Thursday, March 31, 2011

Horace at your back ii



Anger is what broke Thyestes' life
..


Calm your mind. Heat tempted
Me in my sweet early days, and sent
Me deeply mad to one-sided poems. Now


I want to replace those sour lines with
Sweet lines; now, having sworn off harsh
Attacks, I want you to become
My friend, and give me back my heart.







We see things which fit together for their workings to be fair.


















Horace
Odes, I, 16
Robert Bly, translation
J.D. McClatchy, editor
Horace
  The Odes
  New Translations by
  Contemporary Poets
Princeton University Press, 2002©

4 comments:

  1. TassosApril 1, 2011 at 2:59 PM

    "We see things which fit together for their workings to be fair." A pefect subtitle for this blog!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. LaurentApril 1, 2011 at 9:06 PM

    People have been hugged for less than that kind of remark, so watch out, kid. We shall see if we can make it so. :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. My Dog-Eared PagesApril 2, 2011 at 8:56 AM

    I love the idea of 'Sweet lines'...

    ReplyDelete
  4. LaurentApril 2, 2011 at 10:45 AM

    A sweet idea .. a welcome remark!

    ReplyDelete