Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Yet more good advice from the toffs ii








         The study 
         of man is the study 
         of perspectives.


        
































Villiers David
Advice to my
  Godchildren
op. cit.



Sunday, February 17, 2013

Letting it breathe



  

  As in a glass hive my soul moved inside me,
          a joyful bee-swarm
  that, secretly increasing, seeks to release into the trees
          its grapelike cluster.

  And I felt the earth was crystal beneath my feet,
          the soil transparent,
  for the strong and peaceful bodies of ancient plane trees
          rose up around me. 





  There the old wine was opened for me, smelling rich
          in the oaken jar,
  as mountain scents when the cool night dew
          falls on the bushes.






















Angelos Sikelianos
  [fragment]
Edmund Keeley and
  Philip Sherrard, translation
The Greek Poets
op. cit.