A Fragment of Seneca Translated

Related poetry:

1. 143. Fragment on Sensibility RUSTICITY’S ungainly form May cloud the highest mind; But when the heart is nobly warm, The good excuse will find. Propriety’s cold, cautious rules Warm fervour may o’erlook: But spare poor sensibility Th’ ungentle, harsh rebuke....
2. Translated from Geibel O say, thou wild, thou oft deceived heart, What mean these noisy throbbings in my breast? After thy long, unutterable woe Wouldst thou not rest? Fall’n from Life’s tree the sweet rose-blossom lies, And fragrant youth has fled. What made to seem This earth as fair to thee as Paradise, Was all a dream. The […]...
3. Ossawatomie I DON’T know how he came, Shambling, dark, and strong. He stood in the city and told men: My people are fools, my people are young and strong, my people must learn, my people are terrible workers and fighters. Always he kept on asking: Where did that blood come from? They said: You for the […]...
4. Fragment Faint white pillars that seem to fade As you look from here are the first one sees Of his house where it hides and dies in a shade Of beeches and oaks and hickory trees. Now many a man, given woods like these, And a house like that, and the Briony gold, Would have said, […]...
5. Vanity of the World God gives his mercies to be spent; Your hoard will do your soul no good. Gold is a blessing only lent, Repaid by giving others food. The world’s esteem is but a bribe, To buy their peace you sell your own; The slave of a vainglorious tribe, Who hate you while they make you known. […]...
6. Fareweel To A'Our Scottish Fame Fareweel to a’ our Scottish fame, Fareweel our ancient glory; Fareweel ev’n to the Scottish name, Sae famed in martial story! Now Sark rins over Solway sands, And Tweed rins to the ocean, To mark where England’s province stands – Such a parcel of rogues in a nation! What force or guile could not subdue […]...
7. 346. Song-Such a parcel of Rogues in a Nation FAREWEEL to a’ our Scottish fame, Fareweel our ancient glory; Fareweel ev’n to the Scottish name, Sae fam’d in martial story. Now Sark rins over Solway sands, An’ Tweed rins to the ocean, To mark where England’s province stands- Such a parcel of rogues in a nation! What force or guile could not subdue, Thro’ […]...
8. The Sergeant's Song WHEN Lawyers strive to heal a breach, And Parsons practise what they preach; Then Little Boney he’ll pounce down, And march his men on London town! Rollicum-rorum, tol-lol-lorum, Rollicum-rorum, tol-lol-lay! When Justices hold equal scales, And Rogues are only found in jails; Then Little Boney he’ll pounce down, And march his men on London town! […]...
9. Fragment of a Greek Tragedy CHORUS: O suitably-attired-in-leather-boots Head of a traveller, wherefore seeking whom Whence by what way how purposed art thou come To this well-nightingaled vicinity? My object in inquiring is to know. But if you happen to be deaf and dumb And do not understand a word I say, Then wave your hand, to signify as much. […]...
10. At Eighty Years As nothingness draws near How I can see Inexorably clear My vanity. My sum of worthiness Always so small, Dwindles from less to less To none at all. As grisly destiny Claims me at last, How grievous seem to me Sins of my past! How keen a conscience edge Can come to be! How pitiless […]...
11. VALEDICTION I ONCE was fond of fools, And bid them come each day; Then each one brought his tools The carpenter to play; The roof to strip first choosing, Another to supply, The wood as trestles using, To move it by-and-by, While here and there they ran, And knock’d against each other; To fret I soon […]...
12. Dream Song 46: I am, outside. Incredible I am, outside. Incredible panic rules. People are blowing and beating each other without mercy. Drinks are boiling. Iced Drinks are boiling. The worse anyone feels, the worse Treated he is. Fools elect fools. A harmless man at an intersection said, under his breath, “Christ!” That word, so spoken, affected the vision Of, when they […]...
13. Prisoner, The – (A Fragment) In the dungeon-crypts, idly did I stray, Reckless of the lives wasting there away; “Draw the ponderous bars! open, Warder stern!” He dared not say me nay – the hinges harshly turn. “Our guests are darkly lodged,” I whisper’d, gazing through The vault, whose grated eye showed heaven more grey than blue; (This was when […]...
