Narrator in
Tim O’Brien’s The ­T hings They Carried 622
lorrie n. smith , from “The ­T hings Men Do”: The Gendered Subtext
in Tim O’Brien’s Esquire Stories 627
susan farrell , from Tim O’Brien and Gender: A Defense of
The ­T hings They Carried 637

READING MORE FICTION 643

louise erdrich , Love Medicine 643


william faulkner , A Rose for Emily 658
ernest hemingway, Hills Like White Elephants 665
fr anz k afk a , A Hunger Artist 669
jamaica kincaid, Girl 675
bobbie ann mason, Shiloh 677
guy de maupassant, The Jewelry 687
herman melville , Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street 693
eudor a welt y, Why I Live at the P.O. 719

PART T WO Poetry
11 Poetry: Reading, Responding, Writing 730
Defining Poetry 731
lydia davis , Head, Heart 732
AUTH O R S O N TH EIR CR AF T: Billy Collins 733
Poetic Subgenres and Kinds 734

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x iv Contents

edwin arlington robinson, Richard Cory 735


robert frost, “Out, Out—” 736
thomas hardy, The Ruined Maid 737
william words­w orth , I wandered lonely as a cloud 738
fr ank ­o ’har a , Poem [Lana Turner has collapsed!] 739
phillis wheatley , On Being Brought from Africa to Amer­i­ca 741
emily dickinson, The Sky is low—­t he Clouds are mean 742
billy collins , Divorce 742
bruce springsteen, Nebraska 743
robert hayden, A Letter from Phillis Wheatley 744
Responding to Poetry 746
aphr a behn, On Her Loving Two Equally 746
Writing about Poetry 753
SAM PLE WR ITING: Response Paper on “On Her Loving Two Equally” 755
SAM PLE WR ITING: Essay on “On Her Loving Two Equally” 757

The Art of (Reading) Poetry: An ­Album 761


howard nemerov, ­Because You Asked about the Line between Prose
and Poetry 761
archibald macleish , Ars Poetica 762
czeslaw milosz , Ars Poetica? 763
AUTH O R S O N TH EIR WO R K : Czeslaw Milosz 764
elizabeth alex ander , Ars Poetica #100: I Believe 764
marianne moore , Poetry 765
julia alvarez , “Poetry Makes Nothing Happen”? 766
billy collins , Introduction to Poetry 767

UNDERSTANDING THE TEXT 769

12 Speaker: Whose Voice Do We Hear? 769


Narrative Poems and Their Speakers 769
etheridge knight, Hard Rock Returns to Prison from the Hospital
for the Criminal Insane 769
Speakers in the Dramatic Monologue 771
a. e. stallings , Hades Welcomes His Bride 771
The Lyric and Its Speaker 773
margaret at wood, Death of a Young Son by Drowning 773
AUTH O R S O N TH EIR CR AF T: Billy Collins and Sharon Olds 775
william words­w orth , She Dwelt among the Untrodden Ways 776
dorothy parker , A Certain Lady 776
Poems for Further Study 777
walt whitman, I celebrate myself, and sing myself 777

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Contents  x v

langston hughes , Ballad of the Landlord 778


e. e. cummings , next to of course god amer­i­ca i 779
gwendolyn brooks , We Real Cool 779
AUTH O R S O N TH EIR WO R K : Gwendolyn Brooks 780
lucille clifton, cream of wheat 781
Exploring Gender: An A
­ lbum 783
richard lovelace , Song: To Lucasta, ­G oing to the Wars 784
mary, lady chudleigh , To the Ladies 784
wilfred owen, Disabled 785
elizabeth bishop, Exchanging Hats 786
david wagoner , My F ­ ather’s Garden 787
judith ortiz cofer , The Changeling 788
marie howe , Practicing 789
AUTH O R S O N TH EIR WO R K : Marie Howe 790
bob hicok , O my pa-­pa 791
terr ance hayes , Mr. T—­ 792
stacey waite , The Kind of Man I Am at the DMV 793

13 Situation and Setting: What Happens? Where? When? 795


Situation 796
rita dove , Daystar 796
denise duhamel , Humanity 101 797
tr acy k. smith , Sci-­Fi 798
Setting 799
mat thew arnold, Dover Beach 799
One Poem, Multiple Situations and Settings 801
li-­y oung lee, Persimmons 801
One Situation and Setting, Multiple Poems 803
christopher marlowe , The Passionate Shepherd to His Love 803
sir walter r aleigh , The Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd 804
The Occasional Poem 805
martÍn espada , Litany at the Tomb of Frederick Douglass 806
AUTH O R S O N TH EIR WO R K : Martín Espada 807
The Carpe Diem Poem 807
john donne , The Flea 807
andrew marvell , To His Coy Mistress 808
The Aubade 809
john donne , The Sun Rising 810
james richardson, Late Aubade 811
Poems for Further Study 811
terr ance hayes , Carp Poem 811
natasha trethewey , Pilgrimage 812

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xvi Contents

mahmoud darwish , Identity Card 814


yehuda amichai , On Yom Kippur in 1967 . . . 816
yusef komunyak a a , Tu Do Street 817
AUTH O R S O N TH EIR WO R K : Yusef Komunyakaa 818

Homelands: An ­Album 821


maya angelou, Africa 821
AUTH O R S O N TH EIR WO R K : Maya Angelou 822
derek walcot t, A Far Cry from Africa 822
AUTH O R S O N TH EIR WO R K : Derek Walcott 824
judith ortiz cofer , The Latin Deli: An Ars Poetica 825
cathy song , Heaven 826
agha shahid ali , Postcard from Kashmir 827
adrienne su, Escape from the Old Country 828

14 Theme and Tone 830


Tone 830
w. d. snodgr ass , Leaving the Motel 831
Theme 832
ma xine kumin, Woodchucks 832
adrienne rich , Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers 833
AUTH O R S O N TH EIR WO R K : Adrienne Rich 834
Theme and Conflict 834
adrienne su, On Writing 835
AUTH O R S O N TH EIR WO R K : Adrienne Su 836
Poems for Further Study 836
paul laurence dunbar , Sympathy 836
w. h. auden, Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone 837
k ay ryan, Repulsive Theory 838
maya angelou, Still I Rise 838
SAM PLE WR ITING: Response Paper on Auden’s “Stop all the clocks,
cut off the telephone” 841

F­ amily: An ­Album 845


simon j. ortiz , My F­ ather’s Song 845
robert hayden, ­T hose Winter Sundays 846
ellen bryant voigt, My M ­ other 846
mart í n espada , Of the Threads That Connect the Stars 848
emily grosholz , Eden 848
philip larkin, This Be the Verse 849
AUTH O R S O N TH EIR WO R K : Philip Larkin 850
jimmy santiago baca , Green Chile 850

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Contents  x v ii

paul martínez pompa , The Abuelita Poem 851


charlie smith , The Business 852
andrew hudgins , Begotten 853
15 Language: Word Choice and Order 854
Precision and Ambiguity 854
sar ah cleghorn, The golf links lie so near the mill 854
martha collins , Lies 855
Denotation and Connotation 855
walter de la mare , Slim Cunning Hands 856
theodore roethke , My Papa’s Waltz 857
Word Order and Placement 857
sharon olds , Sex without Love 859
AUTH O R S O N TH EIR WO R K : Sharon Olds 860
Poems for Further Study 860
william blake , London 860
ger ard manley hopkins , Pied Beauty 861
william carlos williams , The Red Wheelbarrow 861
This Is Just to Say 862
AUTH O R S O N TH EIR WO R K : William Carlos Williams 862
k ay ryan, Blandeur 863
martha collins , white paper #24 864
a. e. stallings , Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda 865

16 Visual Imagery and Figures of Speech 866


david bot toms , Hubert Blankenship 867
claude mck ay , The Harlem Dancer 868
lynn powell , Kind of Blue 868
Simile and Analogy 869
todd boss , My Love for You Is So Embarrassingly 869
Meta­phor 870
william shakespeare , That time of year thou mayst in me
behold 870
linda pastan, Marks 871
Personification 871
emily dickinson, ­Because I could not stop for Death—­ 872
Metonymy and Synecdoche 872
william words­w orth , London, 1802 873
tr acy k. smith , Ash 874
emma bolden, House Is an Enigma 874
Allusion 875
amit majmudar , Dothead 875
patricia lockwood, What Is the Zoo for What 876

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x v iii Contents

Poems for Further Study 878


william shakespeare , ­Shall I compare thee to
a summer’s day? 878
anonymous , The Twenty-­T hird Psalm 878
john donne , Batter my heart, three-­personed God 879
r andall jarrell , The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner 879
joy harjo, The Woman Hanging from the Thirteenth Floor
Window 880
john brehm , Sea of Faith 882

