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THE NON-WORKS
of
SAMUEL TYLDSEY
 
 
 

CHAPTER 2

     The following pieces were found together with an early draft of Tyldsley's first published work, Out of Tune.⁶  It is unclear whether Mr. Tyldsley rejected the works of his own accord or if he was prompted to do so.  For whatever reason, they were never published, though they were never discarded by Tyldsley.
     "The Rainy Wednesday Incoherent Blues" was actually meant to be sung.  Tyldsley explains this odd verse in a letter to his brother, "I was feeling quite depressed this morning when I awoke.  The precise mood seemed indescribable, so I, of course, decided to describe it.  The result is this little chant, which I moan to whatever notes my hand decides to fall upon."⁷[Tyldsley played piano].  One other verse included here seems to have been set to music.  "Today" was found with smaller sheets of paper attached to it.  On these papers were scribbled various chord progressions as well as conflicting ideas for melody lines. Since it is impossible to know what these ideas would have spawned, and they have little meaning as they now stand, this portion of  the poem has been omitted altogether.   Also of interest is the piece beginning, "Once was I young...".  This is a relatively rare instance of Tyldsley writing from a feminine viewpoint.  It was dedicated to Martha Simms, his landlady for the eight years preceding the publication of Out of Tune.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 Sing your hymns of justice
      (with crib-notes in hand)
 through expressionless faces,
      with hollow glass eyes.
 To your dead soul they mean nothing;
 these brave words of your father.
 
 

                                                 It's so hard to get up in the morning
                                                          when there's nothing to get up to...
                                                 It's so hard to see sunshine
                                                          on a dark and stormy night...

                                                 Cupboards brought down
                                                          from Old Mother Hubbard's...
                                                 My dog ran away with my wife
                                                          (sure miss that bitch)
                                                           too tired to get angry...
                                                           guess I'll go back to bed.

                                                  It's so hard to sleep in the evening,
                                                           I know I'll have nightmares.
                                                  It's so hard to have sweet dreams
                                                           when your life has gone sour.
 
 

                                                         It's just a moment in time,
                                                                      it will soon fade away.
                                                         It's just the way that I feel;
                                                                      it can't help -
                                                                      it just hurts me now.

                                                         It's just a moment in time,
                                                         it's just an old man's dream.
                                                         We must let it go -
                                                                      to nurture the dreams
                                                                                     of youth.

                                                          It's just a moment in time;
                                                                      it has little relevance
                                                                      to what lies beyond...

                                                           It's just a moment in time,
                                                           it's just what's in your heart
                                                                   that makes your head
                                                                               think it's so -

                                                            it's just a moment in time.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

     I see the world
            revolve upon a billion axes,
            spinning not at all,
                   but contorting every way.

     Beyond the sky
     swirl a billion blazing stars,
             yet lie they cold,
             within their cores.
 

                                                             Autumn breezes clear my memories
                                                             and cast me to tomorrow.
                                                             Know I not from whence I came,
                                                                       or whither I shall go...
                                                             The sky hath stole this will of mine,
                                                                       and the wind doth bid me follow.
 
 
 
 
 
 

  O headless fowl,
  whither dost thou haste?
  Would'st thou retrieve thy crown
  for to lose it once again?

 Weary traveler,
  why goest thou on,
  moving in circles
 upon a straight path?

 Why doth man seek
  what ne'er he shall find?

  Dust he was-
  dust shall he be;
  betwixt he is but plastic.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

"I held thee once,
 and let thee go.
I knew thee once-
 alas, no more."
 

                                         Once was I young-
                                                  too young at times,
                                          to know those days would end.

                                          My skin was soft,
                                                  complexion fair,
                                          my hair- not this grey before you now.

                                          And once I loved...

                                                  a man so kind and handsome...
                                           I pledged my life to a prince,
                                                   but to find a rogue within...

                                           He said he loved,
                                           he danced as though't were true,
                                           but his partners he chose freely,
                                           and the step I knew too well.

                                           At the first, no pain could harm my love,
                                                   or so it seemed to me;
                                            perhaps fear was yet
                                           my strongest passion.

                                            If it was life I feared
                                            I need not have,
                                            for little did I see of it,
                                            and little it of me.

                                             I left behind my tears
                                             and scorned my child eyes.
                                             With shallow heart I'd played my role:
                                              housemaid, wife, mother...

                                              trusted,
                                              thus forgotten
                                              by all
                                              but few
                                              who shared my fate.

                                             Now I am old,
                                                      friends have died,
                                                               or left me;
                                                       memories lost,
                                                               or stolen;

                                               my life replaced,

                                               and body cast aside.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 Yesterday's dreams fade
  in the abyss
  of reality-
 

                                                     Reality: a contradiction;
                                                     a creation of the non-creative
                                                     in their endless search
                                                     for meaning in the
                                                     meaningless.
 
 
 
 
 

 To thy graves march ye all,
 fulfilling ancient prophecy
 to please a dead god
 who regards not
 these petty
 actions.
 
 

        The song playing is "Now Winter Nights Enlarge" by Thomas Campion.  It was sequenced by David Cooke and is available at  David Cooke's corner of the Public Domain.