Tag: Pageant

Characters: Wallace Stevens Marianne Moore Elizabeth Bishop W.H. Auden James Merril Robert Lowell Introduction Lowell: Why are we here? Can someone tell me this, please? Auden: A little testy, aren’t we? Lowell: Testy? Of course. I was not planning on being summoned from the grave today, and in fact had plans this afternoon with my dead first wife. Bishop: Do you mean Jean? Lowell: Yes, I mean Jean. We were going to visit Boston, MA, so that I might once again visit the stomping grounds on which I bullied my classmates and earned the nickname “Cal.” Bishop: Short for “Caligula.” And you’re proud of this? Auden: Proud? He’s positively beaming, the old bully. Stevens: Bully indeed. I agree with Mr. Lowell, this is a most wretched occasion for being summoned. The malady of the quotidian? I meant to say the malady of the long dead. Merrill: An elegant turn of [...]