Final Notions
A poem by Adrienne Cecile Rich (1929 – 2012) It will not be simple, it will not take long It will take little time, it will take all your thought It will take all your heart, it will take all your breath It will be short, it will not be simple It will touch […]
Diving Into The Wreck
A poem by Adrienne Cecile Rich (1929 – 2012) by Adrienne Rich First having read the book of myths, and loaded the camera, and checked the edge of the knife-blade, I put on the body-armor of black rubber the absurd flippers the grave and awkward mask. I am having to do […]
Diving Wreck
A poem by Adrienne Cecile Rich (1929 – 2012) by Adrienne Rich First having read the book of myths, and loaded the camera, and checked the edge of the knife-blade, I put on the body-armor of black rubber the absurd flippers the grave and awkward mask. I am having to do […]
Cartographies Of Silence
A poem by Adrienne Cecile Rich (1929 – 2012) 1. A conversation begins with a lie. and each speaker of the so-called common language feels the ice-floe split, the drift apart as if powerless, as if up against a force of nature A poem can being with a lie. And be […]
Burning Oneself Out
A poem by Adrienne Cecile Rich (1929 – 2012) We can look into the stove tonight as into a mirror, yes, the serrated log, the yellow-blue gaseous core the crimson-flittered grey ash, yes. I know inside my eyelids and underneath my skin Time takes hold of us like a draft upward, drawing […]
Aunt Jennifer039s Tigers
A poem by Adrienne Cecile Rich (1929 – 2012) Aunt Jennifer’s tigers prance across a screen, Bright topaz denizens of a world of green. They do not fear the men beneath the tree; They pace in sleek chivalric certainty. Aunt Jennifer’s fingers fluttering through her wool Find even the ivory needle hard to pull. […]
Aunt Jennifers Tigers
A poem by Adrienne Cecile Rich (1929 – 2012) Aunt Jennifer’s tigers prance across a screen, Bright topaz denizens of a world of green. They do not fear the men beneath the tree; They pace in sleek chivalric certainty. Aunt Jennifer’s fingers fluttering through her wool Find even the ivory needle hard to pull. […]
A Valediction Forbidding Mourning
A poem by Adrienne Cecile Rich (1929 – 2012) My swirling wants. Your frozen lips. The grammar turned and attacked me. Themes, written under duress. Emptiness of the notations. They gave me a drug that slowed the healing of wounds. I want you to see this before I leave: the experience of repetition […]
Youth
A poem by Violet Nicolson, Lawrence Hope, Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (1865 – 1904) I am not sure if I knew the truth What his case or crime might be, I only know that he pleaded Youth, A beautiful, golden plea! Youth, with its sunlit, passionate eyes, Its roseate velvet skin– A plea to […]
Yasmini
A poem by Violet Nicolson, Lawrence Hope, Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (1865 – 1904) At night, when Passion’s ebbing tide Left bare the Sands of Truth, Yasmini, resting by my side, Spoke softly of her youth. “And one” she said “was tall and slim, Two crimson rose leaves made his mouth, And I was […]
Yasin Khan
A poem by Violet Nicolson, Lawrence Hope, Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (1865 – 1904) Ay, thou has found thy kingdom, Yasin Khan, Thy fathers’ pomp and power are thine, at last. No more the rugged roads of Khorasan, The scanty food and tentage of the past! Wouldst thou make war? thy followers know no […]
Written In Cananore
A poem by Violet Nicolson, Lawrence Hope, Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (1865 – 1904) I Who was it held that Love was soothing or sweet? Mine is a painful fire, at its whitest heat. Who said that Beauty was ever a gentle joy? Thine is a sword that flashes but to destroy. Though mine […]
Wings
A poem by Violet Nicolson, Lawrence Hope, Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (1865 – 1904) Was it worth while to forego our wings To gain these dextrous hands ? Truly they fashion us wonderful things As the fancy of man demands. But–to fly! to sail through the lucid air From crest to violet crest Of […]
When Love Is Over
A poem by Violet Nicolson, Lawrence Hope, Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (1865 – 1904) Song of Khan Zada Only in August my heart was aflame, Catching the scent of your Wind-stirred hair, Now, though you spread it to soften my sleep Through the night, I should hardly care. Only last August I drank that […]
Verses
