Now, who dies first?*

* The Masters of War (and I mean all of them - those who are and those to come) or ... hope?

Love is not all

After Yeats - for a beginning - Chris chose a poetess:

So head over to God-free Morals and enjoy listening to Edna St. Vincent Millay.

Gore's greatest gesture

The United States government and Western rights groups protested* today after North Korea’s highest court sentenced two American journalists to 12 years of hard labo(u)r [and re-education; sj].

The two journalists [from Current TV; sj] — Laura King and Euna Lee — were detained by North Korean soldiers at the Chinese border on March 17 and charged with illegally entering North Korean territory and "hostile acts," but not with the more serious charge of espionage as some had feared**.
Full NYT-article here.

You'll find mentioned that Al Gore, the knight in the rainbow-coloured armour who's greatest success in his struggle to save the planet is to be found on his different bank accounts, is co-founder of Current TV.
Further you'll read that Mr Gore claims he has been 'deeply involved every single day' [since March 17th; sj] to free the journalists, and is being mentioned as a possible special envoy.

What is not mentioned is that the honourable Mr. Gore after consultations with his PR-advisors is going to offer serving 24 years in said labour and re-education camp, in exchange for the two ladies.
A noble gesture, would you agree?

- - -

* Now that will teach them!

** Well why else would they've got such a mild punishment?

Expounder of the soul

On his 190th birthday (May 31st) I posted what could be taken as Walt Whitman's legacy to Poets to come.
And here's - as announced - one by a 'poet who came' :)

Il Poeta*

Si dilata il sé
in un'intricata visione
di sogni sospesi:
il reale si scioglie
in mille rivoli
di un policromo prisma,
illuminato da un sole,
eternamente presente
tra i chiaroscuri della vita.

The Poet

He expounds the soul
in a tangled vision
of abandoned dreams:
reality melts
into the thousand streams
of an many-coloured prism,
lit by the sun
which is always there
amidst the light and shade of life.

* from Il Profumo del Pensiero / The Essence of Thoughts
Poems by Antonio Lonardo with English translations by Pat Eggleton.

The crooked Timber of Humanity

Many years out of print, on the occasion of Isaiah Berlin's 100th anniversary that marks today there's a new German edition of The Crooked Timber of Humanity available: Das krumme Holz der Humanität (Berlin Verlag, 430 S., 19,90 Euro).
And Suhrkamp published Der Igel und der Fuchs (105 S., 12,80 Euro), i.e The Hedgehog and the Fox.


Interesting reads I can tell you.

For those who got intrigued and would like to dive a bit deeper I commend The Isaiah Berlin Virtual Library.

May I introduce you to ...

... Teresa Magolles?


Well, and here's a bit :) more.

Fancy for dancing? :)

Although personally I do prefer this

I am also fascinated by that kind of dancing. (They are giving guest performances in Germany these days)



Well, and sometimes I like Dancing barefoot.


Did I tell that I am a lousy dancer?

If you've got two bottles of wine ...

If you are in possession of two pairs of trousers
sell one and buy this book.
Lichtenberg

Now would I not go so far as the old ingenious hunchback, but ...

... I know what's better than drinking two bottles of wine:

One bottle of wine and ... a good book. Good poetry, for example.

Now, please don't ask what the criteria for a good book are , what those for good poetry.
And: Need I tell that you don't have to empty both - the bottle and the book - during one night? :)
But: Opening one bottle - in this very case I'd commend one of those fine Sicilian drops - and to enjoy the spirit of both the pressed grapes and the expressed thoughts - that comes next to ... :)

Alright then: During the coming days I shall - with the permission of the author and his congenial translator - post some poems.
Do I like them all? That's not the question.
Sometimes I consider a book or a (long) poem worth its price 'cause of but one tiny sentence.

In this very book, though, there are to be found many good thoughts. So many good thoughts, indeed, that I do wish that Pegasus may offer the duo (poet and translator) many more of such poetic rides.

'Ha!' I do hear some of those spirits who'd love to (almost) always deny: 'How could someone who does not speak English fluently commend a book which roots are Italian?'

Although my Italian is slightly rudimental, having translated a few poems from Italian into English and German, I think I am at least able to recognise the quality of a translation.

Which is why - to cut it short! - I am varying what the ingenious hunchback (look above) demanded :)

If you are in possession of two bottles of wine
sell one and buy this book

Il Profumo del Pensiero / The Essence of Thoughts
Poems by Antonio Lonardo with English translations by Pat Eggleton.
Parallel text. 8 euros plus p&p.
ISBN: 978-88-96255-25-4.

And perhaps easier may be to contact Welshcakes via email:
lasiciliana629 at hotmail dot com

So, just do it. :)

- - - - -


Here a few links to some poems posted by Welshcakes in Italian and English. Enjoy.

Distanze / Distances

Ricera / Search

Esistenziale Itinerario / Existential Itinerary

Analogiche Differenze / Analogical Differences

But without words Omnium is ...

... (almost) nothing.

Words are not Omnium

Poets to come

Poets to come! Orators, singers, musicians to come!
Not to-day is to justify me and answer what I am for,
but you, a new brood, native, athletic, continental, greater than before known,
Arouse! For you must justify me.

I myself but write one or two indicative words for the future,
I but advance a moment only to wheel and hurry back in the darkness.

I am a man who, sauntering along without fully stopping
turns a casual look upon you and then averts his face,
Leaving it to you to prove and define it,
Expecting the main things from you. [1860]

Walt Whitman, 31 May 1819 - 26. March 1892

Hm ...

... like a volcano, tonight
I am a sitting here and ... write ...

The Kiss

Give me, my love, that billing kiss
I taught you one delicious night
When, turning epicures in bliss,
We tried inventions of delight.'

Thomas Moore

And thus ends my little homage to Thomas Moore on the occasion of his 230th birthday. I wonder though, why he did not choose as title 'The Meeting of the Tongues'.