November 2011
4 posts
1 tag
Quoth the Crow "Like, maybe later"
For Kitty
Quanto più m’avicino al giorno estremo che l’umana miseria suol far breve, più veggio il tempo andar veloce et leve e ‘l mio di lui sperar fallace et scemo. I’ dico a’ miei pensier: “Non molto andremo d’amor parlando omai, ché ‘l duro et greve terreno incarco come fresca neve si va struggendo, onde noi pace avremo; “perché con lui cadrà quella speranza che ne fe’ vaneggiar sì...
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Reverie sur ta venue - Part 2
For Kitty
Dans la chambre de volupté Où je t’irai trouver à Nîmes, Tandis que nous prendrons le thé, Pendant le peu d’heures intimes Que m’embellira ta beauté
Nous ferons cent mille bêtises… Malgré la guerre et tous ses maux Nous aurons de belles surprises : Les arbres en fleur les Rameaux, Pâques les premières cerises…
Nous lirons dans le même lit, Au...
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Spirit Playing With Its Fingernails
“Daphne with her thighs in bark “Stretches toward me her leafy hands,” — Subjectively. In the stuffed-satin drawing-room I await The Lady Valentine’s commands, Knowing my coat has never been Of precisely the fashion To stimulate, in her, A durable passion; Doubtful, somewhat, of the value Of well-gowned approbation Of literary effort, But never of The Lady Valentine’s vocation: Poetry, her...
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Reverie sur ta venue - Part 1
For Kitty
Mon Lou, mon Coeur, mon Adorée, Je donnerais dix ans, et plus, Pour ta chevelure dorée, Pour tes regards irrésolus, Pour ta chère toison ambrée Plus précieuse que n’était Celle-là dont savait la route, Sur la grand’route du Cathai Qu’Alexandre parcourut toute, Circé que son Jason fouettait. Il la fouettait avec des branches De laurier-sauce ou d’olivier, La bougresse branlait des...
October 2011
7 posts
1 tag
Poem Written at Morning
A sunny day’s complete Poussiniana Divide it from itself. It is this or that And it is not. By metaphor you paint A thing. Thus, the pineapple was a leather fruit, A fruit for pewter, thorned and palmed and blue, To be served by men of ice. The senses paint By metaphor. The juice was fragranter Than wettest cinnamon. It was cribled pears...
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The Blind
Contemple-les, mon âme; ils sont vraiment affreux! Pareils aux mannequins; vaguement ridicules; Terribles, singuliers comme les somnambules; Dardant on ne sait où leurs globes ténébreux.
Leurs yeux, d’où la divine étincelle est partie, Comme s’ils regardaient au loin, restent levés Au ciel; on ne les voit jamais vers les pavés Pencher rêveusement leur tête appesantie.
Ils...
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My Pretty Rose Tree
For Kitty
A flower was offerd to me: Such a flower as May never bore. But I said I’ve a Pretty Rose-tree, And I passed the sweet flower o’er. Then I went to my Pretty Rose-tree: To tend her by day and by night. But my Rose turnd away with jealousy: And her thorns were my only delight.
(Blake, watercolor by Badges The Elder)
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Breakfasting
For Kitty
The cat mewed in answer and stalked again stiffly round a leg of the table, mewing. Just how she stalks over my writingtable. Prr. Scratch my head. Prr. Mr Bloom watched curiously, kindly the lithe black form. Clean to see: the gloss of her sleek hide, the white button under the butt of her tail, the green flashing eyes. He bent down to her, his hands on his knees.
—Milk for...
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The Manor Garden
The fountains are dry and the roses over. Incense of death. Your day approaches. The pears fatten like little buddhas. A blue mist is dragging the lake. You move through the era of fishes, The smug centuries of the pig— Head, toe and finger Come clear of the shadow. History Nourishes these broken flutings, These crowns of acanthus, And the crow settles her garments. You inherit white...
