Sweeney Agonistes

 

ts eliot, "Fragment of an Agon" (1927)

Sweeney: ………………..Life is death.
I knew a man once did a girl in―

Doris: Oh Mr. Sweeney, please dont talk,
I cut the cards before you came
And I drew the coffin

Swarts: ………………..You drew the coffin?

Doris: I drew the COFFIN very last card.
I dont care for such conversation
A woman runs a terrible risk.

Snow: Let Mr. Sweeney continue his story.
I assure you, Sir, we are very interested.

Sweeney: I knew a man once did a girl in
Any man might do a girl in
Any man has to, needs to, wants to
Once in a lifetime, do a girl in.
Well he kept her there in a bath
With a gallon of lysol in a bath

Swarts: These fellows always get pinched in the end.

Snow: Excuse me, they don’t all get pinched in the end
What about them bones on Epsom Heath?
I seen that in the papers
You seen it in the papers
They don’t all get pinched in the end.

Doris: A woman runs a terrible risk.

Snow: Let Mr. Sweeney continue his story.

Sweeney: This one didn’t get pinched in the end
But that’s another story too.
This went on for a couple of months
Nobody came
And nobody went
But he took in the milk and he paid the rent.

Swarts: What did he do?
All the time, what did he do?

Sweeney: What did he do! What did he do?
That don’t apply.
Talk to live men about what they do.
He used to come and see me sometimes
I’d give him a drink and cheer him up.

Doris: Cheer him up?

Dusty: …….Cheer him up?

Sweeney: Well here again that don’t apply
But I’ve gotta use words when I talk to you.
But here’s what I was going to say.
He didn’t know if he was alive and the girl was dead
He didn’t know if the girl was alive and he was dead
He didn’t know if they both were alive or both were dead
If he was alive then the milkman wasn’t and the rent-collector wasn’t
And if they were alive then he was dead.
There wasn’t any joint
There wasn’t any joint
For when you’re alone
When you’re alone like he was alone
You’re either or neither
I tell you again it don’t apply
Death or life or life or death
Death is life and life is death
I gotta use words when I talk to you
But if you understand or if you don’t
That’s nothing to me and nothing to you
We all gotta do what we gotta do
We’re gonna sit here and drink this booze
We’re gonna sit here and have a tune
We’re gonna stay and we’re gonna go
And somebody’s gotta pay rent

Doris: …… I know who

Sweeney: But that’s nothing to me and nothing to you.

When you’re alone in the middle of the night and you wake in a sweat and a hell of a fright
When you’re alone in the middle of the bed and you wake like someone hit you on the head
You’ve had a cream of a nightmare dream and you’ve got the hoo-ha’s coming to you.
Hoo hoo hoo
You dreamt you waked up at seven o’clock and it’s foggy and it’s damp and it’s dawn and it’s dark
And you wait for a knock and the turning of a lock for you know the hangman’s waiting for you.
And perhaps you’re alive
And perhaps you’re dead
Hoo ha ha
Hoo ha ha
HOO
HOO
HOO
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK
KNOCK
KNOCK
KNOCK