Tag Archives: poetry

“One Version of Events” by Wislawa Szymborska

Posted on October 23, 2019 by Symbol Reader

“If we’d been allowed to choose, we’d probably have gone on forever. The bodies that were offered didn’t fit, and wore out horribly. The ways of sating hunger made us sick. We were repelled by blind heredity and the tyranny … Continue reading →

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The Tree of Life in the Vision of W. B. Yeats

Posted on January 25, 2019 by Symbol Reader

One of the most beautiful poems ever written is “The Two Trees” by William Butler Yeats. The poet was a favourite of his beloved Maud Gonne, an Irish revolutionary and his muse. The visual richness of the poem is informed … Continue reading →

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“Nocturne” by Octavio Paz

Posted on August 10, 2018 by Symbol Reader

Octavio Paz, “Nocturne”, translated by Eliot Weinberger “Shadow, flickering shadow of voices. The black river drags its sunken marbles. How to speak of the assassinated air, of the orphaned words, how to speak of the dream? Shadow, flickering shadow of … Continue reading →

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“The Message of Mr Cogito” by Zbigniew Herbert

Posted on January 2, 2018 by Symbol Reader

“Go where those others went to the dark boundary for the golden fleece of nothingness your last prize go upright among those who are on their knees among those with their backs turned and those toppled in the dust you … Continue reading →

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Fernando Pessoa – Weaver of the Soul

Posted on December 10, 2017 by Symbol Reader

“Weavers of despair, let us weave only shrouds – white shrouds for the dreams we never dreamed, black shrouds for the days when we die, grey shrouds for the gestures we only dreamed of, imperial purple shrouds for our futile … Continue reading →

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“Alchemy” by Gillian Clarke

Posted on October 31, 2017 by Symbol Reader

“All night the moon stares at the stream strumming its way over stones, stopping it dead in its dream; gazes at the field’s ghost where all the white night long no mouse, fox, hare has passed.   Moon, witch, goddess, … Continue reading →

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Let Your Beauty Manifest Itself

Posted on May 20, 2017 by Symbol Reader

I. “Let your beauty manifest itself without talking and calculation. You are silent. It says for you: I am. And comes in meaning thousandfold, comes at long last over everyone.” Reiner Maria Rilke, “Initial,” translated by Edward Snow, in: The … Continue reading →

Posted in Quotations, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 11 Comments

“Happiness” by Louise Glück 

Posted on October 11, 2016 by Symbol Reader

Georgia O’Keeffe, “Abstraction White Rose” “A man and a woman lie on a white bed. It is morning. I think Soon they will waken. On the bedside table is a vase of lilies; sunlight pools in their throats. I watch … Continue reading →

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“Alchemy” by Jane Yeh

Posted on May 12, 2016 by Symbol Reader

If it could be done, I’d do it In an instant. I’ve got the charts, The mortar and pestle, the fullest Array of flasks that side of Rome. My walls are papered with symbols, and the biggest Is gold. There’s … Continue reading →

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“Perfect Woman” by William Wordsworth

Posted on February 17, 2016 by Symbol Reader

She was a phantom of delight When first she gleam’d upon my sight; A lovely apparition, sent To be a moment’s ornament; Her eyes as stars of twilight fair; Like twilight’s, too, her dusky hair; But all things else about her … Continue reading →

Posted in Poetry, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 11 Comments