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Bibliographic InformationX

Nocturne of the Self-Evident Presence, NLI MS 30,859.

Thomas MacGreevy

There are two MS and two TS drafts of this poem. It was published in The Irish Statesman VII:8 (25 September 1926) 57-8, under the pseudonym L. St. Senan (see 'Saint Senan's Well'). It was reprinted in The Lace Curtain 4 (Summer 1971) 35; Contemporary Irish Poetry (1980) 35; Modern Irish Poetry (1972) 58; and Poets of Munster (1985) 36. 'Nocturne of the Self-Evident-Presence' is one of the poems set to music by Seóirse Bodley (see 'Ten Thousand Leaping Swords'). The earliest reference to this poem is in a letter of 26 March 1926.

Original Source:

This version of 'Nocturne of the Self-Evident Presence' was enclosed in a letter to George Yeats of 30 December 1925, now housed at the National Library of Ireland, NLI MS 30,859.

Electronic Edition Information

Text Encoding by Susan Scheibman
Proofing by Susan Schreibman
Annotation by Susan Schreibman

Published by Susan Schreibman
Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities (MITH), University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742

Thomas MacGreevy's poetry is reprinted here with the kind permission of Margaret Farrington and Elizabeth Ryan. Permission to reproduce images of Thomas MacGreevy's manuscripts has been generously granted by The The National Library of Ireland.

This poem and manuscript drafts are available from this site for demonstration purposes only. They may not be reproduced without explicit permission from the copyright holder. For copyright information, please contact Susan Schreibman at ss423@umail.umd.edu


Encoding Principles

Test document for versioning machine project. Marked-up stand-alone version of poem from manuscript NLI MS 30,859, 30 December 1925.

DTD constructed from TEI poetry base with tagsets for linking, figures, analysis, transcr, textcrit.



Nocturne of the Self-Evident Presence, TCD MS 7989/1/86

Thomas MacGreevy

Original Source:

This version of Nocturne of the Self-Evident Presence is from Thomas MacGreevy's papers at Trinity College, Dublin, TCD MS 7989/1/86.

Electronic Edition Information

Text Encoding by Amani Robinson
Proofing by Lara Vetter
Annotation by Susan Schreibman

Published by Susan Schreibman
Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities (MITH), University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742

Permission to reproduce images of Thomas MacGreevy's manuscripts has been generously granted by The Board of Trinity College Dublin.

This poem and manuscript drafts are available from this site for demonstration purposes only. They may not be reproduced without explicit permission from the copyright holder. For copyright information, please contact Susan Schreibman at ss423@umail.umd.edu


Encoding Principles

Test document for versioning machine project. Marked-up stand-alone version of poem from manuscript TCD MS 7989/1/86.

DTD constructed from TEI poetry base with tagsets for linking, figures, analysis, transcr, textcrit.



Nocturne of the Self-Evident Presence, TCD MS 7989/1/85

Thomas MacGreevy

Original Source:

This version of Nocturne of the Self-Evident Presence is from Thomas MacGreevy's papers at Trinity College, Dublin, TCD MS 7989/1/85.

Electronic Edition Information

Text Encoding by Amani Robinson
Proofing by Susan Schreibman
Annotation by Susan Schreibman

Published by Susan Schreibman
Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities (MITH), University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742

Thomas MacGreevy's poetry is reprinted here with the kind permission of Margaret Farrington and Elizabeth Ryan. Permission to reproduce images of Thomas MacGreevy's manuscripts has been generously granted by The Board of Trinity College Dublin.

This poem and manuscript drafts are available from this site for demonstration purposes only. They may not be reproduced without explicit permission from the copyright holder. For copyright information, please contact Susan Schreibman at ss423@umail.umd.edu


Encoding Principles

Test document for versioning machine project. Marked-up stand-alone version of poem from manuscript TCD MS 7989/1/85.

DTD constructed from TEI poetry base with tagsets for linking, figures, analysis, transcr, textcrit.



