Sassetta: ‘St Francis and the Wolf’, National Gallery
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Anthony Howell is, in Peter Reading’s words, ‘an eclectic original’, a poet, artist and novelist whose first collection of poems Inside the Castle was brought out in 1969. In the tradition of Robert Browning and Andre Gide, he often explores ‘immoralism’ in his writings via personae. From Inside, published by the High Window Press in 2017 contains poems relating to prisons and poems of political satire. A former member of the Royal Ballet, his novel In the Company of Others was published by Marion Boyars in 1986. Today, he dances the tango. His most recent book of poetry is Invention of Reality, published by the High Window in 2022. He has recently published his Collected Longer Poems.
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Introduction by Anthony Howell:
from The Runiad – Book 7
My own romantic notion of myself has encouraged me to attempt an epic. It will have 24 books and be the same length as the Odyssey. Each book will be 24 pages long, with three seven-line verses per page (at times fewer on the last page of each book). I have completed a clean draft of books 1 to 9 which I publish here – https://heyzine.com/flip-book/7b888b00d4.html – and to this file I will add each new book as it is completed. The reader is hereby invited into the creative process. Changes will occur. It’s either that or keeping the project under wraps until completion. The nature of this method of publication enables me to share the act of writing my epic with the reader. I have completed a fair draft of the first nine books. Collage is used, appropriation and actual experience, while myths from India may be merged with myths from Greece or Africa.
Here is an extract from Book 7 – Agape or Eros. In this book the selfless love of Saint Francis (and his understanding that settlements are contractual) is contrasted with an Eritrean tale of violent jealousy and sexual passion. But I am not fixated on any one theme. Each book evolves in its own way, breaking off into commentary or contemporary experience or meandering wherever it wishes to go. Early in Book 1, there is this assertion made:
….Whereas I think it best only to half know what I’m on about,
My consciousness fragmentary, allowing for the flow
To carry me on and away into our larger universe
Of communications. William Burroughs: I am an antenna.
Schlegel’s key to unlocking the sublime.
I am grateful to the Fortnightly Review for encouraging me by publishing an extract of each book as I complete it. [Readers can access these extracts by following the link. Ed.]
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Anthony Howell: from The Runiad – Book 7
Some love affairs are memorable, a few far more memorable
Than others. Most love affairs are battle fields,
Some more injurious than others. Toes topped by mops of hair,
Arguing feet in the air delight the crowd in Eritrea:
Wife tells her man his prick is too small and it stink.
Husband replies, your cunt so dry needs to have a drink.
Punch and Judy share the same flyting over who is to blame.
All insults seem objectionable, and some more objectionable
Than others. But when the soles of feet have mouths
Insults encourage guffaws; just as they did at the Scottish court;
One clan candidly slagging off another in front of the throne.
Insult turned into mirth is alchemy magicking lead into silver.
Love of the well-turned epithet, appreciation of
The capacity to exaggerate, contribute to the art of repartee.
A love of sentence protocol serves that convicted Marquis
De Favras as sustenance – so far as his sentence goes – when he steps
Onto the trapdoor with his conscience clear, to drop and dangle
Perfectly correctly. Prompting me to ask, what is love?
We use the word so jauntily. Does it mean what it might have meant
In antiquity or the middle ages in our age of disenchantment,
Science and pragmatic cause-and-effect philosophy?
At a time when St. Francis was staying in the town of Gubbio,
There appeared in that region a wolf so maddened by lack of a meal
It took to devouring humans as well as beasts in the wild.
The townsfolk deemed it a scourge of the greatest magnitude
— because it came hungrily near the town— so that they had to forgo
Tilling the fields and ventured into the country only if armed
As if they were going to war. However their weapons alarmed
The wolf not at all, and few who went forth were able to escape
Its teeth and its appetite, were they so unfortunate
As to meet it. Everyone was terrified of coming across this snouted bandit.
No one dared to walk outside the city gate. But God decided to show
The strength of love to the people there, employing as his instrument,
Saint Francis. For the people’s sake, the Saint resolved to go
And meet the wolf in the wooded crags that were its natural element.
On hearing this the citizens said: “Look out, Brother Francis.
Don’t go outside the gate because the wolf which has already
Devoured so many will certainly attack and make a meal of you.”
St. Francis placed his hope in Jesus Christ, Master of all creatures.
