Between History and Poetry: The Letters of H.D. And Norman Holmes Pearson

6. "Grove of Academe," 1960-1961

CHAPTER SIX "Grove of Academe" Publication of Tribute to Freud and Selected Poems, accoladesfrom Poetry and Brandeis University, American citizenship regained: these events led to the culminating moment of H.D.'s last years, her reception, in person, of the award in poetry from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, its first to a woman. After years of critical neglect,such recognition by her peers must have seemed a manifestation of her vision on Corfu, forty years earlier, of being welcomed into the sun disk. For H.D. incorporated it into the central section of her last poem, Hermetic Definition, written during this period. Titled "Grove of Academe," this section alludes not only to specificsof the above event - particularly a gallant gesture by St.-John Perse,1 whose poetry she quotes and responds to; it also acknowledges, more tacitly, her gratitude at having been nurtured and sustained by her "chevalier" at Yale, Norman Holmes Pearson. In fact, as these letters reveal, H.D. proposed dedicating the poem to him. Plans to attend the award ceremony in New York, in May 1960, began in Kiisnacht in February. They intersected with the publication of Bid Me to Live (A Madrigal), which appeared in March of that year, bringing with it H.D.'s last romantic attachment. When Lionel Durand,2 the Haitian-born chief of the Paris bureau of Newsweek, came to Zurich to interview H.D. about the book, she was smitten. In letters to Pearson she comments on his dignified bearing, his personal charm, and, several times, the implications of his color and racial background. Later, they also speculate about Durand's possible mixed allegiance during the war in Algeria, which H.D. follows closelythrough his reportage. Indeed, H.D.'s strong feelingsabout Durand generated the first section of Hermetic Definition, "Red Rose and a Beggar," the content and intensity of which embarrassed her. She did not show the poem to Pearson until its completion after Durand's death, which she saw as a harbinger of her own.3 H.D. and Pearson also continue to exchange news about Erich Heydt, Richard Aldington, and Ezra Pound in this interval. H.D. reports further on the psychological repercussions of Heydt's marriage, which she also documents in the journal "Bosquet (Thorn Thicket)," composed in 1960. She describes Aldington 's reactions to Bid Me to Live, mentions Bryher's more generous attitude toward him since his recent visit, and responds to news of Pound's difficulties and depression. Repeating his encouragement during the composition of End to Torment, Pearson supports H.D.'s wish to meet Ezra and Dorothy Pound in Venice despite Bryher's anticipated disapproval. They also discuss new interpretations of the work of Pound and herself, with Pearson conveying reports about the progress of poets Robert Duncan, Denise Levertov,4 and Thomas Burnett Swann,5 whose interest in H.D. Pearson encouraged. He thought especiallyhighly of Duncan's response to H.D.'s late poetry, commissioning him to write a book for her birthday that became The H.D. Book. In the following letters, H.D. responds to Pearson's announcement of the academy's award with a mixture of anxiety, pleasure, and excitement. 262 "Grove of Academe," 1960-1961 Dearest Hilda, [... ] 231HGS YaleUniversity New Haven, Conn. 10 February 1960 This afternoon I was called by the Secretary of the American Academy of Arts and Letters in New York,to saythat the Academy by mail ballot of allthe Academicians had voted to award you their Special Award of Merit at their annual convocation on May 26th in New York City. This is given only every five years for poetry, and consists of a gold medal and $1,000. (Naturally I want the gold medal to take the place of the one I lost for you last year.) It has only been awarded three times: to W.H. Auden, to St. John Perse,and to Jorge Dias.6 Youare the first woman ever to be given this. One does not have to be an academician to win it - in fact one is supposed not to - but one does have to be in America to receive it, and they could not hold another election now that everyone has made up his mind that it should go to you. Perhaps I am a little responsible, because I said something casually to Louise Bogan7 early last fall, that I hoped...