Delmore Schwartz
THE W0 RLD IS A WEDDING*
1: "WHAT DOES SH EHAVE THAT I DON 'T HAVE?"
In this our life there are no beginnings but only depar–
tures entitled beginnings, wreathed in the formal emotions thought
to be appropriate and often forced. Darkly rises each moment from
the life which has been lived and which does not die, for each event
lives in the heavy head forever, waiting to renew itself.
The circle of human beings united by need and love began
with the graduation or departure of Rudyard Bell from school, just
at the beginning of the great depression. Rudyard was the leader and
captain of all hearts, and his sister Laura's apartment was the place
where the circle came to full being. When Rudyard graduated, he
decided to devote himself to the writing of plays. His aunt had
suggested that he become a teacher in the public high school system
until he had proven himself as a dramatist, but Rudyard rejected
his aunt's suggestion. He said that to be a playwright was a noble
.and difficult profession to which one must give one's whole being.
Laura Bell had taken care of her younger brother since he was four
and she said then that Rudyard was a genius and ought not to be
required to earn a living. Rudyard accepted his sister's attitude as
natural and inevitable, such was his belief in himself and in his power
to charm other human beings.
Thus, in a way, this refusal to become a teacher and to earn .
a living was the beginning of the circle.
The other boys who truly belonged to the circle were also caught
in the midst of the great depression. Edmund Kish wanted to be a
teacher of philosophy, but he was unable to get .an appointment.
*
These are the first two chapters of a novel, "The World Is a Wedding,"
which will be published shortly by New Directions.
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