Monthly Archives: February 2013

The Windhover by Gerard Manley Hopkins

A little experimentation with oil pastels. My conclusion is that they are very messy. Windhover is another name for a kestrel, a type of small falcon. Gerard Manley Hopkins, a reclusive Jesuit priest, was wildly ahead of its time in terms … Continue reading

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Charles Baudelaire – Evening Harmony – Harmonie du soir

My translation of a fantabulous poem by Charles Baudelaire, taken from his Les Fleurs du mal (1857). The poem is written according to an unusual structure known as a pantoum, which apparently originated in Malaysia. The illustration of the poem is from at least twelve years ago. Evening Harmony Now … Continue reading

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“A Lesson in Poetry” – An Exercise in Deliberately Self-Important Fiction

Jack stared broodingly out the window at the falling snow, and as he did so, he reflected that he himself was like that snow, ethereal and pure, fallen down to earth only to be trampled underfoot by unfeeling, indifferent passersby, … Continue reading

Posted in humour, montreal, Poetry | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Cesare Pavese – When Death Comes, It Will Have Your Eyes – Verrà la morte e avrà i tuoi occhi

Another translation of a Cesare Pavese poem. Even without the knowledge that the poet killed himself only a few months after this was written, Verrà la morte e avrà i tuoi occhi  surely stands out as one of the most chilling and concisely … Continue reading

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