Supernatural Overtones

by Ron Padgett

Of this first edition of 500 copies ... printed June 29, 1990 in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, twenty-six are lettered A-Z and signed by the authors"--Leaf 50.

Genres: Poetry

48 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1990

About the author

Ron Padgett is a poet and translator whose Collected Poems won the William Carlos Williams Award from the Poetry Society of America and the 2014 Los Angeles Times Prize for the best poetry book. Padgett has translated the poetry of Apollinaire, Pierre Reverdy, Valery Larbaud, and Blaise Cendrars.

Reviews

[Eddie Watkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

In some poets' collaborations it can be difficult to distinguish who did what. This collaboration instead heightens the distinction between the two by having who did what separated on the page, with Coolidge's contributions inside a large square and Padgett's contributions at the bottom as if a caption of the square. Coolidge here is in nearly image-free abstract "pure word" mode, while Padgett is his usual crystal clear hilarious self.

--------------------

the ice has been note
are fire how
wrinkly in them

squares

am to cook
from the one part point

too more
being there
limits these fit


A green Naval lieutenant is assigned the command of a ship with an experimental crew consisting of men dressed as radishes.

---------------------

more and than rather


A brilliant young couple dance off the edge of the floor and fall into space.

---------------------

Padgett's part in the second example illustrates well the sensation of reading these collaborations. I do not think the title, Supernatural Overtones, was randomly chosen. There is something in the extreme disjunction of the two parts of each poem, as well as the space that each part creates in the mind of the reader, that feels like a dancing that falls into space, a happy floating plunge into the void. Padgett's portions throw into relief the pure abstraction of Coolidge's language and emphasizing its "thingness", while Coolidge's portion throws into relief Padgett's direct humor while somewhat "alienating" it and giving it an air of abstraction. All these interplays play and echo in the mind creating a language playground of limitless expansion.

The format of the book itself is crucial to the reading experience, and cannot be replicated here. A facsimile of the book (47 poems) can be read here.

[Donald Grant · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hermetic poetry worth a read....

Hermetic poetry can be off-putting at first. The words not said being more important than words said. In this collection Coolidge displays his talent for this poetic form and with the added thoughts of Padgett, who adds humor
to each entry, this is an interesting read.
There is only 500 copies supposedly and just glad I was able to acquire one.
Recommend to anyone interested in unusual poetic forms.

[M.W.P.M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

been some
them there
that these
things
___________________________________________
A green and jagged sone hand comes to life.




amount is which enough 
right there is
just the some time
____________________________________________________
A meteorite lands in the desert and begins expanding - causing death and destruction.




point would paper
with one was down

three will three
and who stood were this

piece of that had place
each might each matters

another and about it
as often or about blurs
_________________________________________________________
A private investigator wakes up and finds himself wearing a baseball cap from which music is emanating




 to and felt
_____________________________________________
And invisible employee decides to impersonate the company president.




chord owe pot
in a them in on them
the field the came
 panes
_________________________________________________
When a plane crashes in the South American jungle, a number of people from varied walks of life find themselves stranded.




glasses and square
in any clear own
over is everything
 else

one most sort
bottom to ground
line as else
surface like
 the quick
 object less
________________________________________
A boy awakens in the middle of the night to see his grandparents disappearing underground.




those
 eling along
either which
 top
________________________________________________
An electro-biologist persuades the only survivor of a train crash to submit to some experiments involving grasshoppers.




aloft and wind space clay
large drops of dome top after
to thus basket at will
make thick eight to rope
apex as it does
a ring at the ray seems
 adding
____________________________________________
After the fall of Troy, Helen flees to Egypt, where her beauty once again foments revolt.




the say
on the one
and as it
might
as add word
__________________________
A young girl shuns romance she fears her own power to change into a huge boulder.




one and another
two were another
is of any one

that and one once are
all there to that there
and to some then

anyone inside in them
some were such once them
_______________________________________________________
Several men meet their deaths at the hands of a monster. Two monsters from the Department of the Interior come to look the situation over.




a relation do it
between went
 on and on
anymore all
 of it a
always again
____________________________________________________________
A man in trenchcoat and fedora leans over a rail in deep fog.

Read the full text here: eclipsearchive.org

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is actually by Ron Padgett and Clark Coolidge. Each page consists of a large rectangle in which there is a short poem by Coolidge. Below the rectangle, outside the box as it were, there is a short "narrative premise" by Padgett that may or may not explain Coolidge's hermetic poem. An interesting collision of two poetic styles.