Without a cry, without a prayer,
With no betrayal of despair.
Sometime while night obscures the tree
The Zenith of its life will be
Gone past forever, and from thence
A second history will commense.
A chronicle no longer old,
A bargaining with mist and mould,
And finally the broken stem
Te plummeting to earth; and then
An intercourse not well designed
For beings of a golden kind
Whose native green must arch above
The earth's obscene, corrupting love.
And still the ripe fruit and the branch
Observe the sky begin to blanch
Without a cry, without a prayer,
With no betrayal of despair.
O Courage could you not as well
Select a second place to dwell,
Not only in that golden tree
But in the frightened heart of me?
I think this part was the key to Shannon's break-through with himself. Right after Jonathan Coffin, aka Nonno says his last poem,Shannon decides to "cut loose one of God's creatures at the end of the rope" (125). In a sense, the Iguana is himself. The golden cross chain that he wears around his neck can symbolize the rope as to the iguana. He then had his chain taken off by Hannah after he tried hurting himself with it.
ReplyDeletedo you have the cart before the horse ?
Deletethis version of the poem is missing the second line.
ReplyDeleteHow calmly does the olive branch
Observe the sky beginning to blanch
just thought you outta know
Correct!however the phrase is"orange branch" not "olive branch"
DeleteI always understood it to be olive branch
DeleteI played Shannon in the opening season of the popular Annapolis Outdoor Summer Theatre. While the reviewers were present,the skies replied with ".. God's Thunder, lightning.." while I asked for it on my knees.No one left...a thrilling night.I always felt the film missed the humor and irony of the play and for some reason it is not done often enough.
ReplyDeleteEd Lillard Sag/Aftra
Congrats! It couldn't have been an easy role. And I agree re: plays being more fortified than the films.
DeleteSometimes the plays without the right people are not an equal and sometimes they're better than a movie - Burton, Gardner, Kerr were not just good they BECAME the characters and it was, "perfect".
DeleteI thought the movie was full of humor, meant to be, and thought provoking also with great recitations almost Shakespearian perfectly delivered. Burton won the Academy award that year but they gave it to Poitier - pretty close (Lillies of the Field) - but this was Burtons coup de gras. And Hud the other contender was just Newman playing Newman.
Now a mistake in transformation was Cat On a Hot Tin Roof - Newman and Taylor were miscast and the accents were deplorable. Meanwhile Burl Ives held it up.
Night of the Iguana the movie was as perfect as a Tennessee Williams play can be.
If you're going to post a poem, especially one as famous as this one--get it right!
ReplyDeleteThis poem woke up my muse! That's good because it's been taking a lethargic nap this year. Of course Tennessee Williams' plays have a tendency to overly metaphor and reduce to a sleeper until we catch ourselves still hanging on to each and every beautiful and ugly word. At least,that's the effect his dramas have on me.��
ReplyDelete(think I'll copyright this statement just in case I never say a thing like this again!!) @2019 zealberry
Really loved this poem. Author, author!!
Yes I to love this poem. I memorize it long ago. Also went to set location in Mexico.
ReplyDeletePlease note, people, that in the movie "olive branch" was substituted for what, in the written version of the play, is "orange branch." By what small means is the entire thrust of the poem changed!
ReplyDelete