Venice masks

Wednesday 30 April 2014

Sonnet XX: I Always Knew - Louise Labé

It was prophesied that, some fine day,
I would love deeply one whose figure
was described; and with never a picture,
I knew him, finding him, on my way.

Tuesday 29 April 2014

Little Zebras - Ana Ristovic

The more I read
the more books
resemble little zebras
their spines bend under the thumb
anticipating the riders
they won't buck off.

Monday 28 April 2014

Blessed Be the Hour - Walter von der Vogelweide

Blessed be the hour when first I knew her,
Her who with heart and soul did rout me;
When all my senses were aroused to woo her,
I felt her goodness hover all about me.
And now I cannot part from her again,
Because her beauty and kindness delight me,
And her red, red mouth that laughs so brightly.

Sunday 27 April 2014

An Evening Reflection Upon God's Grandeur Prompted by the Great Northern Lights - Mikhail Lomonosov

The day conceals its brilliant face,
And dark night covers up the fields,
Black shadows creep upon the hills,
Light's rays recede from us.
Before us gapes a well of stars -
Stars infinite, well fathomless.

Friday 25 April 2014

A young soul - Al-Mutanabbi

A young soul in my ageing body plays,
Though time’s sharp blades my weary visage raze.

Hard biter in a toothless mouth is she,
The will may wane, but she a winner stays.

Thursday 24 April 2014

The insolvent debtor - George Cosbuc

Home walked she from the mill
Her sack was down and she
Could not lift it again.
"May I help?" "What?" "For pay!"
And in the narrow lane
Good girls shouldn't wave away
Such offers and say "nay".
That she agreed was plain.

Wednesday 23 April 2014

The True Dragon - Brian Patten

St George was out walking
He met a dragon on a hill,
It was wise and wonderful
Too glorious to kill

Tuesday 22 April 2014

Monday 21 April 2014

Seven Stanzas at Easter - John Updike

Make no mistake
If he rose at all it was as his body;
If the cells' dissolution did not reknit,
The amino acids rekindle,
The church will fall.

Sunday 20 April 2014

The day of resurrection! - John of Da­mas­cus (John Mansur)

The day of resurrection! Earth, tell it out abroad;
The Passover of gladness, the Passover of God.
From death to life eternal, from earth unto the sky,
Our Christ hath brought us over, with hymns of victory.

Saturday 19 April 2014

No, it was not the Jews who crucified - Jacobus Revius

No, it was not the Jews who crucified,
Nor who betrayed You in judgment place,

Friday 18 April 2014

Good Friday - Maria Melendez Kelson

Jesus, I want my sins back.
My prattle, pride, and private prices?—?
climbing, clinching, clocking?—?

Thursday 17 April 2014

Ode - Amir ibn Kolthum

Ha girl! Up with the bowl! Give us our dawn draught
And do not spare the wines of al-Andarina,

Wednesday 16 April 2014

Vondel's Lucifer (Act I, lines 173-191) - Joost van den Vondel

Belzebub:
Now picture me the bride, described from life.

Apollion:
That Nature's pencil needs, nor lesser hues
Than sunbeams. Perfect are both man and wife;

Tuesday 15 April 2014

The Garden in Samothrace - Nonnus of Panopolis

Such was that shady garden. Near flowed forth
A fountain with two springs, whence all might draw
Perennial waters cool; in many a rill
Thence had the skilful gardener trained along
From plant to plant the winding wandering stream.

Monday 14 April 2014

Bringing in the Wine - Li Bai

See how the Yellow River's water moves out of heaven.
Entering the ocean, never to return.
See how lovely locks in bright mirrors in high chambers,
Though silken-black at morning, have changed by night to snow...

Sunday 13 April 2014

Coming to the City Nearest You - Carol Penner

Jesus comes to Jerusalem, the city nearest you.
Jesus comes to the gate, to the synagogue,
to houses prepared for wedding parties,
to the pools where people wait to be healed,
to the temple where lambs are sold,
to gardens, beautiful in the moonlight.
He comes to the governor’s palace.

Saturday 12 April 2014

Last Dream - Giovanni Pascoli

Read the translator's notes
Out of a motionless infernal
shudder and clang of steel on steel
as wagons moved toward the eternal,
a sudden silence: I was healed.

Friday 11 April 2014

Cam's Love - Hoàng Cầm

If I were young as in the days of old,
I'd take you in forever to live with me.
On each golden sundown that gently rolled,
You'd sing to my lute as in younger days.

Thursday 10 April 2014

The Naming of a Child - Togara Muzanenhamo

It began with a leisured cycle of turning strokes,
every breath drawing on syllables, her name dug
from each jab stirring the brown muddy water.

Wednesday 9 April 2014

Silentium - Fyodor Ivanovich Tyutchev

Speak not, lie hidden, and conceal
the way you dream, the things you feel.

Tuesday 8 April 2014

Worldly senses are the ladder of earth - Jalal al-Din Rumi

Worldly senses are the ladder of earth,
Spiritual senses are the ladder of heaven.
The health of the former is sought of the leech,
The health of the latter from " The Friend."

Monday 7 April 2014

Persian fopperies (Odes, I, 38) - Horace

Boy, I hate their empty shows,
Persian garlands I detest,
Bring not me the late-bloom rose
Lingering after all the rest:

Sunday 6 April 2014

The Good Shepherd - Lope Félix de Vega Carpio

Shepherd! who with thine amorous, sylvan song
Hast broken the slumber that encompassed me,
Who mad'st Thy crook from the accursed tree
On which Thy powerful arms were stretched so long!

Saturday 5 April 2014

I Have Dreamed of You so Much - Robert Desnos

I have dreamed of you so much that you are no longer real.
Is there still time for me to reach your breathing body, to kiss your mouth and make
your dear voice come alive again?

Friday 4 April 2014

It's Spring - Eduard Mörike

Spring unfurls its blue ribbon
To flutter in the air again;

Thursday 3 April 2014

From Dewy Dreams - James Joyce

From dewy dreams, my soul, arise,
From love's deep slumber and from death,
For lo! the trees are full of sighs
Whose leaves the morn admonisheth.

Wednesday 2 April 2014

The sun setting - Miodrag Pavlovic

The sun setting
children shouting beneath the window
games in cold weather

Tuesday 1 April 2014

The Railway Station - Archibald Lampman

The darkness brings no quiet here, the light
    No waking: ever on my blinded brain
    The flare of lights, the rush, and cry, and strain,