Notes for Canto CXX

Related poetry:

1. Anna Who Was Mad Anna who was mad, I have a knife in my armpit. When I stand on tiptoe I tap out messages. Am I some sort of infection? Did I make you go insane? Did I make the sounds go sour? Did I tell you to climb out the window? Forgive. Forgive. Say not I did. Say […]...
2. 16-bit Intel 8088 chip with an Apple Macintosh You can’t run Radio Shack programs In its disc drive. Nor can a Commodore 64 Drive read a file You have created on an IBM Personal Computer. Both Kaypro and Osborne computers use The CP/M operating system But can’t read each other’s Handwriting For they format (write On) discs in different […]...
3. Canto XLIX For the seven lakes, and by no man these verses: Rain; empty river; a voyage, Fire from frozen cloud, heavy rain in the twilight Under the cabin roof was one lantern. The reeds are heavy; bent; And the bamboos speak as if weeping. Autumn moon; hills rise about lakes Against sunset Evening is like a […]...
4. 'Tis true They shut me in the Cold ‘Tis true They shut me in the Cold But then Themselves were warm And could not know the feeling ’twas Forget it Lord of Them Let not my Witness hinder Them In Heavenly esteem No Paradise could be Conferred Through Their beloved Blame The Harm They did was short And since Myself who bore it […]...
5. Canto I And then went down to the ship, Set keel to breakers, forth on the godly sea, and We set up mast and sail on that swart ship, Bore sheep aboard her, and our bodies also Heavy with weeping, and winds from sternward Bore us onward with bellying canvas, Crice’s this craft, the trim-coifed goddess. Then […]...
6. Ariosto. Orlando Furioso, Canto X, 91-99 Ruggiero, to amaze the British host, And wake more wonder in their wondering ranks, The bridle of his winged courser loosed, And clapped his spurs into the creature’s flanks; High in the air, even to the topmost banks Of crudded cloud, uprose the flying horse, And now above the Welsh, and now the Manx, And […]...
7. Forgive Me Poem by Anne-Marie Derése, translated by Judith Skillman. Forgive me if I have laughed In your chapels, Forgive me if I have slammed The hospital door, Forgive me for the noise, For life, For the love to which I have no right. Forgive me for not resembling you....
8. Baltic Fog Notes (Bergen)SEVEN days all fog, all mist, and the turbines pounding through high seas. I was a plaything, a rat’s neck in the teeth of a scuffling mastiff. Fog and fog and no stars, sun, moon. Then an afternoon in fjords, low-lying lands scrawled in granite languages on a gray sky, A night harbor, blue dusk […]...
9. Joy-notes when the time comes Yield To the forces outside you Images simply Of your inner compulsions When the time comes Invite Your enemies inside you Inversions simply Of your face on the world When the time comes Die From the fears that hold you The action simply Of seceding old skins When the time comes […]...
10. Blizzard Notes I DON’T blame the kettle drums-they are hungry. And the snare drums-I know what they want-they are empty too. And the harring booming bass drums-they are hungriest of all.. . . The howling spears of the Northwest die down. The lullabies of the Southwest get a chance, a mother song. A cradle moon rides out […]...
11. Sonnet 38 – First time he kissed me, he but only kissed First time he kissed me, he but only kissed The fingers of this hand wherewith I write; And ever since, it grew more clean and white, Slow to world-greetings, quick with its ‘Oh, list,’ When the angels speak. A ring of amethyst I could not wear here, plainer to my sight, Than that first kiss. […]...
12. Notes from the Other Side I divested myself of despair And fear when I came here. Now there is no more catching One’s own eye in the mirror, There are no bad books, no plastic, No insurance premiums, and of course No illness. Contrition Does not exist, nor gnashing Of teeth. No one howls as the first Clod of earth […]...
13. The Rape of the Lock: Canto 5 She said: the pitying audience melt in tears, But Fate and Jove had stopp’d the Baron’s ears. In vain Thalestris with reproach assails, For who can move when fair Belinda fails? Not half so fix’d the Trojan could remain, While Anna begg’d and Dido rag’d in vain. Then grave Clarissa graceful wav’d her fan; Silence […]...