17 Symbol 884
The In­ven­ted Symbol 884
james dickey , The Leap 885
The Traditional Symbol 887
edmund waller , Song 887
dorothy parker , One Perfect Rose 888
The Symbolic Poem 889
william blake , The Sick Rose 889
Poems for Further Study 890
john keats , Ode to a Nightingale 890
robert frost, The Road Not Taken 892
howard nemerov, The Vacuum 893
adrienne rich , Diving into the Wreck 894
roo borson, ­A fter a Death 896
brian turner , Jundee Ameriki 896
AUTH O R S O N TH EIR WO R K : Brian Turner 897
sharon olds , Bruise Ghazal 898

18 The Sounds of Poetry 899


Rhyme 899
Other Sound Devices 901
alex ander pope , from The Rape of the Lock 902
Sound Poems 903
helen chasin, The Word Plum 903
alex ander pope , Sound and Sense 903
Poetic Meter 905
samuel taylor coleridge , Metrical Feet 907
anonymous , ­T here was a young girl from St. Paul 910
alfred, lord tennyson, from The Charge of the Light Brigade 910
jane taylor , The Star 911
anne br adstreet, To My Dear and Loving Husband 911
jessie pope , The Call 912

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Contents  x i x

wilfred owen, Dulce et Decorum Est 913


Poems for Further Study 914
william shakespeare , Like as the waves make t­ owards
the pebbled shore 914
ger ard manley hopkins , The Windhover 914
amit majmudar , Ode to a Drone 915
walt whitman, A Noiseless Patient Spider 915
kevin young , Ode to Pork 916

Word and ­Music: An ­Album 919


thomas campion, When to Her Lute Corinna Sings 920
anonymous , Sir Patrick Spens 920
dudley r andall , Ballad of Birmingham 922
augustus montague toplady, A Prayer, Living and ­D ying 923
robert hayden, Homage to the Empress of the Blues 924
bob dylan, The Times They Are A-­Changin’ 924
linda pastan, Listening to Bob Dylan, 2005 925
mos def, Hip Hop 926
jose b. gonzalez , Elvis in the Inner City 928

19 Internal Structure 930


Dividing Poems into “Parts” 930
pat mor a , Sonrisas 930
Internal versus External or Formal “Parts” 932
galway kinnell , Blackberry Eating 932
Lyr­ics as Internal Dramas 932
seamus heaney, Punishment 933
samuel taylor coleridge , Frost at Midnight 935
sharon olds , The Victims 937
Making Arguments about Structure 938
Poems without “Parts” 938
walt whitman, I Hear Amer­i­ca Singing 938
Poems for Further Study 939
william shakespeare , Th’ expense of spirit in a
waste of shame 939
percy bysshe shelley, Ode to the West Wind 940
philip larkin, Church G ­ oing 942
AUTH O R S O N TH EIR WO R K : Philip Larkin 944
k atie ford, Still-­L ife 945
kevin young , Greening 945
SAM PLE WR ITING: Essay in Pro­g ress on “Church G
­ oing” 947

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xx Contents

20 External Form 951


Stanzas 951
Traditional Stanza Forms 951
robert frost, Acquainted with the Night 952
richard wilbur , Terza Rima 952
Traditional Verse Forms 953
Fixed Forms or Form-­Based Subgenres 954
Traditional Forms: Poems for Further Study 955
dylan thomas , Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night 955
natasha trethewey , Myth 956
elizabeth bishop, Sestina 957
a. e. stallings , Sestina: Like 958
The Way a Poem Looks 959
e. e. cummings , l(a 959
Buffalo Bill’s 960
Concrete Poetry 960
george herbert, Easter Wings 961
may swenson, ­Women 962

The Sonnet: An ­Album 965


fr ancesco petr arch , Upon the breeze she spread her
golden hair 966
henry constable , My lady’s presence makes the roses red 966
william shakespeare, My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun 967
Not marble, nor the gilded monuments 967
Let me not to the marriage of true minds 968
john milton, When I consider how my light is spent 968
william words­w orth , Nuns Fret Not 969
The world is too much with us 969
elizabeth barret t browning , How Do I Love Thee? 970
christina rosset ti , In an Artist’s Studio 970
edna st. vincent millay, What lips my lips have kissed,
and where, and why 971
 ­Women have loved before as I love now 971
I, being born a ­woman and distressed 972
I ­w ill put Chaos into fourteen lines 972
gwendolyn brooks , First Fight. Then Fiddle. 973
gwen harwood, In the Park 973
june jordan, Something Like a Sonnet for Phillis Miracle Wheatley 974
billy collins , Sonnet 974
harryet te mullen, Dim Lady 975

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Contents  x x i

Haiku: An ­Album 977


Traditional Japa­nese Haiku 977
chiyojo, W ­ hether astringent 977
bash ō, A village without bells—­ 978
This road—­ 978
buson, Coolness—­ 978
Listening to the moon 978
One Haiku, Four Translations 978
lafcadio hearn, Old pond—­ 978
clar a a. walsh , An old-­t ime pond 978
earl miner , The still old pond 979
allen ginsberg , The old pond 979
Con­temporary English-­L anguage Haiku 979
ezr a pound, In a Station of the Metro 979
allen ginsberg , Looking over my shoulder 979
richard wright, In the falling snow 979
etheridge knight, Eastern guard tower 980
The falling snow flakes 980
Making jazz swing in 980
AUTH O R S O N TH EIR WO R K : Etheridge Knight 980
mark jarman, Haiku 981
sonia sanchez , from 9 Haiku (for Freedom’s ­Sisters) 981
sue standing , Diamond Haiku 981
linda pastan, In the Har-­Poen Tea Garden 982
Twaiku 983

EXPLORING CONTEXTS 984

21 The Author’s Work as Context: Adrienne Rich 986


The Poetry of Adrienne Rich 987
Poems by Adrienne Rich 990
At a Bach Concert 990
Storm Warnings 990
Living in Sin 991
Snapshots of a Daughter-­i n-­L aw 991
AUTH O R S O N TH EIR WO R K : Adrienne Rich 995
Planetarium 996
For the Rec­ord 997
My mouth hovers across your breasts 998
History 998
Transparencies 999

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x x ii Contents

To­n ight No Poetry ­Will Serve 1000


Passages from Rich’s Essays 1001
From When We Dead Awaken: Writing as Re-­Vision 1001
From A Communal Poetry 1002
From Why I Refused the National Medal for the Arts 1003
From Poetry and the Forgotten ­Future 1006
A Poem for Adrienne Rich
Joy HARJO, By the Way 1010
SAM PLE WR ITING: Comparative Essay on Sonnets by Shakespeare
and Millay 1015

Emily Dickinson: An ­Album 1021


Poems by Emily Dickinson 1022
Wild Nights—­Wild Nights! 1022
“Hope” is the ­t hing with feathers—­ 1023
­A fter ­g reat pain, a formal feeling comes—­ 1023
I heard a Fly buzz—­when I died 1024
My Life had stood—­a Loaded Gun—­ 1024
I stepped from Plank to Plank 1025
Tell all the truth but tell it slant—­ 1025
Poems about Emily Dickinson 1026
wendy cope , Emily Dickinson 1026
hart cr ane , To Emily Dickinson 1026
billy collins , Taking Off Emily Dickinson’s Clothes 1027

W. B. Yeats: An ­Album 1031


Poems by W. B. Yeats 1033
The Lake Isle of Innisfree 1033
AUTH O R S O N TH EIR WO R K : W. B. Yeats 1034
All ­T hings Can Tempt Me 1034
Easter 1916 1035
The Second Coming 1037
Leda and the Swan 1038
Sailing to Byzantium 1038
A Poem about W. B. Yeats 1040
w. h. auden, In Memory of W. B. Yeats 1040
AUTH O R S O N TH EIR WO R K : W. H. Auden 1042

Pat Mora: An ­Album 1047


Elena 1048
Gentle Communion 1049

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Contents  x x iii

­Mothers and ­Daughters 1049


La Migra 1050
Ode to Adobe 1051
22 The Author’s Work as Context: William Blake’s Songs
of Innocence and of Experience 1055
Color Insert: Facsimile Pages from Songs of Innocence and of Experience
William Blake’s Songs of Innocence and of Experience
Songs of Innocence 1057
Introduction 1057
The Ecchoing Green 1057
Holy Thursday 1058
The Lamb 1058
The Chimney Sweeper 1059
Songs of Experience 1059
Introduction 1059
The Tyger 1060
The Garden of Love 1061
The Chimney Sweeper 1061
Holy Thursday 1061
23 Cultural and Historical Contexts:
The Harlem Renaissance 1065
Poems of the Harlem Re­nais­sance 1070
arna bontemps, A Black Man Talks of Reaping 1070
countee cullen, Yet Do I Marvel 1071
Saturday’s Child 1071
From the Dark Tower 1072
angelina grimkÉ, The Black Fin­ger 1072
Tenebris 1073
langston hughes, Harlem 1073
The Weary Blues 1073
The Negro Speaks of Rivers 1074
I, Too 1075
helene johnson, Sonnet to a Negro in Harlem 1076
claude mck ay, Harlem Shadows 1076
If We Must Die 1077
The Tropics in New York 1077
Amer ­i­ca 1077
The White House 1078
Contextual Excerpts 1078
james weldon johnson, from the preface to The Book of American
Negro Poetry 1078