A poem by Violet Nicolson, Lawrence Hope, Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (1865 – 1904) You are my God, and I would fain adore You With sweet and secret rites of other days. Burn scented oil in silver lamps before You, Pour perfume on Your feet with prayer and praise. Yet are we one; Your […]
Verses Faiz Ulla
A poem by Violet Nicolson, Lawrence Hope, Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (1865 – 1904) Just in the hush before dawn A little wistful wind is born. A little chilly errant breeze, That thrills the grasses, stirs the trees. And, as it wanders on its way, While yet the night is cool and dark, The […]
Verse By Taj Mahomed
A poem by Violet Nicolson, Lawrence Hope, Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (1865 – 1904) When first I loved, I gave my very soul Utterly unreserved to Love’s control, But Love deceived me, wrenched my youth away And made the gold of life for ever grey. Long I lived lonely, yet I tried in vain […]
Vayu The Wind
A poem by Violet Nicolson, Lawrence Hope, Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (1865 – 1904) Ah, Wind, I have always loved thee Since those far off nights When I lay beneath the vines A prey to strange delights, For among my tresses Thy soft caresses Were sweet as a lover’s to me. Later thou grewest […]
Valgovinds Song In The Spring
A poem by Violet Nicolson, Lawrence Hope, Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (1865 – 1904) The Temple bells are ringing, The young green corn is springing, And the marriage month is drawing very near. I lie hidden in the grass, And I count the moments pass, For the month of marriages is drawing near. Soon, […]
Valgovinds Boat Song
A poem by Violet Nicolson, Lawrence Hope, Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (1865 – 1904) Waters glisten and sunbeams quiver, The wind blows fresh and free. Take my boat to your breast, O River! Carry me out to Sea! This land is laden with fruit and grain, With never a place left free for flowers, […]
Unforgotten
A poem by Violet Nicolson, Lawrence Hope, Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (1865 – 1904) Do you ever think of me? you who died Ere our Youth’s first fervour chilled, With your soft eyes and your pulses stilled Lying alone, aside, Do you ever think of me, left in the light, From the endless calm […]
Unanswered
A poem by Violet Nicolson, Lawrence Hope, Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (1865 – 1904) Something compels me, somewhere. Yet I see No clear command in Life’s long mystery. Oft have I flung myself beside my horse, To drink the water from the roadside mire, And felt the liquid through my being course, Stilling the […]
Two Songs By Sitara Of Kashmir
A poem by Violet Nicolson, Lawrence Hope, Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (1865 – 1904) Beloved! your hair was golden As tender tints of sunrise, As corn beside the River In softly varying hues. I loved you for your slightness, Your melancholy sweetness, Your changeful eyes, that promised What your lips would still refuse. You […]
To The Unattainable
A poem by Violet Nicolson, Lawrence Hope, Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (1865 – 1904) Oh, that my blood were water, thou athirst, And thou and I in some far Desert land, How would I shed it gladly, if but first It touched thy lips, before it reached the sand. Once,–Ah, the Gods were good […]
To The Unattainable Lament Of Mahomed Akram
A poem by Violet Nicolson, Lawrence Hope, Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (1865 – 1904) I would have taken Golden Stars from the sky for your necklace, I would have shaken rose-leaves for your rest from all the rose-trees. But you had no need; the short sweet grass sufficed for your slumber, And you took […]
To The Hills
A poem by Violet Nicolson, Lawrence Hope, Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (1865 – 1904) ‘T is eight miles out and eight miles in, Just at the break of morn. ‘T is ice without and flame within, To gain a kiss at dawn! Far, where the Lilac Hills arise Soft from the misty plain, A […]
To M C N
A poem by Violet Nicolson, Lawrence Hope, Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (1865 – 1904) Thou hast no wealth, nor any pride of power, Thy life is offered on affection’s altar. Small sacrifices claim thee, hour by hour, Yet on the tedious path thou dost not falter. To the unknowing, well thy days might seem […]
To Aziz Song Of Mahomed Akram