Nocturne of the Self-Evident Presence, Published Version

Thomas MacGreevy

Original Source:

The diplomatic version of this poem was created from Collected Poems of Thomas MacGreevy: An Annotated Edition, edited by Susan Schreibman (Anna Livia Press and The Catholic University of America Press, 1991). The image for 'Nocturne of the Self-Evident Presence' was taken from MacGreevy's own copy of Poems (Heinemann, 1934).

Electronic Edition Information

Text Encoding by Amani Robinson
Proofing by Susan Schreibman
Annotation by Susan Schreibman

Published by Susan Schreibman
Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities (MITH), University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742

Thomas MacGreevy's poetry is reprinted here with the kind permission of Margaret Farrington and Elizabeth Ryan. Permission to reproduce images of Thomas MacGreevy's manuscripts has been generously granted by The Board of Trinity College Dublin.

This poem and manuscript drafts are available from this site for demonstration purposes only. They may not be reproduced without explicit permission from the copyright holder. For copyright information, please contact Susan Schreibman at ss423@umail.umd.edu


Encoding Principles

Test document for versioning machine project. Marked-up stand-alone version of poem from printed version.

DTD constructed from TEI poetry base with tagsets for linking, figures, analysis, transcr, textcrit.



X Version #
View Images Nocturne Of The Self-Evident Presence b
MacGreevy's first trip to Switzerland provided the inspiration for 'Nocturne of the Self-Evident Presence'. In 'Recessional', MacGreevy's thoughts turn from the awe-inspiring scenery of Engelbergeraa and its literary echoes, to Ireland. 'Nocturne of the Self-Evident Presence' takes MacGreevy's reflections a step further, to a moment of insight. W.B. Yeats describes such a moment in 'Vacillation', as he sits in a 'crowded London shop [with] an open book and empty cup':

While on the shop and street I gazed
My body of a sudden blazed;
And twenty minutes more or less
It seemed, so great my happiness,
That I was blessd and could bless.
The almost inexpressible moment that Yeats depicts, where 'time closes over sight', is for MacGreevy a stripping away of literature, art, and civilization. Rubens and Domenichino, both masters of religious art, as well as superb manipulators of light and rhythm, convey on canvas what MacGreevy evokes in words. While recalling these artists, he also rejects their vision and replaces it with his own, where the perceiver and the perceived become indistinguishable, and the universe consists of nothing more than 'alps, ice, stars and white starlight / In a dry, high silence.'

The lucky inorganic alps rear icily
To heights beneath other heights of great and little stars
To courts beneath other courts that have with walls of white starlight.
The alps stars are their pavements
The valley is an area
I a manservant staring up

But I see no immaculate feet on those pavements
Nor winged cherubs foreshortened
À la Domenichino b Domenico Zampieri (c.1581-1641) called Domenichino, was a prolific painter of the same generation as Rubens. He was the architect to Pope Gregory XV and carried out the decoration of church ceilings and interiors in Rome and Naples. or Boucher b François Boucher (1703-1770) was a French painter and desisnger known for his mythological and genre paintings done in the Rococo style.
Nor cars Elijah's g 'And as they went on, walking and talking together, behold a fiery chariot, and fiery horses parted them both asunder: and Elias went up by a whirlwind into heaven' (4 Kings 2:11). or Apollo's b The Greek god associated with the higher developments of civilization, including music and philosophy, was also the god of the sun. He was often represented as drawing the sun across the heavens with his chariot.
Dashing about or parked