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x x iv Contents

alain locke, from The New Negro 1080


rudolph fisher, from The Caucasian Storms Harlem 1084
w. e. b. du bois, from Two Novels 1088
zor a neale hurston, How It Feels to Be Colored Me 1089
langston hughes, from The Big Sea 1092
SAM PLE WR ITING: Research Essay on “I, Too” 1097

24 Critical Contexts: Sylvia Plath’s “­Daddy” 1102


sylvia plath, Daddy 1103
Critical Excerpts 1107
george steiner, from Dying Is an Art 1107
a. alvarez, from Sylvia Plath 1110
irving howe, from The Plath Cele­bration: A Partial Dissent 1111
judith kroll, from Rituals of Exorcism: “Daddy” 1113
mary lynn broe, from Protean Poetic: The Poetry of Sylvia Plath 1114
margaret homans, from A Feminine Tradition 1116
pamela j. annas, from A Disturbance in Mirrors: The Poetry of
Sylvia Plath 1117
steven gould a xelrod, from Sylvia Plath: The Wound and the
Cure of Words 1119
lisa narbeshuber, from The Poetics of Torture: The Spectacle of
Sylvia Plath’s Poetry 1125

READING MORE POETRY 1131

w. h. auden, Musée des Beaux Arts 1131


robert browning, My Last Duchess 1132
kelly cherry, Alzheimer’s 1133
samuel taylor coleridge, Kubla Khan 1134
e. e. cummings, in Just-­ 1135
john donne, Death, be not proud 1136
The Good-­Morrow 1137
Song 1137
A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning 1138
paul laurence dunbar, We Wear the Mask 1139
t. s. eliot, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock 1139
robert frost, Fire and Ice 1143
Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Eve­n ing 1143
seamus heaney, Digging 1144
ger ard manley hopkins, God’s Grandeur 1145
Spring and Fall 1145
ben jonson, On My First Son 1146

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Contents  x x v

john keats, Ode on a Grecian Urn 1146


To Autumn 1148
yusef komunyak a a, Facing It 1149
AUTH O R S O N TH EIR WO R K : Yusef Komunyakaa 1150
linda pastan, To a ­Daughter Leaving Home 1151
marge piercy, Barbie Doll 1151
sylvia plath, Lady Lazarus 1152
Morning Song 1154
edgar allan poe, The Raven 1155
ezr a pound, The River-­Merchant’s Wife: A Letter 1157
christina rosset ti, Goblin Market 1158
wallace stevens, Anecdote of the Jar 1171
The Emperor of Ice-­Cream 1172
alfred, lord tennyson, Ulysses 1172
walt whitman, Facing West from California’s Shores 1174
richard wilbur, Love Calls Us to the ­T hings of This World 1174
Biographical Sketches: Poets 1176

PART THREE Drama


25 Drama: Reading, Responding, Writing 1194
Reading Drama 1194
Thinking Theatrically 1196
susan glaspell, Trifles 1197
Responding to Drama 1208
SAM PLE WR ITING: Annotation of Trifles 1208
SAM PLE WR ITING: Reading Notes on Trifles 1211
Writing about Drama 1214
SAM PLE WR ITING: Response Paper on Trifles 1216
SAM PLE WR ITING: Essay on Trifles 1218

UNDERSTANDING THE TEXT 1221

26 Ele­ments of Drama 1221


Character 1221
Plot and Structure 1223
Stages, Sets, and Setting 1225
Tone, Language, and Symbol 1228
Theme 1229
august wilson, Fences 1230
AUTH O R S O N TH EIR WO R K : August Wilson 1282
quiar a alegr í a hudes, ­Water by the Spoonful 1283

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xxvi Contents

EXPLORING CONTEXTS 1332

27 The Author’s Work as Context: William Shakespeare 1332


The Life of Shakespeare: A Biographical Mystery 1332
Exploring Shakespeare’s Work: A Midsummer Night’s Dream
and Hamlet 1334
A Midsummer Night’s Dream 1338
Hamlet 1396
28 Cultural and Historical Contexts: Lorraine Hansberry’s
A Raisin in the Sun 1496
The Historical Significance of A Raisin in the Sun 1497
The ­Great Migration 1498
Life in the “Black Metropolis” 1499
The Civil Rights Movement 1503
African Americans and Africa 1504
The “Americanness” of A Raisin in the Sun 1505
lorr aine hansberry, A Raisin in the Sun 1506
AUTH O R S O N TH EIR WO R K : Lorraine Hansberry 1570
Contextual Excerpts 1573
richard wright, from Twelve Million Black Voices . . . ​1573
robert gruenberg, from Chicago Fiddles While Trumbull
Park Burns 1577
gertrude samuels, from Even More Crucial Than in the
South 1579
wilma dykeman and james stokely, from New Southerner:
The Middle-­Class Negro 1582
martin luther king, jr., from Letter from Birmingham Jail 1584
robert c. weaver, from “The Negro as an American”: The Yearning
for ­Human Dignity 1586
earl e. thorpe, from Africa in the Thought of Negro
Selection is not included
Americans 1590 for permissions reasons.
phaon goldman, from The Significance of African Freedom for the
Selection is not included
Negro American 1592 for permissions reasons.
bruce norris, from Clybourne Park 1594
29 Critical Contexts: Sophocles’s Antigone 1600
Sophocles, Antigone 1602
Critical Excerpts 1635
richard c. jebb, from the introduction to The Antigone of
Sophocles 1635
maurice bowr a, from Sophoclean Tragedy 1636
bernard knox, from the introduction to Antigone (1982) 1638
Contents  x x v ii

martha C. nussbaum, from Sophocles’ Antigone: Conflict, Vision,


and Simplification 1645
philip holt, from Polis and Tragedy in the Antigone 1650
SAM PLE WR ITING: Research Essay on Antigone 1660

READING MORE DR AMA 1665

anton chekhov, The Cherry Orchard 1665


henrik ibsen, A Doll House 1703
Jane martin, from Talking With . . . 1753
sophocles, Oedipus the King 1758
oscar wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest 1798
tennessee williams, A Streetcar Named Desire 1843

PART FOUR Writing about Lit­er­a­t ure


30 Basic Moves: Paraphrase, Summary, and Description 1914

31 The Lit­er­a­ture Essay 1918

32 The Writing Process 1938

33 The Lit­er­a­ture Research Essay 1951

34 Quotation, Citation, and Documentation 1962

35 Sample Research Essay 1992


sar ah roberts, “ ‘Only a Girl’? Gendered Initiation in Alice Munro’s
‘Boys and Girls’ ” 1992

Critical Approaches A1
Permissions Acknowl­edgments A27
Index of Authors A45
Index of Titles and First Lines A52
Glossary/Index of Literary Terms A61

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Preface for Instructors

L ike its pre­de­ces­sors, this Thirteenth Edition of The Norton Introduction to


Literature offers in a single volume a complete course in reading literature
and writing about it. A teaching anthology focused on the actual tasks,
challenges, and questions typically faced by students and instructors, The Norton
Introduction to Literature offers practical advice to help students transform their
first impressions of literary works into fruitful discussions and meaningful critical
essays, and it helps students and instructors together tackle the complex questions
at the heart of literary study.
The Norton Introduction to Literature has been revised with an eye to providing
a book that is as flexible and as useful as possible—adaptable to many different
teaching styles and individual preferences—and that also conveys the excitement
at the heart of literature itself.

NEW TO THE THIRTEENTH EDITION


Thirty-­three new se­lections
This lucky Thirteenth Edition of The Norton Introduction to Lit­er­a­ture features nine
new stories, over twenty new poems, and one new play. ­These include new se­lections
from popu­lar and canonical writers including Ray Bradbury, Octavia Butler, Annie
Proulx, Oscar Wilde, and V ­ irginia Woolf (in Fiction and Drama), Maya Angelou,
Emily Dickinson, Joy Harjo, and Claude McKay (in Poetry). We invite you to feast on
Christina Rossetti’s delicious Goblin Market and a refreshed collection of Robert
Frost poems complete with the oft-­taught “Out, Out—” and “Fire and Ice.” But you
­will also find ­here work by exciting new authors such as Alissa Nutting, A. E. Stallings,
and Pulitzer Prize winners Adam Johnson, Viet Thanh Nguyen, and Tracy K. Smith.
Prompting the re­introduction of John Crowe Ransom’s “Bells for John Whiteside’s
­Daughter,” which it appears alongside, Hai-­Dang Phan’s moving “My F ­ ather’s ‘Norton
Introduction to Lit­er­at­ ure,’ Third Edition (1981)” reminds us just how much new works
and new voices renew and reanimate, rather than replace, classic ones.

