Commentary on Continuation II, Introduction

 

Of course, Continuation II  begins where Continuation I ends. Here we have twenty-one sections, each one an enlargement and development on the totality of the poem. The quotation from Baudelaire at the beginning of this second book defines Dudek’s ambition in Continuation; it is to write “a poetic prose, musical without metre and without rhymes, subtle and staccato enough to follow the lyric motions of the soul...” That is, this is a poetry of the psyche, of the poet’s soul, the poet’s meditation on what enters the field of his perception and then becomes a part of this long poem. This is Dudek’s project, not necessarily influenced by Ezra Pound but Dudek’s original vision and voice. 

 

Yes, volleying down corridors

with arms spread out and screaming,

the young have taken over

(9)

 

All of us who have taught at a post secondary level will appreciate this image! Dudek wisely deleted mentioning LSD, found in the previous text, it was a bit of an overreach and its deletion improves the poem.

-o-

 

This section begins with observations on teaching art, the modern age, The youth have given up even cursory respect for the elders, “Leaving historians who grace us with dignity/ to note/ some trivial shifts in domestic arrangements” (9); our society is portrayed as “A dying insect, twitching his legs, to keep alive” (9).

 

Then Man in the mass   group thinking

—    infantile, ferile, insane

 

with concentration camps

            (a sick inmate supported by friends

to save him from being shot

                        for not standing)

(10)

 

-o-

But always the concern for art, even with this beginning detailing some of the horrors of modern man. Note the use of the word “shining” that is prominent in Continuation III; and despite the negative comment regarding mysticism, there is a mystical sensibility in Dudek regarding writing poetry and the perceptions of one growing old. It is “art a forward urge”.

 

Art attempts to exteriorize the psyche

                        to internalize the ego —

submerge in the oldest self

 

But mysticism is regressive

and art a forward urge

 

Cruelty the inner hell

                        as action, without control

 

Yet there is also light, shining on the mind,

                        a great kindness

(11)

 

-o-

This first section ends with a prayer; Dudek is seventy-two years old when he published Continuation II; his attention is turned to several things: a world in which cruelty and war are ever-present; the changing relationship between children and adults; an unknown future; the necessity of the creative mind to penetrate the dark future.

 

Lord, let me have wings

            in my late years, when baldness comes

Open my skull to heaven like a mirror

 

Let me think nothing but

            eternal thoughts, out of that dust a gavel,

the ashes of existence

 

Make new hope possible, form future birds

            Laugh at wounds, tear all obstacles aside

and show, naked, the creative chromosomes

(13)

 -o-

Does it cohere? That’s one of the tests of poetry. How many poets, after writing some of their most significant work, ask this question? Pound. Olson? But not W.C. Williams.   

-o-

What is banal and trite has its place here, in Continuation II, unfortunately, it detracts from Continuation I; this is regrettable because it is difficult enough to string together all of these epigrams without the distraction of inferior epigrams, it makes you doubt the validity of the whole work and the reader thinks “Dudek’s lost it, the inspiration of Continuation I is lost on Continuation II”, and I think this may be the case (see note below). Continuation II is a longer book than Continuation I, and the projected Continuation III was never completed and what was published is incomplete. Continuation II is almost a separate book, it is as though Dudek is trying to find his way, his direction, in the second Continuation book. 

 -o-

Note: On writing poetry in old age

What needs to be addressed here is the affect of old age on writing poetry and on poets. There are exceptions but, as far as I can see, and what I have experienced, is that old age is the termination of writing poetry, of writing good poetry. Dispute this if you want, and I will be the first to agree with you, but my experience is that writing poetry takes energy and old people often don't have the necessary energy for this work; writing poetry takes time, to let the unconscious transform experience and thought into poetry. The old, in my experience, are concerned with the ending of life and what leads up to this: this is what they talk about: loss of health, loss of family and friends, loss of one's old position in society, sickness and death. There are significant exceptions to this but my impression is that old age is of such magnitude that concern with it takes over one's life. This may account for Dudek's Continuation declining as it did.

Written in 2012; revised: October-November 2024 and January 2026. 

Note: I had planned to return to Continuation II and complete this project but, as they say, "life got in the way". I have some notes on "Continuation III” and will publish them here, but so far, they, too, are incomplete. It is still a worthwhile task, the textual analysis and discussion of Dudek's Continuation books. Continuation is a doorway into many discussions. As it is, Continuation doesn't cohere; but, if the first two books and the completed work in Book Three were published as a single book, or even just Book Three published as a single book, or even just put this work online, perhaps that would let readers see the significance of the work as a whole, completed, and not just disparate writings.