Elvin no exige exégetas



Las extrañas bestias de Blake andan desamparadas

hasta que Harold les ofrece cobijo

¿en pastoral albergue mal cubierto?



¿Quién si no?

***

A poet should never explicate own work, unless the explication is better than the poem. Which should be easy with this poem.

"Elvin no exige exégetas" [Elvin needs no exegetes; no exigent exegetes for Elvin! ]: A literary critic used to exegesis of difficult texts has no tools to deal with Elvin Jones' drumming. Note the snazzy alliteration.

"Las extrañas bestias de Blake andan desamparadas / hasta que Harold les ofrece cobijo" [Blake's strange beasts wander around unsheltered / unitl Harold offers them sanctuary]: William Blake's poetry does seem to require exegesis, someone like Harold Bloom to explain it. However, the tone here is ironic. The speaker prefers Elvin to Blake, in the Blake requires you to buy into a system. More snazzy alliteration.

"'en pastoral albergue mal cubierto'" [in a badly covered rustic retreat]. This line is taken from a famous Góngora sonnet. The shelter offered Blake's beasts will be inadequate.

"¿Quién si no?" [If not {him} then who?]. The speaker continues to ironize at Harold Bloom's expense!