THE BOOK
..........................-
TENDER
BUTTONS
THE SUBBOOK ...................-
FOOD
THE SUBPOEM
...................-
Breakfast
WORD COUNT
(Total)……...- 840
STANZA(S)............................- 22
—Stanzas
1-9 312
—Stanzas 10-16 224
THE
LEADER........................-
THE STEINY ROAD POET
CO-LLABORATORS.............- MODPO
STUDENTS/THE BUTTONS
The middle
stanzas of “Breakfast.” seem to indicate a problem between two opposing forces
and strong advice about resolving whatever the issue might be. Poetically,
Stein uses rhyme and other devices to catch the reader’s attention.
Among the
topics addressed in this post are: losing sound in a bell jar—an argument
between Gertrude and Leo Stein; poetic fantasia; romancing of the dinner—roast
(beef?) and cake; the ups and downs of relationship; imperative statements and
sacramental language.
A breeze
in a jar and even then silence, a special anticipation in a rack, a gurgle a
whole gurgle and more cheese than almost anything, is this an astonishment,
does this incline more than the original division between a tray and a talking
arrangement and even then a calling into another room gently with some chicken
in any way.
A bent
way that is a way to declare that the best is all together, a bent way shows no
result, it shows a slight restraint, it shows a necessity for retraction.
Suspect a
single buttered flower, suspect it certainly, suspect it and then glide, does
that not alter a counting.
A hurt mended
stick, a hurt mended cup, a hurt mended article of exceptional relaxation and
annoyance, a hurt mended, hurt and mended is so necessary that no mistake is
intended.
What is
more likely than a roast, nothing really and yet it is never disappointed singularly.
A steady
cake, any steady cake is perfect and not plain, any steady cake has a mounting
reason and more than that it has singular crusts. A season of more is a season
that is instead. A season of many is not more a season than most.
Take no
remedy lightly, take no urging intently, take no separation leniently, beware of no lake and no
larder.
“It’s
interesting that roast is on its own wanting to rhyme so much with toast, and
toast is there but its name being suggested with the rack and the crusts.”
Peter Treanor
“And the point, this time, is in the word ‘disappointing.’”
Teri Rife
LOSING
SOUND IN A BELL JAR
Karren Alenier opened the discussion experiencing a
bell jar:
A breeze
in a jar and even then silence, a special anticipation in a rack, a gurgle a
whole gurgle and more cheese than almost anything, is this an astonishment,
does this incline more than the original division between a tray and a talking
arrangement and even then a calling into another room gently with some chicken
in any way.
“I believe
Stein is talking about a bell jar where it is possible create a vacuum. Stein would have been familiar with bell jars as a
scientist. The vacuum inside a bell jar is partial and has to do with
atmospheric pressure related to gas. This might be associated with a
breeze. Here is an example:”
An
example of a classroom science experiment involving a bell jar is to place a ringing alarm clock under the bell jar. As the air is pumped out of the
sealed bell jar, the noise of the alarm clock fades, thus demonstrating that
the propagation of sound is mediated by the air. In the absence of their medium, the sound waves cannot travel.[2]
“The example
may account for ‘a talking arrangement and even then a calling into another
room’ and given some chicken,
Stein might be pointing to an argument she had with her brother during the period
when she was writing Tender Buttons.
In Roastbeef. stanza 9
and 30,
Stein gives us room to comb chickens
and a slender chicken, which by way
of Plato’s featherless biped as human, may represent Leo Stein, the brother
with whom she initially shared the apartment 27 rue de Fleurus. Here, the
chicken (Leo) seems to be in the way. If this is an argument between the sister
and brother, then cheese seems to pejorative.
“However, bell-shaped jars were used also as covers for cheese—a
cheese dome.”
Emily W
asked, “Was GS a scientist too?”
Claudia Schumann answered, “Yes, GS studying medicine in
college.”
Alenier added:
“Emily, she
was doing scientific research at Harvard. She also went to a summer program at
the famous Woods Hole marine biology center in Massachusetts.”
Emily W
replied:
“I studied Chemistry
down the street from Harvard. When the vacuum is broken, air will rush in,
equalizing the pressure. It's the same thing that happens in our lungs when we
inhale. Which makes me think of the spongy, ‘cheesy’ if you will, texture of
them. Maybe she had some sitting in specimen jars around the lab. Maybe the
lungs or the exhale or gurgle has something to do with the talking and calling.”
A
breeze in a jar and even then silence,
“I can see
and hear the cheesy wheezy lungs inflating (in the rack of the rib cage, also ribs
of lamb called a rack).
“There's a
feel of some sort of experiment going on—tubes, jars, heat rising, steam, a breeze
created, a test tube rack, all that gurgling as the liquids boil and bubbles
bubble, like some kind of distillation. Anticipation and astonishment at the
results and transformations in the process
“But I also
thought of this when reading breeze in a jar then silence, this
seemed to suggest the breeze made a noise and then all was quiet, maybe when
the breeze stopped.”
Launching an extended analysis, Alenier replied:
“Emily and
Pete, I'm thinking about the broken vacuum and the pressure being equalized.
Maybe Gertrude felt she was living in a fishbowl as the metaphor goes and by
breaking that jar, that bell jar, the social pressure on her diminished. And as
a consequence she could breathe better.
STEIN’S
POETIC FANTASIA
“With
stanzas ten and eleven, Stein is creating a poetic fantasia.
“The last
line of stanza one flows poetically into the first line of stanza two, keying
on the word way:”
…even
then a calling into another room gently with some chicken in any way.
A bent
way that is a way to declare that the best is all together, a bent way shows
no
“Stanza 12
image-wise seems the most fantasia like to me with its single buttered flower and how Stein is advising the reader to
regard it suspiciously as it glides. It makes me think of the animated film Fantasia.”
