Giacomo Leopardi

The Infinite (XII)

 
 

It was always dear to me, this solitary hill,

and this hedgerow here, that closes off my view,

from so much of the ultimate horizon.

But sitting here, and watching here,

in thought, I create interminable spaces,

greater than human silences, and deepest

quiet, where the heart barely fails to terrify.

When I hear the wind, blowing among these leaves,

I go on to compare that infinite silence

with this voice, and I remember the eternal

and the dead seasons, and the living present,

and its sound, so that in this immensity

my thoughts are drowned, and shipwreck

seems sweet to me in this sea.

Giacomo Leopardi  (1798-1837)


photo: gb

Tove Ditlevsen/Hugo Alfvén/Anne Sofie von Otter

Tove Ditlevsen

 Så Tag Mit Hjerte ..




















Så tag mit hjerte i dine hænder
men tag det varsomt og tag det blidt
det røde hjerte - nu er det dit.

Det slår så roligt, det slår så dæmpet
for det har elsket og det har lidt
nu er det stille - nu er det dit.

Og det kan såres og det kan segne
og det kan glemme og glemme tit,
men glemmer aldrig, at det er dit.

Det var så stærkt og så stolt, mit hjerte
det sov og drømte i lyst og leg
nu kan det knuses - men kun af dig.

 Tove Ditlevsen (1917-1976)


Musik: Hugo Alfvén/Sang: Anne Sofie von Otter.

Hugo Alfvén er omtalt i artiklen om P.S. Krøyer på min Thyra-blog.

Dylan Thomas - Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night

foto cranes: gb

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on that sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

 Dylan Thomas (1914-1953)






"Do not go gentle into that good night", is considered to be among the finest works by Welsh poet Dylan Thomas(1914–1953). Originally published in the journal Botteche Obscure in 1951, it also appeared as part of the collection "In Country Sleep." Written for his dying father, it is one of Thomas's most popular and accessible poems^. The poem has no title other than its first line, “Do not go gentle into that good night”, a line which appears as a refrain throughout the poem. The poem's other equally famous refrain is “Rage, rage against the dying of the light”.

Native American Poem - Dream Catchers

DREAM CATCHERS

An ancient Chippewa tradition
The dream net has been made
For many generations
Where spirit dreams have played.

Hung above the cradle board,
Or in the lodge up high,
The dream net catches bad dreams,
While good dreams slip on by.

Bad dreams become entangled
Among the sinew thread.
Good dreams slip through the center hole,
While you dream upon your bed.

This is an ancient legend,
Since dreams will never cease,
Hang this dream net above your bed,
Dream on, and be at peace.


First people: American Indian Poems and Prayers. 


photo: gb