Saying Yes to a Drink ~ Deborah Garrison What would a grown woman do? She’d tug off an earring when the phone rang, drop it to the desk for the clatter and roll. You’d hear in this the ice, tangling in the glass; in her voice, low on the line, the drink being poured. All […]
O What Transparent Waves ~ Vittoria Colonna Translated from Italian by Lynne Lawner O what transparent waves, what a tranquil sea my speedy vessel travelled through, laden, adorned with richest freight, the clear air and breeze aiding it! The sky that now hides in beautiful lamps rayed soft light then, erased most shadows. How must […]
For the Courtesan Ch’ing Lin ~ Wu Tsao Translated from Chinese by Kenneth Rexroth On your slender body Your jade and coral girdle ornaments chime Like those of a celestial companion Come from the Green Jade City of Heaven. One smile from you when we meet, And I become speechless and forget every word. For […]
Ulysses ~Alfred, Lord Tennyson It little profits that an idle king, By this still hearth, among these barren crags, Match’d with an aged wife, I mete and dole Unequal laws unto a savage race, That hoard, and sleep, and feed, and know not me. I cannot rest from travel: I will drink Life to the […]
Harvests (To Georges Rall) ~ Paul Verlaine Translated from French by Martin Sorrell The things that sing in the head When memory’s absent. Listen, it’s the singing of our blood. . . Such distant music, so discreet. Listen, it’s the crying of our blood When our soul’s taken flight, A voice unheard before, Soon to […]
