Pepys Diary erasure project – Page 291

Category: Pepys Diary erasure project

Since January 1, 2013, a daily exercise in erasure poetry based on the 17th-century Diary of Samuel Pepys. Why this work? Its language is admirably concrete, with recurring words and turns of phrase shaped by the exigencies of Pepys’ original shorthand. In thought and content it stands at the beginning of the modern era: the first truly confessional piece of literature by a man equally fascinated by religion and science, and whose curiosity encompassed everything from music-making and theater to mathematics, accounting, politics, fashion, and carnal pleasures. And last but not least, the 1899 Wheatley edition is available online in a website that is really a model for how to present literature on the web. It was my desire to read it day by day that led to this project, which I view not as erasure but as discovery—a kind of deep (mis)reading. Pepys was a sexual predator and an architect of British colonialism who personally profited off the slave trade, so any less than an engaged, critical reading of the diary, in this day and age, would be irresponsible. From a secret diary, these are the secret poems hidden even from the author himself.

I began compiling the erasures into free ebooks in 2017. Here are 1664, 1665, and 1666.

January 15, 2013January 16, 2013 by Dave Bonta

Legacy

holloway overhung with ancient trees n Cornwall

[Having been a dog
I sleep in Greek,
say I believe in
supper, not work.]

Erasure poem derived from The Diary of Samuel Pepys, Sunday 15 January 1659/60.

January 14, 2013 by Dave Bonta

Nothing day

~OR~

[Nothing
going to dinner to hear news to his house to my house to the coffee house
going on.]

Erasure poem derived from The Diary of Samuel Pepys, Saturday 14 January 1659/60. Two weeks in, I thought I’d see what this would look like if I used the eraser tool in Photoshop instead of the highlighting tool in Word. I like it better, but it’s more time-consuming to generate, so I might end up sticking with the “blacklighting.”

January 13, 2013 by Dave Bonta

Swan, sword, swine

[the swan how high
how much the sword
a cunning swine played cards
where I went to hunt]

Erasure poem derived from The Diary of Samuel Pepys, Friday 13 January 1659/60

January 12, 2013 by Dave Bonta

A minstrel’s life

[I drink with a seaman,
a half moon and a barber,
play harp for a bit of meat
and send broke thoughts.]

Erasure poem derived from The Diary of Samuel Pepys, Thursday 12 January 1659/60

January 11, 2013 by Dave Bonta

Snuffers and shears

[Being captain, I leave late,
and—a game grown great and very tame—
with a pair of snuffers and a pair of shears
I see the small pox home.]

Erasure poem derived from The Diary of Samuel Pepys, Wednesday 11 January 1659/60

January 11, 2013 by Dave Bonta

Sphere of Wire

[The first sphere of wire
through heat of the sun
drank a star.
In his silk cloak, the chairman made
the rest of the day a bed.]

Erasure poem derived from The Diary of Samuel Pepys, Tuesday 10 January 1659/60

January 9, 2013 by Dave Bonta

The King’s Coffee

[I troubled my hands
with rogue handwriting.

Let posterity know how
the King desired coffee.

I heard for certain that
it would prove small pleasure.

I gave a bottle of mist
at a great loss.]

Erasure poem derived from The Diary of Samuel Pepys, Monday 9 January 1659/60

January 8, 2013January 9, 2013 by Dave Bonta

Christ was a Carpenter

[Christ was a carpenter,
my wife, one coal of fire,
my father a bell.
A strange doctor stayed the death of tomorrow.]

Erasure poem derived from The Diary of Samuel Pepys, Sunday 8 January 1659/60

January 8, 2013January 9, 2013 by Dave Bonta

Rabbit or Ambassador?

[At my office, a rabbit,
at cards, the French ambassador,
at cards, Dr. Whores:
I performed, and put in
at my Lord’s lodgings late.]

Erasure poem derived from The Diary of Samuel Pepys, Saturday 7 January 1659/60

January 6, 2013January 9, 2013 by Dave Bonta

Palpable Beef

[I eat a cold goose and palpable beef, which was
not handsome. I fiddled a good while
and went away, calling on the wench,
took a good supper and a brave cake.]

Erasure poem derived from The Diary of Samuel Pepys, Friday 6 January 1659/60