14. The Rape of the Lock: Canto 4 But anxious cares the pensive nymph oppress’d, And secret passions labour’d in her breast. Not youthful kings in battle seiz’d alive, Not scornful virgins who their charms survive, Not ardent lovers robb’d of all their bliss, Not ancient ladies when refus’d a kiss, Not tyrants fierce that unrepenting die, Not Cynthia when her manteau’s pinn’d […]...
15. Notes For The Legend Of Salad Woman Since my wife was born She must have eaten The equivalent of two-thirds Of the original garden of Eden. Not the dripping lush fruit Or the meat in the ribs of animals But the green salad gardens of that place. The whole arena of green Would have been eradicated As if the right filter had […]...
16. Sonnet 17 – My poet, thou canst touch on all the notes My poet, thou canst touch on all the notes God set between his After and Before, And strike up and strike off the general roar Of the rushing worlds a melody that floats In a serene air purely. Antidotes Of medicated music, answering for Mankind’s forlornest uses, thou canst pour From thence into their ears. […]...
17. Phantasmagoria CANTO III ( Scarmoges ) “AND did you really walk,” said I, “On such a wretched night? I always fancied Ghosts could fly – If not exactly in the sky, Yet at a fairish height.” “It’s very well,” said he, “for Kings To soar above the earth: But Phantoms often find that wings – Like many other pleasant things – […]...
18. Canto XIII Kung walked by the dynastic temple And into the cedar grove, and then out by the lower river, And with him Khieu Tchi and Tian the low speaking And “we are unknown,” said Kung, “You will take up charioteering? “Then you will become known, “Or perhaps I should take up charioterring, or archery? “Or the […]...
19. Translations: Dante – Inferno, Canto XXVI Florence, rejoice! For thou o’er land and sea So spread’st thy pinions that the fame of thee Hath reached no less into the depths of Hell. So noble were the five I found to dwell Therein thy sons whence shame accrues to me And no great praise is thine; but if it be That truth […]...
20. Inferno Canto 01 Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita Mi ritrovai per una selva oscura Chй la diritta via era smarrita. When I had journeyed half of our life’s way, I found myself within a shadowed forest, For I had lost the path that does not stray. Ahi quanto a dir qual era и cosa dura Esta […]...
21. M'Fingal – Canto I When Yankies, skill’d in martial rule, First put the British troops to school; Instructed them in warlike trade, And new manoeuvres of parade, The true war-dance of Yankee reels, And manual exercise of heels; Made them give up, like saints complete, The arm of flesh, and trust the feet, And work, like Christians undissembling, Salvation […]...
22. M'Fingal – Canto III Now warm with ministerial ire, Fierce sallied forth our loyal ‘Squire, And on his striding steps attends His desperate clan of Tory friends. When sudden met his wrathful eye A pole ascending through the sky, Which numerous throngs of whiggish race Were raising in the market-place. Not higher school-boy’s kites aspire, Or royal mast, or […]...
23. Phantasmagoria CANTO IV ( Hys Nouryture ) “OH, when I was a little Ghost, A merry time had we! Each seated on his favourite post, We chumped and chawed the buttered toast They gave us for our tea.” “That story is in print!” I cried. “Don’t say it’s not, because It’s known as well as Bradshaw’s Guide!” (The Ghost uneasily replied He […]...
24. Running To Paradise As I came over Windy Gap They threw a halfpenny into my cap. For I am running to paradise; And all that I need do is to wish And somebody puts his hand in the dish To throw me a bit of salted fish: And there the king is but as the beggar. My brother […]...
25. The Rape of the Lock: Canto 3 Close by those meads, for ever crown’d with flow’rs, Where Thames with pride surveys his rising tow’rs, There stands a structure of majestic frame, Which from the neighb’ring Hampton takes its name. Here Britain’s statesmen oft the fall foredoom Of foreign tyrants and of nymphs at home; Here thou, great Anna! whom three realms obey, […]...
26. M'Fingal – Canto IV Now Night came down, and rose full soon That patroness of rogues, the Moon; Beneath whose kind protecting ray, Wolves, brute and human, prowl for prey. The honest world all snored in chorus, While owls and ghosts and thieves and Tories, Whom erst the mid-day sun had awed, Crept from their lurking holes abroad. On […]...
