Delmore Schwartz - Once and for All - The Best of Delmore Schwartz

Seeks for the permanent amid the loss,

Daily and desperate, of love, of friends,

Of every thought with which his age began—

Kafka in Prague works in an office, learns

How bureaucratic Life, how far-off God,

A white-collar class’ theology—

Perse is in Asia as a diplomat,

— He sees the violent energy with which

Civilization creates itself and moves—

Yet, with these images, he cannot see

The moral apathy after The Munich Pact,

The’unnatural silence on The Maginot Line,

— Yet he cannot foresee The Fall of France—

Mann, too, in Davos-Platz finds in the sick

The triumph of the artist and the intellect—

All over Europe these exiles find in art

What exile is: art becomes exile too,

A secret and a code studied in secret,

Declaring the agony of modern life:

The child will learn of life from these great men,

He will participate in their solitude,

And maybe in the end, on such a night

As this, return to the starting-point, his name,

Showing himself as such among his friends—

[ The lighting changes as before, the whole cast comes back, and as the child is returned to the dining room by SHENANDOAH , it is obvious that the argument has continued with greater and greater heat. For a moment, as the argument waxes fast and furious, the infant is passed from person to person hurriedly and painfully, like something too hot to handle. NATHAN has been backed against the wall by his mother and several of the men, who are trying to keep him from making his departure. ]

NATHAN HARRIS: I say again that the name Shenandoah is inexcusable and intolerable, and I will not stay here unless the boy is given another name—

GRANDMOTHER HARRIS: What an unlucky thing for the baby, to have his godfather go away on this day: this day of all days—

WALTER FISH: Let him go, if he feels that way. He thinks he is too good for all of us—

ELSIE FISH: What name would you suggest for my child, Nathan? Just what is wrong with Shenandoah?

NATHAN HARRIS: I have explained again and again that Shenandoah is not a name, to begin with, and secondly, it does not go well with Fish.

MRS. GOLDMARK: He is just a snob—

JACOB FISH: I wish I had not started this whole business. But after all, a great tradition was at stake.

DOLLY FISH: You ought to be ashamed of yourself: you would like to live forever.

NATHAN HARRIS [ scanning the paper ]: Mrs. Goldmark, you are so resourceful, here, turn to the sport pages and read out the names of the entries at the race-tracks. [MRS. GOLDMARK turns aside in anger. ]

SHENANDOAH:

My God in Heaven: what piercing irony,

To think of naming me after a horse—

NATHAN HARRIS: “Straw Flower, About Face, Cookie, Royal Minuet, Sandy Boot, Rex Flag, Hand & Glove, Fencing, Key Man, Little Tramp, Wise Man, Domkin—”

SHENANDOAH:

These names are fairly pleasant, after all:

But I am not the best judge, prejudiced—

WALTER FISH: This is too much: how long am I supposed to stand here and be insulted without opening my mouth? To name my son after a horse: who do you think you are, anyway?

NATHAN HARRIS: Who do you think the child is, anyway?

[ The child howls and SHENANDOAH holds his hand to his head and then to his heart with feeling. ]

SHENANDOAH: I often wonder who I am, in fact—

WALTER FISH: Please depart from this house at once—

SEVERAL RELATIVES: Nathan! Walter! Nathan! Walter!

NATHAN HARRIS: This is my sister’s home. I refuse to go.

WALTER FISH: I am going to get a policeman—

[ Enter the rabbi, DR. DAVID ADAMSON.]

DR. ADAMSON: Ah, this is the house blessed by the birth of a child; what a wonderful thing it is to bring a human being into the world—

SHENANDOAH:

Here is the man of God: what will he say?

How relevant are his imperatives?

Can he express himself in modern terms?

And bring this conflict to a peaceful end?

His insights, old as Pharaoh, sometimes work,

But there is always something wholly new,

Unique, unheard-of, unaccounted for,

Under the sun, despite Ecclesiastes—

DR. ADAMSON: But why did I hear such shouting and angry voices? What must God think, seeing anger in the house of a newborn child? Men were not born to fight with one another—

JACOB FISH: Why not let Dr. Adamson decide who is right?

WALTER FISH: This is my son: I am the one to decide his proper name—

DR. ADAMSON: A child is not a piece of property, Mr. Fish—

WALTER FISH: Are you here to insult me too?

DR. ADAMSON: Now, now: my remark was ill-considered: but let us get to the bottom of this improper quarrel—

ELSIE FISH: Let me explain quickly: we cannot name the child Jacob after my dear dead father because his other grandfather’s name is Jacob and here he is—

JACOB FISH: Thank God for that!

DR. ADAMSON: You are right, a child ought to not be named after a living man: that is the habit of the Gentiles.

JACOB FISH: Let us not imitate them—

ELSIE FISH: We decided to name him Shenandoah because that sounds like such a fine name. But my brother Nathan seems to think it is disgraceful. What do you think, Dr. Adamson?

NATHAN HARRIS: I wonder how much sense this anachronism has? He knows more than the father, however.

DR. ADAMSON: It is a most unusual name. There are so many fine names which belong to our people: why go far afield?

WALTER FISH: There has been enough discussion. I have made up my mind. The boy is going to be called Shenandoah.

SHENANDOAH:

This shows the livid power of my father:

For fifteen years he will behave like this—

DR. ADAMSON: I do not want to add fuel to the flames of this regrettable dispute. I must admit that there is nothing seriously wrong with the name, although it is unusual—

NATHAN HARRIS: You see, he is not sure. He does not know. He would like to stop the quarrel, but he speaks without conviction—

SHENANDOAH:

“The best lack all conviction, while the worst

Are full of passionate intensity—” 2

DR. ADAMSON: Young man, I am full of conviction.

WALTER FISH: Go on, Nathan, just go on like that: attack everyone in the house: did you ever see anyone so sure of himself?

ELSIE FISH: Walter, maybe Nathan is right, who knows? Why don’t you call up Kelly and ask him?

SHENANDOAH:

What a suggestion! fearful and unsure,

She seeks the Gentile World, the Gentile voice!

The ancient wisdom is far from enough,

Far from enough her husband’s cleverness—

WALTER FISH: All right; everyone always says that I am unwilling to take advice and listen to reason. I will show you I can and I do. I will call my lawyer Kelly and we will find out what he has to say about the name. Not that I think for one moment that you’re right, Nathan—

NATHAN HARRIS: Go ahead, Walter, call up Kelly: I won’t think for one moment that you think I am right—

JACOB FISH: Who is this Kelly?

HARRY LASKY: Kelly is Walter’s lawyer, one of the best young lawyers in town, one of the coming men. And they say he knows the right people in Tammany through his wife’s sister—

DR. ADAMSON: Mr. Fish, to one and all it is perfectly clear that you have no need of me, since you have your lawyer Kelly. I would like to suggest that he perform the ceremony of circumcision—

[ He starts for the door. Walter stops him. ]

HARRY LASKY: Another one wants to go! Soon no one will be left!

WALTER FISH: Now, now, Dr. Adamson, no offense intended. With all due respect for you, you know it is always best to hear what everyone has to say. After all, this child is going to live in a world of Kellys! Just sit down for a moment while I call. I am going to make this worth your while.