Skip to main content

Physical Language Laboratory, No. 3: Specimen/Kaddish, 1997

 Item — Multiple Containers
Identifier: CC-28027-29181

Scope and Contents

The poem object is a black egg placed in the bottom center of an acrylic jar. The title, Kaddish, is the Jewish prayer of mourning. At the base of the egg, a line of poetry by Walt Whitman is set in a spiral line. It reads,"All goes onward and outward, nothing collapses, And to die is different from what any one supposed, and luckier." The box is printed with the quote from an unidentified person, "...when she put out all her eyes from grief, they did not turn to fire but fell to earth as eggs..." -- Source of annotation: Marvin or Ruth Sackner.

Dates

  • Creation: 1997

Creator

Extent

1 item (1 poem object) : 1 egg (wood, paper, acrylic paint, metal, ink, glue) in jar (plastic) + 1 box (cardboard, printed, rubberstamped) ; 10.5 x 9.2 x 9.2 cm (jar), 14 x 13.2 x 13.2 cm (box)

Language of Materials

From the Collection: English

Original Sackner Archive Location

fortress, room off kitche

Custodial History

The Sackner Archive of Concrete and Visual Poetry, gift of Ruth and Marvin A. Sackner and the Sackner Family Partnership.

Materials Specific Details

Published: Oakland, California : Palabra Press. Copies: About 75 total copies. 2 number copy. Variable edition; multiple copies available.

General

2 copies available, one in a box (box 245), the other not (box 210).

Processing Information

Added by RED; updated by: RED.

Repository Details

Part of the The Ruth and Marvin Sackner Archive of Concrete and Visual Poetry Repository

Contact:
125 W. Washington St.
Main Library
Iowa City Iowa 52242 United States
319-335-5921