27. To Haydon Haydon! forgive me that I cannot speak Definitively of these mighty things; Forgive me, that I have not eagle’s wings, That what I want I know not where to seek, And think that I would not be over-meek, In rolling out upfollowed thunderings, Even to the steep of Heliconian springs, Were I of ample strength […]...
28. Phantasmagoria CANTO V ( Byckerment ) “DON’T they consult the ‘Victims,’ though?” I said. “They should, by rights, Give them a chance – because, you know, The tastes of people differ so, Especially in Sprites.” The Phantom shook his head and smiled. “Consult them? Not a bit! ‘Twould be a job to drive one wild, To satisfy one single child – […]...
29. The Rape of the Lock: Canto 2 Not with more glories, in th’ etherial plain, The sun first rises o’er the purpled main, Than, issuing forth, the rival of his beams Launch’d on the bosom of the silver Thames. Fair nymphs, and well-dress’d youths around her shone, But ev’ry eye was fix’d on her alone. On her white breast a sparkling cross […]...
30. M'Fingal – Canto II The Sun, who never stops to dine, Two hours had pass’d the mid-way line, And driving at his usual rate, Lash’d on his downward car of state. And now expired the short vacation, And dinner o’er in epic fashion, While all the crew, beneath the trees, Eat pocket-pies, or bread and cheese, (Nor shall we, […]...
31. Amoretti III: The Sovereign Beauty The sovereign beauty which I do admire, Witness the world how worthy to be praised: The light whereof hath kindled heavenly fire In my frail spirit, by her from baseness raised; That being now with her huge brightness dazed, Base thing I can no more endure to view; But looking still on her, I stand […]...
32. Hymn 38 part 2 The universal law of equity. Matt. 8:12 Blessed Redeemer, how divine, How righteous is this rule of thine! “To do to all men just the same As we expect or wish from them.” This golden lesson, short and plain, Gives not the mind nor mem’ry pain; And every conscience must approve This universal law of […]...
33. If Death be Good (Sappho LXXIV) If death be good, Why do the gods not die? If life be ill, Why do the gods still live? If love be naught, Why do the gods still love? If love be all, What should men do but love?...
34. The Faerie Queene, Book I, Canto IV (excerpts) CANTO IIII To sinfull house of Pride, Duessa Guides the faithfull knight, Where brothers death to wreak Sansjoy Doth chalenge him to fight. I Young knight, what ever that dost armes professe, And through long labours huntest after fame, Beware of fraud, beware of ficklenesse, In choice, and change of thy deare loved Dame, Least […]...
35. Love is Enough Love is enough. Let us not ask for gold. Wealth breeds false aims, and pride and selfishness; In those serene, Arcadian days of old Men gave no thought to princely homes and dress. The gods who dwelt on fair Olympia’s height Lived only for dear love and love’s delight. Love is enough. Love is enough. […]...
36. The Rape of the Lock: Canto 1 Nolueram, Belinda, tuos violare capillos; Sedjuvat, hoc precibus me tribuisse tuis. (Martial, Epigrams 12.84) What dire offence from am’rous causes springs, What mighty contests rise from trivial things, I sing This verse to Caryl, Muse! is due: This, ev’n Belinda may vouchsafe to view: Slight is the subject, but not so the praise, If she […]...
37. Tonight I Can Write Tonight I can write the saddest lines. Write, for example, ‘The night is starry And the stars are blue and shiver in the distance.’ The night wind revolves in the sky and sings. Tonight I can write the saddest lines. I loved her, and sometimes she loved me too. Through nights like this one I […]...
38. Variations On A Theme By William Carlos Williams 1 I chopped down the house that you had been saving to live in next summer. I am sorry, but it was morning, and I had nothing to do And its wooden beams were so inviting. 2 We laughed at the hollyhocks together And then I sprayed them with lye. Forgive me. I simply do […]...
39. Saddest Poem I can write the saddest poem of all tonight. Write, for instance: “The night is full of stars, And the stars, blue, shiver in the distance.” The night wind whirls in the sky and sings. I can write the saddest poem of all tonight. I loved her, and sometimes she loved me too. On nights […]...
40. Joy to have merited the Pain Joy to have merited the Pain To merit the Release Joy to have perished every step To Compass Paradise Pardon to look upon thy face With these old fashioned Eyes Better than new could be for that Though bought in Paradise Because they looked on thee before And thou hast looked on them Prove Me […]...