{"id":106883,"date":"2017-01-19T19:37:36","date_gmt":"2017-01-20T00:37:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?p=106883"},"modified":"2017-01-20T12:22:59","modified_gmt":"2017-01-20T17:22:59","slug":"the-business-of-power","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2017\/01\/19\/the-business-of-power\/","title":{"rendered":"The Business of Power"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/a>

Rembrandt\u2019s Trumpeter<\/i>\u2014emphasize the first syllable, if you wish.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Our\u00a0complete digital archive is available now.\u00a0Subscribers can read every piece\u2014every story and poem, every essay, portfolio, and interview\u2014from <\/em>The Paris Review\u2019s sixty-three-year history. Subscribe now<\/a> and you can start reading 0ur\u00a0back issues\u00a0right away. You can also try a free ten-day trial period<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t need\u00a0to come right out and say why\u00a0Peter Leight\u2019s poem \u201cThe Business of Power<\/a>,\u201d from our Spring\u2013Summer 1978 issue<\/a>,\u00a0appeals to me\u00a0at present. Just to see the words \u201cbusiness\u201d\u00a0<\/em>and \u201cpower\u201d\u00a0<\/em>sharing a line is probably more than enough for you to get the gist.\u00a0I\u2019m not going to raise an eyebrow at the \u201clumps, muffs, stomach folds, pendant chins\u201d that comprise the bodies of the ruling class, as Leight describes them; nor am I going to\u00a0note that a phrase like \u201cshowcasing girth\u201d is so sickeningly relevant right now as to make one wince; nor will I sally forth and\u00a0deliver my long thesis on the lines \u201cthey mask their puissance and assume a cheapness that ensures \/ acceptability,\u201d because you know what that thesis is\u2014we\u2019re all living it. So here, then, just read the poem: it may as well have been written two minutes ago, and I fear we\u2019ll be saying the same after another thirty-nine years have passed. It begins,\u00a0<\/p>\n

Even in Rembrandt\u2019s portraits,
\nthey don\u2019t look like a ruling class,
\nand their wives are no less pronounced, prizing money not blood, merit
\nrather than patronage, showcasing girth as though business<\/p>\n

set a standard of living
\nthey merely adhered to. Rembrandt
\nput them in chairs, money conversing with beauty, but they\u2019re standing
\n(in the commercial sense) as exponents of the solvent,<\/p>\n

if common, misconception,
\nthat with their lumps, muffs, stomach folds,
\npendant chins, unfinished outer layers, and the predilection
\nfor airless, well-choreographed virtue one sees revealed<\/p>\n

in their business-like poses
\nthey are merely ordinary
\nand unremarkable citizens \u2026<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Read \u201cThe Business of Power<\/a>\u201d in full here; and\u00a0subscribe now<\/a>\u00a0for digital access to every short story, poem, portfolio, and essay from\u00a0The Paris Review<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A poem by Peter Leight on the ruling class, \u201cwith their lumps, muffs, stomach folds, pendant chins, unfinished outer layers\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1188],"tags":[16304,370,26616,26768,18005,26799,7221,165,26800],"class_list":["post-106883","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-from-the-archive","tag-archive","tag-back-issues","tag-digital-subscription","tag-inauguration","tag-issue-73","tag-peter-leight","tag-poems","tag-poetry","tag-the-business-of-power"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPoem: The Business of Power<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A poem by Peter Leight on the ruling class, \u201cwith their lumps, muffs, stomach folds, pendant chins, unfinished outer layers\u2026\u201d\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, 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