Misplaced Pages

#523476

55-569: The Pierian spring is sometimes confused with the Castalian Spring , as it was by Lord Chesterfield who misquotes Alexander Pope in Letters to His Son . The sacred spring was said to be near ancient Leivithra in Pieria , a region of ancient Macedonia , also the location of Mount Olympus , and believed to be the home and the seat of worship of Orpheus . The Muses "were said to have frolicked about

110-462: A marble -lined basin surrounded by benches. Water was brought here by means of a short and small aqueduct and was distributed by a system of water pipes ending in lion-headed spouts. The Roman fountain dates to the 1st century B.C. and is situated about 50 meters higher than the Archaic one. Niches carved on the rock were intended for the ex votos of the pilgrims. One of them was later transformed into

165-509: A church of St. John the Baptist. The water of the spring reached the fountain with a closed aqueduct. On the facade of the fountain there were seven bronze spouts. In front of it there was a paved courtyard with stone benches on its three sides. A modern fountain currently stands close to the street leading to the archaeological site of Delphi to offer respite to the travelers. The Castalian Spring fueled poetic inspiration, albeit often confused with

220-513: A formative impact on him. Tropic of Cancer is referenced in Junot Díaz 's 2007 book The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao as being read by Ana Obregón. Miller's legal difficulties, Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn are mentioned in Denis Johnson 's 2007 novel Tree of Smoke , in a conversation between Skip Sands and his uncle, Colonel Sands. Miller is mentioned again later in

275-603: A friend, "I start tomorrow on the Paris book: First person, uncensored, formless – fuck everything!" Although Miller had little or no money the first year in Paris, things began to change after meeting Anaïs Nin who, with Hugh Guiler , went on to pay his entire way through the 1930s including the rent for an apartment at 18 Villa Seurat. Nin became his lover and financed the first printing of Tropic of Cancer in 1934 with money from Otto Rank . She would write extensively in her journals about her relationship with Miller and his wife June;

330-429: A local mill. Castalian Springs was the name of a now-abandoned spa near Durant, Mississippi . 38°28′59″N 22°30′20″E  /  38.4830555556°N 22.5055555556°E  / 38.4830555556; 22.5055555556 Henry Miller Henry Valentine Miller (December 26, 1891 – June 7, 1980) was an American novelist, short story writer and essayist. He broke with existing literary forms and developed

385-533: A major modern writer was by George Orwell in his 1940 essay " Inside the Whale ", where he wrote: Here in my opinion is the only imaginative prose-writer of the slightest value who has appeared among the English-speaking races for some years past. Even if that is objected to as an overstatement, it will probably be admitted that Miller is a writer out of the ordinary, worth more than a single glance; and after all, he

440-519: A new type of semi-autobiographical novel that blended character study, social criticism, philosophical reflection, stream of consciousness , explicit language, sex, surrealist free association , and mysticism . His most characteristic works of this kind are Tropic of Cancer , Black Spring , Tropic of Capricorn , and the trilogy The Rosy Crucifixion , which are based on his experiences in New York City and Paris (all of which were banned in

495-619: A pill, if birds and flowers, mountains and sea still inspire you, you are a most fortunate individual and you should get down on your knees morning and night and thank the good Lord for his savin' and keepin' power. In 1973 , Miller was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature by professor of the University of Copenhagen Allan Philip (1927–2004). Miller and Tokuda divorced in 1977. Then in his late 80s, Miller filmed with Warren Beatty for

550-466: A result of alcoholism. In 1961, Miller arranged a reunion in New York with his ex-wife and main subject of The Rosy Crucifixion trilogy, June. They had not seen each other in nearly three decades. In a letter to Eve, he described his shock at June's "terrible" appearance, as she had by then degenerated both physically and mentally. In 1948, Miller wrote a novella which he called his "most singular story,"

605-519: A trip which was financed by Freedman. One day on a Paris street, Miller met another author, Robert W. Service , who recalled the story in his autobiography: "Soon we got into conversation which turned to books. For a stripling he spoke with some authority, turning into ridicule the pretentious scribes of the Latin Quarter and their freak magazine." In 1930, Miller moved to Paris unaccompanied. Soon after, he began work on Tropic of Cancer , writing to

