10 Mart 2025 Pazartesi

"Beware the Ides of March." -William Shakespeare

 

"Death of Zuckerbaecker" @fflepp

In William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, a soothsayer warns the title character to "Beware the Ides of March," a phrase that has become synonymous with impending doom. The Ides, in ancient Roman times, referred to the middle of the month, specifically the day of the full moon. The connection between the Ides and the full moon is key to understanding the warning given to Caesar, which he ignored to his peril. This superstition, though seemingly innocuous, ultimately foreshadowed his assassination.

In the Roman calendar, which was based on lunar cycles, the "Ides" marked the halfway point of each month. The Ides coincided with the full moon, which may explain why it was considered a time of heightened tension. 

Despite the ominous undertones given to the Ides of March in Shakespeare’s play, its original meaning was not threatening. In fact, the Ides marked a time of celebration, as it once signified the start of the new year in Rome. The Ides, along with the Kalends and Nones, were markers used to refer to specific dates in relation to the lunar phases. As the Roman calendar was based on the moon's cycles, the full moon generally fell between the 13th and 15th of the month. Over time, however, the calendar became out of sync, and the Ides of March took on a more negative connotation.

Today, the Ides of March is often depicted in popular culture as a symbol of impending disaster. Numerous television shows and films have episodes titled "The Ides of March," where it is almost always linked to bad news. While the original meaning of the Ides was not sinister, it’s clear that the phrase has evolved into a powerful symbol of forewarning, thanks in large part to its association with one of history's most infamous betrayals.

for the script: https://folger-main-site-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2022/11/julius-caesar_PDF_FolgerShakespeare.pdf



26 Kasım 2024 Salı

"Peer at the pupil of a flame." - Hang Kang

 

Winter through a Mirror

          Hang Kang, translated by Sophie Bowman

 

1.

Peer at the pupil of a flame.
Bluish
heart
shaped eye
the hottest brightest thing
that which surrounds it
orange inner flame
the thing which flickers most
that which surrounds again
half-transparent outer flame
tomorrow morning, the morning I
depart for the furthest city
this morning
the bluish eye of a flame
peers beyond my eyes.

2.

Now my city is spring morning, if you pass through the core of the earth, bore straight through the middle without wavering, that city appears, the time difference there exactly twelve hours behind, the season exactly half a year behind so that city is now an autumn evening, as though silently following someone that city follows behind mine, to cross over the night to cross over winter I wait silently, while my city outruns that one like somebody silently overtaking

3.

Inside the mirror winter is waiting
A cold place
An utterly cold place
It’s too cold
objects cannot tremble
your (once frozen) face
cannot shatter
I don’t reach out my hand
you also
don’t want to reach out your hand
A cold place
A place that stays cold
It’s too cold
pupils cannot waver
eyelids
do not know how to close (together)
Inside the mirror
winter waits and
Inside the mirror
I cannot avoid your eyes and
You don’t want to reach out your hand

4.

They said we would fly for an entire day.
Tightly fold twenty-four hours pop it in your mouth and
go into the mirror they said.
Once I unpack in a room in that city
I should take time to wash my face.
If the suffering of this city silently overtakes
I will silently lag behind and
when you are not peering at it for a moment
lean against the frosty back of the mirror
and hum carelessly.
Until, having tightly folded twenty-four hours
and spat it out nudged with your hot tongue
you return and peer at me

5.

My eyes are two candle stubs sliding drips of wax as they consume the wick, it is not searing nor painful, they say that the quivering of the bluish flame core is the coming of souls, souls sit on my eyes and quiver, they hum, the outer flame swaying in the distance sways to get further off, tomorrow you leave for the furthest city, here I am ablaze, now you put your hands into the tomb of the void and wait, memory bites your fingers like a snake, you are not seared nor in pain, your unflinching face does not burn or shatter

for more pls visit:https://modernpoetryintranslation.com/poem/two-poems-by-han-kang/ 

20 Eylül 2024 Cuma

Fall, rosy garlands, from my head!

 


pic: Cathédrale Notre-Dame



September, 1819

Departing summer hath assumed
An aspect tenderly illumed,
The gentlest look of spring;
That calls from yonder leafy shade
Unfaded, yet prepared to fade,
A timely carolling.

No faint and hesitating trill,
Such tribute as to winter chill
The lonely redbreast pays!
Clear, loud, and lively is the din,
From social warblers gathering in
Their harvest of sweet lays.

Nor doth the example fail to cheer
Me, conscious that my leaf is sere,
And yellow on the bough:—
Fall, rosy garlands, from my head!
Ye myrtle wreaths, your fragrance shed
Around a younger brow!

Yet will I temperately rejoice;
Wide is the range, and free the choice
Of undiscordant themes;
Which, haply, kindred souls may prize
Not less than vernal ecstasies,
And passion's feverish dreams.

For deathless powers to verse belong,
And they like Demi-gods are strong
On whom the Muses smile;
But some their function have disclaimed,
Best pleased with what is aptliest framed
To enervate and defile.

Not such the initiatory strains
Committed to the silent plains
In Britain's earliest dawn:
Trembled the groves, the stars grew pale,
While all-too-daringly the veil
Of nature was withdrawn!

Nor such the spirit-stirring note
When the live chords Alcæus smote,
Inflamed by sense of wrong;
Woe! woe to Tyrants! from the lyre
Broke threateningly, in sparkles dire
Of fierce vindictive song.

And not unhallowed was the page
By wingèd Love inscribed, to assuage
The pangs of vain pursuit;
Love listening while the Lesbian Maid
With finest touch of passion swayed
Her own Æolian lute.

O ye, who patiently explore
The wreck of Herculanean lore,
What rapture! could ye seize
Some Theban fragment, or unroll
One precious, tender-hearted scroll
Of pure Simonides.

That were, indeed, a genuine birth
Of poesy; a bursting forth
Of genius from the dust:
What Horace gloried to behold,
What Maro loved, shall we enfold?
Can haughty Time be just!

21 Mart 2024 Perşembe

"La poesia appartiene a chi ne ha bisogno, non a chi la scrive." - Il Postino (1994) #worldpoetryday

 



Ode to the sea

Here surrounding the island,
There΄s sea.
But what sea?
It΄s always overflowing.
Says yes,
Then no,
Then no again,
And no,
Says yes
In blue
In sea spray
Raging,
Says no
And no again.
It can΄t be still.
It stammers
My name is sea.

It slaps the rocks
And when they aren΄t convinced,
Strokes them
And soaks them
And smothers them with kisses.

With seven green tongues
Of seven green dogs
Or seven green tigers
Or seven green seas,
Beating its chest,
Stammering its name,

Oh Sea,
This is your name.
Oh comrade ocean,
Don΄t waste time
Or water
Getting so upset
Help us instead.
We are meager fishermen,
Men from the shore
Who are hungry and cold
And you΄re our foe.
Don΄t beat so hard,
Don΄t shout so loud,
Open your green coffers,
Place gifts of silver in our hands.
Give us this day our daily fish.


"Beware the Ides of March." -William Shakespeare

  "Death of Zuckerbaecker" @fflepp In William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar , a soothsayer warns the title character to "Be...