I see alps, ice, stars and white starlight
In a high and dry silence View Images NOCTURNE OF THE SELF EVIDENT PRESENCE b
MacGreevy's first trip to Switzerland provided the inspiration for 'Nocturne of the Self-Evident Presence'. In 'Recessional', MacGreevy's thoughts turn from the awe-inspiring scenery of Engelbergeraa and its literary echoes, to Ireland. 'Nocturne of the Self-Evident Presence' takes MacGreevy's reflections a step further, to a moment of insight. W.B. Yeats describes such a moment in 'Vacillation', as he sits in a 'crowded London shop [with] an open book and empty cup':
While on the shop and street I gazed
My body of a sudden blazed;
And twenty minutes more or less
It seemed, so great my happiness,
That I was blessd and could bless.
The almost inexpressible moment that Yeats depicts, where 'time closes over sight', is for MacGreevy a stripping away of literature, art, and civilization. Rubens and Domenichino, both masters of religious art, as well as superb manipulators of light and rhythm, convey on canvas what MacGreevy evokes in words. While recalling these artists, he also rejects their vision and replaces it with his own, where the perceiver and the perceived become indistinguishable, and the universe consists of nothing more than 'alps, ice, stars and white starlight / In a dry, high silence.'

The fortunate ( being inarticulate ) alps
Rise icily
To heights below other heights
Of large stars and little,
To courts beneath other courts
With walls of white starlight -
They have stars for pavements,
The valley is an area g A sunken courtyard. In the Georgian homes of Dublin, particularly in MacGreevy's day, a separate doorway provided access to the servants' rooms down several steps through a courtyard.
And I a servant,
A servant of servants, g One of the official titles of the Pope is 'Servant of the Servants of God'.
Of metaphysical bereavements
Staring up
Out of the gloom.

I see no immaculate feet on those pavements,
No winged forms
Foreshortened
As by Rubens b Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) the Flemish painter. MacGreevy may have been thinking of Rubens' commission of 1635 to execute the ceiling of the banqueting hall at Whitehall Palace for King Charles I of England. Rubens was the chief exponent of the Baroque style in Northern Europe and painted numerous religious works. or Domenichino b Domenico Zampieri (c.1581-1641) called Domenichino, was a prolific painter of the same generation as Rubens. He was the architect to Pope Gregory XV and carried out the decoration of church ceilings and interiors in Rome and Naples.
Plashing the silvery air,
Hear no cars,
Elijah's g 'And as they went on, walking and talking together, behold a fiery chariot, and fiery horses parted them both asunder:and Elias went up by a whirlwind into heaven' (4 Kings 2:11). or Apollo's b The Greek god associated with the higher developments of civilization, including music and philosophy, was also the god of the sun. He was often represented as drawing the sun across the heavens with his chariot.
Dashing about up there.

I see alps, ice, stars and white starlight
In a dry, high silence. View Images NOCTURNE OF THE SELF-EVIDENT PRESENCE b
MacGreevy's first trip to Switzerland provided the inspiration for 'Nocturne of the Self-Evident Presence'. In 'Recessional', MacGreevy's thoughts turn from the awe-inspiring scenery of Engelbergeraa and its literary echoes, to Ireland. 'Nocturne of the Self-Evident Presence' takes MacGreevy's reflections a step further, to a moment of insight. W.B. Yeats describes such a moment in 'Vacillation', as he sits in a 'crowded London shop [with] an open book and empty cup':
While on the shop and street I gazed
My body of a sudden blazed;
And twenty minutes more or less
It seemed, so great my happiness,
That I was blessd and could bless.
The almost inexpressible moment that Yeats depicts, where 'time closes over sight', is for MacGreevy a stripping away of literature, art, and civilization. Rubens and Domenichino, both masters of religious art, as well as superb manipulators of light and rhythm, convey on canvas what MacGreevy evokes in words. While recalling these artists, he also rejects their vision and replaces it with his own, where the perceiver and the perceived become indistinguishable, and the universe consists of nothing more than 'alps, ice, stars and white starlight / In a dry, high silence.'

Fortunate,
Being inarticulate,
The alps
Rise
Through ice
To heights
Below other heights
Of large stars and little,
To courts
Beneath other courts
With walls of white starlight
They have stars for pavements,
The valley is an area, g A sunken courtyard. In the Georgian homes of Dublin, particularly in MacGreevy's day, a separate doorway provided access to the servants' rooms down several steps through a courtyard.
And I a servant,
A servant of servants, g One of the official titles of the Pope is 'Servant of the Servants of God'.
WithOf metaphysical bereavements,
Staring up out of the gloom.

