Showing posts with label Philip Sherrard. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Philip Sherrard. Show all posts

Saturday, September 3, 2011

Two Poems by George Seferis


10.


At the hour when dreams come true,
at the first sweet glimmer of dawn,
I saw lips that opened
leaf by leaf.

A slim sickle shone in the sky.
I feared it would mow them down.

from “Summer Solstice,” part three of Three Secret Poems,
translated  by Walter Kaiser.


*

The Jasmine

Whether it gets dark
or light
the jasmine stays
always white.

Translated by Edmund Keeley and Philip Sherrard.

NB: Some down-to-earth observers of the heavens will note that the sickle framed in jasmine is setting in the west and not rising in the east but that shouldn't distract them from noticing the celestialness of these two pieces.

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