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For Kitty
Passer, deliciae meae puellae, quicum ludere, quem in sinu tenere, cui primum digitum dare appetenti et acris solet incitare morsus, cum desiderio meo nitenti carum nescio quid lubet iocari et solaciolum sui doloris, credo ut tum gravis acquiescat ardor: tecum ludere sicut ipsa possem et tristis animi levare curas.
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Imagination and the New
Creativity includes ruthlessness. It drives to develop, unfold, multiply outward. When our ruthlessness transforms into the imaginative life that operates unconsciously to wipe the slate of our perception clean so that we now and always perceive freshly… we enter a new zone of living. Objects become objective, not under our control but able to offer us real resources for living. Objects...
September 2011
18 posts
1 tag
Best Society
When I was a child, I thought, Casually, that solitude Never needed to be sought. Something everybody had, Like nakedness, it lay at hand, Not specially right or specially wrong, A plentiful and obvious thing Not at all hard to understand. Then, after twenty, it became At once more difficult to get And more desired - though all the same More undesirable; for what You are alone has, to achieve...
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Ode pour l'election de son sepulchre
The age demanded an image Of its accelerated grimace, Something for the modern stage, Not, at any rate, an Attic grace; Not, not certainly, the obscure reveries Of the inward gaze; Better mendacities Than the classics in paraphrase! The “age demanded” chiefly a mould in plaster, Made with no loss of time, A prose kinema, not, not assuredly, alabaster Or the “sculpture” of rhyme.
(Ezra Pound,...
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Legend
As silent as a mirror is believed Realities plunge in silence by… I am not ready for repentance; Nor to match regrets. For the moth Bends no more than the still Imploring flame. And tremorous In the white falling flakes Kisses are, — The only worth all granting. It is to be learned— This cleaving and this burning, But only by the one who Spends out himself again. Twice and...
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High Windows
When I see a couple of kids And guess he’s fucking her and she’s Taking pills or wearing a diaphragm, I know this is paradise Everyone old has dreamed of all their lives — Bonds and gestures pushed to one side Like an outdated combine harvester, And everyone young going down the long slide To happiness, endlessly. I wonder if Anyone looked at me, forty years back, And thought, That’ll be...
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For Kitty
Caeli, Lesbia nostra, Lesbia illa, illa Lesbia, quam Catullus unam plus quam se atque suos amauit omnes, nunc in quadriuiis et angiportis glubit magnanimi Remi nepotes.
(Catullus 58, watercolor by Badges The Elder)
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Monumentum Aere, Etc
Exegi monumentum aere perennius reglalique situ pyramidum altius, quod non imber edax, non aquilo impotens possit diruere aut innumerabilis annorum series et fuga tempoum. Non omnis moriar multaque pars mei vitabit Libitinam; usque ego postera crescam laude recens, dum Capitolium scandet cum tacita virgine pontifex. Dicar, qua violens obstrepit Aufidus et qua pauper aquae Daunus agrestium regnavit...
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I Am Vertical
But I would rather be horizontal. I am not a tree with my root in the soil Sucking up minerals and motherly love So that each March I may gleam into leaf, Nor am I the beauty of a garden bed Attracting my share of Ahs and spectacularly painted, Unknowing I must soon unpetal. Compared with me, a tree is immortal And a flower-head not tall, but more startling, And I want the one’s longevity and...
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The Dream
For Kitty
Image of her whom I love, more than she Whose fair impression in my faithful heart, Makes me her medal, and makes her love me, As kings do coins, to which their stamps impart The value: go, and take my heart from hence, Which now is grown too great and good for me: Honours oppress weak spirits, and our sense Strong objects dull; the more, the less we see. When you are gone, and reason...
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To Peace
Word that trembles with the glory Of self-conquest, mend, control. Thirst for quickening compassion, Grow till craving make us whole. Power of God, alive with glory, Unself-love as majesty, Make us one, submerging hatred; Peace of heaven, make us free.
(Marianne Moore)
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Alberto Savinio - L’Intensite dramatique de...
