Meditation on a Bone

A piece of bone, found at Trondhjem in 1901, with the following runic inscription (about A.D. 1050) cut on it: I loved her as a maiden; I will not trouble Erlend’s detestable wife; better she should be a widow.

Words scored upon a bone,

Scratched in despair or rage —

Nine hundred years have gone;

Now, in another age,

They burn with passion on

A scholar’s tranquil page.

The scholar takes his pen

And turns the bone about,

And writes those words again.

Once more they seethe and shout

And through a human brain

Undying hate rings out.

“I loved her when a maid;

I loathe and love the wife

That warms another’s bed:

Let him beware his life!”

The scholar’s hand is stayed;

His pen becomes a knife

To grave in living bone

The fierce archaic cry.

He sits and reads his own

Dull sum of misery.

A thousand years have flown

Before that ink is dry.

And, in a foreign tongue,

A man, who is not he,

Reads and his heart is wrung

This ancient grief to see,

And thinks: When I am dung,

What bone shall speak for me?

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A few random poems:

External links

Bat’s Poetry Page – more poetry by Fledermaus

Talking Writing Monster’s Page –

Batty Writing – the bat’s idle chatter, thoughts, ideas and observations, all original, all fresh

Poems in English 

• Наум Коржавин – Генерал by Поэзия На Русском
• Наум Коржавин – Гамлет by Поэзия На Русском
• Наум Коржавин – Еж и Заяц by Поэзия На Русском
• Наум Коржавин – Есть у тех, кому нету места by Поэзия На Русском
• Наум Коржавин – Еще в мальчишеские годы by Поэзия На Русском
• Наум Коржавин – Двадцатые годы by Поэзия На Русском
• Наум Коржавин – Друзьям by Поэзия На Русском
• Наталья Хрущева – Дождик и художник by Поэзия На Русском
• Наталья Хрущева – Большой и маленький by Поэзия На Русском
• Наталья Хрущева – Бабушка рыцаря by Поэзия На Русском
• Наталья Шевченко – Самолёт by Поэзия На Русском
• Наталья Шевченко – Прости прости Меня Отец by Поэзия На Русском
• Наталья Шевченко – Привилегия by Поэзия На Русском
• Наталья Шевченко – Он не в себе by Поэзия На Русском
• Михаил Ломоносов – Надпись на иллюминацию, представленную ее императорскому Величеству от их императорских высочеств в Ораниенбауме 1750 года июля 31 дня by Михаил Ломоносов
• Михаил Ломоносов – Надпись на иллюминацию 1747 года перед зимним домом by Михаил Ломоносов
• Михаил Ломоносов – Надпись на день восшествия на престол Ее Величества 1753 года by Михаил Ломоносов
• Михаил Ломоносов – Надпись на день рождения Ее Величества by Михаил Ломоносов
• Михаил Ломоносов – Надпись благоверному и Великому князю Александру Невскому by Михаил Ломоносов
• Михаил Ломоносов – Надпись 5 к статуе Петра Великого by Михаил Ломоносов

More external links (open in a new tab):

Russian Commerce Agency

Dealing Monster

Doska or the Board – write anything

Search engines:

Yandex – the best search engine for searches in Russian (and the best overall image search engine, in any language, anywhere)

Qwant – the best search engine for searches in French, German as well as Romance and Germanic languages.

Ecosia – a search engine that supposedly… plants trees

Duckduckgo – the real alternative and a search engine that actually works. Without much censorship or partisan politics.

Yahoo– yes, it’s still around, amazingly, miraculously, incredibly, but now it seems to be powered by Bing.

 

Parallel Translations of Poetry

Poems by Author and Category

The Poetry Repository – an online library of poems, poetry, verse and poetic works