«When I look at the flight of the leaves in / their floating down on to the paving of cobbles / and see them swept up as if by an / artist who has finished his picture at last I think how (already nobody likes either / the way I stand, or my thoughtful face) / a manifestly yellow, decidedl...»
«Morning and evening, darkness and light — / Fishermen black and fishermen white. / The world’s like an ocean; like fishes are we, / Like fishes that swim in the depths of the sea. The world’s like an ocean where fishermen wait, / Preparing their nets, their hooks and their bait. / H...»
«Three songs there be that thrill the human breast — / Three songs with human joy and sorrow laden. / And one of them is happier than the rest — / The song a mother sings beside a cradle. The second by a mother, too, is sung — / Caressing icy cheeks with mourning fingers, / She sings...»
«There was a lad who once lived in our village, / He had a youthful bride with raven hair, / That self-same year when she and he turned twenty / Came war, and tore him from his bride so fair. The hero’s bride is now a hero’s widow. / Her hair is grey, her eyes have lost their fire; / T...»