McClure--Bower

                In his “Ghost Tantras,” Michael McClure creates a bestial language which, when combined with the English language, highlights the animalistic nature of humans. In his first Tantra, the differences between the animalistic language and English are distinct. The animal sounds are simple and guttural: “GOOOOR!” “Ghaah!” “Rahr!” “ROWRR!”. And the few English words in the poem are direct and form a coherent sentence: “BE NOT SUGAR BUT BE LOVE/looking for sugar!” There is a distinct juxtaposition between the two languages. No English word is on the same line as an animalistic word. The line in English is somewhat nonsensical, but it is something that we can derive meaning from. Perhaps the speaker is saying that one should be genuine and loving, rather than lusting for a superficial, ‘sugary,’ love. The animalistic language sounds like a little kid imitating a lion. McClure creates the stereotypical noises that one would associate with wildlife. There is a stark contrast between the animal language and the English words, and the two seem to be barely related. If anything, the “Gooors” and “Rowrs” add more sense to the somewhat nonsensical declaration to “be not sugar but be love looking for sugar!”  However, as McClure’s book progresses, the animal language grows more complicated and becomes implicated in the English, showing that the two may not be very different.

                In tantra 91, the merging of the English language and the animal language has become clear. It is as if the animalistic language has progressed and the English language has regressed. The internal structure of the beast language has become more complicated at this point in the book. Rather than simply guttural exclamations, the animalistic ‘words’ begin to more closely resemble actual words, and some even contain English words within them, for instance, “glimmerrohrahrr,” which seems to derive from the word ‘glimmer.’ Also, these animalistic words are integrated into the English sentences. Take for instance, “in the blue and pink glimmerroharahrr meests.” Take note of the word “meests,” which seems to be an intentional misspelling of the word ‘meet’ rather than an animalistic noise (for there are no guttural sounds like in “glimmerroharahrr.”), perhaps implying a degradation of the English language. This contrasts to the animalistic language, which has grown more complicated not only in the structure of the words, but also in the way the animalistic words are used. Rather than simply being isolated animalistic exclamations, as they are in the first tantra, the animalistic words are woven into the English sentences and seem to hold grammatical purposes in the sentences. For instance, “glimmerroharahrr” is some sort of noun that can be blue and pink. It is as if through these tantras, McClure is creating an imagined progression of human language. I find it interesting that he includes words such as “thy” and “aye,” which are associated with older forms of English. And that he includes the exclamation of “Aye!” with made-up exclamations such as “Dayohh!” and “Howhrr!” shows that the sounds we make as humans (for instance, saying “aye” as a form of ‘yes’) sounds as animalistic and nonsensical as if an animal growled “howhrr.” Thus, McClure breaks down the English language and develops his made-up animal language in order to highlight the animalistic nature of humans, as seen through language.