Les oiseaux, les anciens Egyptiens, ont le regard de profil. De par la position de sa tête, Alexandre avait le regard de trois quarts. Les tableaux de Poussin sont placés face au soleil qui se couche. La Poésie Italienne regarde en face. Elle possède un regard digne d’une déesse. Sans soupçons et sans sous-entendus. C’est sa sincérité et sa forme de rhétorique spécifique. Dans la...
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How To Fix the Schools
Peter Newman Brooks was educated at King Edward’s School, Birmingham, and Trinity College, Cambridge, where read the Historical Tripos. A University Prizeman in Ecclesiastical History holding the Crosse Studentship from 1956-1958, he gained a research award at Peterhouse, and as Supervisor at Magdalene College taught undergraduates reading for both parts of the Historical and Theological...
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A Collect for Peace - Horace 2.16
Otium diuos rogat in patenti prensus Aegaeo, simul atra nubes condidit lunam neque certa fulgent sidera nautis; otium bello furiosa Thrace, otium Medi pharetra decori, Grosphe, non gemmis neque purpura ue- nale neque auro. Non enim gazae neque consularis submouet lictor miseros tumultus mentis et curas laqueata circum tecta uolantis. Viuitur paruo bene cui paternum splendet in mensa...
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Coverdale - Expectans expectavi
I waited patiently for the Lord * and he inclined unto me, and heard my calling.
He brought me also out of the horrible pit, out of the mire and clay * and set my feet upon the rock, and ordered my goings.
And he hath put a new song in my mouth * even a thanksgiving unto our God.
Many shall see it, and fear * and shall put their trust in the Lord.
Blessed is the man that hath set his...
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Elizabeth Bishop - One Art
For Kitty
The art of losing isn’t hard to master; so many things seem filled with the intent to be lost that their loss is no disaster. Lose something every day. Accept the fluster of lost door keys, the hour badly spent. The art of losing isn’t hard to master. Then practice losing farther, losing faster: places, and names, and where it was you meant to travel. None of these will bring...
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Sophisticated and Highly Educated Moderns - Part 2
Badges The Elder
Joachim Jeremias:
This crisis of prayer among the educated has its effects on the people. To be sure, prayer does not cease. But men become unsure of themselves, and the infiltration of foreign relations, especially oriental cults, contributes to this uncertainty. People do not know to which deity they should pray in particular circumstances—hence the altars for...
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Leopardi - Il Primo Amore, The End
For Kitty
Né gli occhi ai noti studi io rivolgea, E quelli m’apparian vani per cui Vano ogni altro desir creduto avea.
Deh come mai da me sì vario fui, E tanto amor mi tolse un altro amore? Deh quanto, in verità, vani siam nui!
Solo il mio cor piaceami, e col mio core In un perenne ragionar sepolto, Alla guardia seder del mio dolore.
E l’occhio a terra chino o in sé raccolto,...
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Sophisticated and Highly Educated Moderns - Part 1
Badges The Elder
Joachim Jeremias:
At no other point does the inner corruption and decay of the Hellenistic world—especially of the Levant—in New Testament times become so apparent as in the sphere of prayer. Measured by biblical standards, Greek prayer was lacking in seriousness and reverence even in the pre-Hellenistic period. This is evident, for example, in the fact that from...
August 2011
50 posts
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Plath - Black Rook
Badges The Elder
For Kitty
On the stiff twig up there Hunches a wet black rook Arranging and rearranging its feathers in the rain. I do not expect a miracle Or an accident
To set the sight on fire In my eye, not seek Any more in the desultory weather some design, But let spotted leaves fall as they fall, Without ceremony, or portent.
Although, I admit, I desire, Occasionally, some...
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Melancholy's List - Variations on a Theme
Badges The Elder
Carlos Williams:
so much depends upon a red wheel barrow glazed with rain water beside the white chickens.
Donald Hall:
Then the knee of the wave turned to stone. By the cliff of her flank I anchored. in the darkness of the harbors laid-by.
Badges The Elder
Charles Reznikoff:
Holding the stem of the beauty she had as if it were still a rose
Badges The Elder
...
