I've just noticed that in the poem "Hymn to Beauty" [www.eldritchdark.com], translated by CAS from Baudelaire, the French word "chien" ("dog") is translated by "god" which most certainly implies a typo. Does anyone have a copy of Selected Poems handy? I'd like to check. Thanks.

Philippe Gindre

I do, and this error appears in the Selected Poems, as well.

Thanks!

PG

Better wait a moment: I checked my copy of SANDALWOOD, and the line in question reads as follows:

"Destiny, like a dog, ensues thy haunted gown."

I can't find my file of photocopies from the Auburn Journal's "Clark Ashton Smith's Column," so I can't check that text. However, while I can see Clark changing "ensues" to "follows" in his late 1940s revision, I don't think he would be making the old "Hey, man, do you realize that DOG is GOD spelled backwards? Heavy, dude!" joke. Remember, CAS did not smoke hash, he just wrote about it. (Ron Hilger does have this pipe bowl that we're thinking of having the cops test, though....)
Remember that SELECTED POEMS is not a definitive text. When Clark prepared that typescript, he often used typewriter ribbons that were almost worn-out. The various typescripts and carbons were as a result very hard to read. Most of the proofreading and editing fell to Don Fryer, and for various reasons not Don's fault there are a lot of typos in the Arkham collection. The book is a milestone collection in every sense of the word--including that which implies it is merely a measuring point on the way to the final destination. S. T. Joshi and David E. Schultz are working on a mammoth multi-volume COLLECTED POEMS that will be textually impeccable.
Best,
Scott
(who prefers cats, which _is_ "The Devil" spelled backwards, in Hyperborean![lol!])

A COLLECTED POEMS? That's awesome! Scott, do you have any other details about this book (such as the publisher or a possible publication date)?
-Daniel Harris

Sorry, Daniel, but this is merely a work-in-progress at the moment. I'm not associated with this except in the loosest sense of the word, but I know that Joshi and Schultz are working on this on an ongoing basic. So far no publisher has committed to this, but I am certain that when this is ready for the printer someone like Night Shade Books or Hippocampus Press or the newly resurgent Necronomicon Press will step up to the plate.
Best,
Scott

Scott, thanks for checking.

>Remember,
> CAS did not smoke hash, he just wrote about it.
> (Ron Hilger does have this pipe bowl that we're
> thinking of having the cops test, though....)
:-)

>Remember that SELECTED POEMS is not a
> definitive text.
Yes, I mentioned this edition because it was the most likely to be owned by anyone here, forgetting that this place rallies most CAS collectors worldwide.

>S. T. Joshi and David E. Schultz are
> working on a mammoth multi-volume COLLECTED POEMS
> that will be textually impeccable.
Now that's good news! David Dunais and I are still trying to work on this bilingual edition of the French-related poems of CAS (his translations + his poems written directly in French) and David has done an amazing critical job so far, highlighting for instance the many new solutions CAS found to specific translation problems. But we're are indeed working on Boyd's online copies i.e. Arkham House versions in many cases. For some French poems of CAS it's just impossible to tell if the errors are his (still possible) or typos. Do you think we should go on, contact ST, give up? I'm at a loss.

Phil

Well, "giving up" is never an option. [No comments from the Peanut Gallery.] Likewise, I don't see that contacting Saint Joshi (Prelate of Our Lady of Perpetual Motion) precludes you continuing to work in the vineyard of Smith's exercises in francophonic versification. It's a big world, lots of room for everyone. Seriously, if you have reached an empass in your researches, maybe S. T. can be of assistance. Don't ask me about his French poetry, though: it's all Greek to me. <lol!>
Best,
Scott

Daniel writes:
A COLLECTED POEMS? That's awesome! Scott, do you have any other details about this book (such as the publisher or a possible publication date)?

It's best not to get too excited about this. The only details I can add is that Schultz has been "working" on this for some 20 years now. No disrespect intended, but this project makes the Averoigne collection appear to be on the fast track!
Perhaps Shultz and Joshi can be somehow persuaded, goaded, or even threatened to pick up the ball on this. After all, if they don't do it, someone else might . . .
-Ron

Scott, you are the one to blame after all. :-)
Some time ago you asked me what I thought of CAS' French verse and his translations from French, which lead me to have a closer look at these poems. That's when I realized there what a lot to say about them. The problem is, the current online versions are, say, 99% error free (no offence meant Boyd!) but you can't base an annotated scholarly edition on a 99% error free text. Which means that I need someone to go and check the manuscripts in New York and perhaps Providence (preferably someone who can read French). A most improblable option. Plan B: I must obtain a copy (scan, photocopy) of these poems (53 poems so far).

>It's a
> big world, lots of room for everyone.
Well, yes but once a complete CAS poetry is published, will it be reasonable to publish texts most likely to be already in this edition? Not sure. Besides, STJ and DS will most certainly publish the most acurate versions of the poems published so far. On one hand it would be stupid to ask someone to go and collate the poems (ahem, M. Joshi, have you finished with this one? I'd like to have look at it. :-) p, the other hand it would certainly be improper to wait until they do all the work and ask them for it.
Well...

Uncertain Phil

Perhaps I can prevail upon Joshi and Schultz to allow you use of their texts of the French poems. S. T. of course speaks fluent French, or so I should hope since he translated Maurice Levy's LOVECRAFT into English! IMO more critical work needs to be directed at CAS' primary artistic medium, poetry. Speaking of which, I am happy to announce that the next LOST WORLDS will contain an in-depth examination of CAS' poetry by none other than Fred Chappell, Poet-Laureate of North Carolina and gen-U-wine lit'rare-E Big Shot. Should be a good one.
Best, Scott

Chipougne Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Scott, you are the one to blame after all. :-)
> Some time ago you asked me what I thought of CAS'
> French verse and his translations from French,
> which lead me to have a closer look at these
> poems. That's when I realized there what a lot to
> say about them. The problem is, the current online
> versions are, say, 99% error free (no offence
> meant Boyd!) but you can't base an annotated
> scholarly edition on a 99% error free text. Which
> means that I need someone to go and check the
> manuscripts in New York and perhaps Providence
> (preferably someone who can read French). A most
> improblable option. Plan B: I must obtain a copy
> (scan, photocopy) of these poems (53 poems so
> far).
>
> >It's a
> > big world, lots of room for everyone.
> Well, yes but once a complete CAS poetry is
> published, will it be reasonable to publish texts
> most likely to be already in this edition? Not
> sure. Besides, STJ and DS will most certainly
> publish the most acurate versions of the poems
> published so far. On one hand it would be stupid
> to ask someone to go and collate the poems (ahem,
> M. Joshi, have you finished with this one? I'd
> like to have look at it. :-) p, the other hand it
> would certainly be improper to wait until they do
> all the work and ask them for it.
> Well...
>
> Uncertain Phil