SECTION 10

#1732851377524

660-526: A work of fiction entitled "The Smile at the Foot of the Ladder". In February 1963, Miller moved to 444 Ocampo Drive, Pacific Palisades , Los Angeles, California, where he would spend the last 17 years of his life. In 1967, Miller married his fifth wife, Japanese born singer Hoki Tokuda ( ja:ホキ徳田 ). In 1968, Miller signed the " Writers and Editors War Tax Protest " pledge, vowing to refuse tax payments in protest against

715-434: A writer, his sexual escapades, his failures, his friends, his philosophy – in his autobiographical trilogy The Rosy Crucifixion . Miller's second novel, Moloch: or, This Gentile World , was written in 1927–28, initially under the guise of a novel written by his wife Juliet (June). A rich older admirer of June, Roland Freedman, paid her to write the novel; she would show him pages of Miller's work each week, pretending it

770-660: Is a completely negative, unconstructive, amoral writer, a mere Jonah , a passive acceptor of evil, a sort of Whitman among the corpses. In 1940, Miller returned to New York. After a year-long trip around the United States, a journey that would become material for The Air-Conditioned Nightmare , he moved to California in June 1942, initially residing just outside Hollywood in Beverly Glen , before settling in Big Sur in 1944. While Miller

825-509: Is also here that the Pythia and the priests cleansed themselves before the oracle-giving process. Finally Roman poets regarded it as a source of poetic inspiration. According to some mythological versions it was here that Apollo killed the monster, Python , who was guarding the spring, and that is why it was considered to be sacred. Two fountains , which were fed by the sacred spring , still survive. The archaic 6th century BCE fountain house has

880-626: Is referring to the journey ahead, leading to the finale of the Aether Zombies storyline. Castalian Spring The Castalian Spring , in the ravine between the Phaedriades at Delphi , is where all visitors to Delphi — the contestants in the Pythian Games , and especially pilgrims who came to consult the Delphic Oracle — stopped to wash themselves and quench their thirst; it

935-595: The Spring of Pieris . The Castalian Band , a group of poets or makars associated with the Court of James VI of Scotland (including the king himself) drew their name from this source. There is a town named Castalian Springs in Tennessee . A natural spring in this location was a gathering place for animals. Isaac Bledsoe discovered the spring in 1772. Having built a fort in 1783, Bledsoe, his brother, and their families settled near

990-517: The University of Texas at Austin holds a selection of Miller's watercolors, as did the Henry Miller Museum of Art in Ōmachi City in Nagano , Japan, before closing in 2001. Miller's daughter Valentine placed some of her father's art for sale in 2005. He was also an amateur pianist. Miller's papers can be found in the following library special collections : Miller's friend Emil White founded

1045-435: The 1981 film Reds , which was also directed by Beatty. He spoke of his remembrances of John Reed and Louise Bryant as part of a series of "witnesses". The film was released eighteen months after Miller's death. During the last four years of his life, Miller held an ongoing correspondence of over 1,500 letters with Brenda Venus , a young Playboy model and columnist, actress and dancer. A book about their correspondence

1100-855: The Fourteenth Ward . In 1900, his family moved to 1063 Decatur Street in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn. After finishing elementary school, although his family remained in Bushwick, Miller attended Eastern District High School in Williamsburg. As a young man, he was active with the Socialist Party of America (his "quondam idol" was the black Socialist Hubert Harrison ). He attended the City College of New York for one semester. Miller married his first wife, Beatrice Sylvas Wickens, in 1917; their divorce

1155-853: The Nightlife". He writes about his fellow artists who lived at Anderson Creek as the Anderson Creek Gang in Big Sur and the Oranges of Hieronymus Bosch . Miller paid $ 5 per month rent for his shack on the property. In other works written during his time in California, Miller was widely critical of consumerism in America, as reflected in Sunday After the War (1944) and The Air-Conditioned Nightmare (1945). His Big Sur and

SECTION 20

#1732851377524

1210-516: The Oranges of Hieronymus Bosch , published in 1957, is a collection of stories about his life and friends in Big Sur. In 1944, Miller met and married his third wife, Janina Martha Lepska, a philosophy student who was 30 years his junior. They had two children: a son, Tony, and a daughter, Valentine. They divorced in 1952. The following year, he married artist Eve McClure, who was 37 years his junior. They divorced in 1960, and she died in 1966, likely as

1265-535: The Pierian spring is found in the Satyricon of Petronius , from the 1st century AD, at the end of section 5 His animum succinge bonis: sic flumine largo plenus Pierio defundes pectore verba. Come! Gird up thy soul! Inspiration will then force a vent And rush in a flood from a heart that is loved by the muse! Sappho, too, refers to the roses of the Pierian spring, in her poem "To One Who Loved Not Poetry," in

