Cursing the Men in Washington
SNYDER, Gary. A Curse on the men in Washington, Pentagon. Om a ka ca ta pa ya sa svāhā. [Santa Barbara: Unicorn Press.] 1968.
Letterpress broadside (400 x 305 mm). Small pale dampstain to third stanza, else very well preserved.
The first of the Unicorn Broadsheet series (1968–70), Gary Snyder’s powerful anti-war poem criticising American foreign policy concerning the Vietnam War in particular.
The opening Sanskrit mantra, from the Buddhist Hevajra Tantra, is intended to cause a cities to tremble, and the final line, ‘Hi’niswa’ vita’ki’ni’ (’we shall live again’), is from the chorus of a Cheyenne Ghost Dance song, performed from the mid-nineteenth century to oppose American westward expansion, usher in peace, and communicate with the spirits of the dead. Here, the San Francisco-born poet, environmentalist, and essayist (b. 1930) Gary Snyder combines both Buddhist and Native American influences to condemn ‘the white man, | the “American” | in me | And dance out the Ghost dance: | To bring back America, the grass and the streams’, and to imbue the next generation with love and connection with nature.
The Unicorn Press, established in Santa Barbara in 1966 by Teo Savory and Alan Brilliant in conjunction with Ken Maytag’s Unicorn Book Shop, printed several poetry postcards, broadsides, and books. This is the first of the press’s series of broadsides, which also included Rexroth’s ‘All Year Long’, Bly’s ‘In a Boat on Big Stone Lake’, and Tate’s ‘The Torches’.
SKU: 2124096