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Dante Alighieri
(1265-1321)
Death, always cruel
Eath, always cruel, Pity’s foe in chief,
Mother who brought forth grief,
Merciless judgment and without appeal!
Since thou alone hast made my heart to feel
This sadness and unweal,
My tongue upbraideth thee without relief.
And now (for I must rid thy name of ruth)
Behoves me speak the truth
Touching thy cruelty and wickedness:
Not that they be not known; but ne’ertheless
I would give hate more stress
With them that feed on love in very sooth.
Out of this world thou hast driven courtesy,
And virtue, dearly prized in womanhood;
And out of youth’s gay mood
The lovely lightness is quite gone through thee.
Whom now I mourn, no man shall learn from me
Save by the measure of these praises given.
Whoso deserves not Heaven
May never hope to have her company.
“Death, always cruel” was translated into English by D.G. Rossetti (1828-1882)
Dante Alighieri poetry
fleursdumal.nl magazine
More in: Archive C-D, Dante Alighieri, Rossetti, Dante Gabriel
Charles Cros
(1842-1888)
Testament
Si mon âme claire s’éteint
Comme une lampe sans pétrole,
Si mon esprit, en haut, déteint
Comme une guenille folle,
Si je moisis, diamantin,
Entier, sans tache, sans vérole,
Si le bégaiement bête atteint
Ma persuasive parole,
Et si je meurs, soûl, dans un coin
C’est que ma patrie est bien loin
Loin de la France et de la terre.
Ne craignez rien, je ne maudis
Personne. Car un paradis
Matinal, s’ouvre et me fait taire.
Charles Cros poetry
fleursdumal.nl magazine
More in: Archive C-D, Cros, Charles
Thomas Chatterton
(1752-1770)
Song from Ælla
SING unto my roundelay,
O drop the briny tear with me;
Dance no more at holyday,
Like a running river be:
My love is dead,
Gone to his death-bed
All under the willow-tree.
Black his cryne [1] as the winter night,
White his rode [2] as the summer snow,
Red his face as the morning light,
Cole he lies in the grave below:
My love is dead,
Gone to his death-bed
All under the willow-tree.
Sweet his tongue as the throstle’s note,
Quick in dance as thought can be,
Deft his tabor, cudgel stout;
O he lies by the willow-tree!
My love is dead,
Gone to his death-bed
All under the willow-tree.
Hark! the raven flaps his wing
In the brier’d dell below;
Hark! the death-owl loud doth sing
To the nightmares, as they go:
My love is dead,
Gone to his death-bed
All under the willow-tree.
See! the white moon shines on high;
Whiter is my true-love’s shroud:
Whiter than the morning sky,
Whiter than the evening cloud:
My love is dead,
Gone to his death-bed
All under the willow-tree.
Here upon my true-love’s grave
Shall the barren flowers be laid;
Not one holy saint to save
All the coldness of a maid:
My love is dead,
Gone to his death-bed
All under the willow-tree.
With my hands I’ll dent the briers
Round his holy corse to gre [3]:
Ouph [4] and fairy, light your fires,
Here my body still shall be:
My love is dead,
Gone to his death-bed
All under the willow-tree.
Come, with acorn-cup and thorn,
Drain my heartès blood away;
Life and all its good I scorn,
Dance by night, or feast by day:
My love is dead,
Gone to his death-bed
All under the willow-tree.
1 cryne – hair – 2 rode – complexion – 3 gre – grow – 4 ouph – elf
Thomas Chatterton poetry
fleursdumal.nl magazine
More in: Archive C-D, Chatterton, Thomas, Thomas Chatterton
Gabriele D’Annunzio
(1863-1938)
Tu sei la vita
Acqua di monte,
acqua di fonte,
acqua che squilli,
acqua che brilli,
acqua che canti e piangi,
acqua che ridi e muggi,
tu sei la vita e sempre, sempre fuggi.
Gabriele D’Annunzio poetry
fleursdumal.nl magazine
More in: Archive C-D, D'Annunzio, Gabriele
Arthur Conan Doyle
(1859-1930)
By the North Sea
Her cheek was wet with North Sea spray,
We walked where tide and shingle
meet;
The long waves rolled from far away
To purr in ripples at our feet.
And as we walked it seemed to me
That three old friends had met that
day,
The old, old sky, the old, old sea,
And love, which is as old as they.
Out seaward hung the brooding mist
We saw it rolling, fold on fold,
And marked the great Sun alchemist
Turn all its leaden edge to gold,
Look well, look well, oh lady mine,
The gray below, the gold above,
For so the grayest life may shine
All golden in the light of love.
