RECENZE:

Desmond Egan: DESpektrun/DESpectrum, Carpe Diem, Brumovice 2002, vol. 9 of "Edice klubové poezie", translation, selection and arrangement of texts Ivana Bozděchová, 244 pp., printrun 500, first edition, price 450 Kč. The book contains a CD: I. Bozděchová, D. Egan, J. Potměšil, T. Karger – recitation; R. Strauss, J. McCormack, B. Holiday, B. Evans, F. Schubert, J. Hrubý – music and interpretation.

This remarkable project from Carpe Diem Publishing contains even in its title DESpektrum/DESpectrum the whole aim of the book – to present in a few thematic sections the spectrum (the broadest possible scale) of the poetry of the contemporary Irish poet Desmond Egan. (A first selection of Egan's poetry in Ivana Bozděchová's translation appeared in 1997 under the title Smiluj se nad básníkem, Volvox Globator.) Along with P. Kavanagh, T. Kinsella, J. Montague and others Egan ranks among the foremost contemporary Irish poets. In 1983 he was the first non-American poet to receive the prize of the National Poetry Foundation of America. This new Czech selection presents a cross-section of most of his collections (e.g. A Song for my Father, 1989, Poems for Eimar, 1994, Famine, 1997) as well as his latest works (The Hill of Allen, 2001). Alongside the printed poems set out bilingually (in Czech and English) readers will find the CD a welcome surprise with a sound recording of the poems. All in all, compared to hastily printed and unconsidered editorial projects, this book will stand out as a genuine jewel – and that for many reasons.
The composition of this sequence of poems and music has been prepared with great sensitivity and theatrical panache. The prologue contains a multitude of tributes to Egan the poet and friend, with an outline of the poet's biography and a basic idea of his poetics. This prologue will be a welcome introduction before the actual reading of the poetry, especially for readers who might wish to acquaint themselves with the personality of the poet as with a wise friend, who, without claiming a right to friendship, nevertheless offers his open hand that bears the imprint of the real landscape of the Irish Midland and the experience of its people. With natural devotion we find ourselves in a place that we can comprehend concretely, but even more so emotionally experience as "locus iste a deo factum est", or as a "place created by God" (according to the text of a composition by A. Bruckner), a place that is a symbol, a spiritual essence, a place that has a metaphysical resonance (e.g. Poems for Eimar). Right from the opening key poem Midland (I. section Voice of the Irish Landscape) we are drawn into a strangely dynamic description of the scenery, one that is simultaneously full of peace and quiet. By means of original epithets and unusual word combinations ( ... / the smell of unseen honeysuckle / p. 99) an image is created that universally links the individual to the landscape and confronts us with a great mystery not to be uttered lest the precious quiet of the moment be disturbed.
Elegiac notes of man's tragic estrangement from his landscape, of the confrontation of progress and naturalness, of myth and its dishonouring sound in the second section of the selection, From Irish Mythology. Individual experience here grows into universal truth about ourselves; there is a longing to remain where one's roots are and not to forget, a challenge to rescue man drowning in loneliness. Even the miniature love drama Diarmaida and Grainne is simple and unusual at the same time, poetical and civilian. Just as the whole of Egan's poetry is pervaded by silence and a concentrated intellect. The dramatic effect of the poems is enhanced by their graphic appearance, the torn-off words emphasize the echo of the moment, prolong suspense and the impact of the words on the listener's ears. There are no formal rules in his entire poetical work: according to Egan they just have to harmonize with his feelings. The lack of punctuation and of rhythmical patterns open up a wide interpretational space for the reader.
The music, at first only patiently listening to the words and accompanying them with violin improvizations, organ background, with its unfinishedness and dissonances, in the third section (Love) for the first time steps into the very core of the text to inspire and complete it. Strauss's song (Morgen) and Egan's words here conduct a loving dialogue full of hope and tenderness, full of magic and unrepeatable beauty (Morning in Wind and New Sounds). A similar direct inspiration by music is found in a poem of a further section (Reflections and Memories) Listening to John McCormack. This poem is not only a tribute to the legendary tenor, but also a reminiscence of home and parents, pervaded by the fate of the country with its tragic past. Memory and hope, represented by one of Egan's most powerful motifs – that of light – makes it possible to live on. Likewise the final, sixth, section (Music and the Artist in Poetry) links up, with its close clinging to the music, to earlier sections (the third and fourth in the sequence). The poet has succeeded in accurately catching the atmosphere of the singing of B. Holiday; the text contains the whole tragedy of her life which in conclusion assumes all-human dimensions (...all life becomes goodbye/). In The Skylark the musical instrument (the whistle) becomes the symbol of life. The contrapuntal text In Memory of B. Evans is a dialogue between poet and pianist across the boundary of time. Prelude, dedicated to the piano virtuoso Hans Pålsson, would deserve an exposition of its own. All these quoted texts are organically complemented by authentic recordings of the artists in question. The text, thus underpinned, is compactly effective, it is witness to the poet standing in awe and humility before music and its interpreters.
The sharpest sting of the tragedy of human life and history is hidden in the three compositions of the fifth section, Witness and Present. The poet's impressive frank statement about subjugation and pride, hope and death, sadness and loneliness is compacted into a single word – Famine. Suffering and humiliation are written into music, faces, gestures, blood; they are reflected in the silence of bygone lives.
A lot more might be said about the whole project, but it would be impossible not to mention its protagonists. Jan Hrubý, the author of the music, was faced with a difficult task: he had to fuse together the whole work which, in the case of many of the poems, included various authentic musical recordings, and he had to do it so that they formed an entity. At first sight it may seem that he has not always succeeded. Especially sensitive are the transitions between the separate sections (e.g. between five and six), where the musical surface could have been more extensive so as to let the preceding section die away in the listener while he concentrated on the succeeding text. The character of the music, however, is in full resonance with the text, successfully linking it together by recurrent motifs. The readers J. Potměšil and T. Karger similarly with their melodic, emotionally coloured timbres make a major contribution to the effectiveness of the whole book (in the concluding section of the project, The Genesis of DESpectrum, all the participants speak of their relationship to Desmond Egan's poetry). Maybe too much use has been made of the authentic voice of the author himself. His detached diction and different linguistic code do not harmonize with the artistic recitation of the two other speakers and seem like an alien element. A different situation exists in the opening poem, Midland, and in the concluding one, Have Mercy on the Poet, where Egan's voice in his pleading is so effective that it chills the listener. The authors of the book were clearly aiming at creating a "universal book" (hence also its bilingual form), but even so it is a composed sequence and its individual components should match as much as possible. The translation by Ivana Bozděchová, the spiritual author of the whole project is a meticulous and effective job worthy of admiration (see the reflections on translation and interpretation on pp. 60 – 64).
"If I came back in another life, I would certainly be a musician. " This quote in the introduction anticipates the fundamental influence of music on the work of Egan the poet. His wish comes true on the way to the readers because, while reading or hearing his poetry, they can experience the same "absolute" as when listening to music – and this is true not only of the poems created under the direct effect of specific compositions or performers, but in his entire work: in it Irish music becomes one of the keys to their interpretation. A very specific experience is moreover provided by the texts using the counterpoint principle. In the space between two independent voices, submerged as they are in the unutterable, we can find one proudly beating Irish heart.