In Jerusalem - Mahmoud Darwish

In Jerusalem, and I mean within the ancient walls,
I walk from one epoch to another without a memory
to guide me. The prophets over there are sharing
the history of the holy... ascending to heaven

Beautiful Melite - Agathias Scholasticus

Beautiful Melite, in the throes of middle age,
retains her youthful grace.

Pine Forest - Gabriela Mistral

Let us go now into the forest.
Trees will pass by your face,
and I will stop and offer you to them,
but they cannot bend down.

Projection - Jules Supervielle

Cemetery in the air
—Celestial dust—
Where friends will recognize each other
With less miserly eyes,

The Cross - Leon Gellert

'I wear a cross of bronze,' he said,
'and men have told me I was brave.'

Haiku from The Three Cornered World - Natsume Soseki

from Chapter 3
Bamboo sweeps across the stairs,
But no dust rises
For 'tis but a shadow

Earthquake - Aimé Césaire

such great stretches of dreamscape
such lines of all too familiar lines
                                         staved in

Winter - Horace

[Book I: IX]

See how Soracte stands glistening with snowfall,
and the labouring woods bend under the weight:
see how the mountain streams are frozen,
cased in the ice by the shuddering cold?

Ballade [I die of thirst beside the fountain] - François Villon

I die of thirst beside the fountain
I'm hot as fire, I'm shaking tooth on tooth
In my own country I'm in a distant land
Beside the blaze I'm shivering in flames
Naked as a worm, dressed like a president
I laugh in tears and hope in despair
I cheer up in sad hopelessness
I'm joyful and no pleasure's anywhere
I'm powerful and lack all force and strength
Warmly welcomed, always turned away.

The lyric poet's epilogue - Mihaly Babits

I am the only hero of my verses,
the first and last in every line to dwell:
my poems hope to sing of Universes,
but never reach beyond my lonely cell.