No.15

BLOSSOMY OF SICHUAN

Liu Zhengxing

b.1952

Nationality - Chinese

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Three Poems by Thomas Hardy

THE RAMBLER

I do not see the hills around,

Nor mark the tints the copses wear;

I do not note the grassy ground

And constellated daisies there. 

I hear not the contralto note

Of cuckoos hid on either hand,

The whirr that shakes the nighthawk's throat

When eve's brown awning hoods the land. 

Some say each songster, tree and mead--

All eloquent of love divine--

Receives their constant careful heed:

Such keen appraisement is not mine. 

The tones around me that I hear,

The aspects, meanings, shapes I see,

Are those far back ones missed when near,

And now perceived too late by me! 

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WHERE THE PICNIC WAS

Where we made the fire,
In the summer time,
Of branch and briar
On the hill to the sea
I slowly climb
Through winter mire,
And scan and trace
The forsaken place
Quite readily.

Now a cold wind blows,
And the grass is gray,
But the spot still shows
As a burnt circle aye,
And stick-ends, charred,
Still strew the sward
Whereon I stand,
Last relic of the band
Who came that day!

Yes, I am here
Just as last year,
And the sea breathes brine
From its strange straight line
Up hither, the same
As when we four came.
- But two have wandered far
From this grassy rise
Into urban roar
Where no picnics are,
And one has shut her eyes
For evermore.

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THE YOUNG GLASS-STAINER

"These Gothic windows, how they wear me out
With cusp and foil, and nothing straight or square,
Crude colours, leaden borders roundabout,
And fitting in Peter here, and Matthew there!

"What a vocation! Here do I draw now
The abnormal, loving the Hellenic norm;
Martha I paint, and dream of Hera's brow,
Mary, and think of Aphrodite's form."

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Here are a photograph and a cartoon which I've already shown in other blogs. I think they're terrific.

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QUICK! WE HAVE BUT A SECOND
Thomas Moore
1478-1535
(best remembered as the writer of "The Minstrel Boy" and "The Last Rose of Summer"

Quick! we have but a second, 
Fill round the cup while you may; 
For time, the churl, hath beckon'd, 
And we must away, away! 
Grasp the pleasure that's flying, 
For oh, not Orpheus' strain 
Could keep sweet hours from dying, 
Or charm them to life again. 
Then, quick! we have but a second, 
Fill round the cup while you may! 
For Time, the churl hath beckon'd, 
And we must away, away. 

See the glass, how it flushes, 
Like some young *Hebe's lip, 
And half meets thine, and blushes 
That thou shouldst delay to sip. 
Shame, oh shame unto thee, 
If ever thou see'st that day, 
When a cup or lip shall woo thee, 
And turn untouch'd away! 
Then, quick! we have but a second, 
Fill round, fill round while you may, 
For Time, the churl, hath beckon'd, 
And we must away, away! 

*Hebe was the cupbearer for the gods and goddesses of Mount Olympus, serving their nectar and ambrosia until she married Heracles; her successor was the divine hero Ganymede.

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ANNIE LAURIE

It’s believed that the words of the well-known Scottish song were based on this poem which has been attributed to William Douglas c.1672-1748

Maxwelton braes are bonnie, where early fa's the dew
Where me and Annie Laurie made up the promise true,
Made up the promise true, and ne'er forget will I,
And for bonnie Annie Laurie I'd lay doun my head and die.

She's backit like the peacock, she's breistit like the swan
She's jimp aboot the middle, her waist ye weel may span
Her waist ye weel may span, and she has a rolling eye
And for bonnie Annie Laurie I'd lay doun my head and die.

She’s backit = she’s endowed with a backside: 
She's breistit = she's endowed with breasts:
jimp = slender: 
ye weel may span = you could encompass her waist with the span of two hands: 
a rolling eye = a "come hither" look

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THE KELPIE
1913
Herbert James Draper
1863-1920
Nationality - English

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