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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

Capystranus (introduction) - John of Capistrano

O myghty fader in heuen on hye
One god and persones thre

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.

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.

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,

Good Friday - Maria Melendez Kelson

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

Ode - Amir ibn Kolthum

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

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;

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.

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...

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.

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.

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.

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.

Silentium - Fyodor Ivanovich Tyutchev

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

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."

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:

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!

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?

It's Spring - Eduard Mörike

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

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.

The sun setting - Miodrag Pavlovic

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

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,