A poem by Violet Nicolson, Lawrence Hope, Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (1865 – 1904) Your beauty puts a barb into my soul, Strive as I will it never lets me go. My love has passed the frontiers of control, You are so fair and I desire you so. Others may come and go, they […]
Till I Wake
A poem by Violet Nicolson, Lawrence Hope, Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (1865 – 1904) When I am dying, lean over me tenderly, softly, Stoop, as the yellow roses droop in the wind from the South. So I may, when I wake, if there be an Awakening, Keep, what lulled me to sleep, the touch […]
Three Songs Of Zahir U Din
A poem by Violet Nicolson, Lawrence Hope, Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (1865 – 1904) The tropic day’s redundant charms Cool twilight soothes away, The sun slips down behind the palms And leaves the landscape grey. I want to take you in my arms And kiss your lips away! I wake with sunshine in my […]
Thoughts Mahomed Akram
A poem by Violet Nicolson, Lawrence Hope, Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (1865 – 1904) If some day this body of mine were burned (It found no favour alas! with you) And the ashes scattered abroad, unurned, Would Love die also, would Thought die too? But who can answer, or who can trust, No dreams […]
Though In My Firmament Thou Wilt Not Shine
A poem by Violet Nicolson, Lawrence Hope, Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (1865 – 1904) Talk not, my Lord, of unrequited love, Since love requites itself most royally. Do we not live but by the sun above, And takes he any heed of thee or me? Though in my firmament thou wilt not shine, Thy […]
This Month The Almonds Bloom At Kandahar
A poem by Violet Nicolson, Lawrence Hope, Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (1865 – 1904) I hate this City, seated on the Plain, The clang and clamour of the hot Bazar, Knowing, amid the pauses of my pain, This month the Almonds bloom in Kandahar. The Almond-trees, that sheltered my Delight, Screening my happiness as […]
There Is No Breeze To Cool The Heat Of Love
A poem by Violet Nicolson, Lawrence Hope, Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (1865 – 1904) The listless Palm-trees catch the breeze above The pile-built huts that edge the salt Lagoon, There is no Breeze to cool the heat of love, No wind from land or sea, at night or noon. Perfumed and robed I wait, […]
The Window Overlooking The Harbour
A poem by Violet Nicolson, Lawrence Hope, Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (1865 – 1904) Sad is the Evening: all the level sand Lies left and lonely, while the restless sea, Tired of the green caresses of the land, Withdraws into its own infinity. But still more sad this white and chilly Dawn Filling the […]
The Tom Toms
A poem by Violet Nicolson, Lawrence Hope, Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (1865 – 1904) Dost thou hear the tom-toms throbbing, Like a lonely lover sobbing For the beauty that is robbing him of all his life’s delight? Plaintive sounds, restrained, enthralling, Seeking through the twilight falling Something lost beyond recalling, in the darkness of […]
The Temple Dancing Girl
A poem by Violet Nicolson, Lawrence Hope, Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (1865 – 1904) You will be mine; those lightly dancing feet, Falling as softly on the careless street As the wind-loosened petals of a flower, Will bring you here, at the Appointed Hour. And all the Temple’s little links and laws Will not […]
The Teak Forest
A poem by Violet Nicolson, Lawrence Hope, Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (1865 – 1904) Whether I loved you who shall say? Whether I drifted down your way In the endless River of Chance and Change, And you woke the strange Unknown longings that have no names, But burn us all in their hidden flames, […]
The Singer
A poem by Violet Nicolson, Lawrence Hope, Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (1865 – 1904) The singer only sang the Joy of Life, For all too well, alas! the singer knew How hard the daily toil, how keen the strife, How salt the falling tear; the joys how few. He who thinks hard soon finds […]
The River Of Pearls At Fez Translation
A poem by Violet Nicolson, Lawrence Hope, Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (1865 – 1904) One evening we sat together By the river of Pearls at Fez, Stringing verses and sometimes singing. My gaze followed the beautiful boy Who, with a swift and delicate movement, Flung the wine-cup over his shoulder ; The ruby drops […]