14. Through a Glass Darkly What we, when face to face we see The Father of our souls, shall be, John tells us, doth not yet appear; Ah! did he tell what we are here! A mind for thoughts to pass into, A heart for loves to travel through, Five senses to detect things near, Is this the whole that […]...
15. Sonnet XXII: With Fools and Children To Folly With fools and children, good discretion bears; Then, honest people, bear with Love and me, Nor older yet, nor wiser made by years, Amongst the rest of fools and children be; Love, still a baby, plays with gauds and toys, And, like a wanton, sports with every feather, And idiots still are running […]...
16. The Jacquerie A Fragment Chapter I. Once on a time, a Dawn, all red and bright Leapt on the conquered ramparts of the Night, And flamed, one brilliant instant, on the world, Then back into the historic moat was hurled And Night was King again, for many years. Once on a time the Rose of Spring blushed out But […]...
17. Jubilate Agno: Fragment B, Part 3 For a Man is to be looked upon in that which he excells as on a prospect. For there be twelve cardinal virtues three to the East Greatness, Valour, Piety. For there be three to the West Goodness, Purity and Sublimity. For there be three to the North Meditation, Happiness, Strength. For there be three […]...
18. Poet's Path My garden hath a slender path With ivy overgrown, A secret place where once would pace A pot all alone; I see him now with fretted brow, Plunged deep in thought; And sometimes he would write maybe, And sometimes he would not. A verse a day he used to say Keeps worry from the door; […]...
19. The Ballad of the Red Earl (It is not for them to criticize too minutely The methods the Irish followed, though they might deplore some of Their results. During the past few years Ireland had been going Through what was tantamount to a revolution. EARL SPENCER) Red Earl, and will ye take for guide The silly camel-birds, That ye bury your […]...
20. Philosophy At morn the wise man walked abroad, Proud with the learning of great fools. He laughed and said, ‘There is no God — ВЂ˜Tis force creates, ‘tis reason rules. ’ Meek with the wisdom of great faith, At night he knelt while angels smiled, And wept and cried with anguished breath, ВЂ˜Jehovah, God, save Thou […]...
21. The Rule of the A. J. C Come all ye bold trainers attend to my song, It’s a rule of the A. J. C. You mustn’t train ponies, for that’s very wrong By the rules of the A. J. C. You have to wear winkers when crossing the street, For fear that a pony you’d happen to meet If you hear one […]...
22. 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?...
23. Jubilate Agno: Fragment B, Part 1 Let Elizur rejoice with the Partridge, who is a prisoner of state and is proud of his keepers. Let Shedeur rejoice with Pyrausta, who dwelleth in a medium of fire, which God hath adapted for him. Let Shelumiel rejoice with Olor, who is of a goodly savour, and the very look of him harmonizes the […]...
24. Jubilate Agno: Fragment B, Part 4 For God has given us a language of monosyllables to prevent our clipping. For a toad enjoys a finer prospect than another creature to compensate his lack. Tho’ toad I am the object of man’s hate. Yet better am I than a reprobate. who has the worst of prospects. For there are stones, whose constituent […]...
25. From Jubilate Agno, Fragment B, lines 695-768 For I will consider my Cat Jeoffry. For he is the servant of the Living God, duly and daily serving him. For at the first glance of the glory of God in the East he worships in his way. For is this done by wreathing his body seven times round with elegant quickness. For then […]...
26. A Wasted Illness Through vaults of pain, Enribbed and wrought with groins of ghastliness, I passed, and garish spectres moved my brain To dire distress. And hammerings, And quakes, and shoots, and stifling hotness, blent With webby waxing things and waning things As on I went. “Where lies the end To this foul way?” I asked with weakening […]...
27. Jubilate Agno: Fragment D Let Dew, house of Dew rejoice with Xanthenes a precious stone of an amber colour. Let Round, house of Round rejoice with Myrmecites a gern having an Emmet in it. Let New, house of New rejoice with Nasamonites a gem of a sanguine colour with black veins. Let Hook, house of Hook rejoice with Sarda […]...
28. 1492 Thou two-faced year, Mother of Change and Fate, Didst weep when Spain cast forth with flaming sword, The children of the prophets of the Lord, Prince, priest, and people, spurned by zealot hate. Hounded from sea to sea, from state to state, The West refused them, and the East abhorred. No anchorage the known world […]...