I see no immaculate feet on those pavements,
No winged forms,
Foreshortened,
As by Rubens b Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) the Flemish painter. MacGreevy may have been thinking of Rubens' commission of 1635 to execute the ceiling of the banqueting hall at Whitehall Palace for King Charles I of England. Rubens was the chief exponent of the Baroque style in Northern Europe and painted numerous religious works. or Domenichino, b Domenico Zampieri (c.1581-1641) called Domenichino, was a prolific painter of the same generation as Rubens. He was the architect to Pope Gregory XV and carried out the decoration of church ceilings and interiors in Rome and Naples.
Plashing the silvery air,
Hear no cars,
Elijah's g 'And as they went on, walking and talking together, behold a fiery chariot, and fiery horses parted them both asunder:and Elias went up by a whirlwind into heaven' (4 Kings 2:11). or Apollo's b The Greek god associated with the higher developments of civilization, including music and philosophy, was also the god of the sun. He was often represented as drawing the sun across the heavens with his chariot.
Dashing about up there.

I see alps, ice, stars and white starlight
In a dry, high silence. View Images Nocturne of the Self-Evident Presence b
MacGreevy's first trip to Switzerland provided the inspiration for 'Nocturne of the Self-Evident Presence'. In 'Recessional', MacGreevy's thoughts turn from the awe-inspiring scenery of Engelbergeraa and its literary echoes, to Ireland. 'Nocturne of the Self-Evident Presence' takes MacGreevy's reflections a step further, to a moment of insight. W.B. Yeats describes such a moment in 'Vacillation', as he sits in a 'crowded London shop [with] an open book and empty cup':
While on the shop and street I gazed
My body of a sudden blazed;
And twenty minutes more or less
It seemed, so great my happiness,
That I was blessd and could bless.
The almost inexpressible moment that Yeats depicts, where 'time closes over sight', is for MacGreevy a stripping away of literature, art, and civilization. Rubens and Domenichino, both masters of religious art, as well as superb manipulators of light and rhythm, convey on canvas what MacGreevy evokes in words. While recalling these artists, he also rejects their vision and replaces it with his own, where the perceiver and the perceived become indistinguishable, and the universe consists of nothing more than 'alps, ice, stars and white starlight / In a dry, high silence.'

Fortunate,
Being inarticulate,
The alps
Rise
In ice
To heights
Below other heights
Of large stars
And little;
To courts
Beneath other courts
With walls of white starlight.
They have stars for pavements,
The valley is an area, g A sunken courtyard. In the Georgian homes of Dublin, particularly in MacGreevy's day, a separate doorway provided access to the servants' rooms down several steps through a courtyard.
And I a servant,
A servant of servants, g One of the official titles of the Pope is 'Servant of the Servants of God'.
Of metaphysical bereavements,
Staring up
Out of the gloom.

I see no immaculate feet on those pavements,
No winged forms,
Foreshortened,
As by Rubens b Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) the Flemish painter. MacGreevy may have been thinking of Rubens' commission of 1635 to execute the ceiling of the banqueting hall at Whitehall Palace for King Charles I of England. Rubens was the chief exponent of the Baroque style in Northern Europe and painted numerous religious works. or Domenichino, b Domenico Zampieri (c.1581-1641) called Domenichino, was a prolific painter of the same generation as Rubens. He was the architect to Pope Gregory XV and carried out the decoration of church ceilings and interiors in Rome and Naples.
Plashing the silvery air,
Hear no cars,
Elijah's g 'And as they went on, walking and talking together, behold a fiery chariot, and fiery horses parted them both asunder:and Elias went up by a whirlwind into heaven' (4 Kings 2:11). or Apollo's b The Greek god associated with the higher developments of civilization, including music and philosophy, was also the god of the sun. He was often represented as drawing the sun across the heavens with his chariot.
Dashing about
Up there.

I see alps, ice, stars and white starlight
In a dry, high silence.
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