Quiet Night Thoughts by Li Bai

The moonlight glistens in front of my bed.

I thought it was the frost on the ground.

I lift my gaze to view the shimmering moon,

Then lower my head, and miss my homeland.

Funeral Blues by Auden

W.H. Auden died on this day in 1973. He died in Vienna, and was buried in Kirchstetten.

"Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone.

Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,

Silence the pianos and with muffled drum

Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.

Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead

Scribbling in the sky the message He is Dead,

Put crêpe bows round the white necks of the public doves,

Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.

He was my North, my South, my East and West,

My working week and my Sunday rest

My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;

I thought that love would last forever, I was wrong.

The stars are not wanted now; put out every one,

Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun.

Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood;

For nothing now can ever come to any good."

--Funeral Blues (Song IX / from Two Songs for Hedli Anderson)

Aku Ingin oleh Sapardi Djoko Damono

AKU INGIN
 Oleh : Sapardi Djoko Damono

 Aku ingin mencintaimu dengan sederhana

dengan kata yang tak sempat diucapkan

kayu kepada api yang menjadikannya abu


 Aku ingin mencintaimu dengan sederhana

 dengan isyarat yang tak sempat disampaikan

 awan kepada hujan yang menjadikannya tiada

T. Alias Taib- Kata Rumah Api

aku lilin meleleh dibakar bulan

aku lilin pedih ditusuk karang

kepada kapal mengantuk

dan kelasi mabuk

kuhantar sepercik cahaya

kepada dua kekasih

yang sedang berkasih

kuhampar sebidang tikar

siapakah pernah mengukur

berapa dalam

sepiku yang riuh?

Miracle Fair

Commonplace miracle:

that so many commonplace miracles happen.

An ordinary miracle:

in the dead of night

the barking of invisible dogs.

One miracle out of many:

a small, airy cloud

yet it can block a large and heavy moon.

Several miracles in one:

an alder tree reflected in the water,

and that it's backwards left to right

and that it grows there, crown down

and never reaches the bottom,

even though the water is shallow.

An everyday miracle:

winds weak to moderate

turning gusty in storms.

First among equal miracles:

cows are cows.

Second to none:

just this orchard

from just that seed.

A miracle without a cape and top hat:

scattering white doves.

A miracle, for what else could you call it:

today the sun rose at three-fourteen

and will set at eight-o-one.

A miracle, less surprising than it should be:

even though the hand has fewer than six fingers,

it still has more than four.

A miracle, just take a look around:

the world is everywhere.

An additional miracle, as everything is additional:

the unthinkable

is thinkable.

Wislawa Szymborska

The Red Wheelbarrow-William Carlos William

so much depends

upon

a red wheel

barrow

glazed with rain

water

beside the white

chickens.

The Red Wheelbarrow - Stress and rhythm analysis

Line	Text	Stress pattern	Syllables
1	so much depends	MMuM	4
2	upon	uM	2
3	a red wheel	uM S	3
4	barrow	Mu	2
5	glazed with rain	MuS	3
6	water	Mu	2
7	beside the white	uMuS	4
8	chickens	Su	2

key:

u: unstressed syllable

S: stressed syllable

M: medium stressed syllable

The life that I have

Is all that I have

And the life that I have

Is yours

The love that I have

Of the life that I have

Is yours and yours and yours.

A sleep I shall have

A rest I shall have

Yet death will be but a pause

For the peace of my years

In the long green grass

Will be yours and yours and yours.

Leo Marks