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Instruction Manual for Life - Part 1
א וְזֹאת הַמִּצְוָה, הַחֻקִּים וְהַמִּשְׁפָּטִים, אֲשֶׁר צִוָּה יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם, לְלַמֵּד אֶתְכֶם—לַעֲשׂוֹת בָּאָרֶץ, אֲשֶׁר אַתֶּם עֹבְרִים שָׁמָּה לְרִשְׁתָּהּ. ב לְמַעַן תִּירָא אֶת-יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ, לִשְׁמֹר אֶת-כָּל-חֻקֹּתָיו וּמִצְוֹתָיו אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי מְצַוֶּךָ, אַתָּה וּבִנְךָ וּבֶן-בִּנְךָ, כֹּל יְמֵי חַיֶּיךָ—וּלְמַעַן, יַאֲרִכֻן יָמֶיךָ. ג וְשָׁמַעְתָּ...
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Coverdale - Deus, Deus Meus
MY GOD, my God, look upon me; why hast thou forsaken me : and art so far from my health, and from the words of my complaint?
O my God, I cry in the day-time, but thou hearest not : and in the night-season also I take no rest.
And thou continuest holy : O thou worship of Israel.
Our fathers hoped in thee : they trusted in thee, and thou didst deliver them.
They called upon...
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Promising Beginnings
The Gospel according to St Luke:
Καὶ ἦλθεν εἰς Ναζαρά, οὗ ἦν τεθραμμένος, καὶ εἰσῆλθεν κατὰ τὸ εἰωθὸς αὐτῷ ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῶν σαββάτων εἰς τὴν συναγωγήν, καὶ ἀνέστη ἀναγνῶναι. καὶ ἐπεδόθη αὐτῷ βιβλίον τοῦ προφήτου Ἠσαίου, καὶ ἀνοίξας τὸ βιβλίον εὗρεν τὸν τόπον οὗ ἦν γεγραμμένον -
Πνεῦμα Κυρίου ἐπ’ ἐμέ, οὗ εἵνεκεν ἔχρισέν με εὐαγγελίσασθαι πτωχοῖς, ἀπέσταλκέν με κηρὐξαι αἰχμαλώτοις ἄφεσιν καὶ...
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Alberto Savinio - L'Intensité dramatique de...
The library of Palazzo Leopardi, where the poet worked
Le voyage de Dante est en vérité un long égarement qui n’a de fin sinon lorsque le voyageur revient en lui-même, retrouve cette verticalité qui est la loi inéluctable de l’Homme Italien.
Différente est la situation d’Ulysse, qui trouve dans son voyage sa propre raison d’être, et dans la fin de voyage,...
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Leopardi - Il Primo Amore, Part 4
For Kitty
Amarissima allor la ricordanza Locommisi nel petto, e mi serrava Ad ogni voce il core, a ogni sembianza.
E lunga doglia il sen mi ricercava, Com’è quando a distesa Olimpo piove Malinconicamente e i campi lava.
Ned io ti conoscea, garzon di nove E nove Soli, in questo a pianger nato Quando facevi, amor, le prime prove.
Quando in ispregio ogni piacer, né grato M’era...
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Leopardi - Il Primo Amore, Part 3
For Kitty
Quante volte plebea voce percosse Il dubitoso orecchio, e un gel mi prese, E il core in forse a palpitar si mosse!
E poi che finalmente mi discese La cara voce al core, e de’ cavai E delle rote il romorio s’intese;
Orbo rimaso allor, mi rannicchiai Palpitando nel letto e, chiusi gli occhi, Strinsi il cor con la mano, e sospirai.
Poscia traendo i tremuli ginocchi ...
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(Mis)translations - St Barnabas
Lytton Strachey:
In another passage, Keble deals with an even more recondite question. He quotes the teaching of St. Barnabas that “Abraham, who first gave men circumcision, did thereby perform a spiritual and typical action, looking forward to the Son.” St. Barnabas’s argument is as follows: Abraham circumcised of his house men to the number of 318. Why 318? Observe first the 18, then...
