Kahroba
08-11-2007, 04:59 AM
Dear guys
I'm reading "USA" by John Dos Passos. In "1919" (the 2nd part of the trilogy), there's biography of Jack Reed, the famous brave American writer and journalist. In part of this biography, there's a reference to "Villon" (and I'm not sure if it's referring to "Francoi Villon", the French poet of 16 century, or "Jacque Villon", the cubist painer of 19 century) and also a reference to "R.L.S." At the same time, I know that Stevensen has written "A Lodging For the Night" but I can't link it with "Villon" in this text. Here's the text:
Refrain; the rusty machinery creaked, the deans quivered under their mortarboards, the cogs turned to Class Day, and Reed was out in the world:
Washington Square!
Conventional turns out to be a cussword;
Villon seeking a lodging for the night in the Italian tenements on Sullivan Street, Bleeker, Carmine;
research proves R.L.S. to have been a great cocksman,
and as for the Elizabethans
to hell with them.
Please answer my following questions:
1) Which "Villon" is the writer referring to, the poet Villon or the painter Villon;
2) What's the meaning of "seeking a lodging for the night in the Italian tenements..."
3) is there any link between "Villon" and "R.L.S."?
4) is there any relation for their reputation as "gay or homo"?
5) What are Elizabethans doing there?
Thanks you in advance.
Best regards
Kahroba
I'm reading "USA" by John Dos Passos. In "1919" (the 2nd part of the trilogy), there's biography of Jack Reed, the famous brave American writer and journalist. In part of this biography, there's a reference to "Villon" (and I'm not sure if it's referring to "Francoi Villon", the French poet of 16 century, or "Jacque Villon", the cubist painer of 19 century) and also a reference to "R.L.S." At the same time, I know that Stevensen has written "A Lodging For the Night" but I can't link it with "Villon" in this text. Here's the text:
Refrain; the rusty machinery creaked, the deans quivered under their mortarboards, the cogs turned to Class Day, and Reed was out in the world:
Washington Square!
Conventional turns out to be a cussword;
Villon seeking a lodging for the night in the Italian tenements on Sullivan Street, Bleeker, Carmine;
research proves R.L.S. to have been a great cocksman,
and as for the Elizabethans
to hell with them.
Please answer my following questions:
1) Which "Villon" is the writer referring to, the poet Villon or the painter Villon;
2) What's the meaning of "seeking a lodging for the night in the Italian tenements..."
3) is there any link between "Villon" and "R.L.S."?
4) is there any relation for their reputation as "gay or homo"?
5) What are Elizabethans doing there?
Thanks you in advance.
Best regards
Kahroba