Kristina Marie Darling
Footnotes to a History of Transcendence
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1. The photographs depict her aging beloved, who died of cholera while summering in
Toulouse. His pale hands and perfectly pressed handkerchiefs.
Toulouse. His pale hands and perfectly pressed handkerchiefs.
2. Within these travel books she found tattered maps and souvenirs. It was then she
imagined her heart as a white bird in a silver cage.
imagined her heart as a white bird in a silver cage.
3. Transcend.
1. To pass beyond the limits of.
2. To exist independently of the material world.
2. To exist independently of the material world.
4. An early twentieth-century stage play, in which the heroine professed to see
Zukofsky's ghost in her intricately embellished teacup.
Zukofsky's ghost in her intricately embellished teacup.
5. "I had wanted to bottle the cold white light that shone through the kitchen window.
Soon every spoon was glittering in the little wooden drawer."
Soon every spoon was glittering in the little wooden drawer."
6. She realized that her desire to entertain, rather than the physical presence of a guest,
was the cause of her recurring dream.
was the cause of her recurring dream.
7. Because the film (c. 1920) made frequent use of double exposures to portray the
ghost, moviegoers believed the screen to be laced with electric wires.
ghost, moviegoers believed the screen to be laced with electric wires.
8. Sublimer. Translated from the French as sublimation. Meaning, in this case, to
evaporate or vanish.
evaporate or vanish.
A History of Transcendence: Glossary of Terms
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bird. A metaphor for the more ethereal qualities of the heart. Its dark blue feathers
were found scattered beneath the trellis after her beloved's elaborate funeral.
ghost. As in the shadow of a bird, which appeared in an unlit window. She could hear
its gauzy wings beating above a box of red geraniums.
light. Synonymous with the strange or otherworldly. Consider the graceful line of the
beloved's white cuff, its fabric luminous against a marble staircase.
photograph. To preserve or record. At the time it was expected that her album remain
hidden from view. The mercury contained in his daguerreotype was acknowledged as
the source of this widespread anxiety.
teacup. A name for the glass before it shattered. Her letters describe these shards as
colorful, even iridescent, when held to the light.
travel. Meaning, in this case, displacement from the beloved. For a detailed set of
maps, see Appendix A.
window. An opening through which light could be glimpsed. Upon closing her album,
she remembered that his daguerreotype contained a small amount of poison.
were found scattered beneath the trellis after her beloved's elaborate funeral.
ghost. As in the shadow of a bird, which appeared in an unlit window. She could hear
its gauzy wings beating above a box of red geraniums.
light. Synonymous with the strange or otherworldly. Consider the graceful line of the
beloved's white cuff, its fabric luminous against a marble staircase.
photograph. To preserve or record. At the time it was expected that her album remain
hidden from view. The mercury contained in his daguerreotype was acknowledged as
the source of this widespread anxiety.
teacup. A name for the glass before it shattered. Her letters describe these shards as
colorful, even iridescent, when held to the light.
travel. Meaning, in this case, displacement from the beloved. For a detailed set of
maps, see Appendix A.
window. An opening through which light could be glimpsed. Upon closing her album,
she remembered that his daguerreotype contained a small amount of poison.
Kristina Marie Darling is the author of five books of poetry and the editor of a forthcoming anthology, narrative (dis)continuities: prose experiments by younger american writers (Moria Books, 2012). She has been awarded fellowships from Yaddo, the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, the Vermont Studio Center, and the Ragdale Foundation, as well as grants from the Kittredge Fund and the Elizabeth George Foundation. Her poems and essays appear in The Gettysburg Review, New Letters, Third Coast, and Verse Daily. A graduate of Washington University and the University of Missouri, Kristina is currently working toward a Ph.D. in Poetics at SUNY-Buffalo.
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