Mina Loy - Stories and Essays of Mina Loy

PAGE 183

“ magenta kid ” reads “ magenter kid ”— ed.

“ Recamier sofa ” reads “ recamier sofa ”— ed.

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“stock” reads “stoch”— ed.

“So you believe” reads “SO you believe”— ed.

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“fifty of the best years” was “fifty years”

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“my sons. It is” reads “my sons it is”— ed.

“I am mad. Tell me” reads “I am mad tell me”— ed.

THE SACRED PROSTITUTE

(6:176)

In a letter to Carl Van Vechten dated December 27th 1914, Loy writes: “I am going to send you — a part of the Love-Sex Review—‘The Sacred Prostitute’ ” (Beinecke, Van Vechten archive, Loy correspondence folder). This play was written when Loy was living in Florence, and had befriended F. T. Marinetti and Giovanni Papini, key proponents of the Italian Futurist movement — hence the starring role allotted to the character “FUTURISM throughout.

The file for “The Sacred Prostitute” contains both a typescript and a handwritten draft. Differences between the two versions are predominantly related to punctuation; more substantial distinctions are noted below whenever they contribute to the overall understanding of the gestation of the play. All other annotations refer to Loy’s handwritten editing of the typescript. The first extant page of the written draft is marked “4” on the upper right-hand corner, and it is from this page that the typescript begins. A note midway through the typed manuscript indicates that seven pages of the original text are missing. While the handwritten version shows a corresponding gap in pagination, in the typescript, the pagination continues unabated. As there is no discernible break in sense, this note may be a narrative device to indicate that “Man and Woman,” the play within the play that might fill that gap, will not be included.

“Sacred Prostitute” is typed at the top right-hand corner of each page of the manuscript, but no title page can be located in Loy’s papers; as such, critics have tended to use Loy’s letter to Van Vechten as the definitive phrasing for the title. For dating and discussion of “The Sacred Prostitute,” see Virginia Kouidis, Mina Loy: American Modernist Poet (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State UP, 1980, p. 16); Janet Lyon, “Mina Loy’s Pregnant Pauses” ( ML: W & P , 379–402, p. 395); Julie Schmid, “Mina Loy’s Futurist Theatre” ( Performing Arts Journal (18:1), 1–7, p. 3), and Burke ( BM 186).

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Unlike the typescript, the handwritten draft begins in medias res with an unattributed line prior to those spoken by Some Other Man, reading: “passion? — it’s merely neurosis.”

In the handwritten draft, the sentence beginning “It’s just the same. .” reads: “It’s just the same with the higher qualities we hear so much about — in the comrade, the intellectual companion.”

“dissuade me” was “dissuade me from”

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In the handwritten draft, the page beneath “Woman!?!. .” is badly torn; the discernible writing that follows has been elided from the typescript, and includes the following phrases: “She harried the delicacy of my sentiments — with coarseness— / disinterestedness with cubi / signs [ possibly “ sighs”] of Eros— / store — a.”

“Woman must exist. . to somebody else?” is in handwritten, but not typed, draft—“somebody” was “someone”— ed.

“on you ?” was “on You ?”

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In handwritten draft, “more than twenty minutes” was “more than half an hour” in the first instance

“man is any cruelty she may deserve” was “man is the cruelty that she deserves”

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“(the things we hanker after not being on the market)” reads, in the first instance in the handwritten draft, “(we all know the things we most hanker after are not on the market)”

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“I could have shown you” is “I could have shewn you” in handwritten draft

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In handwritten draft, “autograph album” was “autograph-book” in the first instance

After “the proto-poem” the handwritten draft reads: “( De-claiming with super magical intonation )”; here the proto-poem includes an extra line of “ta ta ta” (13 in total) between “frrrrrr /urrrrrrrrrrrrraaaaaaaaaaaa” and the line beginning “pluff plaff plaff”

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Above the last “h” of “( they sigh )” reads “N,” and the “h” is crossed out— ed.

“bare acquaintance” reads “bare-acquaintance”— ed.

In the handwritten draft, from “FUTURISM. here declaims ” to “ ‘fin- ish her off’ ” is an addition on a separate, single sheet of paper. On that page, after “( most drastic )” Loy writes: “P.S. Haven’t got it here to translate / later on will do.” What follows this note are the lines, “When love has had enough. . I must just [go and] ‘finish her off’ ”—this section appears to be an incomplete prose summary inconsistent with the style of the drama throughout. It is included in this volume as a stage direction, but in the typescript, it reads as if FUTURISM were speaking the whole aloud— ed.

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“ dragging LOVE. across the floor ” reads, in handwritten version “ dragging [in] Love by the hair” —“ across the floor ” is a later addition

In the handwritten version, before “ I just take them” FUTURISM states: “ I don’t waste time over women—”

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“leaving you inconsummate—” was “leaving you — unaccom- plished—” in first instance in handwritten draft

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“replenished — vital — like” reads “replenished-vital-like”—the dashes used here are consistent with the handwritten draft— ed .

In handwritten draft, “spent so long on a woman” was “spent so much time on a woman” in the first instance

Between “fifteen minutes” and “Hurry up! And love me!” the hand- written draft includes the following addition: “The Futurist has to spend his life on trains — they alone have the requisite veloc- ity for our indomitable energy—”

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“why I love you so” was “why I loved you so” in first instance in handwritten manuscript

“entirely fictitious” was “entirely factitious”

“I find it makes it” was “it might make it” in first instance in hand- written draft

“All my mistresses” reads “All my ex- [ex] mistresses” in handwritten draft

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After “ watch the performance ” the next page in the typed manuscript is unnumbered, and reads: “7 pages of manuscript missing”; at this same point in the handwritten manuscript, the pagination goes from 22 to 30— ed.

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“insult the sex” was “insult to sex” in typed draft; handwrittenmanuscript reads “the sex”

“this is new—” reads “this is new—.”— ed.

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“while the fire burns” was “while the sun shines” in the handwritten draft in the first instance

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In handwritten text, “out of her ! — Let’s” reads “out of her ! — —— — let’s”

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“must pretend, anyway” may be “pretend anyway” (note: the handwritten draft reads: “you must — pretend — anyway”) —ed .

“ every point made ” was “ every psychological point in ” in handwritten draft in first instance