1320-643: The Pierian springs soon after their birth". The spring is believed to be a fountain of knowledge that inspires whoever drinks from it. The name of the spring comes from the Pierides , the gaggle of girls (daughters of King Pierus ) who sought a contest with the Muses. When they lost, they were turned into magpies. Ovid tells this tale after explaining the origin of the Heliconian spring in his 8 AD narrative poem Metamorphoses   V. The metamorphoses into magpies comes at

1375-578: The US by New Directions in The Henry Miller Reader in 1959. In addition to his literary abilities, Miller produced numerous watercolor paintings and wrote books on this field. He was a close friend of the French painter Grégoire Michonze . It is estimated that Miller painted 2,000 watercolors during his life, and that 50 or more major collections of Miller's paintings exist. The Harry Ransom Center at

1430-482: The United States in 1961 by Grove Press led to a series of obscenity trials that tested American laws on pornography. The U.S. Supreme Court , in Grove Press, Inc., v. Gerstein , citing Jacobellis v. Ohio (which was decided the same day in 1964), overruled the state court findings of obscenity and declared the book a work of literature. This was one of the signature events of the sexual revolution . Elmer Gertz ,

1485-581: The United States until 1961). He also wrote travel memoirs and literary criticism, and painted watercolors. Miller was born at his family's home, 450 East 85th Street, in the Yorkville section of Manhattan, New York City. He was the son of Lutheran German parents, Louise Marie (Neiting) and tailor Heinrich Miller. As a child, he lived for nine years at 662 Driggs Avenue in Williamsburg, Brooklyn , known at that time (and referred to frequently in his works) as

1540-548: The Vietnam War. After his move to Ocampo Drive, he held dinner parties for the artistic and literary figures of the time. His cook and caretaker was a young artist's model named Twinka Thiebaud who later wrote a book about his evening chats. Thiebaud's memories of Miller's table talk were published in a rewritten and retitled book in 2011. Only 200 copies of Miller's 1972 chapbook On Turning Eighty were published. Published by Capra Press, in collaboration with Yes! Press, it

1595-596: The aforementioned novels remained banned in the US for over two decades, in 1939, New Directions published The Cosmological Eye , Miller's first book to be published in America. The collection contained short prose pieces, most of which originally appeared in Black Spring and Max and the White Phagocytes (1938). Miller became fluent in French during his ten-year stay in Paris and lived in France until June 1939. During

1650-483: The cheap aesthetic of his time, which in his opinion has replaced a true appreciation of art and knowledge: Conduct, on the other hand, the soul "Which the highest cultures have nourished" To Fleet St. where Dr. Johnson flourished; Beside this thoroughfare The sale of half-hose has Long since superseded the cultivation Of Pierian roses. Sir William Jones (1746–1794) also made reference to "the fam'd Pierian rill" (a brook or rivulet) in his 1763 poem about

1705-502: The discussion of sexual subjects in American writing from both legal and social restrictions. He influenced many writers, including Lojze Kovačič , Richard Brautigan , Jack Kerouac , Norman Mailer , Vitomil Zupan , Philip Roth , Cormac McCarthy , Paul Theroux and Erica Jong . Throughout his novels he makes references to other works of literature; he cites Fyodor Dostoyevsky , Joris-Karl Huysmans , Balzac and Nietzsche as having

Pierian Spring - Misplaced Pages Continue

1760-399: The end of our endurance, we shall certainly proceed to punish you according to the limit of our wrath.' But these Emathian sisters laughed to scorn our threatening words; and as they tried to speak, and made great clamour, and with shameless hands made threatening gestures, suddenly stiff quills sprouted from out their finger-nails, and plumes spread over their stretched arms; and they could see

1815-495: The end of the book: The greatest of our number ended thus her learned songs; and with concordant voice the chosen Nymphs adjudged the Deities, on Helicon who dwell, should be proclaimed the victors. But the vanquished nine began to scatter their abuse; to whom rejoined the goddess; 'Since it seems a trifling thing that you should suffer a deserved defeat, and you must add unmerited abuse to heighten your offence, and since by this appears