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Leopardi - Il Primo Amore, Part 2
For Kitty
Oh come viva in mezzo alle tenebre Sorgea la dolce imago, e gli occhi chiusi La contemplavan sotto alle palpebre!
Oh come soavissimi diffusi Moti per l’ossa mi serpeano, oh come Mille nell’alma instabili, confusi
Pensieri si volgean! qual tra le chiome D’antica selva zefiro scorrendo, Un lungo, incerto mormorar ne prome.
E mentre io taccio, e mentre io non contendo,...
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Leopardi - Il Primo Amore, Part 1
For Kitty
Tornami a mente il dì che la battaglia D’amor sentii la prima volta, e dissi: Oimè, se quest’è amor, com’ei travaglia!
Che gli occhi al suol tuttora intenti e fissi, Io mirava colei ch’a questo core Primiera il varco ed innocente aprissi.
Ahi come mal mi governasti, amore! Perché seco dovea sì dolce affetto Recar tanto desio, tanto dolore?
E non sereno, e non intero...
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St Paul on Resurrection
Γνωρίζω δὲ ὑμῖν, ἀδελφοί, τὸ εὐαγγέλιον ὃ εὐηγγελισάμην ὑμῖν, ὃ καὶ παρελάβετε, ἐν ᾧ καὶ ἑστήκατε, δι’ οἷ καὶ σώζεσθε, τίνι λόγῳ εὐηγγελισάμην ὑμῖν, εἰ κατέχετε, ἐκτὸς εἰ μὴ εἰκῇ ἐπιστεύσατε. παρέδωκα γὰρ ὑμῖν ἐν πρώτοις, ὃ καὶ παρέλαβον, ὅτι Χριστὸς ἀπέθανεν ὑπὲρ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ἡμῶν κατὰ τὰς γραφάς, καὶ ὅτι ἐτάφη, καὶ ὅτι ἐγήγερται τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ τρίτῃ κατὰ τὰς γραφάς, καὶ ὅτι ὤφθη Κηφᾷ, εἶτα τοῖς...
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Mary Oliver - In Blackwater Woods
For Kitty
To live in this world you must be able to do three things to love what is mortal; to hold it against your bones knowing your own life depends on it; and, when the time comes to let it go, to let it go
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Dante - Tanto Gentile
L’arrivée des princesses dans la salle des concerts où les prix vont être remis. Elles entrent par rang d’age: Margaretha, 22 ans, Birgitta, 20 ans, Desiree, 18 ans. De dos, Le Roi Gustave VI.
For Kitty
Tanto gentile e tanto onesta pare la donna mia quand’ella altrui saluta, ch’ogne lingua deven tremando muta, e li occhi no l’ardiscon di guardare. Ella...
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Pound - The River Merchant's Wife
Badges The Edler
For Kitty
While my hair was still cut straight across my forehead I played about the front gate, pulling flowers. You came by on bamboo stilts, playing horse, You walked about my seat, playing with blue plums. And we went on living in the village of Chokan: Two small people, without dislike or suspicion. At fourteen I married My Lord you. I never laughed, being bashful....
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Watch
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Scenes From the Trading Floor - Dog Days
Badges The Elder
“Who is this?”
“Cupcake, I gotta quest…”
“Nicky! Jesus Christ. It’s fucking two in the morning.”
“You speak Chinese, don’t you, Doc? How do you say You have great tits in Ching-Chong-Ching-Chong?”
“Nicky—it’s two in the fucking morning. Did I mention that?”
“Sweet Cheeks, I...
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Carlos Kleiber - Personal Hero
The Guardian:
One of the most exciting, yet eccentric, conductors of the last 50 years, Carlos Kleiber, who has died aged 74, led performances of symphonic music and opera that will never be forgotten by those who heard them. Happily, he also caught much of the vitality of his live readings in the recording studio. He was one interpreter for whose conducting the epithet...