Protected not by shield or helmet, but by the Sign of the Cross,
He went out of the town with his friend, putting all his faith
In the Lord who makes those who believe in Him feel safe,
Whether they walk among asps or tread upon a basilisk,
Overcoming not just wolves but even lions and chimeras
Terrifying to behold. His faith in love made Francis bold,
So that he went calmly forth to make the acquaintance of the wolf.
Some locals chose to go with him, but soon they said:
“We won’t go further, Brother Francis, since that wolf is ferocious
And anyone who nears his abode will probably wind-up dead.”
St. Francis answered: “Just stay here. But I am going on
To where the wolf has made his lair.” Then, in the sight of those
Who had climbed up into the trees to see how things would go,
The wolf came loping with its mouth open toward St. Francis
And his friend. The Sign of the Cross was made, and the sacred strength
Surging forth from himself and from his friend, checked the wolf
And slowed its pace. Perplexed, it came to a halt in front of the Saint.
“Come to me, Brother Wolf. In the name of Christ,
I ask you not to hurt me or anyone.” As soon as he had made
The Sign of the Cross, the wolf had closed its jaws,
And as soon as he made that request, it lowered its head
And lay down at his holy feet, as though it had become a lamb.
And St. Francis said to it as it lay down there in front of him:
“Brother Wolf, you have mercilessly perpetrated crimes
By destroying the Creator’s creatures in this region.
You have been devouring more than some poor beast.
You have had the detestable brazenness to kill and to feast
On beings made in the image of God. Clearly you deserve
To be put to death like any common criminal or murderer.
Consequently everyone is right in swearing that is what you are.
For you have filled this entire town of Gubbio with hostility.
But, Brother Wolf, there shall be peace between you and society,
So that no one will be injured by your nature anymore,
And after they have forgiven you all your past offences
Neither men nor dogs will hunt you down.” Then by moving
Its tail and its ears and at last by nodding its head
The wolf showed that it accepted what the Saint had said.
St. Francis spoke again: “Brother Wolf, since you agree
To keep this peace pact, I will undertake to have the people
Of this town give you food each day for as long as you live,
So that you will never again suffer from hunger, for I know
That whatever mischief you did was done because you needed to be fed.
But, my Brother Wolf, since I am obtaining for you such a favour
Promise me in the Saviour’s name that you will never again endanger
Beast or man.” The wolf gave an emphatic nod of its head,
And then St. Francis said: “Brother Wolf, I want you to give me a pledge
So that I can confidently trust in what you promise me.”
And as St. Francis held out his hand, the creature raised its paw
And put it in St. Francis’ hand as a sign it was giving its pledge.
“Brother Wolf, come with me now, without fear, into the town
Of Gubbio to make this peace pact in the name of the Lord.”
And the wolf began to walk along beside St. Francis, gentle as a lamb.
When the people heard of this, they were amazed, and the news
Spread quickly through the town, so that men and women,
Young and old, poor and wealthy, gathered in the marketplace,
Because St. Francis was there with the wolf. Then the Saint
Gave a sermon, saying that such calamities as predators
Were brought about because of sin, and how the fire of hell
By which the damned must be devoured for all eternity
Is far worse than the raging of a wolf which can bring agony
Only to the flesh, and how much more they should fear
To be emptied into hell, given one mere animal
Could keep the lot of them in such a state of terror and anxiety.
He continued, “Listen, people. Brother Wolf, who has come to pay
His respects to you has given me a pledge that he is willing to
Make peace with you if you agree to feed him every day.
And I, Francis, pledge myself as bondsman for our Brother Wolf
That he will staunchly keep this pact.” Then all who were assembled
There promised with one voice to feed the creature as required.
Again the Saint sought surety of how the wolf would act.
“Brother Wolf, do you agree to venerate this pact?”
The wolf knelt and bowed its head; next it wagged its tail
To indicate it would not fail to keep the peace agreed.
“Brother Wolf, just as you gave a sign outside the gate
That you would keep your word, I want you now to repeat your pledge
Here before the crowd that you will never baulk at my command,
Since I am pledged as your bondsman.” Then, in the presence of all,
The wolf again lifted its paw and put it in St. Francis’ hand,
And then surprise and joy so occupied the watching crowd
That they all shouted to the sky, praising the Lord aloud.
And from that day, the wolf and the people kept the pact
And the wolf would go from door to door for food.
Hurting no one, no one hurt it. People fed it courteously.
And it is a striking fact that not a single dog ever barked at it.
When the wolf grew old and died, the people there were sad,
Because its peaceful manner reminded them of how the Saint enticed
A wolf with loving kindness. Praised be Our Lord Jesus Christ.
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