Wednesday, June 27, 2007

"HER GRACES GIVE LIFE"



Go, lovely Rose

GO, lovely Rose—
Tell her that wastes her time and me,
That now she knows,
When I resemble her to thee,
How sweet and fair she seems to be

Tell her that 's young,
And shuns to have her graces spied,
That hadst thou sprung
In deserts where no men abide,
Thou must have uncommended died.

Small is the worth
Of beauty from the light retired:
Bid her come forth,
Suffer herself to be desired,
And not blush so to be admired.

Then die—that she
The common fate of all things rare
May read in thee;
How small a part of time they share
That are so wondrous sweet and fair!

edmond waller

ENVOI

Go, dumb-born book,
Tell her that sang me once that song of Lawes:
Hadst thou but song
As thou hast subjects known,
Then were there cause in thee that should condone
Even my faults that heavy upon me lie,
And build her glories their longevity.

Tell her that sheds
Such treasure in the air,
Recking naught else but that her graces give
Life to the moment,
I would bid them live
As roses might, in magic amber laid
Red overwrought with orange and all made
One substance and one Braving time.

Tell her that goes
With song upon her lips
But sings not out the song, nor knows
The maker of it, some other mouth,
May be as fair as hers,
Might, in new ages, gain her worshippers,
When our two dusts with Waller’s shall be laid,
Siftings on siftings in oblivion,
Till change hath broken down
All things save Beauty alone.

ezra pound

9 comments:

Old Lady said...

Roses are red
Violets are blue
Sugar is sweet
and so are you!

bulletholes said...

I am fulll of Sh-Sh-Shugar!

GEWELS said...

Roses are red
That's what you think
Till someone gives you
One that is pink.

GrizzBabe said...

Such poetic talent you guys have!

Barbara said...

You'd think it was Valentine's Day with all this talk of roses! Have you gone all sappy on us?

Kilroy_60 said...

Hey pardner! I hope you're staying relatively dry in the Lone Star State. That might be farther East, but I thought I'd drop a line your way.

Akelamalu said...

Roses smell
How can you tell?
Stick your nose in.

Anonymous said...

"As a torn paper might seal up its side,
Or a streak of water stitch itself to silk
And disappear, my wound has been my healing,
And I am made more beautiful by losses."

- Howard Moss from The Pruned Tree

Mother of Invention said...

I like the first one best...though I hardly can figure out what either of these are saying!

Roses are red
Violets are mellow
But my favourite rose
Is the one that is yellow!