Suspect a
single buttered flower, suspect it certainly, suspect it and then glide, does
that not alter a counting.
“Stanza 13
repeats the word hurt but it seems to me more poetic than negative given
the repetition of the word mended:
A
hurt mended stick,
a hurt
mended cup,
a hurt
mended article of exceptional relaxation and annoyance,
a hurt
mended,
hurt and
mended is so necessary that no mistake is intended.
Emily W interjected:
“Mending—another
job for women, an important one since new clothes weren't quite so cheap. A
family member told me that when he was in school it was alright to go to school
with clothes that had been mended, but not that were torn or had a hole.”
ROMANCING OF
THE DINNER
Alenier continuing said,
“In stanzas
14 and 15, Stein moves to what I'm going to call a romancing of the dinner with the roast and cake:
What is
more likely than a roast, nothing really and yet it is never disappointed
singularly.
A steady
cake, any steady cake is perfect and not plain, any steady cake has a mounting
reason and more than that it has singular crusts. A season of more is a season
that is instead. A season of many is not more a season than most.
“Also notice
the alliteration steady steady steady singular season season inStead season
season moSt.
“Stanza
16 also plays with alliteration but of L:”
Take no remedy
lightly, take no urging intently, take no separation leniently, beware of no lake and no
larder.
“lightly
intently leniently lake larder.”
Picking up on stanza 15, Teri Rife said,
“I think
that steady cake could be a cheesecake, which is a cake that may have crusts. Cheesecake
is ancient, generally believed to have been first made by the Greeks. From
pappaspost.com:”
‘Greek
brides and grooms were also known to use cheesecake as a wedding cake.
It also became a custom for a Greek bride to bake and serve cheesecakes to her
new husband’s friends as a gesture of hospitality. Incidentally, this concept
eventually paved the way for wedding cakes to become a tradition that continues
today.’
“When the
Romans conquered Greece, the recipe came to them. They modified it adding eggs,
and sometimes put it into pastry.
LANGUAGE
THAT SINGS
“We've seen
the ‘s’ alliteration over and over. It's so singing. And, look, the word ‘sing’
is actually right there in the middle of the stanza, contained in the word ‘singular.’
And, look again, there are 4 ‘seasons!’ Another instance of the
repetition of a word 4x, Emily, and this time with a noun—unless, of course,
it's a verb (to season our breakfast).”
Emily W
asked:
“I was
thinking about what you said about ‘a Rose is rose...’ how Stein said she was
doing something different with every repeat, but I have to wonder, how is the
reader supposed to know what she is doing with the repeats? Is it even
important?”
Rife answered:
“The way I
look at it is that it's important to me to figure out everything I can about
this remarkably spare, yet very rich text. It's become all about the journey,
not the destination. Even though I will never know what Stein is doing, I do
know that it enriches my life to try, especially in the company of others.
“‘...steady...steady...steady...’ is like what we say when we're trying to balance
something that's precarious, and the tension in the situation seems to increase
as time goes along—a ‘mounting reason’ for carefulness. The ‘steady-ness
in the first line pops up in the second, too, in the form of ‘instead.’ more...more...many...most’
This is building.”
Alenier
commented:
“Teri, I
also think your discussion about steady—mounting reason—falls in line with ‘the
difference is spreading’ (“A
carafe, that is a blind glass.”).
RELATIONSHIP
ROLLERCOASTER
Moving in a different
direction, Treanor asked answered:
“Is there
something being said about relationships?
“There's
division and arrangement in stanza 10.
“The
best is all together in stanza 11.
“Stanza 12,
A single buttered flower (a buttercup? any yellow flower? Or butter and flour?) which we are
told to suspect and does not alter in a counting, which seems to emphasize it
always stays as one, on it's own no matter how often we count it.
“Stanza 13, we
have the series of things (objects) that are hurt and mended. Hurt is a
recurring theme in TBs, it’s a strange word to use for an object as hurt
requires consciousness, it is a feeling, how can an object be hurt? Does she
mean some kind of damage? But hurt and mending seems to suggest repair or
healing. Repair or re-pairing or pairing suggests relationship. Healing as
relationship?
“Stanza 14,
never disappointed singularly. Singularly can be singular or exceptional.
“Stanza 15, singular
again, singular crusts.
“Stanza 16,
take no separation leniently.
“Woven in
with whatever else is woven in there, there does seem to be some sort of
suggestion about being single, hurt and mending (healing), disappointment and
an urge to not accept separation.
“And a
steady state (I want to say steady state
not steady cake when I read this), a
steady cake seems to be perfect and not plain. Is a cake a mixture of
ingredients? A mixture of many, not a single ingredient but a relationship of
ingredients. An elaborate (not plain) cake that has a reason for mounting does
sound like a wedding cake, mounted in tiers.”
Circling back to her
question on Stein’s use of repetition, Emily
W commented:
“I don't
mean to be stuck on the repeating, well at least not too stuck. I am really
just curious about it, since there are so many things one might try to convey
through repetition, and spoken repetition is much easier to make sense of than
written! It's like little mental puzzles to sort out, but maybe it doesn't even
matter what she was thinking when she wrote it, but as you suggest, Teri, maybe
it's more about what we as readers make of it.
“Anyway, the
hurt, could be anything, feelings, something torn or broken, but whatever it
is, it's been fixed. hurt and mended is so necessary that no mistake is
intended.
To me this
sounds like advice, of sorts—make sure to fix things so it doesn't get worse.”
Answering Emily W, Rife said:
“I think
Gertrude fully intends for us to be stuck on the repeating, maybe not just
because the word or idea being repeated is somehow important but also because
repeating is part of the natural human speech pattern. We just sort of go on
and on, filling up any silence.
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