Mina Loy - Stories and Essays of Mina Loy

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“towards the cosmic” was “towards cosmic”

After “cosmic” reads “? — for which he has not i.e.”— ed .

“macrocosm or divinity” was “macrocosm into the”

After “Mediocosm = man” Loy writes: “Mediocosmic? Can this word be used.”—this note to self appears to mark a break in the philosophical dialogue. The next six pages include a set of rough notes organised under the following headings: Vengeance, Truth, Religion, Propriety of Words, Miracles, Poem, Spirit, Medita- tion, Christ, Masses, Anomaly of Equality, Revolution, Hindu, and Beauty— ed .

Under the heading “Miracles,” Loy briefly continues the Mi/Lo dialogue as follows:

lo

Yet god is ever-changing—

mi

Unchanging in changeableness.

There is no process in the working of a miracle.

It is operated in the fourth dimension. No miracle ever happens in the third dimension: only its effect is apparent.

“conceive of it” was “conceive it”

After “impulse” reads “(longer word)”— ed .

“complement of shame” was “complement of educational”

“a swollen eroticism” was “the swollen bestia”

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“law of the world moralist” was “law of the sex”

“mayest kill — wholesale” was “might kill—”

“should so consistently endeavour to withhold” was “should have to withhold”

THE OIL IN THE MACHINE?

(6:168)

“The Oil in the Machine?” is typed, signed with Loy’s name in capitals at the end, and dated 1921. Three discernible changes have been made to the script: “And what could we make” was “And what the hell could we make”; “pulpy material” was “pulpy materials,” and “re- act — ion” was likely “reaction” in the first instance. It is possible that Loy intended that the phrase “to discover himself” be in quotations, but only one faint, handwritten mark remains at the outset of the phrase. This piece is discussed in Modernism, Technology, and the Body: A Cultural Study, wherein Tim Armstrong suggests that it is indicative of Loy’s tendency to resist a simple equation between the human body and the machine (Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1998, p. 115).

TUNING IN ON THE ATOM BOMB

(6:181)

The manuscript of “Tuning in on the Atom Bomb” consists of five pages of occasionally edited handwriting. Two additional versions of the first page indicate that this is not Loy’s first draft; the differences between all drafts are fairly minor, and one alternate version is included below. The entirety is prefaced by a small sheet of paper reading: “Tuning in on the Atom Bomb — — / Page I–V.”

References to nuclear warfare, “our narrow garden,” “my daughter,” and an ulcer date this work as a product of the forties: the USA dropped atomic bombs on Japan in August 1945, Loy shared residences with her daughters Joella and Fabienne in New York from 1937–48, and Loy was diagnosed with an ulcer in 1940 ( BM 388–90).

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“Excentric” is Loy’s spelling

“perception, to recapture my easeful surroundings” was “perception, on easeful surroundings”

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After “molecular” reads “(?)”— ed .

After “glaucous” reads “(?)”— ed .

“anxiety. . . . . ” was “anxiety. . . . . .”—Loy goes out of her way to cross out the eleventh full stop — the entirety is a later addition— ed .

“imagine what part was mine in this over-all alarm I” was “imagine, I”

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“apprehension — of what, I could” was “apprehension — I could”

After “saying)” reads “(announcement) (dictum)?)”— ed .

“manuscript” reads “mss”— ed .

“the lately inconducive” was “the inconducive”

After “transformation” reads “? (transmutation)”— ed .

“tree with threatening” reads “tree — (the letter) with threatening” ed .

“phantasmagoria” reads “(phantasmagoria”— ed .

“religious debacle” reads “religious (? word) debacle”— ed .

“some abnormal pressure” is a later addition; after “pressure” reads “(?))”—the second bracket is unclear— ed .

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“accounted endlessly responsible” was “accounted responsible”

“of neurosis— ” reads “of neurosis. — ”— ed .

At end of manuscript, upside down at the bottom of the page reads: “German Consulate MU 83523 — ”—the number may be “8°3533” or “8.3523”— ed .

Tuning in on the Atom (alternate draft of first page)

Serene amid scintillas of sunlight gilding our narrow, green garden — writing of the sordid consequences invited by extraction of force from Power

Suddenly

Seismically

was I overcome by an eccentric sense of guilt — invoked by an echo emitted by some forgotten wisdom sunken in ancient time punishing revelation of perilous secret — — — — I did not know the secret!

Causeless accusation as if, for defiance of some unknown taboo detonated in my brain — –

shattering terror — inobviously brought about, of sickening incarceration of the limited within the illimitable.

Longing struggle to regain serenity — endeavour to refocus perception

UNIVERSAL FOOD MACHINE

(6:182)

“Universal Food Machine” is an undated political commentary composed by hand in a single notebook. The thematic concerns — hunger and war — suggest that this work is a product of the World War II period, when Loy was living in New York City, and was increasingly writing about the homeless people who inhabited her local streets (see “IV Compensations of Poverty (Poems 1942–1949)” Lost LB , 109–46). The piece is prefaced with a title page that includes the following three subheadings: “Universal Food Machine,” “War,” and “Effluvia of decomposition of the Spirit”—the order and phrasing of these titles are preserved here as a means of structuring and relaying Loy’s draft composition.

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“Universal Food Machine” begins in medias res; the top of the first available page reads:

. . as is now the case for [gas and water and] gas — with open radiators”— ed .

“Open radiators” was “with grids here and there”

“for those anonymous” was “for the wayfarer and”

“to come from nowhere” was “to belong nowhere”

“Also automatic” was “And automatic”

“composed of the essential” was “to with the essentials”

“essential” reads “essentials”— ed .

“stimulates” reads “stimulate”— ed .

After “vast sums” was “nec spent”

“charity and pooling them for. . general welfare. How” was “char- ity. How”

“the millions of unemployed” was “the hoards of the unem- ployed”

“would you encourage” was “you would”

After “idleness” reads “(?)”— ed .

“but what” was “but where”

“of thrift” was “of thriftles”

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“of politics” was “of thought has”

“levelling up” was “levelling higher”

“surely we have sufficient knowledge” was “surely the time has come”

“human life constrained to concentrate” was “human life that is constrained to the”

“and the more we” was “for it”

On the first page about war, Loy begins:

Prophecies

Speculative Prophecies.