1870-639: The first novel in The Rosy Crucifixion trilogy, a fictionalized account documenting the six-year period of his life in Brooklyn falling in love with June and struggling to become a writer. Like several of his other works, the trilogy, completed in 1959, was initially banned in the United States, published only in France and Japan. Miller lived in a small house on Partington Ridge from 1944 to 1947, along with other bohemian writers like Harry Partch , Emil White, and Jean Varda. While living there, he wrote "Into

1925-551: The first volume, covering the years 1931–34, was published in 1966. Late in 1934, June divorced Miller by proxy in Mexico City. In 1931, Miller was employed by the Chicago Tribune Paris edition as a proofreader , thanks to his friend Alfred Perlès , who worked there. Miller took this opportunity to submit some of his own articles under Perlès' name, since at that time only the editorial staff were permitted to publish in

1980-508: The house of Hades, flitting among the shadowy dead. Lines 215 to 232 of Pope's poem read: The opening stanza appears in Ray Bradbury 's 1953 novel Fahrenheit 451 , as Fire Captain Beatty chastizes Guy Montag , the protagonist, about reading books, which are forbidden in the society of the novel. In his poem "Hugh Selwyn Mauberley", Ezra Pound refers to Pierian "roses" in a critique of

2035-509: The late 1930s he also learned about German-born sailor George Dibbern , helped to promote his memoire Quest and organized charity to help him. In 1939 Lawrence Durrell , British novelist who was living in Corfu , Greece, invited Miller to Greece. Miller described the visit in The Colossus of Maroussi (1941), which he considered his best book. One of the first acknowledgments of Henry Miller as

2090-633: The lawyer who successfully argued the initial case for the novel's publication in Illinois , became Miller's lifelong friend; a volume of their correspondence has been published. Following the trial, in 1964–65, Miller's other books, which had also been banned in the US, were published by Grove Press : Black Spring , Tropic of Capricorn , Quiet Days in Clichy , Sexus , Plexus and Nexus . Excerpts from some of these banned books, including Tropic of Cancer , Black Spring and Sexus , were first published in

2145-399: The mid-600 B.C. κατθάνοισα δὲ κείσῃ οὐδέ ποτα μναμοσύνα σέθεν ἔσσετ' οὐδὲ †ποκ'†ὔστερον· οὐ γὰρ πεδέχῃς βρόδων τῶν ἐκ Πιερίας· ἀλλ' ἀφάνης κἠν Ἀίδα δόμῳ φοιτάσεις πεδ' ἀμαύρων νεκύων ἐκπεποταμένα But thou shalt ever lie dead, nor shall there be any remembrance of thee then or thereafter, for thou hast not of the roses of Pieria; but thou shalt wander obscure even in

2200-416: The mouth of each companion growing out into a rigid beak. – And thus new birds were added to the forest. – While they made complaint, these Magpies that defile our groves, moving their stretched-out arms, began to float, suspended in the air. And since that time their ancient eloquence, their screaming notes, their tiresome zeal of speech have all remained. An early reference to

2255-440: The new Beat Generation of American writers, most notably Jack Kerouac , the only Beat writer Miller truly cared for. By the time his banned books were published in the 1960s and he was becoming increasingly well-known, Miller was no longer interested in his image as an outlaw writer of smut-filled books; however, he eventually gave up fighting the image. In 1942, shortly before moving to California, Miller began writing Sexus ,

Pierian Spring - Misplaced Pages Continue

2310-448: The nonprofit Henry Miller Memorial Library in Big Sur in 1981. This houses a collection of his works and celebrates his literary, artistic and cultural legacy by providing a public gallery as well as performance and workshop spaces for artists, musicians, students, and writers. Miller is considered a "literary innovator" in whose works "actual and imagined experiences became indistinguishable from each other." His books did much to free

2365-572: The origin of chess, " Caissa ". Henry Miller mentions the Pierian Spring in Moloch: or, This Gentile World , written in 1927–28 and published posthumously in 1992. In Dorothy Parker 's poem, "The Little Old Lady in Lavender Silk", the narrator reminisces about the scandal that was her "neglect of the waters Pierian" in favor of "the habit of love". In the 1986 David Cronenberg film The Fly ,

2420-655: The paper. This period in Paris was highly creative for Miller, and during this time he also established a significant and influential network of authors circulating around the Villa Seurat. At that time a young British author, Lawrence Durrell , became a lifelong friend. Miller's correspondence with Durrell was later published in two books. During his Paris period he was also influenced by the French Surrealists . His works contain detailed accounts of sexual experiences. His first published book, Tropic of Cancer (1934),