29. From all the Jails the Boys and Girls From all the Jails the Boys and Girls Ecstatically leap Beloved only Afternoon That Prison doesn’t keep They storm the Earth and stun the Air, A Mob of solid Bliss Alas that Frowns should lie in wait For such a Foe as this...
30. Jubilate Agno: Fragment C Let Ramah rejoice with Cochineal. Let Gaba rejoice with the Prickly Pear, which the Cochineal feeds on. Let Nebo rejoice with the Myrtle-Leaved-Sumach as with the Skirret Jub. 2d. Let Magbish rejoice with the Sage-Tree Phlomis as with the Goatsbeard Jub: 2d. Let Hashum rejoice with Moon-Trefoil. Let Netophah rejoice with Cow-Wheat. Let Chephirah rejoice […]...
31. No conscience in escape Should you be allowed sole privilege Of unconscionable martyrdom? This affliction is self-pity brought by suffering As penitent to unrequited lust. Private sexuality has you bound In bonds no-one devised, In silent bondage languishing, Abject, victimised and anguishing, Yet victor in the sum. None but the coarsest heart could feign To feel in simple kind […]...
32. Fragment At last I entered a long dark gallery, Catacomb-lined; and ranged at the side Were the bodies of men from far and wide Who, motion past, were nevertheless not dead. “The sense of waiting here strikes strong; Everyone’s waiting, waiting, it seems to me; What are you waiting for so long? What is to happen?” […]...
33. A Fragment ‘Maiden, thou wert thoughtless once Of beauty or of grace, Simple and homely in attire Careless of form and face. Then whence this change, and why so oft Dost smooth thy hazel hair? And wherefore deck thy youthful form With such unwearied care? ‘Tell us ­- and cease to tire our ears With yonder hackneyed […]...
34. Psalm 53 v.4-6 C. M. Victory and deliverance from persecution. Are all the foes of Zion fools, Who thus devour her saints? Do they not know her Savior rules, And pities her complaints? They shall be seized with sad surprise; For God’s revenging arm Scatters the bones of them that rise To do his children harm. In […]...
35. Fragment What is poetry? Is it a mosaic Of coloured stones which curiously are wrought Into a pattern? Rather glass that’s taught By patient labor any hue to take And glowing with a sumptuous splendor, make Beauty a thing of awe; where sunbeams caught, Transmuted fall in sheafs of rainbows fraught With storied meaning for religion’s […]...
36. 74. Fragment-Her Flwoing Locks HER flowing locks, the raven’s wing, Adown her neck and bosom hing; How sweet unto that breast to cling, And round that neck entwine her! Her lips are roses wat wi’ dew, O’ what a feast her bonie mou’! Her cheeks a mair celestial hue, A crimson still diviner!...
37. Upon An Eunuch; A Poet. Fragment Nec sterilem te crede; Licet, mulieribus exul, Falcem virginiae nequeas immitere messi, Et nostro peccare modo. Tibi Fama perenne Praegnabit; rapiesque novem de monse Sorores; Et pariet modulos Echo repetita Nepotes....
38. Fragment at Tunbridge-Wells FOR He, that made, must new create us, Ere Seneca, or Epictetus, With all their serious Admonitions, Can, for the Spleen, prove good Physicians. The Heart’s unruly Palpitation Will not be laid by a Quotation; Nor will the Spirits move the lighter For the most celebrated Writer. Sweats, Swoonings, and convulsive Motions Will not be […]...
39. Jubilate Agno: Fragment A Rejoice in God, O ye Tongues; give the glory to the Lord, and the Lamb. Nations, and languages, and every Creature, in which is the breath of Life. Let man and beast appear before him, and magnify his name together. Let Noah and his company approach the throne of Grace, and do homage to the […]...
40. Fragment of an Ode to Maia MOTHER of Hermes! and still youthful Maia! May I sing to thee As thou wast hymned on the shores of Baiae? Or may I woo thee In earlier Sicilian? or thy smiles Seek as they once were sought, in Grecian isles, By bards who died content on pleasant sward, Leaving great verse unto a little […]...