MARSHALL BERMAN
213
tion that the setting forces on the subject; and it ends (as its title
suggests) in a loss of innocence. Here, however, the encounter is not
between one person and another, or between people of different.social
classes, but rather between an isolated individual and social forces that
are abstract yet concretely dangerous. Here, the ambience, imagery and
emotional tone are puzzling and elusive; the poet seems intent on
keeping his readers off-balance, and h e may be off-balance himself.
"Loss of a Halo" develops as a dialogue between a poet and an
"ordinary man" who bump into each other in
un mauvais lieu,
a
disreputable or sinister place, probably a brothel, to the embarrassment
of both. The ordinary man, who has always cherished an exalted idea
of the artist, is aghast
to
find one here:
"What! You here, my friend ? you in a place like this? you, the
eater of ambrosia, the drinker of quintessences! I'm amazed!"
The poet then proceeds
to
explain himself:
"My friend, you know how terrified I am of horses and vehicles?
Well, just now as I was crossing the boulevard in a great hurry,
splashing through the mud, in the midst of a moving chaos, with
death galloping at me from every side, I made a sudden move
(un
mouvement brusque),
and my halo slipped off my head, and fell into
the mire of the macadam. I was much too scared to pick it up. I
thought it was less unpleasant to lose my insignia than to get my
bones broken. Besides, I said to myself, every cloud has a silver
lining. Now I can walk around incognito, do low things, throw
myself into 'every kind of filth
(me Livrer a La crapuLe),
just like
ordinary mortals
(simpLes mortels).
So here I am, just as you see me,
just like yourself!"
The straight man plays along, a little uneasily:
"But aren't you going to advertise for your halo? or notify the
police?"
No: the poet
IS
triumphant
10
what we recognize as a new self–
definition:
"God forbid! I like it here. You're the only one who's recognized
me. Besides, dignity bores me. What's more, it's fun to think of some
bad poet picking it up and brazenly putting it on. What a pleasure to
make somebody happy! especially somebody you can laugh at.
Think of
XI
Think of Z! Don't you see how funny it will
be?"