2475-458: The protagonist Seth Brundle succumbs to madness and disease as the result of a science experiment. He rants at the short-sightedness of his lover, proclaiming "drink deep, or taste not the plasma spring!" In the 2018 video game Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, Nikolai says "A little learning is a dangerous thing, drink deep or taste not the Pieran Spring, so goes the poem. I understand its meaning". He

2530-445: The spring in 1787. Native Americans killed the two brothers, who are now buried 500 yards northwest of the spring. Consequently, this area was known locally as Bledsoe's Lick. In 1828, a log inn was built, providing guests with "healthy" drinking water and mineral baths. Almost ten years later when the post office was built, the community changed its name from Bledsoe's Lick to Castalian Springs. During this period of time in history, there

2585-511: The story of June's close relationship with the artist Marion, whom June had renamed Jean Kronski. Kronski lived with Miller and June from 1926 until 1927, when June and Kronski went to Paris together, leaving Miller behind, which upset him greatly. Miller suspected the pair of having a lesbian relationship. While in Paris, June and Kronski did not get along, and June returned to Miller several months later. Kronski committed suicide around 1930. In 1928, Miller spent several months in Paris with June,

2640-464: Was a reawakening of interest in classical Greece and Rome. In Castalia, Ohio , named after the famed site, the Blue Hole limestone configurations were tourist attractions for many years and are now fish hatcheries. Waters in the blue holes are of a constant temperature and never freeze over despite northern Ohio's cold temperatures. The water which averages 30,000 gallons an hour was first used to supply

2695-493: Was characterized by Miller as "a long book and probably a very bad one." In 1923, while he was still married to Beatrice, Miller met and became enamored of a mysterious dance-hall ingénue who was born Juliet Edith Smerth but went by the stage-name June Mansfield . She was 21 at the time. They began an affair, and were married on June 1, 1924. In 1924 Miller quit Western Union in order to dedicate himself completely to writing. He later describes this time – his struggles to become

2750-618: Was establishing his base in Big Sur, the Tropic books, then still banned in the US, were being published in France by the Obelisk Press and later the Olympia Press . There they were acquiring a slow and steady notoriety among both Europeans and the various enclaves of American cultural exiles. As a result, the books were frequently smuggled into the States, where they proved to be a major influence on

2805-638: Was granted on December 21, 1923. Together they had a daughter, Barbara, born in 1919. They lived in an apartment at 244 6th Avenue in Park Slope, Brooklyn . At the time, Miller was working at Western Union ; he worked there from 1920 to 1924, as personnel manager in the messenger department. In March 1922, during a three-week vacation, he wrote his first novel, Clipped Wings . It has never been published, and only fragments remain, although parts of it were recycled in other works, such as Tropic of Capricorn . A study of twelve Western Union messengers, Clipped Wings

SECTION 50

#1732851377524

2860-577: Was hers. The book went unpublished until 1992, 65 years after it was written and 12 years after Miller's death. Moloch is based on Miller's first marriage, to Beatrice, and his years working as a personnel manager at the Western Union office in Lower Manhattan . A third novel written around this time, Crazy Cock , also went unpublished until after Miller's death. Initially titled Lovely Lesbians , Crazy Cock (along with his later novel Nexus ) told

2915-440: Was published by Obelisk Press in Paris and banned in the United States on the grounds of obscenity. The dust jacket came wrapped with a warning: "Not to be imported into the United States or Great Britain." He continued to write novels that were banned; along with Tropic of Cancer , his Black Spring (1936) and Tropic of Capricorn (1939) were smuggled into his native country, building Miller an underground reputation. While

2970-489: Was published by William Morrow, NY, in 1986. Miller died of circulatory complications at his home in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, on June 7, 1980, at the age of 88. His body was cremated and his ashes shared between his son Tony and daughter Val. Tony has stated that he ultimately intends to have his ashes mixed with those of his father and scattered in Big Sur . The publication of Miller's Tropic of Cancer in

3025-412: Was the first volume of the "Yes! Capra" chapbook series and is 34 pages in length. The book contains three essays on topics such as aging and living a meaningful life. In relation to reaching 80 years of age, Miller explains: If at eighty you're not a cripple or an invalid, if you have your health, if you still enjoy a good walk, a good meal (with all the trimmings), if you can sleep without first taking

#523476