Poetry

[selenak]

Poetry meme, from penknife:

When you see this, post a poem you like in your LJ.

Sonnet XXII, from Sonnets from the Portuguese by Elizabeth Barrett-Browning:

When our two souls stand up erect and strong,
Face to face, silent, drawing nigh and nigher,
Until the lengthening wings break into fire
At either curvèd point,---what bitter wrong

Can the earth do to us, that we should not long
Be here contented? Think! In mounting higher,
The angels would press on us and aspire
To drop some golden orb of perfect song

Into our deep, dear silence. Let us stay
Rather on earth, Belovèd,---where the unfit
Contrarious moods of men recoil away

And isolate pure spirits, and permit
A place to stand and love in for a day,
With darkness and the death-hour rounding it.


And because this particular translation is a masterpiece of the German language, by Rainer Maria Rilke:

Wenn schweigend Angesicht in Angesicht,
sich unsre Seelen ragende Gestalten
so nahe stehn, daß, nicht mehr zu verhalten,
ihr Feuerschein aus ihren Flügeln bricht:

was tut uns diese Erde dann noch banges?
Und stiegst du lieber durch die Engel? Kaum;-
sie schütteten uns Sterne des Gesanges
in unsres Schweigens lieben tiefen Raum.

Nein, laß uns besser auf der Erde bleiben,
wo alles Trübe, was die andern treiben,
die Reinen einzeln zueinander hebt.

Da ist gerade Platz zum Stehn und Lieben
für einen Tag, von Dunkelheit umschwebt
und von der Todesstunde rund umschrieben.

Comments

[monanotlisa.livejournal.com]

Das Rilke-Gedicht ist wunderschön.

(Same for the sonnet out of Sonnets, of course.)

Danke/Thank you.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Er war halt ein Meister.

And made me read EBB, a poet whom I hadn't known of before coming across his translations but whom I found very worth reading in her other works later as well.

[cavendish.livejournal.com]

ahh, beuatiful :-)

This is really the stuff you need before going to work :-) Thanks :-))

A more sensible comment and a poem from me will arrive tomorrow, when I`ll have at least a little time :-)

Frank

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Incidentally, I got the package with your students' work - thank you!