Peace ~William Butler Yeats Ah, that Time could touch a form That could show what Homer’s age Bred to be a hero’s wage. ‘Were not all her life but storm Would not painters paint a form Of such noble lines,’ I said, ‘Such a delicate high head, All that sternness amid charm, All that sweetness […]
A Woman Meets an Old Lover ~ Denise Levertov ‘He with whom I ran hand in hand kicking the leathery leaves down Oak Hill Path thirty years ago appeared before me with anxious face, pale, almost unrecognized, hesitant, lame. He whom I cannot remember hearing laugh out loud but see in mind’s eye smiling, self-approving, […]
Life on Earth is Unsteady ~ Anonymous, from Hemachandra‘s Grammar Life on earth is unsteady death alone lasts forever, my love Let go your pride One day of anger seems like a hundred years of the gods
The Gift ~ Sara Teasdale What can I give you, my lord, my lover, You who have given the world to me, Showed me the light and the joy that cover The wild sweet earth and restless sea? All that I have are gifts of your giving— If I gave them again, you would find […]
My Soul Says ~ Rahel Morpurgo Translated from Hebrew by Robert Alter Woe is me, my soul says, how bitter is my fate, My spirit overweening aspired to be great. I heard a voice pronounce: your song deserves high state. What peer have you, Rachel, mistress of song? My spirit rebukes me: my virtue’s held […]
