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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
WHEN ORION ON THE WANE, by GIUSEPPE PARINI Poet's Biography Last Line: With wavering steps return Subject(s): Poetry & Poets | |||
When Orion on the wane Rages, and down below Upon the darkening earth. Casts rain and frost and snow, He marks me in the vile Weather, with wavering tread Mid mud and the oblique Fury of traffic sped. And through a treacherous stone Projecting dangerously, Or a false step, fall down On the road suddenly. The urchin laughs, but then Looks tearful when he sees How, falling, I have hurt My elbow, chin or knees; Others draw near; one says: "O worthy poet, such harm Thou hast not merited," And, speaking, takes my arm; Then with a kindly hand Helps me on to my feet, Picks up my futile stick And soiled hat from the street: "Thy prosperous country gives High praise to thee, sublime, Immortal swan, whose name Is safe from gnawing time, And loudly vaunts thy fame, And urges tiresomely The Day's completion, whence Even strangers flatter thee; And yet these limbs made frail By nature and long years Nathless thou trailest 'twixt Perils and constant fears. Thy famous verse not even A cheap conveyance pays For shelter from the wild Tempest at the cross-ways. Disdainful spirit! Be More careful, lest one day Worse destiny befall These hairs already grey. Nor villas hast, nor friends, Nor kin to whom to turn, And thus o'er thousands be Preferred in fortune's urn. Hence, in so far thou canst. The arduous ladder scale, Each day in vestibules And salons weep and wail; Or tirelessly mid hordes Of time-servers await, Who humble them before The vile who woo the great, And, thanks to such, attain The favour of these last, And chase their tedium with Gossip and jests broadcast; Or, be thou so astute, Discover the dim ways Wherein a secret breath The fate of peoples sways, And, feigning a new scheme For swelling public wealth, Solicit funds, and then Fish in the pool by stealth. Must I then vainly preach, Seeking to disabuse Thy mind, O obstinate Adorer of thy muse? Leave her, or like a low Mime mock she chastity, Pandering to abject tastes Decked ostentatiously!" My wrath, deep in my breast Too long constrained, leaps high, Breaking impetuously From bounds, and I reply: "Who art thou, who wouldst raise My aged limbs but thrust My soul unto the ground ? Piteous thou art, not just ! Good citizen is he Who acts as doth beseem His nature and estate To merit all esteem; Who asks with dignity When old and sorely pressed, With, on an open brow. His soul made manifest; And if hard hearts should turn Aside, then he hath still His conscience for a shield And breast-plate against ill; He is not crushed by pain Nor puffed with pride, "I say, And from all further help, Indignant, wend my way; Thus, grateful for support, The advice I needs must scorn, And home contentedly With wavering steps return. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...ENVY OF OTHER PEOPLE'S POEMS by ROBERT HASS THE NINETEENTH CENTURY AS A SONG by ROBERT HASS THE FATALIST: TIME IS FILLED by LYN HEJINIAN OXOTA: A SHORT RUSSIAN NOVEL: CHAPTER 192 by LYN HEJINIAN LET ME TELL YOU WHAT A POEM BRINGS by JUAN FELIPE HERRERA JUNE JOURNALS 6/25/88 by JUAN FELIPE HERRERA FOLLOW ROZEWICZ by JUAN FELIPE HERRERA HAVING INTENDED TO MERELY PICK ON AN OIL COMPANY, THE POEM GOES AWRY by HICOK. BOB ONCE MORE THE ROSE DOTH BLOOM by GIUSEPPE PARINI |
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