speech after long silence; it is right,
all other lovers being estranged or dead,
unfriendly lamplight hid under its shade,
the curtains drawn upon unfriendly night,
that we descant and yet again descant
upon the supreme theme of art and song:
bodily decrepitude is wisdom; young
we loved each other and were ignorant.
w.b. yeats from words for music perhaps, 1932.
to hear jorge luis borges read this, take a listen to:
j.l. borges: this craft of verse. borges, in his own voice. the complete norton lectures delivered at harvard university.
now, that's a nice poem.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful. Let me add more:
ReplyDeleteI am worn out with dreams;
A weather-worn, marble triton
Among the streams;
And all day long I look
Upon this lady's beauty
As though I had found in a book
A pictured beauty,
Pleased to have filled the eyes
Or the discerning ears,
Delighted to be but wise,
For men improve with the years;
And yet, and yet,
Is this my dream, or the truth?
O would that we had met
When I had my burning youth!
But I grow old among dreams,
A weather-worn, marble triton
Among the streams.
-Such Eloquence from an age that allowed truth and beauty.
ReplyDeleteit is a beautiful poem,
ReplyDeleteand thanks for the addition.
take a listen to mr. borges reading, one of my prized cd sets.