Selected Poems, 1956-1968 by Leonard Cohen

Original manuscript material of this calibre from Leonard Cohen is rare, as the penurious poet realised at an early date that he could raise money selling his drafts to the Fisher Library in Toronto. To Cohen, who was still early in his music career, 'Nico represented all the women he had ever wanted and the more she rejected him, the more the poet suffered for the image of the Virgin' (ibid, p. It appeared alongside a number of other poems that reference Nico.

The object of the poem, and of Cohen's unrequited infatuation, was the singer-songwriter Nico, who was 'idealized by Cohen and made a subject of his worship' (Mesíc, p. 'I wrote all these songs for you.' Leonard Cohen's holographic manuscript for his poem 'You Do Not Have to Love Me' which was first published as one of the 'new poems' in Leonard Cohen Selected Poems 1956-1968 (Viking, 1968). Jirí Mesíc, Leonard Cohen, the Modern Troubadour, 2020. Manuscript in blue fibre-tip pen on single sheet of lined paper (279 x 215 mm) extracted from a spiral-bound notebook. This example comes from the archive of Cohen's Viking editor Corlies 'Cork' Smith (1929-2004), a New York based editor who in a 50-year career published many important writers, including Thomas Pynchon,Jimmy Breslin and Calvin Trillin.s Description

'You Do Not Have to Love Me' was also printed as a standalone piece by the Sore Dove Press in 2008, with illustration by Soyehl Dahi.

Leonard Cohen's holographic manuscript for his poem 'You Do Not Have to Love Me' which was first published as one of the 'new poems' in Leonard Cohen Selected Poems 1956-1968 (Viking, 1968).

Selected Poems, 1956-1968 by Leonard Cohen