Sonnet Elegy Poems

American sonnet

Today is sunny with a few decorative clouds drifting idly about the sky and the mood is of optimism
When it is overcast and dull...

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Hear them pray for the last time,
their leather boots no protection still.
Listen to the church bell chime.
Hear the men ordering to kill.

Turn off the radio.
Stop...

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These are my modern English translations of sonnets by the French poet Stephane Mallarme.

The Tomb of Edgar Poe
by Stéphane Mallarmé
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Transformed...

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Paris Sonnet
 I visited Paris for a few days I have been here before
but this time I came alone.
Walked into a café selling delicious cakes...

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He was reclining cold and motionless 
Silence reigned as it signalled a torment
I prostrated and remained quiet, wordless
My mother's elegy evoked lament. 
As the days...

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The Panther
by Rainer Maria Rilke
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

His weary vision's so overwhelmed by iron bars,
his exhausted eyes see only blank Oblivion.
His world is...

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Archaic Torso of Apollo
by Rainer Maria Rilke
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

We cannot know the beheaded god
nor his eyes' forfeited visions. But still
the figure's trunk...

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There was always a surfeit of light in your presence.
You stood distinctly apart, not of the humdrum world—
a chariot of gold in a procession of...

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First of all, Grandma left us.
Now Grandma’s gone to be with the Lord
But thank God I know better.

O death, where is thy sting?
O grave, where...

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SONNET : 
ELEGY IN BLANK VERSE

I wish I could find death before I grow
so I could miss life's pain and agony. 
A child can only...

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Dark nights shrouded a woeful face
Everywhere is obscure
Succumb the life in oblivion
Kneel on the floor and mourn
Footsteps of the memory linger
Dirge played in solitude
Weeping out...

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