Arthur Conan Doyle poetry
fleursdumal.nl magazine
More in: Archive C-D, Arthur Conan Doyle, Doyle, Arthur Conan
Klimaat
De aarde draait rond
zeker weten
mijn hoofd in het vierkant
dikwijls, soms
het gevaar loert van alle kanten
eenvoudig lijkt het
het leven en de kunst
maar zintuigen sputteren tegen
gedachten weten beter
terug naar de kern
de grondvoorraden slinken
het klimaat warmt op
ozonlaag en natuurplagen
zuurtegraad en woedevlagen
we schreeuwen moord en brand
respect voor de natuur
in al haar vormen
andere denkwijze
gewoontes aanpassen
vijf voor twaalf
kleine inspanningen
grote stap in het behoud
van onze aarde
de kunst van bewust leven
nog niets verloren
Erica De Stercke
fleursdumal.nl magazine
More in: Archive C-D, De Stercke, Erika
Arthur Conan Doyle
(1859-1930)
The Message
(From Heine)
Up, dear laddie, saddle quick,
And spring upon the leather!
Away post haste o’er fell and waste
With whip and spur together!
And when you win to Duncan’s kin
Draw one of them aside
And shortly say, “Which daughter may
We welcome as the bride?”
And if he says, “It is the dark,”
Then quickly bring the mare,
But if he says, “It is the blonde,”
Then you have time to spare;
But buy from off the saddler man
The stoutest cord you see,
Ride at your ease and say no word,
But bring it back to me.
Arthur Conan Doyle poetry
fleursdumal.nl magazine
More in: Archive C-D, Arthur Conan Doyle, Doyle, Arthur Conan
Samenkomst
De kilte warmt de kamer op
er wordt geen woord gesproken
alsof de hele wereld is ingeslikt
hij kijkt naar buiten
ik in de ruimte rond
de gedachten ploeteren door herinneringen
een vlieg
afgesneden van de vrijheid
bromt haar leven bij elkaar
rinkelgeluid
handen grijpen naar de gsm
ik zie dat hij een trui aan heeft
met rolkraag
Erica De Stercke
fleursdumal.nl magazine
More in: Archive C-D, De Stercke, Erika
Thomas Chatterton
(1752-1770)
A New Song
Ah blame me not, Catcott, if from the right way
My notions and actions run far.
How can my ideas do other but stray,
Deprived of their ruling North-Star?
A blame me not, Broderip, if mounted aloft,
I chatter and spoil the dull air;
How can I imagine thy foppery soft,
When discord’s the voice of my fair?
If Turner remitted my bluster and rhymes,
If Hardind was girlish and cold,
If never an ogle was got from Miss Grimes,
If Flavia was blasted and old;
I chose without liking, and left without pain,
Nor welcomed the frown with a sigh;
I scorned, like a monkey, to dangle my chain,
And paint them new charms with a lie.
Once Cotton was handsome; I flam’d and I burn’d,
I died to obtain the bright queen;
But when I beheld my epistle return’d,
By Jesu it alter’d the scene.
She’s damnable ugly, my Vanity cried,
You lie, says my Conscience, you lie;
Resolving to follow the dictates of Pride,
I’d view her a hag to my eye.
But should she regain her bright lustre again,
And shine in her natural charms,
‘Tis but to accept of the works of my pen,
And permit me to use my own arms.
fleursdumal.nl magazine
More in: Archive C-D, Chatterton, Thomas, Thomas Chatterton
Moederskind
Ze schikt het kussen goed
wrijft lichtjes met het geurwater
op de halshuid
onder een dekentje op een ballonbuik
liggen de handen, koude
de voeten, klaar om open te spatten
komen in zachtgroene
aan de zijkant opengeknipte pantoffels terecht
zij brengen kleur in de uitgedoofde zetel
ze glimlacht, bijna onzichtbaar
de dochter die haar moeder verzorgt
spreken kost moeite en haalt herinneringen
die liever willen zwijgen naar boven
Een dochter wordt moeder
het kind blijft dochter
de moeder is het kind geworden
Erica De Stercke
fleursdumal.nl magazine
More in: Archive C-D, De Stercke, Erika
Utrechtse heuvelrug
Groen nestelt zich, langs beken en paden
op de heuvelruggen
verlangt om in haar weelderigheid
gezien te worden
kinderen spelen en fietsen
weten dat ze daar nog kind kunnen zijn
naast de boeken en computers
hun ogen kijken naar de regenbogen
kastelen prijken op de kaart
duinen zijn nooit ver weg
grafheuvels zwijgen als wandelaars
langs komen
de heuvelrug
in weer en wind
geeft vaart aan het leven
dat een mens lief is
Erica De Stercke
kempis.nl poetry magazine
More in: Archive C-D, De Stercke, Erika
Arthur Conan Doyle
(1859-1930)
A Woman’s Love
I am not blind I understand;
I see him loyal, good, and wise,
I feel decision in his hand,
I read his honour in his eyes.
Manliest among men is he
With every gift and grace to clothe
him;
He never loved a girl but me —
And I I loathe him! loathe him!
The other! Ah! I value him
Precisely at his proper rate,
A creature of caprice and whim,
Unstable, weak, importunate.
His thoughts are set on paltry gain —
You only tell me what I see —
I know him selfish, cold and vain;
But, oh! he’s all the world to me!
Arthur Conan Doyle poetry
kempis.nl poetry magazine
More in: Archive C-D, Arthur Conan Doyle, Doyle, Arthur Conan
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