Support 100 years of independent journalism.

  1. Culture
11 July 2013

“Cirque de Modernisme”: a poem by Joe Dunthorne

By Joe Dunthorne

                       Ezra Pound mesmerises crowds
with his which-fez-is-hiding-the-pince-nez shtick
while Gertrude Stein, astride two palomino hinnies,
recites “nightwear’s enemy” and other anagrams
of Ernest Hemingway, the burnished strongman,
who flexes his glutes then tears through Ulysses,
no sweat, before Thomas “Nine Lives” Stearns
takes aplomb-less turns on the parallel trapezes
in his unambiguous catsuit, swinging from low
to high amid footnote confetti. For the grand finale,
James Joyce, hobo clown, hoists flaming hoops
toward the big top’s roof. The Woolf tucks herself
in the literary cannon. Apollinaire starts a snare roll.
Ringmaster Proust, with his chevron moustache,
lights the fuse. A scent of burnt madeleine then boom,
in a plume of chalk dust, she splits the air,
The Human Comet, her hair aflame, she flips
through not one, not two, but three burning rings,
the crowd all stand and sing her name, her colleagues
wince, the band play Schoenberg’s Dial-up Modem
in B flat major, the tent is a plague of hands

but no-one checks where Virginia lands.

Select and enter your email address Quick and essential guide to domestic and global politics from the New Statesman's politics team. The New Statesman’s global affairs newsletter, every Monday and Friday. Your new guide to the best writing on ideas, politics, books and culture each weekend - from the New Statesman. A weekly newsletter helping you fit together the pieces of the global economic slowdown. A newsletter showcasing the finest writing from the ideas section, covering political ideas, philosophy, criticism and intellectual history - sent every Wednesday. The New Statesman’s weekly environment email on the politics, business and culture of the climate and nature crises - in your inbox every Thursday. Sign up to receive information regarding NS events, subscription offers & product updates.
  • Administration / Office
  • Arts and Culture
  • Board Member
  • Business / Corporate Services
  • Client / Customer Services
  • Communications
  • Construction, Works, Engineering
  • Education, Curriculum and Teaching
  • Environment, Conservation and NRM
  • Facility / Grounds Management and Maintenance
  • Finance Management
  • Health - Medical and Nursing Management
  • HR, Training and Organisational Development
  • Information and Communications Technology
  • Information Services, Statistics, Records, Archives
  • Infrastructure Management - Transport, Utilities
  • Legal Officers and Practitioners
  • Librarians and Library Management
  • Management
  • Marketing
  • OH&S, Risk Management
  • Operations Management
  • Planning, Policy, Strategy
  • Printing, Design, Publishing, Web
  • Projects, Programs and Advisors
  • Property, Assets and Fleet Management
  • Public Relations and Media
  • Purchasing and Procurement
  • Quality Management
  • Science and Technical Research and Development
  • Security and Law Enforcement
  • Service Delivery
  • Sport and Recreation
  • Travel, Accommodation, Tourism
  • Wellbeing, Community / Social Services
Visit our privacy Policy for more information about our services, how New Statesman Media Group may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications.
THANK YOU