Abend
by Andreas Gryphius (1616-1664)

Der schnelle Tag ist hin; die Nacht schwingt ihre Fahn’
Und führt die Sternen auf. Der Menschen müde Scharen
Verlassen Feld und Werk; Wo Tier’ und Vögel waren
Trau’rt jetzt die Einsamkeit. Wie ist die Zeit vertan!

Der port naht mehr und mehr der wildbewegte Kahn.
Gleich wie dies Licht verfiel, so wird in wenig Jahren
Ich, du, und was man hat, und was man sieht, hinfahren.
Dies Leben kommt mir vor als eine Rennebahn.

Laß, höchster Gott, mich doch nicht auff dem Laufplatz gleiten!
Laß mich nicht Scnmerz, nicht Pracht, nicht Lust nicht Angst verleiten!
Dein ewig heller Glanz sei von und neben mir!

Laß, wenn der müde Leib entschläft, die Seele wachen
Und wenn der letzte Tag wird mit mir Abend machen,
So reiß mich auß dem Tal der Finsternis zu Dir!

Views: 33

Wonder
by Thomas Traherne (1637-1674)

   How like an angel came I down!
      How bright are all things here!
When first among his works I did appear
   O how their glory me did crown!
The world resembled his eternity,
      In which my soul did walk;
   And ev’ry thing that I did see
            Did with me talk.

   The skies in their magnificence,
      The lively, lovely air;
Oh how divine, how soft, how sweet, how fair!
   The stars did entertain my sense,
And all the works of God, so bright and pure,
      So rich and great did seem,
   As if they ever must endure
            In my esteem.

   A native health and innocence
      Within my bones did grow,
And while my God did all his glories show,
   I felt a vigour in my sense
That was all spirit. I within did flow
      With seas of life, like wine;
   I nothing in the world did know
            But ’twas divine.

   Harsh ragged objects were conceal’d,
      Oppressions tears and cries,
Sins, griefs, complaints, dissensions, weeping eyes
   Were hid, and only things reveal’d
Which heav’nly spirits, and the angels prize.
      The state of innocence
   And bliss, not trades and poverties,
            Did fill my sense.

   The streets were pav’d with golden stones,
      The boys and girls were mine,
Oh how did all their lovely faces shine!
   The sons of men were holy ones,
In joy and beauty they appear’d to me,
      And every thing which here I found,
   While like an angel I did see,
            Adorn’d the ground.

   Rich diamond and pearl and gold
      In ev’ry place was seen;
Rare splendours, yellow, blue, red, white and green,
   Mine eyes did everywhere behold.
Great wonders cloth’d with glory did appear,
      Amazement was my bliss,
   That and my wealth was ev’ry where:
            No joy to this!

   Curs’d and devis’d proprieties,
      With envy, avarice
And fraud, those fiends that spoil even Paradise,
   Flew from the splendour of mine eyes,
And so did hedges, ditches, limits, bounds,
      I dream’d not aught of those,
   But wander’d over all men’s grounds,
            And found repose.

   Proprieties themselves were mine,
      And hedges ornaments;
Walls, boxes, coffers, and their rich contents
   Did not divide my joys, but all combine.
Clothes, ribbons, jewels, laces, I esteem’d
      My joys by others worn:
   For me they all to wear them seem’d
            When I was born.

Views: 27

The Sign of the Cross
by John Henry Newman (1801-1890)

Whene’er across this sinful flesh of mine
      I draw the Holy Sign,
All good thoughts stir within me, and renew
      Their slumbering strength divine;
Till there springs up a courage high and true
      To suffer and to do.

And who shall say, but hateful spirits around,
      For their brief hour unbound,
Shudder to see, and wail their overthrow?
      While on far heathen ground
Some lonely Saint hails the fresh odor, though
      Its source he cannot know.

Views: 33

“Integer vitae”
by Quintus Horatius Flaccus (“Horace”) (65-8 BCE)

Integer vitae scelerisque purus
non eget Mauris iaculis neque arcu
nec venenatis gravida sagittis,
         Fusce, pharetra,

sive per Syrtis iter aestuosas
sive facturus per inhospitalem
Caucasum vel quae loca fabulosus
         lambit Hydaspes.

Namque me silva lupus in Sabina,
dum meam canto Lalagen et ultra
terminum curis vagor expeditis,
         fugit inermem,

quale portentum neque militaris
Daunias latis alit aesculetis
nec Iubae tellus generat, leonum
         arida nutrix.

Pone me pigris ubi nulla campis
arbor aestiva recreatur aura,
quod latus mundi nebulae malusque
         Iuppiter urget;

pone sub curru nimium propinqui
solis in terra domibus negata:
dulce ridentem Lalagen amabo,
         dulce loquentem.

Views: 21

Little Orphant Annie
by James Whitcomb Riley (1849-1916)

Little Orphant Annie’s come to our house to stay,
An’ wash the cups and saucers up, an’ brush the crumbs away,
An’ shoo the chickens off the porch, an’ dust the hearth, an’ sweep,
An’ make the fire, an’ bake the bread, an’ earn her board-an’-keep;
An’ all us other children, when the supper things is done,
We set around the kitchen fire an’ has the mostest fun
A-list’nin’ to the witch-tales ’at Annie tells about,
An’ the Gobble-uns ’at gits you
            Ef you
                  Don’t
                        Watch
⁠                              Out!

