“Most of the evil in this world is done by people with good intentions.” “Half the harm that is done in this world is due to people who want to feel important. They don’t mean to do harm; but the harm does not interest them. Or they do not see it, or they justify it… Read More T.S. Eliot & Evil
The Summer that we did not prize,Her treasures were so easyInstructs us by departing nowAnd recognition lazy – Bestirs itself – puts on its CoatAnd scans with fatal promptnessFor Trains that moment out of sightUnconscious of his smartness – (Emily Dickinson – Poem 1773) When the gifts of summer were close at hand, they went… Read More “The Summer that we did not prize…”
For the first part see here:Paul Simon: “The Boxer” (2.Analysis – first part) Verse 4 Now the years are rolling by methey are rockin’ evenlyI am older than I once wasand younger than I’ll be and that’s not unusual.No it isn’t strangeafter changes upon changeswe are more or less the sameafter changes we are more or… Read More Paul Simon: “The Boxer” (2.Analysis –second part)
[This is the update of a post already published on 30 March 2017] “The Boxer” is a character analysis: a young man disappointed with the world, who leaves home while still a child, and tries not to draw much attention to himself, because he knows he will be accepted or at least ignored only if… Read More Paul Simon: “The Boxer” (2.Analysis – first part)
[This is the update of a post already published on 29 March 2017] The Boxer I am just a poor boy though my story’s seldom told I have squandered my resistance for a pocket full of mumbles such are promises All lies and jests, still a man hears what he wants to hear and… Read More Paul Simon: “The Boxer” (1. General Observations)
Summer for thee grant I may beWhen summer days are flown!Thy music still when whippoorwillAnd oriole are done! For thee to bloom, I’ll skip the tombAnd sow my blossoms o’er!Pray gather me, Anemone,Thy flower forevermore! Emily Dickinson – Poems (1858) In this poem Emily Dickinson claims that love can do anything. Even death becomes nothing,… Read More Anemone
Un bellissimo articolo di LAMPMAGICIAN dal titolo “Without Lou. there would be no Zarathustra”, che potete leggere qui: https://lampmagician.wordpress.com/2020/09/12/without-lou-there-would-be-no-zarathustra/, mi ha riportato alla mente questo mio vecchio divertissement: LOULo conoscevo da solo due giorniquando mi disse “Sposami”“No- risposi- non voglio sentirmi ingabbiatain un rapporto di coppia”.Talmente improvvisa venne la domanda:“E se fossimo in tre?”che finii… Read More Lou
If Neruda asks, “How long does a man live after all?”, (see: ma-quanto-vive-luomo ) Brian Patten (English poet and author born in 1946) provides us with a heartfelt answer in a poem taken from his “Armada” (1996). By opening his piece with some lines taken from Neruda’s “¿Cuánto vive el hombre, por fín?”, Patten immediately… Read More “So Many Different Lengths of Time”
Quanto vive l’uomo, infine?Vive mille anni o uno solo?Vive una settimana o più secoli?Per quanto tempo muore l’uomo?Che vuol dire per sempre? (1) Questo frammento di una lirica tratta dalla raccolta “Stravagario” del poeta cileno Pablo Neruda è la citazione introduttiva in “La casa degli spiriti” di Isabel Allende. Nel seguito della poesia, Neruda narra… Read More “Ma quanto vive l’uomo?”
Che cane buffo! E dove l’hai trovato? – Er vecchio me rispose: – È brutto assai, ma nun me lascia mai: s’è affezzionato. L’unica compagnia che m’è rimasta, fra tanti amichi, è ‘sto lupetto nero: nun è de razza, è vero, ma m’è fedele e basta. Io nun faccio questioni de colore: l’azzioni bone e… Read More “Questione de colore”🐕
