Leonard Cohen - Book of Longing

PENGUIN BOOKS BOOK OF LONGING LEONARDCOHEN

PENGUIN BOOKS PENGUIN BOOKS Published by the Penguin Group Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4P 2Y3 (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.) Penguin Ireland, 25 St Stephens Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd) Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty Ltd) Penguin Books India Pvt Ltd, 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi 110 017, India Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, North Shore 0632, Auckland 1310, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd) Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd, 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England www.penguin.com First published in Canada by McClelland & Stewart Ltd. 2006 First published in Great Britain by Viking 2006 Published in Penguin Books 2007 We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program and that of the Government of Ontario through the Ontario Media Development Corporations Ontario Book Initiative. We further acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council for our publishing program. Copyright Leonard Cohen, 2006 Drawings and decorations copyright Leonard Cohen, 2006 All rights reserved The moral right of the author has been asserted Except in the United States of America, this book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publishers prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. ISBN: 978-0-14-190317-0 for Irving Layton After a while You cant tell If its missing A woman Or needing A cigarette And later on If its night Or day Then suddenly You know The time You get dressed You go home You light up You get married After listening to Mozart (which I often did) I would always Carry a piano Up and down Mt. Baldy And I dont mean A keyboard I mean a full-sized Grand piano Made of cement Now that I am dying I dont regret A single step Roshis very tired, hes lying on his bed Hes been living with the living and dying with the dead But now he wants another drink (will wonders never cease?) Hes making war on war and hes making war on peace Hes sitting in the throne-room on his great Original Face and hes making war on Nothing that has Something in its place His stomachs very happy The prunes are working well Theres no one going to Heaven and theres no one left in Hell Mt.

Baldy, 1996

I corresponded with a famous rabbi but my teacher caught sight of one of my letters and silenced me. Dear Rabbi, I wrote him for the last time, I do not have the authority or understanding to speak of these matters. I was just showing off. Please forgive me. Your Jewish brother, Jikan Eliezer. 1995 Next page