A new science-­fiction ­album


One of the more popu­lar features of recent editions of The Norton Introduction to
Lit­er­a­ture are the a­ lbums that invite students to consider and compare works linked
by author, subgenre, subject ­matter, or setting, and so on. You ­will find fifteen such
­albums in the Thirteenth Edition, including an entirely new one featuring science
fiction by Octavia Butler, Ray Bradbury, William Gibson, and Jennifer Egan.

Improved writing pedagogy


Recent editions of The Norton Introduction to Lit­er­a­ture greatly expanded and
improved the resources for student writers, including thorough introductions to each

xxviii

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Preface for Instructors  x x i x

genre, broadened online materials, and new student writing. The Thirteenth Edition
offers an enlarged and revamped chapter on “Quotation, Citation, and Documenta-
tion.” In keeping with the latest (8th edition) MLA guidelines, it explains the ele­ments
that comprise the works-­cited entry and the princi­ples by which any entry is assem-
bled rather than presenting a dizzying menu of entry types for student writers to pore
through and copy. H ­ ere, as throughout “Writing about Lit­er­at­ure,” we demonstrate
with brief examples, often drawn from the work of student or professional writers. A
new student essay on Ralph Ellison’s “King of the Bingo Game” brings the total of
complete writing samples to nineteen, including notes, response papers, essays ana-
lyzing one work or comparing several, and research essays exploring critical and/or
historical contexts. As always, by including more and more lengthy extracts from pub-
lished literary criticism than any other textbook of its kind, The Norton Introduction
to Lit­er­a­ture offers student writers both a trove of sources to draw on in articulating
their own responses to par­tic­u­lar works and models of the sorts of questions, strate-
gies, and “moves” that power effective reading and writing about lit­er­a­ture.

A new design and expanded photo program


A con­temporary new design invites greater enjoyment and even greater use of the
book’s many special features. The photo program has been enriched and expanded
with new author photos throughout as well as contextual illustrations, such as the
frontispiece for the first edition of Goblin Market by the poet’s ­brother Dante Gabriel
Rossetti, an advertising poster for Buffalo Bill alongside the poem by E. E. Cum-
mings, a movie still from The Black Panther to accompany the new ­Futures ­album,
and many more.

Enhanced and updated Shakespeare


To make Shakespeare more accessible and enjoyable, every page of Hamlet and
A Midsummer Night’s Dream features new in-line glossing of challenging words or
allusions. The versions of both plays are adopted from the acclaimed new third edi-
tion of The Norton Shakespeare, edited by Stephen Greenblatt. In addition, students
encountering Shakespeare for the first time will appreciate the rich links, videos,
and recordings available within the ebook.

New combined glossary and index


A new combined Glossary and Index makes it easier for students to review key liter-
ary terms and find examples within the book.

Unmatched support for students, with new close


reading workshops
New to our popu­lar LitWeb site are twenty-­five Close Reading Workshops. Providing
step-­by-­step guidance in literary analy­sis and interpretation drawing on works in
the anthology, many of which are enhanced with audio, ­these interactive workshops
help students learn how to observe, contextualize, analyze, and create an argument
based on a close reading of text. The workshops are easily assignable with class
reports that allow you to see how students’ close reading skills improve over the
course of the semester.

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xxx Preface for Instructors

Unmatched support for instructors


The new Interactive Instructor’s Guide by Jason Snart features hundreds of teach-
ing resources in one searchable, sortable site to help you enrich your classes and
save course-­prep time, including:
- Teaching notes, discussion questions, suggestions for writing, and in-­
class activities for ­every work in the anthology
-­ Hundreds of downloadable images for in-­class pre­sen­ta­tion
-­ The Writing about Lit­er­a­ture video series
-­ Lecture Power­Points for the most-­taught works in the anthology

HALLMARK FEATURES OF THE NORTON


INTRODUCTION TO LITER ATURE
Although this Thirteenth Edition contains much that is new or refashioned, the
essential features of the text have remained consistent over many editions:

Diverse selections with broad appeal


Because readings are the central component of any literature class, my most
important task has been to select a rich array of appealing and challenging literary
works. Among the 61 stories, 300 poems, and 12 plays in The Norton Introduction
to Literature, readers will find selections by well-­established and emerging voices
alike, representing a broad range of times, places, cultural perspectives, and styles.
The readings are excitingly diverse in terms of subject and style as well as author-
ship and national origin. In selecting and presenting literary texts, my top priorities
continue to be quality as well as pedagogical relevance and usefulness. I have inte-
grated the new with the old and the experimental with the canonical, believing
that contrast and variety help students recognize and respond to the unique fea-
tures of any literary work. In this way, I aim to help students and instructors alike
approach the unfamiliar by way of the familiar (and vice versa).

Helpful and unobtrusive editorial matter


As always, the instructional material before and after each selection avoids dictat-
ing any par­tic­u­lar interpretation or response, instead highlighting essential terms
and concepts in order to make the literature that follows more accessible to student
readers. Questions and writing suggestions help readers apply general concepts
to specific readings in order to develop, articulate, refine, and defend their own
responses. As in all Norton anthologies, I have annotated the works with a light
hand, seeking to be informative but not interpretive.

An introduction to the study of literature


To introduce students to fiction, poetry, and drama is to open up a complex field of
study with a long history. The Introduction addresses many of the questions that
students may have about the nature of literature as well as the practice of literary
criticism. By exploring some of the most compelling reasons for reading and writ-
ing about literature, much of the mystery about matters of method is cleared away,

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Preface for Instructors  x x x i

and I provide motivated students with a sense of the issues and opportunities that
lie ahead as they study literature. As in earlier editions, I encourage student engage-
ment with individual authors and their perspectives in “Authors on Their Work”
features as well as single-­author chapters and albums.

Thoughtful guidance for writing about literature


The Thirteenth Edition integrates opportunities for student writing at each step of
the course, highlighting the mastery of skills for students at every level. “Reading,
Responding, Writing” chapters at the beginning of each genre unit offer students
concrete advice about how to transform careful reading into productive and insight-
ful writing. Sample questions for each work or about each element (e.g., “Questions
about Character”) provide exercises for answering these questions or for applying
new concepts to par­tic­u­lar works, and examples of student writing demonstrate how
a student’s notes on a story or poem may be developed into a response paper or an
or­ga­nized critical argument. New examples of student writing bring the total number
to nineteen.
The constructive, step-­by-­step approach to the writing pro­cess is thoroughly
demonstrated in the “Writing about Literature” section. As in the chapters intro-
ducing concepts and literary selections, the first steps presented in the writing sec-
tion are simple and straightforward, outlining the basic formal elements common
to essays—thesis, structure, and so on. Following these steps encourages students
to approach the essay both as a distinctive genre with its own elements and as an
accessible form of writing with a clear purpose. From h ­ ere, I walk students through
the writing pro­cess: how to choose a topic, gather evidence, and develop an argu-
ment; the methods of writing a research essay; and the mechanics of effective
quotation and responsible citation and documentation. Also featured is a sample
research essay that has been annotated to call attention to important features of
good student writing.
Even more resources for student writers are available at the free student web-
site, LitWeb, described below.

A comprehensive approach to the contexts of literature


The Thirteenth Edition not only offers expanded resources for interpreting and
writing about literature but also extends the perspectives from which students can
view par­tic­u­lar authors and works. One of the greatest strengths of The Norton
Introduction to Literature has been its exploration of the relation between literary
texts and a variety of contexts. “Author’s Work as Context,” “Cultural and Historical
Contexts,” and “Critical Contexts” chapters serve as mini-­casebooks containing
a wealth of material for in-­depth, context-­focused reading and writing assignments.
The “Critical Approaches” section provides an overview of contemporary criti-
cal theory and its terminology and is useful as an introduction, a refresher, or a
preparation for further exploration.

A sensible and teachable or­ga­ni­za­tion


The accessible format of The Norton Introduction to Literature, which has worked so
well for teachers and students for many editions, remains the same. Each genre is
approached in three logical steps. Fiction, for example, is introduced by the chapter

nintrlit13esht_9pp_ch00_i-xxxiv.indd 31 8/29/18 1:04 PM


x x x ii Preface for Instructors

“Fiction: Reading, Responding, Writing,” which treats the purpose and nature of fic-
tion, the reading experience, and the steps one takes to begin writing about fiction.
This feature is followed by the six-­chapter section called “Understanding the Text,”
which concentrates on the genre’s key elements. Appearing throughout are ­albums
that build on the chapters they follow, inviting students to compare stories narrated
by protagonists whom o ­ thers deem monsters, featuring initiation plots or futuristic
settings, and so on. The third section, “Exploring Contexts” suggests ways to embrace
a work of literature by considering various literary, temporal, and cultural contexts.
“Reading More Fiction,” the final component in the Fiction section, is a reservoir of
additional readings for in­de­pen­dent study or a different approach. The Poetry and
Drama sections, in turn, follow exactly the same or­gan­i­za­tional format as Fiction.
The book’s arrangement allows movement from narrower to broader frameworks,
from simpler to more complex questions and issues, and mirrors the way people
read—­wanting to learn more as they experience more. At the same time, I have
worked hard to ensure that no section, chapter, or a­ lbum depends on any other,
allowing individual teachers to pick and choose which to assign and in what order.

