Ungelded Texts

  Introduction Filippo Tommaso Marinetti (1876-1944) was the father of Italian Futurism, a prolific author and artist in many, many fields.  His best-known works—at least abroad—are the Futurist Manifesto  and the Futurist Cookbook .  Besides these two works, only a handful of selections are available in English, and much of his work remains out of print in Italian (though Mondadori did publish a hefty selection of his plays in a two-volume paperback set 20 years ago; I'm lucky enough to have found a copy cheap by scavenging the poorly-marked back-catalogs of online booksellers).  One of his styles of work was the self-named "aeropoem," a poem meant to reflect the feeling of flying in an airplane, noted for its smashedtogethercontractions of words, though with an order: nouns are smashed with nouns, adjectives with adjectives, verbs with verbs.  This style was related to his wider concept of "words in freedom" ( parole in libertà ).  Below is a set of ...

 I have a love for texts that are sharp.  Sometimes, that may be a text that is generally smooth, easy-to-read, flowing, but that has its occasional pricks and peaks; even better is a text that is solely sharp, that is jagged, that is condensed.  (Recall the dictionary entry Basil Bunting discovered: “ dichten = condensare ,” “to poetize = to condense.”) 1    Smoothness has its uses and its advantages.  First of all, of course, is that a smooth text is generally clearer and easier to read.  Its goal is to be a welcoming space for any reader; it intends to guide the reader through its argument, flowing step by flowing step.  By not caring about being short, it can take its time to come at an issue from many (“every” is, perhaps, impossible) sides, to give the many exceptions and distinctions.   Yet the curse of smoothness is precisely this wide-openness, this ability to give so many exceptions and distinctions that the original idea...

  Not all texts are geld-worthy: some by lack, some by luck, some by loom. Some texts are trivial, tawdry, trash, terribly written or telling of naught.  Some are deemed worthless by luck, never finding their way to the eyes that would worth them.  Some are too much, too towering, too terrifying, too sharp, too looming over timid worthers and gelders. Geld is not the only worth, of course; these texts are—in my eyes—not unworthy , but simply ungelded , most often via luck, not lack or loom.  Being ungelded, they are offered ungelded: “freely ye have received, freely do ye give.”   Few are the artists who do not strive for some geld, either the typical geld—be it crypto or fiat—or the geld of kudos, of fame.  Even W.H. Davies, the “hobo poet,” forewent fiat geld for the hope of fame geld, living as a tramp for the chance to publish a book.  I am no different: if I could, I would love to receive geld—of any sort—for these translations, adapt...