Onc’t they was a little boy wouldn’t say his pray’rs—
An’ when he went to bed at night, away up-stairs,
His mammy heerd him holler, an’ his daddy heerd him bawl,
An’ when they turn’t the kivvers down, he wasn’t there at all!
An’ they seeked him in the rafter-room, an’ cubby-hole, an’ press,
An’ seeked him up the chimbly flue, an’ ever’wheres, I guess;
But all they ever found was thist his pants an’ roundabout!
An’ the Gobble-uns’ll git you
            Ef you
                  Don’t
                        Watch
⁠                              Out!

An’ one time a little girl ’ud allus laugh an’ grin,
An’ make fun of ever’ one, an’ all her blood-an’-kin;
An’ onc’t when they was “company,” an’ ole folks was there,
She mocked ’em an’ shocked ’em, an’ said she didn’t care!
An’ thist as she kicked her heels, an’ turn’t to run an’ hide,
They was two great big Black Things a-standin’ by her side,
An’ they snatched her through the ceilin’ ’fore she knowed what she’s about!
An’ the Gobble-uns’ll git you
            Ef you
                  Don’t
⁠                        Watch
⁠                              Out!

An’ little Orphant Annie says, when the blaze is blue,
An’ the lamp wick sputters, an’ the wind goes woo-oo!
An’ you hear the crickets quit, an’ the moon is gray,
An’ the lightnin’-bugs in dew is all squenched away,
You better mind yer parents, an’ yer teachers fond an’ dear,
An’ churish them ’at loves you, an’ dry the orphant’s tear,
An’ he’p the pore an’ needy ones ’at clusters all about,
Er the Gobble-un’ll git you
            Ef you
                  Don’t
                        Watch
⁠                                                            Out!

Views: 21

Crossing the Bar
by Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809-1892)

Sunset and evening star,
         And one clear call for me!
And may there be no moaning of the bar,
         When I put out to sea,

But such a tide as moving seems asleep,
         Too full for sound and foam,
When that which drew from out the boundless deep
         Turns again home.

Twilight and evening bell,
         And after that the dark!
And may there be no sadness of farewell,
         When I embark;

For tho’ from out our bourne of Time and Place
         The flood may bear me far,
I hope to see my Pilot face to face
         When I have crost the bar.

Views: 18

Kusslied
by Paul Fleming (1609-1640)

Nirgends hin als auf den Mund:
Da sinkt’s in des Herzens Grund;
Nicht zu frei, nicht zu gezwungen,
Nicht mit allzu trägen Zungen.

Nicht zu wenig, nicht zu viel:
Beides wird sonst Kinderspiel.
Nicht zu laut und nicht zu leise:
Nur im Mass ist rechte Weise.

Nicht zu hart und nicht zu weich,
Bald zugleich, bald nicht zugleich.
Nicht zu langsam, nicht zu schnelle,
Nicht stets auf die gleiche Stelle.

Halb gebissen, halb gehaucht,
Halb die Lippen eingetaucht,
Nicht ohn’ Unterschied der Zeiten,
Mehr allein denn vor den Leuten.

Küsse nun ein Jedermann,
Wie er weiss, will, soll und kann!
Ich nur und die Liebste wissen,
Wie wir uns recht sollen küssen.

Views: 16

Ad amicum absentem suspiria
by Alcuin (c. 735-804)

Dulcis amor lacrymis absentem plangit amicum
      Quem longinqua negat terra videre oculis.
Rara fides hominum caros effecit amicos,
      Milia multa cient, pectore solus erit.
Argento melior, fulvo pretiosior auro,
      Omnibus et gazis clarior iste nitet,
Quem cupit et quaerit mentis sibi tota voluntas
      Ut habeat, teneat, diligat atque colat.
Iste eris ecce mihi magno coniunctus amore,
      Tu requies mentis, tu mihi dulcis amor.
Te deus aeterno conservat tempore semper,
      Tu memor Albini semper ubique vale.

Views: 30

You Little Stars
by Fulke Greville (1554-1628)

You little stars that live in skies
And glory in Apollo’s glory,
In whose aspècts conjoinèd lies
The heaven’s will and nature’s story,
Joy to be likened to those eyes,
Which eyes make all eyes glad or sorry;
      For when you force thoughts from above,
      These overrule your force by love.

And thou, O Love, which in these eyes
Hast married Reason with Affection,
And made them saints of Beauty’s skies,
Where joys are shadows of perfection,
Lend me thy wings that I may rise
Up, not by worth, but thy election;
      For I have vowed in strangest fashion
      To love and never seek compassion.

Views: 27

The Emperor of Ice-Cream
by Wallace Stevens (1879-1955)

Call the roller of big cigars,
The muscular one, and bid him whip
In kitchen cups concupiscent curds.
Let the wenches dawdle in such dress
As they are used to wear, and let the boys
Bring flowers in last month’s newspapers.
Let be be finale of seem.
The only emperor is the emperor of ice-cream.

Take from the dresser of deal,
Lacking the three glass knobs, that sheet
On which she embroidered fantails once
And spread it so as to cover her face.
If her horny feet protrude, they come
To show how cold she is, and dumb.
Let the lamp affix its beam.
The only emperor is the emperor of ice-cream.

Views: 42