Venice masks

Friday 31 August 2018

The Court of Dreams - Sung Chih-Wên

Rain from the mountains of Ki-Sho
Fled swiftly with a tearing breeze;

Thursday 30 August 2018

Concerning Midas - John Tzetzes

Midas, the son of Gordias, was a king of the Phrygians,
He worshipped gold beyond the human nature.
According to the myths, he made a bitter wish
So everything he held would be turned into gold.

Wednesday 29 August 2018

Love's Schooling - Bion

I dreamed and lo! the great Cyprian stood before me.
Her fair hand did lead, with head hanging, the little silly Love,
and she said to me: “Pray you, sweet Shepherd,
take and teach me this child to sing and play,”
and so was gone.

Tuesday 28 August 2018

Temper - Nahegat Ben Jaid

Yes, Leila, I swore by the fire of thine eyes
I ne'er could a sweetness unvaried endure;

Monday 27 August 2018

A Missing Ship - Agnes L. Storrie

When thou didst slip thy cable, and with pride
Of windfilled canvas curtsy to the shore

Sunday 26 August 2018

The tiles glittering - Melaia Taucilagi

The tiles glittering glowing clean, with a press the water flows
Hand basin to wash my hands, clean water and perfumed soap

Saturday 25 August 2018

Fair as the Day - August von Platen-Hallermünde

Fair as the day that bodes as fair a morrow,
  With noble brow, with eyes in heaven’s dew,
  Of tender years, and charming as the new,
So found I thee,—so found I, too, my sorrow.

Friday 24 August 2018

Monster - Kathy Jetñil-Kijiner

Sometimes I wonder if Marshallese women are the chosen ones.

I wonder if someone selected us from a stack. Drew us out slow. Methodical. Then, issued the order:

Give birth to nightmares. Show the world what happens. When the sun explodes inside you.

Tuesday 21 August 2018

Monday 20 August 2018

Morning Bell - Carl Spitteler

It seemed as though the dawn would never come
To save me from the night's delirium,
Those hells of thought I wandered in - who schooled
My brain at other times, and strictly ruled
Its every motion. Fever now was king;

Sunday 19 August 2018

My heart seeth Thee - Yehudah HaLevi

My thoughts awaken me with Thy name
And set Thy mercies before me—

Saturday 18 August 2018

Paradise (Canto 1) - Dante Alighieri

The glory of Him who moves all things
pervades the universe and shines
in one part more and in another less.

Friday 17 August 2018

Love, the Wizard - Lilian Wooster Greaves

Love stole in to a fair child dreaming
  ’Mid birds and butterflies—

Thursday 16 August 2018

The Aerial City - Afanasy Afanasevich Fet

At daybreak there spread through the heavens
Pale clouds like a turreted town:
The cupolas golden, fantastic,
White roofs and white walls shining down.

Wednesday 15 August 2018

We go no more to the Forest - Mary Colborne-Veel

We go no more to the forest,
The rimus are all cut down.
They are built into roof and sill and wall,
Into floors that thrill to the last foot-fall
In the dancing of the town.

Tuesday 14 August 2018

Beyond the Rhine - Jan van Broekhuizen

Beyond the Rhine, in solitude and snows,
  Through every starless night and cheerless day,
  I muse, and waste myself in thought away,

Monday 13 August 2018

It Is a Fearful Night - Curvo Semedo

“It is a fearful night; a feeble glare
  Streams from the sick moon in the o’erclouded sky;

Sunday 12 August 2018

St. Stephen (December 26th) - Adam of St. Victor

Lo! a rose, new odour shedding,
Bright with beauty, all exceeding,
From the halls of heaven,
Out of Egypt is invited,
And to follow Christ delighted,
After witness given.

Saturday 11 August 2018

Canzone - Cino da Pistoia

  The loveliness, the glances soft and clear
Of sweetest eyes that e’er unveiled their glow,
Lost unto me, make this my life appear
So grievous that in heaviness I go;
Instead of the gay thoughts I used to know,
Because of love for her,
Now at my heart’s core stir
Thoughts that of Death are born
By reason of this parting whence I mourn.

Friday 10 August 2018

The Song of the Foolish Bees - Martinus Nijhoff

A scent of higher honey
embittered us the flowers,
a scent of higher honey
has driven us away.

Thursday 9 August 2018

The Lion's Council of State - Ivan Khemnitzer

A Lion held a court for state affairs.
Why? That is not your business, sir — 'twas theirs.
He called the elephants for councilors. Still
The council-board was incomplete,
And the king deemed it fit
With asses all the vacancies to fill.

Wednesday 8 August 2018

Infinite was the time - Leonidas

O man, infinite was the time before you came to the light,
and infinite will be the time to come in Hades.

Monday 6 August 2018

The Loves of Shirin - Sheykhi

The spot at which did King Khusrev Perviz light
Was e'en the ruined dwelling of that moon bright.
Whilst wand'ring on, he comes upon that parterre,
As on he strolls, it opes before his eyes fair.

Saturday 4 August 2018

The Willing Mistress - Aphra Behn

Amyntas led me to a Grove,
  Where all the Trees did shade us;
The Sun itself, though it had Strove,
  It could not have betray’d us:
The place secur’d from humane Eyes,
  No other fear allows,
But when the Winds that gently rise,
  Do Kiss the yielding Boughs.

Friday 3 August 2018

The Seed is in Me - José Craveirinha

Dead or living
the seed is in me
in the universal whiteness of my bones

Thursday 2 August 2018

Ode XXXVII: The Death of Cleopatra - Horace

Drink, comrades, drink; give loose to mirth!
With joyous footstep beat the earth,
  And spread before the War-God’s shrine
  The Salian feast1, the sacrificial wine.

Wednesday 1 August 2018

The Bridal Chamber - Julius Mosen

Glowing waxen tapers tremble,
Calmly sleeps the fairest maid
Under flowers, wreaths, and spangles,
Gifts by fond affection laid.