Let the flood sweep
one away — out
of the shallows,
into the deeps.
Don’t ever cry;
Don’t ever weep;
Just feel the speed
Carry one on.
Surrender [Lyric Poem]
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Category Archives: Lyric
The Fray [Lyric Poem]
Rainy December day
blows in - not long to stay.
From season to season,
without any reason,
sometimes we feel the fray.
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Autumn [Lyric Poem]
The chill is here.
The sky never
bluer.
The colors turn,
with leaves ever
fewer.
Until a last
hanger-on yields
to a weak breeze.
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BOOK: “The Wanderer’s Song” by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe [trans. by John Kent]
The Wanderer’s Song: Essential Poems by Johann Wolfgang von GoetheMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Publisher Site — Pushkin Press Classics
This is a new translation of select poems of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. It’s a clever and varied set of poems by one of German literature’s all-time greats, a polymath of the 18th and early 19th centuries.
It can be a challenge for a general poetry reader to relate to this work. Over two hundred years since most of these poems were composed, the collection reflects a worldview quite different from that which one finds today. That said, the translations are readable and pleasant and don’t feel strained or clunky, and the collection has instances of sublimity. Having no background in German Literature, I can’t say how true the translations are to source material, but they stood solidly as poems in their own right. The book does offer a substantial introduction by the translator for individuals who are particularly interested in the German literature, translation decisions, or the life of Goethe.
I would recommend this for poetry readers, even though casual readers may find it a bit archaic. If you like the Romantic poets, and haven’t given Goethe a try, it’s well worth the time investment.
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AUSTRIA LIMERICK
There once was a man from Austria
prone to coffee house nausea.
“Our cafés are held dear,
but I can’t go near…”
said that lonely, skinny man of Austria.
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BOOK: “Golden Treasury of Quatrains and Octaves” [i.e. 千家诗] Trans. by Xu Yuanchong and Xu Ming
Golden Treasury of Quatrains & Octaves by Xu. Yuanchong (translator)My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Publisher Site — China Translation Corp
This is the bilingual (Chinese-English) edition of an anthology of Tang and Song Dynasty poems commonly known in Chinese as 千家诗 (it has a much longer formal title,) which was jointly translated by Xu Yuanchong and Xu Ming (no relation.) The book is organized into four parts by the form of poem: 7-character line quatrains, 7-character line octaves, 5-character line quatrains, and 5-character line octaves. The anthology includes poems by Li Bai, Du Fu, Wang Wei, Meng Haoran, Jia Dao, Ouyang Xiu, Yang Wanli, Su Shi, and many other important Tang and Song poets — from Emperors to Hermits. That said, while the aforementioned Chinese title suggests there are works of a thousand poets involved, that’s an exaggeration. (And that’s probably all the better. While this was the golden age of Chinese poetry, going that wide into surviving poetry might involve hitting the dregs.)
Each entry has a title, byline, the poem in Simplified Chinese script and pinyin (Romanized phonetic script,) an English language translation, notes in Chinese, and a line or two of commentary in English. All but the seven-character line octaves take up just one page per poem. (Seven-character line octaves take two pages per poem.)
This is a great anthology. There’s an introduction to give insight into what approach the translators took. They stuck to rhyming verse to emulate the originals in form, but more can be learned from the introduction.
I’d highly recommend this anthology for poetry readers.
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Different Wavelengths [Lyric Poem]
The parrot stands, as if jilted.
The chipmunk sniffs, as if intrigued.
Parrot behaves ever so stilted.
Chipmunk is just hungry and fatigued.
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GEORGIA LIMERICK
There was a famed Georgian vintner
who thought about wines all winter –
as he thought, he drank,
and -- let us be frank –
he became less vintner than drinker.
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GERMANY LIMERICK
There was a colorblind decorator in Germany
who couldn’t tell crimson from ruby from burgundy.
Where precision rules
this was less than cool.
Customers saw red as far as the eye can see.
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KAZAKHSTAN LIMERICK
There was an Eagle Hunter of Kazakhstan,
which sounds like Eagle was hunted by man,
but the Eagle goes hunting,
the man sits doing nothing –
It’s a sweet gig for Eagle Hunters in Kazakhstan.
Tiger Riding for Beginners 