Deep repre­sen­ta­tion of select authors


The Norton Introduction to Lit­er­a­ture offers a range of opportunities for in-­depth
study of noted authors. “Author’s Work” chapters and ­ albums—on Flannery
O’Connor, Adrienne Rich, William Blake, Emily Dickinson, Pat Mora, W. B. Yeats,
and William Shakespeare—­ encourage students to make substantive connections
among works from dif­fer­ent phases of a writer’s ­career, guiding them to ask both what
binds such works together into a distinctive oeuvre and how a writer’s approach and
outlook evolves in and over time. But throughout the volume, students ­will encounter,
too, at least two works each by a diverse array of other authors including William
Faulkner, Tim O’Brien, Joy Harjo, Judith Ortiz Cofer, Tracy K. Smith, and the fifty-­
three other poets whose biographies appear at the end of the Poetry section. “Critical
Contexts” chapters on “The T ­ hings They Carried” (and The T ­ hings They Carried), on
“­Daddy,” and on Antigone encourage students to delve deeper into specific works
by Tim O’Brien, Sylvia Plath, and Sophocles by considering the rich and varied
commentary, even controversy, ­t hose authors’ works have inspired. “Cultural and
Historical Context” chapters—­featuring stories by Susan Glaspell, Charlotte Per-
kins Gilman, and Kate Chopin; poetry and prose of the Harlem Re­nais­sance; and
Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun—­remind students that authors and
their works also both emerge out of and shape the contours and controversies of
par­t ic­u­lar moments and milieus, even as they speak to ours.

AC­K NOW­L EDG­M ENTS


In working on this book, I have been guided by teachers and students in my own
and other En­glish departments who have used this textbook and responded with
comments and suggestions. Thanks to such capable help, I am hopeful that this
book will continue to offer a solid and stimulating introduction to the experience of
literature.
This project continually reminds me why I follow the vocation of teaching litera-
ture, which after all is a communal rather than a solitary calling. Since its incep-
tion, The Norton Introduction to Literature has been very much a collaborative effort.

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Preface for Instructors  x x x iii

I am grateful for the opportunity to carry on the work begun by the late Carl Bain
and Jerome Beaty, whose student I will always be. And I am equally indebted to my
wonderful former co-editors Paul Hunter and Alison Booth. Their w ­ isdom and intel-
ligence have had a profound effect on me, and their stamp will endure on this and
all future editions of this book. I am thankful to Alison especially for the erudition,
savvy, grace, and humor she brought to our partnership. Their intelligence, erudition,
grace, and humor have had a profound effect on me, and their stamp ­w ill endure
on this and all ­f uture editions of this book.
So, too, ­will that of Spencer Richardson-­Jones, my Norton editorial partner on the
last two (eleventh and twelfth) editions. For the wisdom and wit he brought to that
partnership, for the all-­new life he breathed into this book, and for his laser-­like atten-
tion to—­and indefatigable championship of—it, I am forever grateful. The book’s new
in-­house editor, Sarah Touborg, has proved a worthy successor ­under much less than
ideal circumstances. And I am thankful—as I think all users of the Thirteenth Edi-
tion ­will be—­for the new perspective and insight she has brought to this proj­ect. With
admirable skill and ­great energy, assistant editor Madeline Rombes managed myriad
manuscript details. I am grateful to proj­ect editor Christine D’Antonio and copy-
editor Rebecca Caine, photo editor Ted Szczepanski and researcher Julie Tesser,
production man­ag­ers Ashley Horna and Stephen Sajdak, and media editor Carly
Frasier Doria who brought together the innovative array of web resources and
other pedagogical tools. Huge, heartfelt thanks, too, to Kimberly Bowers, the very
best, brightest, and most tireless of marketing man­ag­ers.
In putting together the Thirteenth Edition, I have accrued debts to many friends
and colleagues including Frederic Svoboda, of the University of Michigan–­Flint; his
student, Megan Groeneveld; and other users of the Twelfth Edition who generously
reached out to point out its errors, as well as successes. Special thanks to the tal-
ented Francis Moi Moi, for permission to use his essay on “King of the Bingo Game”;
to Darren Lone-Fight, for introducing me to the work of Indigenous Futurist Steven
Paul Judd; to Jane Hafen, Molly O’Donnell, Emily Setina, and Anne Stevens, for
sage advice on literary se­lections and much e­ lse; to my s­ ister, Nelda Mays, and to my
UNLV students, whose open-­mindedness, strong-­mindedness, perseverance, and pas-
sion inspire me ­every day; and, as always, to Hugh Jackson, my in-­house editor in the
most literal of senses.
The Norton Introduction to Literature continues to thrive because so many teachers
and students generously take the time to provide valuable feedback and sugges-
tions. Thank you to all who have done so. This book is equally your making.
At the beginning of planning for the Twelfth Edition, my editors at Norton solic-
ited the guidance of hundreds of instructors via in-­depth reviews and a Web-­hosted
survey. The response was impressive, bordering on overwhelming; it was also
im­mensely helpful. Thank you to those who provided extensive written commentary:
Julianne Altenbernd (Cypress College), Troy Appling (Florida Gateway College),
Christina Bisirri (Seminole State College), Jill Channing (Mitchell Community
College), Thomas Chester (Ivy Tech), Marcelle Cohen (Valencia College), Patricia
Glanville (State College of Florida), Julie Gibson (Greenville Tech), Christina
Grant (St. Charles Community College), Lauren Hahn (City Colleges of Chicago),
Zachary Hyde (Valencia College), Brenda Jernigan (Methodist University), Mary
Anne Keefer (Lord Fairfax Community College), Shari Koopman (Valencia Col-
lege), Jessica Rabin (Anne Arundel Community College), Angela Rasmussen
(Spokane Community College), Britnee Shandor (Lanier Technical College), Heidi

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x x x iv Preface for Instructors

Sheridan (Ocean County College), Jeff Tix (Wharton Jr. College), Bente Videbaek
(Stony Brook University), Patrice Willaims (Northwest Florida State College), and
Connie Youngblood (Blinn College).
Thanks also to everyone who responded to the survey online for the Thir-
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Clark (Suffolk County Community College), Jim Compton (Muscatine Community
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School), Africa Fine (Palm Beach State College), Christine Fisher (Trinity Valley
Community College), Jeffrey Foster (University of New Haven), James Glickman
(Community College of Rhode Island), Kathy Harrison (Alief In­de­pen­dent School
District, ­Kerr High School), Joan Hartman (William Paterson University), Spring
Hyde (Lincoln College), Tina Iraca (Dutchess Community College), Jack Kelnhofer
(Ocean County College), Ellen Knodt (Pennsylvania State University–Penn State
­Abington), Liz Langemak (La Salle University), Rachel Luckenbill (Southeastern
University), Sarah Maitland (Bryant University), Cassandra Makela (Concordia
University), Brtini Mastria (Ocean County College), Marion McAvey (Becker Col-
lege), Lizzie McCormick (Suffolk County Community College), Deborah Nester
(Northwest Florida State College), Amy Oneal-­Self (Wor-­Wic Community College),
Keith O’Neill (Dutchess Community College), Natala Orobello (Florida South-
Western State College), Michele Oster (Suffolk County Community College),
Matthew Parry (Bishop ­England High School), Barri Piner (University of North
Carolina Wilmington), Joshua Rafael Rodriguez (East Los Angeles College), Kathy
Romack (University of West Florida), Shelbey Rosengarten (St. Petersburg College),
Jennifer Royal (Santa Rosa Ju­nior College), John Sauls (East Arkansas Community
College), Richard Sears (Oklahoma State University–­Stillwater), Bonnie Spears
(Chaffey College), Camilla Stastny (SouthLake ­Christian Acad­emy), Jason Stuff
(Alfred State College), Donna Jane Terry (St. Johns River State College), Filiz Turhan
(Suffolk County Community College), Roger Vaccaro (St. Johns River State College),
Tammy Verkamp (Arkansas Tech University–Ozark), Bente Videbaek (Stony Brook
University), Stephanie Webster (Ivy Tech Community College), and Kelli Wilkes
(Columbus Technical College).

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Another random document with
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X

LE CYCLE HÉROIQUE CHRÉTIEN


LE PARRICIDE.

Dessiné par F. Flameng. - Gravé par R. de


Los Rios.
L. HÉBERT, ÉDITEUR - Imp. Wittmann.
L E PA R R I C I D E

Un jour, Kanut, à l’heure où l’assoupissement


Ferme partout les yeux sous l’obscur firmament,
Ayant pour seul témoin la nuit, l’aveugle immense,
Vit son père Swéno, vieillard presque en démence,
Qui dormait, sans un garde à ses pieds, sans un chien;
Il le tua, disant: Lui-même n’en sait rien.
Puis il fut un grand roi.

