Summer is a-comin’ in— So loudly sing, cuckoo! Grows the seed and blows the mead, In spring the woods renew. Sing, cuckoo! Ewe will bleat and then the lamb, And after calf, the cow will low, And bullock stirs and bucks a-farting, So, merry sing …
Read MoreElizabeth Barrett Browning’s “A Musical Instrument”
Comments Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861) was a leading Victorian poet and also the wife of Robert Browning, another famous poet of the era. “A Musical Instrument” is her last work and was published after her death from a lung ailment that she had suffered from …
Read MoreRobert Burns’ “A Toast to One I Love Dear”
Translation A Toast to One I Love Dear Here’s a toast to one I love dear, Here’s a toast to one I love dear; You are sweet as the smile when fond lovers meet, And soft as their parting tear, Jessy— And soft as their …
Read MoreRobert Burn’s “A Bard’s Epitaph,” with commentary
A Bard’s Epitaph (1786) Is there a whim-inspired fool, Owre* fast for thought, owre hot for rule, Over/too Owre blate* to seek, owre proud to snool*, Bashful; to submit tamely Let him draw near; And owre this grassy heap sing dool*, Dole/sorrow And drap* a …
Read MoreSpeaking of limericks… Run DMC!
25+ years later, I realized that Run DMC’s ’80s rap song, “It’s Tricky,” starts off with three limericks (ex-the chorus). This speech is my recital, I think it’s very vital To rock a rhyme, that’s right on time It’s Tricky is the title, here we …
Read MoreAdapted from a ballad, “Blow my Breath Away”
My breath away, my breath away Over the hills and far away And far away and over the bay He shall not blow my breath away The Piper sits above the hill Ba, ba, lili ba He blows his horn both loud and shrill: And …
Read MoreRiddles
A man in dark from God knows where Went to an inn and rested there. As he waited on his seat He saw the keeper’s daughter, pure and sweet. Later that night he snuck into her room And lay with her as would a groom. …
Read MoreGeoffrey Chaucer’s “Merciless Beauty”
My Translation Merciless Beauty I Your two eyes slay me suddenly; I may not withstand the beauty of their gleam, So wounded it throughout my heart so keen. And but your word would heal it hastily— My heart’s wound, while fresh and green. Your …
Read MoreLightly translated: an anonymous lyric from the 1400s, “Timor mortis conturbat me”
This is only lightly translated because most of the vocabulary matches modern usage. Timor mortis conturbat me is Latin for “the fear of death disturbs me” and comes from the medieval Catholic Office of the Dead. It was often included in poems of the time. Also, …
Read MoreAnonymous Lyric from the 1400s, “I Have a Noble Cock”
My Translation I Have a Noble Cock I have a noble cock, He crows on the turn of day; He makes me rise up early, My morning prayers to say. I have a noble cock, His lineage is great; His comb is of corral red, …
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