Lapis Lazuli
Draw close: that conflagration of my church
—What then? So much was saved if aught were missed!
My sons, ye would not be my death? Go dig
The white-grape vineyard where the oil-press stood, 35
Drop water gently till the surface sink,
And if ye find . . . Ah God, I know not, I! …
Bedded in store of rotten fig-leaves soft,
And corded up in a tight olive-frail,
Some lump, ah God, of lapis lazuli, 40
Big as a Jew’s head cut off at the nape,
Blue as a vein o’er the Madonna’s breast …
Sons, all have I bequeathed you, villas, all,
That brave Frascati villa with its bath,
So, let the blue lump poise between my knees, 45
Like God the Father’s globe on both His hands
Ye worship in the Jesu Church so gay,
For Gandolf shall not choose but see and burst!
The conflagration
Draw close: that conflagration of my church
—What then? So much was saved if aught were missed!
These lines open a new depth of the Bishop’s character. We have learned that he holds a bitter rivalry with a deceased man named “Gandolf.” They had both sought the same woman, but the bishop had won (and is now addressing his illegitimate sons from that relationship). Gandolf had prevailed against the Bishop when it came to a place in the church for the tomb.
Now, he has something which will “Gandolf shall not choose but see and burst!” This object is identified as the ball of lapis lazuli, a beautiful blue stone. At this time, it would have been imported from Afghanistan, making it an exceedingly rare and expensive stone.
This particular stone is exceptionally large. For this he gives the ghastly image of a murdered man, “Big as a Jew’s head cut off at the nape.” In this image, another aspect of the Bishop’s character is involved: There is first the anti-Semitism. Second, the brutality that a murdered (or if brought about the Bishop’s influence, the execution) of the victim. The Bishop does not find the image off-putting but rather description. There is something quite ghoulish about such an image. That he could use the picture of a decapitation as easily as someone else might mention a ball of the same size is striking.
Next, the color of the stone is again telling,
Blue as a vein o’er the Madonna’s breast …
The incongruity of the image is startling. The Madonna is of course the Virgin Mary. But he thinks of her in frankly physical terms, even erotic. The ease of his coupling the sacred and the profane through the poem is brought together in this single line. He is a bishop with sons. Rather than an exemplar of any holiness, he is a base, envious, immoral, covetous man.
And he is also a thief. Look again at the lines which open this section:
Draw close: that conflagration of my church
—What then? So much was saved if aught were missed!
My sons, ye would not be my death? Go dig
There was a fire in the church – “my church”. This is quickly brushed off with, “What then”, that is, it was not big deal. And here with have the veiled confession:
So much was saved if aught were missed!
In the fire something was “missed”, that is lost to the church; but something was “saved”, that is to him. The Bishop stole the lapis lazuli in the fire. It was missed, but it was also saved. This explains the elaborate precaution taken to hide the stone.
My sons, ye would not be my death? Go dig
The white-grape vineyard where the oil-press stood, 35
Drop water gently till the surface sink,
And if ye find
These are marvelously ironic lines. “If you would not see me dead,” “ye would not be my death.” But he is dying. He talking with them preciously because he is dying. What then is the death he is describing: His heart has been set upon this stone, which will be the capstone of his victory over Gandolf:
For Gandolf shall not choose but see and burst!
But the victory he has over Gandolf can never be had: Gandolf will never know that the Bishop got the stone. Gandolf is dead and died prior to coming to knowledge of the stone. The Bishop will be spared a kind of death by having this victory over his rival. And yet, it is too late, by hiding the stone from Gandolf, Gandolf never learned that the Bishop had the stone. And so by the Bishop’s logic, he is dead and can never not be dead.
How are they to spare him from death? By digging, which is what you must do to bury a body. He incoherently thinks that digging will save him.
Now look at back the lines which run to the image of the man’s head:
Go dig
The white-grape vineyard where the oil-press stood, 35
Drop water gently till the surface sink,
And if ye find . . . Ah God, I know not, I! …
Bedded in store of rotten fig-leaves soft,
And corded up in a tight olive-frail,
Some lump, ah God, of lapis lazuli, 40
Big as a Jew’s head cut off at the nape,
In an abandoned portion of a garden (where the oil press used to stand), look for something buried and wrapped up and you will find a head (collapsing the stone and the description into one) They will be digging for corpse.
Moreover, this find will prove the Bishop’s crime. He had hid because it was stolen. But now in his triumph – which will be his death – he confesses to the crime and exhibits the corpse.
This rises a crescendo of joy: If you give me this stone on my tomb, I will give you a beautiful villa:
Sons, all have I bequeathed you, villas, all,
That brave Frascati villa with its bath,
So, let the blue lump poise between my knees, 45
Like God the Father’s globe on both His hands
We then have yet another grotesque incongruity: The stone is like the blue earth, which God the Father holds in his hands. Therefore, I want you to let me hold this globe, too. But rather than in his hands, he will hold it between his knees.
They then will worship in joy because Gandolf will be in a fit of envy:
Ye worship in the Jesu Church so gay,
For Gandolf shall not choose but see and burst!
They can have light hearts, because their father’s rival will be bested for all eternity. Which is not worship of God at all; but rather completely the opposite in every way. This will then give to another round of incongruity, mixing sacred and pagan.
memoirandremains 