Toujours vainqueur, sa vie


Par la prospérité fidèle fut suivie;
Il fut plus triomphant que la gerbe des blés;
Quand il passait devant les vieillards assemblés,
Sa présence éclairait ces sévères visages;
Par la chaîne des mœurs pures et des lois sages
A son cher Danemark natal il enchaîna
Vingt îles, Fionie, Arnhout, Folster, Mona;
Il bâtit un grand trône en pierres féodales;
Il vainquit les saxons, les pictes, les vandales,
Le celte, et le borusse, et le slave aux abois,
Et les peuples hagards qui hurlent dans les bois;
Il abolit l’horreur idolâtre, et la rune,
Et le menhir féroce où le soir, à la brune,
Le chat sauvage vient frotter son dos hideux;
Il disait en parlant du grand César: Nous deux;
Une lueur sortait de son cimier polaire;
Les monstres expiraient partout sous sa colère;
Il fut, pendant vingt ans qu’on l’entendit marcher,
Le cavalier superbe et le puissant archer;
L’hydre morte il mettait le pied sur la portée;
L hydre morte, il mettait le pied sur la portée;
Sa vie, en même temps bénie et redoutée,
Dans la bouche du peuple était un fier récit;
Rien que dans un hiver, ce chasseur détruisit
Trois dragons en Écosse et deux rois en Scanie;
Il fut héros, il fut géant, il fut génie;
Le sort de tout un monde au sien semblait lié;
Quant à son parricide, il l’avait oublié.
Il mourut. On le mit dans un cercueil de pierre,
Et l’évêque d’Aarhus vint dire une prière
Et chanter sur sa tombe un hymne, déclarant
Que Kanut était saint, que Kanut était grand,
Qu’un céleste parfum sortait de sa mémoire,
Et qu’ils le voyaient, eux, les prêtres, dans la gloire,
Assis comme un prophète à la droite de Dieu.

Le soir vint; l’orgue en deuil se tut dans le saint lieu;


Et les prêtres, quittant la haute cathédrale,
Laissèrent le roi mort dans la paix sépulcrale.
Alors il se leva, rouvrit ses yeux obscurs,
Prit son glaive, et sortit de la tombe, les murs
Et les portes étant brumes pour les fantômes;
Il traversa la mer qui reflète les dômes
Et les tours d’Altona, d’Aarhus et d’Elseneur;
L’ombre écoutait les pas de ce sombre seigneur;
Mais il marchait sans bruit, étant lui-même un songe;
Il alla droit au mont Savo que le temps ronge,
Et Kanut s’approcha de ce farouche aïeul,
Et lui dit:—Laisse-moi, pour m’en faire un linceul,
O montagne Savo que la tourmente assiége,
Me couper un morceau de ton manteau de neige.—
Le mont le reconnut et n’osa refuser.
Kanut prit son épée impossible à briser,
Et sur le mont, tremblant devant ce belluaire,
Il coupa de la neige et s’en fit un suaire;
Puis il cria:—Vieux mont, la mort éclaire peu;
De quel côté faut-il aller pour trouver Dieu?—
Le mont au flanc difforme, aux gorges obstruées,
, g g ,
Noir, triste dans le vol éternel des nuées,
Lui dit:—Je ne sais pas, spectre, je suis ici.—
Kanut quitta le mont par les glaces saisi;
Et, le front haut, tout blanc dans son linceul de neige,
Il entra, par delà l’Islande et la Norvége,
Seul, dans le grand silence et dans la grande nuit;
Derrière lui le monde obscur s’évanouit;
Il se trouva, lui, spectre, âme, roi sans royaume,
Nu, face à face avec l’immensité fantôme;
Il vit l’infini, porche horrible et reculant
Où l’éclair quand il entre expire triste et lent,
L’ombre, hydre dont les nuits sont les pâles vertèbres,
L’informe se mouvant dans le noir, les Ténèbres;
Là; pas d’astre; et pourtant on ne sait quel regard
Tombe de ce chaos immobile et hagard;
Pour tout bruit, le frisson lugubre que fait l’onde
De l’obscurité, sourde, effarée et profonde,
Il avança disant:—C’est la tombe; au delà
C’est Dieu.—Quand il eut fait trois pas, il appela;
Mais la nuit est muette ainsi que l’ossuaire,
Et rien ne répondit; pas un pli du suaire
Ne s’émut, et Kanut avança; la blancheur
Du linceul rassurait le sépulcral marcheur;
Il allait. Tout à coup, sur son livide voile
Il vit poindre et grandir comme une noire étoile;
L’étoile s’élargit lentement, et Kanut,
La tâtant de sa main de spectre, reconnut
Qu’une goutte de sang était sur lui tombée.
Sa tête, que la peur n’avait jamais courbée,
Se redressa, terrible, il regarda la nuit,
Et ne vit rien, l’espace était noir, pas un bruit.
—En avant! dit Kanut, levant sa tête fière.
Une seconde tache auprès de la première
Tomba, puis s’élargit, et le chef cimbrien
Regarda l’ombre épaisse et vague, et ne vit rien.
Comme un limier à suivre une piste s’attache,
Morne, il reprit sa route, une troisième tache
Tomba sur le linceul Il n’avait jamais fui;
Tomba sur le linceul. Il n avait jamais fui;
Kanut pourtant cessa de marcher devant lui,
Et tourna du côté du bras qui tient le glaive;
Une goutte de sang, comme à travers un rêve,
Tomba sur le suaire et lui rougit la main;
Pour la seconde fois il changea de chemin,
Comme en lisant on tourne un feuillet d’un registre,
Et se mit à marcher vers la gauche sinistre;
Une goutte de sang tomba sur le linceul;
Et Kanut recula, frémissant d’être seul,
Et voulut regagner sa couche mortuaire;
Une goutte de sang tomba sur le suaire.
Alors il s’arrêta livide, et ce guerrier,
Blême, baissa la tête et tâcha de prier,
Une goutte de sang tomba sur lui. Farouche,
La prière effrayée expirant dans sa bouche,
Il se remit en marche; et, lugubre, hésitant,
Hideux, ce spectre blanc passait; et, par instant,
Une goutte de sang se détachait de l’ombre,
Implacable, et tombait sur cette blancheur sombre.
Il voyait, plus tremblant qu’au vent le peuplier,
Ces taches s’élargir et se multiplier;
Une autre, une autre, une autre, une autre, ô cieux funèbres!
Leur passage rayait vaguement les ténèbres;
Ces gouttes, dans les plis du linceul, finissant
Par se mêler, faisaient des nuages de sang;
Il marchait, il marchait; de l’insondable voûte
Le sang continuait à pleuvoir goutte à goutte,
Toujours, sans fin, sans bruit, et comme s’il tombait
De ces pieds noirs qu’on voit la nuit pendre au gibet;
Hélas! qui donc pleurait ces larmes formidables?
L’infini. Vers les cieux, pour le juste abordables,
Dans l’océan de nuit sans flux et sans reflux,
Kanut s’avançait, pâle et ne regardant plus.
Enfin, marchant toujours comme en une fumée,
Il arriva devant une porte fermée
Sous laquelle passait un jour mystérieux;
Alors sur son linceul il abaissa les yeux;
C’était l’endroit sacré, c’était l’endroit terrible;
On ne sait quel rayon de Dieu semble visible;
De derrière la porte on entend l’hosanna.

Le linceul était rouge et Kanut frissonna.

Et c’est pourquoi Kanut, fuyant devant l’aurore


Et reculant, n’a pas osé paraître encore
Devant le juge au front duquel le soleil luit;
C’est pourquoi ce roi sombre est resté dans la nuit,
Et, sans pouvoir rentrer dans sa blancheur première,
Sentant, à chaque pas qu’il fait vers la lumière,
Une goutte de sang sur sa tête pleuvoir,
Rôde éternellement sous l’énorme ciel noir.
LE MARIAGE DE ROLAND

Ils se battent—combat terrible!—corps à corps.


Voilà déjà longtemps que leurs chevaux sont morts;
Ils sont là seuls tous deux dans une île du Rhône.
Le fleuve à grand bruit roule un flot rapide et jaune,
Le vent trempe en sifflant les brins d’herbe dans l’eau.
L’archange saint Michel attaquant Apollo
Ne ferait pas un choc plus étrange et plus sombre.
Déjà, bien avant l’aube, ils combattaient dans l’ombre.
Qui, cette nuit, eût vu s’habiller ces barons,
Avant que la visière eût dérobé leurs fronts,
Eût vu deux pages blonds, roses comme des filles.
Hier, c’étaient deux enfants riant à leurs familles,
Beaux, charmants;—aujourd’hui, sur ce fatal terrain,
C’est le duel effrayant de deux spectres d’airain,
Deux fantômes auxquels le démon prête une âme,
Deux masques dont les trous laissent voir de la flamme.
Ils luttent, noirs, muets, furieux, acharnés.
Les bateliers pensifs qui les ont amenés
Ont raison d’avoir peur et de fuir dans la plaine,
Et d’oser, de bien loin, les épier à peine;
Car de ces deux enfants, qu’on regarde en tremblant,
L’un s’appelle Olivier et l’autre a nom Roland.

