De Franse dichter en schrijver Gustave Kahn werd geboren in Metz op 21 december 1859. Zie ook mijn blog van 21 december 2008.xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
I Dreamed of a Cruel Lad
I Dreamed of a Cruel Lad
torturing a little bird he had,
to feel its flanks palpitate.
I dreamed of a world like a mother's breast
with shades of siesta and slow wings fluttering rest,
and alleys of white dreams.
I dreamed as of a sister, chaste, serene,
with the only lips of sweetness that have been,
sister and wife she seems.
The Dying Lover
So long as the child preferred to me such and such a
player of the flute or singer to the zither,
little I cared
that she loved such and such a player of the flute or
scratcher of the zither.
By the cross-roads I have fallen struck, struck by the
thrust of a sword.
Whose? player of flute or scratcher of zither?
How long the night is to be so slow in dying.
Vertaald door Jethro Bithell
Gustave Kahn (21 december 1859 - 5 september 1936)
De Australische dichter en schrijver Thomas Bracken werd geboren op 21 december 1843 in Clones, County Monaghan, Ierland. Zie ook mijn blog van 21 december 2008.
Pax Vobiscum
IN a forest, far away,
One small creeklet, day by day,
Murmurs only this sad lay:
Peace be with thee, Lilian.
One old box-tree bends his head,
One broad wattle shades her bed,
One lone magpie mourns the dead:
Peace be with thee, Lilian.
Echoes come on every breeze,
Sighing through the ancient trees,
Whispring in their melodies:
Peace be with thee, Lilian.
Mellow sunbeams, morn and eve,
Quick to come and slow to leave,
Kiss the quilt where daisies weave
Rich designs oer Lilian.
When the dying blossoms cling
To the skirts of parting Spring,
Wattle-boughs and branches fling
Showers of gold oer Lilian.
When the Summer moon mounts high,
Queen of all the speckless sky,
Shafts of silver softly lie
Oer the grave of Lilian.
Mystic midnight voices melt
Through each leafy bower and belt,
Round the spot where friends have knelt
Peace be with thee, Lilian.
Far away from town and tower,
Sleeping in a leafy bower,
Withered lies the forest flower
Peace be with thee, Lilian.
There, where passions neer intrude,
There, where Nature has imbued
With her sweets the solitude,
Rests the form of Lilian.
Dear old forest oer the sea,
Home of Natures euphony,
Pour thy requiem psalmody
Oer the grave of Lilian.
Guard that daisy-quilted sod:
Thou hast there no common clod;
Keep her ashes safe; for God
Makes but few like Lilian.
Sceptics ask me: Is that clay
In the forest far away
Part of her?I only say:
Flowrets breathe out Lilian;
From her grave their sweets mount high
Love and beauty never die
Sun and stars, earth, sea and sky
All partake of Lilian.
Thomas Bracken (21 december 1843 16 februari 1898)
Gedenksteen voor Thomas Bracken op de Northern Cemetery in Dunedin, Nieuw Zeeland.
De Franse dichter en satricus Mathurin Régnier werd geboren op 21 december 1573 in Chartres. Zie ook mijn blog van 21 december 2008.
Satire II (Fragment)
...Aussi, lors que l'on voit un homme par la rue Dont le rabat est sale et la chausse rompue, Ses grègues aux genoux, au coude son pourpoint, Qui soit de pauvre mine et qui soit mal en point, Sans demander son nom on le peut reconnaître ; Car si ce n'est un poète au moins il le veut être. [...]
Or laissant tout ceci, retourne à nos moutons, Muse, et sans varier dis-nous quelques sornettes De tes enfants bâtards, ces tiercelets de poètes, Qui par les carrefours vont leurs vers grimaçant, Qui par leurs actions font rire les passants, Et quand la faim les poind, se prenant sur le vôtre, Comme les étourneaux ils s'affament l'un l'autre.
Cependant sans souliers, ceinture ni cordon, L'oeil farouche et troublé, l'esprit à l'abandon, Vous viennent accoster comme personnes ivres, Et disent pour bonjour : " Monsieur, je fais des livres, On les vend au Palais, et les doctes du temps, A les lire amusés, n'ont autre passe-temps ". De là, sans vous laisser, importuns, ils vous suivent, Vous alourdent de vers, d'allégresse vous privent, Vous parlent de fortune, et qu'il faut acquérir Du crédit, de l'honneur, avant que de mourir ; Mais que, pour leur respect, l'ingrat siècle où nous sommes Au prix de la vertu n'estime point les hommes ; Que Ronsard, du Bellay, vivants ont eu du bien, Et que c'est honte au Roy de ne leur donner rien.
Mathurin Régnier (21 decmber 1573 22 oktober 1613)
De Britse schrijver en politicus Benjamin Disraeli werd geboren op 21 december 1804 in Londen. Zie ook mijn blog van 21 december 2006. en ook mijn blog van 21 december 2008.
Uit: Tancred
The week of celebration was over: some few guests remained, near relatives, and not very rich, the Montacutc Mountjoys for example. They came from a considerable distance, and the duke insisted that they should remain until the duchess went to London, an event, by the bye, which was to occur very speedily. Lady Eleanor was rather agreeable, and the duchess ;a little liked her; there were four daughters, to be sure, and not very lively, but they sang in the evening. It was a bright morning, and the duchess, with a heart prophetic of happiness, wished to disburthen it to her son; she meant to propose to him, therefore, to be her companion in her walk, and she had sent to his rooms in vain, and was inquiring after him, when she was informed that "Lord IVIontacute was with his grace." A smile of satisfaction flitted over her face, as she recalled the pleasant cause of the conference that was now taking place between the father and the son. Let us see how it advanced. The duke is in his private library, consisting chiefly of the statutes at large, Hansard, the Annual Register, Parliamentary Reports, and legal treatises on the powers and duties of justices of the peace. A portrait of his mother is oer the mantel-piece:opposite it a huge map of the county. His correspondence on public business with the secretary of state, and the various authorities of the shire, is admirably arranged. For the duke was what is called an excellent man of business, that is to say, methodical, and an adept in all the small arts of routine. These papers were deposited, after having been ticketed with a date and a summary of their contents, and tied with much tape, in a largecabinet, which occupied nearly one side of the room, and on the top of which were busts in marble...
Benjamin Disraeli (21 december 1804 19 april 1889)
Zie voor ondersdtaande schrijver ook mijn blog van 21 december 2008.
De Duitse schrijver Uwe Dick werd geboren op 21 december 1942 in Schongau.
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