Et, depuis qu’ils sont là, sombres, ardents, farouches,


Un mot n’est pas encor sorti de ces deux bouches.

Olivier, sieur de Vienne et comte souverain,


A pour père Gérard et pour aïeul Garin.
Il f t b t h billé è
Il fut pour ce combat habillé par son père.
Sur sa targe est sculpté Bacchus faisant la guerre
Aux normands, Rollon ivre, et Rouen consterné,
Et le dieu souriant par des tigres traîné,
Chassant, buveur de vin, tous ces buveurs de cidre.
Son casque est enfoui sous les ailes d’une hydre;
Il porte le haubert que portait Salomon;
Son estoc resplendit comme l’œil d’un démon;
Il y grava son nom afin qu’on s’en souvienne;
Au moment du départ, l’archevêque de Vienne
A béni son cimier de prince féodal.

Roland a son habit de fer, et Durandal.


Ils luttent de si près avec de sourds murmures,
Que leur souffle âpre et chaud s’empreint sur leurs armures;
Le pied presse le pied; l’île à leurs noirs assauts
Tressaille au loin; l’acier mord le fer; des morceaux
De heaume et de haubert, sans que pas un s’émeuve,
Sautent à chaque instant dans l’herbe et dans le fleuve;
Leurs brassards sont rayés de longs filets de sang
Qui coule de leur crâne et dans leurs yeux descend.
Soudain, sire Olivier, qu’un coup affreux démasque,
Voit tomber à la fois son épée et son casque.
Main vide et tête nue, et Roland l’œil en feu!
L’enfant songe à son père et se tourne vers Dieu.
Durandal sur son front brille. Plus d’espérance!
—Çà, dit Roland, je suis neveu du roi de France,
Je dois me comporter en franc neveu de roi.
Quand j’ai mon ennemi désarmé devant moi,
Je m’arrête. Va donc chercher une autre épée,
Et tâche, cette fois, qu’elle soit bien trempée.
Tu feras apporter à boire en même temps,
Car j’ai soif.

—Fils, merci, dit Olivier.

—J’attends,
Dit Roland, hâte-toi.

Sire Olivier appelle


Un batelier caché derrière une chapelle.

—Cours à la ville, et dis à mon père qu’il faut


Une autre épée à l’un de nous, et qu’il fait chaud.

Cependant les héros, assis dans les broussailles,


S’aident à délacer leurs capuchons de mailles,
Se lavent le visage, et causent un moment.
Le batelier revient, il a fait promptement;
L’homme a vu le vieux comte; il rapporte une épée
Et du vin, de ce vin qu’aimait le grand Pompée
Et que Tournon récolte au flanc de son vieux mont.
L’épée est cette illustre et fière Closamont,
Que d’autres quelquefois appellent Haute-Claire.
L’homme a fui. Les héros achèvent sans colère
Ce qu’ils disaient; le ciel rayonne au-dessus d’eux;
Olivier verse à boire à Roland; puis tous deux
Marchent droit l’un vers l’autre, et le duel recommence.
Voilà que par degrés de sa sombre démence
Le combat les enivre; il leur revient au cœur
Ce je ne sais quel dieu qui veut qu’on soit vainqueur,
Et qui, s’exaspérant aux armures frappées,
Mêle l’éclair des yeux aux lueurs des épées.

Ils combattent, versant à flots leur sang vermeil.


Le jour entier se passe ainsi. Mais le soleil
Baisse vers l’horizon. La nuit vient.

—Camarade,
Dit Roland, je ne sais, mais je me sens malade.
Je ne me soutiens plus, et je voudrais un peu
De repos.
—Je prétends, avec l’aide de Dieu,
Dit le bel Olivier, le sourire à la lèvre,
Vous vaincre par l’épée et non point par la fièvre.
Dormez sur l’herbe verte; et, cette nuit, Roland,
Je vous éventerai de mon panache blanc.
Couchez-vous et dormez.

—Vassal, ton âme est neuve,


Dit Roland. Je riais, je faisais une épreuve.
Sans m’arrêter et sans me reposer, je puis
Combattre quatre jours encore, et quatre nuits.

Le duel reprend. La mort plane, le sang ruisselle.


Durandal heurte et suit Closamont; l’étincelle
Jaillit de toutes parts sous leurs coups répétés.
L’ombre autour d’eux s’emplit de sinistres clartés.
Ils frappent; le brouillard du fleuve monte et fume;
Le voyageur s’effraye et croit voir dans la brume
D’étranges bûcherons qui travaillent la nuit.

Le jour naît, le combat continue à grand bruit;


La pâle nuit revient, ils combattent; l’aurore
Reparaît dans les cieux, ils combattent encore.

Nul repos. Seulement, vers le troisième soir,


Sous un arbre, en causant, ils sont allés s’asseoir;
Puis ont recommencé.

Le vieux Gérard dans Vienne


Attend depuis trois jours que son enfant revienne.
Il envoie un devin regarder sur les tours;
Le devin dit: Seigneur, ils combattent toujours.

Quatre jours sont passés, et l’île et le rivage


Tremblent sous ce fracas monstrueux et sauvage.
Ils vont viennent jamais fuyant jamais lassés
Ils vont, viennent, jamais fuyant, jamais lassés,
Froissent le glaive au glaive et sautent les fossés,
Et passent, au milieu des ronces remuées,
Comme deux tourbillons et comme deux nuées.
O chocs affreux! terreur! tumulte étincelant!
Mais enfin Olivier saisit au corps Roland,
Qui de son propre sang en combattant s’abreuve,
Et jette d’un revers Durandal dans le fleuve.

—C’est mon tour maintenant, et je vais envoyer


Chercher un autre estoc pour vous, dit Olivier.
Le sabre du géant Sinnagog est à Vienne.
C’est, après Durandal, le seul qui vous convienne.
Mon père le lui prit alors qu’il le défit.
Acceptez-le.

Roland sourit.—Il me suffit


De ce bâton.—Il dit, et déracine un chêne.

Sire Olivier arrache un orme dans la plaine


Et jette son épée, et Roland, plein d’ennui,
L’attaque. Il n’aimait pas qu’on vînt faire après lui
Les générosités qu’il avait déjà faites.

Plus d’épée en leurs mains, plus de casque à leurs têtes.


Ils luttent maintenant, sourds, effarés, béants,
A grands coups de troncs d’arbre, ainsi que des géants.

Pour la cinquième fois, voici que la nuit tombe.


Tout à coup Olivier, aigle aux yeux de colombe,
S’arrête et dit:

—Roland, nous n’en finirons point.


Tant qu’il nous restera quelque tronçon au poing,
Nous lutterons ainsi que lions et panthères.
Ne vaudrait-il pas mieux que nous devinssions frères?
É j’ i l b ll A d b bl
Écoute, j’ai ma sœur, la belle Aude au bras blanc,
Épouse-la.

—Pardieu! je veux bien, dit Roland.


Et maintenant buvons, car l’affaire était chaude.—

C’est ainsi que Roland épousa la belle Aude.


AY M E R I L L O T

Charlemagne, empereur à la barbe fleurie,


Revient d’Espagne; il a le cœur triste, il s’écrie:
—Roncevaux! Roncevaux! ô traître Ganelon!
Car son neveu Roland est mort dans ce vallon
Avec les douze pairs et toute son armée.
Le laboureur des monts qui vit sous la ramée
Est rentré chez lui, grave et calme, avec son chien;
Il a baisé sa femme au front et dit: C’est bien.
Il a lavé sa trompe et son arc aux fontaines;
Et les os des héros blanchissent dans les plaines.

Le bon roi Charle est plein de douleur et d’ennui;


Son cheval syrien est triste comme lui.
Il pleure; l’empereur pleure de la souffrance
D’avoir perdu ses preux, ses douze pairs de France,
Ses meilleurs chevaliers qui n’étaient jamais las,
Et son neveu Roland, et la bataille, hélas!
Et surtout de songer, lui, vainqueur des Espagnes,
Qu’on fera des chansons dans toutes ces montagnes
Sur ses guerriers tombés devant des paysans,
Et qu’on en parlera plus de quatre cents ans!

Cependant il chemine; au bout de trois journées


Il arrive au sommet des hautes Pyrénées.
Là, dans l’espace immense il regarde en rêvant;
Et sur une montagne, au loin, et bien avant
Dans les terres, il voit une ville très forte,
Ceinte de murs avec deux tours à chaque porte.
Ell ff à i l it i i d l l i t i
Elle offre à qui la voit ainsi dans le lointain
Trente maîtresses tours avec des toits d’étain,
Et des mâchicoulis de forme sarrasine
Encor tout ruisselants de poix et de résine,
Au centre est un donjon si beau, qu’en vérité,
On ne le peindrait pas dans tout un jour d’été.
Ses créneaux sont scellés de plomb, chaque embrasure
Cache un archer dont l’œil toujours guette et mesure,
Ses gargouilles font peur, à son faîte vermeil
Rayonne un diamant gros comme le soleil,
Qu’on ne peut regarder fixement de trois lieues.

Sur la gauche est la mer aux grandes ondes bleues,


Qui jusqu’à cette ville apporte ses dromons.

Charle, en voyant ces tours, tressaille sur les monts.

—Mon sage conseiller, Naymes, duc de Bavière,


Quelle est cette cité près de cette rivière?
Qui la tient la peut dire unique sous les cieux.
Or, je suis triste, et c’est le cas d’être joyeux.
Oui, dussé-je rester quatorze ans dans ces plaines,
O gens de guerre, archers, compagnons, capitaines,
Mes enfants! mes lions! saint Denis m’est témoin
Que j’aurai cette ville avant d’aller plus loin!—

Le vieux Naymes frissonne à ce qu’il vient d’entendre.

—Alors, achetez-la, car nul ne peut la prendre.


Elle a pour se défendre, outre ses béarnais,
Vingt mille turcs ayant chacun double harnais.
Quant à nous, autrefois, c’est vrai, nous triomphâmes;
Mais, aujourd’hui, vos preux ne valent pas des femmes,
Ils sont tous harassés et du gîte envieux,
Et je suis le moins las, moi qui suis le plus vieux.
Sire, je parle franc et je ne farde guère.
D’ailleurs nous n’avons point de machines de guerre;
D’ailleurs, nous n’avons point de machines de guerre;
Les chevaux sont rendus, les gens rassasiés;
Je trouve qu’il est temps que vous vous reposiez,
Et je dis qu’il faut être aussi fou que vous l’êtes
Pour attaquer ces tours avec des arbalètes.

L’empereur répondit au duc avec bonté:


—Duc, tu ne m’as pas dit le nom de la cité?

—On peut bien oublier quelque chose à mon âge.


Mais, sire, ayez pitié de votre baronnage;
Nous voulons nos foyers, nos logis, nos amours.
C’est ne jouir jamais que conquérir toujours.
Nous venons d’attaquer bien des provinces, sire,
Et nous en avons pris de quoi doubler l’empire.
Ces assiégés riraient de vous du haut des tours.
Ils ont, pour recevoir sûrement des secours,
Si quelque insensé vient heurter leurs citadelles,
Trois souterrains creusés par les turcs infidèles,
Et qui vont, le premier, dans le val de Bastan,
Le second, à Bordeaux, le dernier, chez Satan.

L’empereur, souriant, reprit d’un air tranquille:


—Duc, tu ne m’as pas dit le nom de cette ville?

—C’est Narbonne,

—Narbonne est belle, dit le roi,


Et je l’aurai; je n’ai jamais vu, sur ma foi,
Ces belles filles-là sans leur rire au passage,
Et me piquer un peu les doigts à leur corsage.—

Alors, voyant passer un comte de haut lieu,


Et qu’on appelait Dreus de Montdidier.—Pardieu!
Comte, ce bon duc Naymes expire de vieillesse!
Mais vous, ami, prenez Narbonne, et je vous laisse
Tout le pays d’ici jusques à Montpellier;
Car vous êtes le fils d’un gentil chevalier;
Votre oncle, que j’estime, était abbé de Chelles;
Vous-même êtes vaillant; donc, beau sire, aux échelles!
L’assaut!

—Sire empereur, répondit Montdidier,


Je ne suis désormais bon qu’à congédier;
J’ai trop porté haubert, maillot, casque et salade;
J’ai besoin de mon lit, car je suis fort malade;
J’ai la fièvre; un ulcère aux jambes m’est venu;
Et voilà plus d’un an que je n’ai couché nu.
Gardez tout ce pays, car je n’en ai que faire.

L’empereur ne montra ni trouble ni colère.


Il chercha du regard Hugo de Cotentin:
Ce seigneur était brave et comte palatin.

—Hugues, dit-il, je suis aise de vous apprendre


Que Narbonne est à vous; vous n’avez qu’à la prendre.

Hugo de Cotentin salua l’empereur.

—Sire, c’est un manant heureux qu’un laboureur!


Le drôle gratte un peu la terre brune ou rouge,
Et, quand sa tâche est faite, il rentre dans son bouge.
Moi, j’ai vaincu Tryphon, Thessalus, Gaïffer;
Par le chaud, par le froid, je suis vêtu de fer;
Au point du jour, j’entends le clairon pour antienne;
Je n’ai plus à ma selle une boucle qui tienne;
Voilà longtemps que j’ai pour unique destin
De m’endormir fort tard pour m’éveiller matin,
De recevoir des coups pour vous et pour les vôtres,
Je suis très fatigué. Donnez Narbonne à d’autres.

Le roi laissa tomber sa tête sur son sein.


Chacun songeait, poussant du coude son voisin.
Pourtant Charle, appelant Richer de Normandie:
—Vous êtes grand seigneur et de race hardie,
Duc; ne voudrez-vous pas prendre Narbonne un peu?

—Empereur, je suis duc par la grâce de Dieu.


Ces aventures-là vont aux gens de fortune.
Quand on a ma duché, roi Charle, on n’en veut qu’une.

L’empereur se tourna vers le comte de Gand.

—Tu mis jadis à bas Maugiron le brigand.


Le jour où tu naquis sur la plage marine,
L’audace avec le souffle entra dans ta poitrine;
Bavon, ta mère était de fort bonne maison;
Jamais on ne t’a fait choir que par trahison;
Ton âme après la chute était encor meilleure.
Je me rappellerai jusqu’à ma dernière heure
L’air joyeux qui parut dans ton œil hasardeux,
Un jour que nous étions en marche seuls tous deux,
Et que nous entendions dans les plaines voisines
Le cliquetis confus des lances sarrasines.
Le péril fut toujours de toi bien accueilli,
Comte; eh bien! prends Narbonne, et je t’en fais bailli.

—Sire, dit le gantois, je voudrais être en Flandre.


J’ai faim, mes gens ont faim; nous venons d’entreprendre
Une guerre à travers un pays endiablé;
Nous y mangions, au lieu de farine de blé,
Des rats et des souris, et, pour toutes ribotes,
Nous avons dévoré beaucoup de vieilles bottes.
Et puis votre soleil d’Espagne m’a hâlé
Tellement, que je suis tout noir et tout brûlé;
Et, quand je reviendrai de ce ciel insalubre
Dans ma ville de Gand avec ce front lugubre,
Ma femme, qui déjà peut-être a quelque amant,
M d fl d!
Me prendra pour un maure et non pour un flamand!
J’ai hâte d’aller voir là-bas ce qui se passe.
Quand vous me donneriez, pour prendre cette place,
Tout l’or de Salomon et tout l’or de Pépin,
Non! je m’en vais en Flandre, où l’on mange du pain.

—Ces bons flamands, dit Charle, il faut que cela mange.—


Il reprit:

—Çà, je suis stupide. Il est étrange


Que je cherche un preneur de ville, ayant ici
Mon vieil oiseau de proie, Eustache de Nancy.
Eustache, à moi! Tu vois, cette Narbonne est rude;
Elle a trente châteaux, trois fossés, et l’air prude;
A chaque porte un camp, et, pardieu! j’oubliais,
Là-bas, six grosses tours en pierre de liais.
Ces douves-là nous font parfois si grise mine
Qu’il faut recommencer à l’heure où l’on termine,
Et que, la ville prise, on échoue au donjon.
Mais qu’importe! es-tu pas le grand aigle?

—Un pigeon,
Un moineau, dit Eustache, un pinson dans la haie!
Roi, je me sauve au nid. Mes gens veulent leur paie;
Or, je n’ai pas le sou; sur ce, pas un garçon
Qui me fasse crédit d’un coup d’estramaçon;
Leurs yeux me donneront à peine une étincelle
Par sequin qu’ils verront sortir de l’escarcelle.
Tas de gueux! Quant à moi, je suis très ennuyé;
Mon vieux poing tout sanglant n’est jamais essuyé;
Je suis moulu. Car, sire, on s’échine à la guerre;
On arrive à haïr ce qu’on aimait naguère,
Le danger qu’on voyait tout rose, on le voit noir;
On s’use, on se disloque, on finit par avoir
La goutte aux reins, l’entorse aux pieds, aux mains l’ampoule,
Si bien, qu’étant parti vautour, on revient poule.
Je désire un bonnet de nuit. Foin du cimier!

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