Long Amour Poems

Sweet Rose of Virtue
by William Dunbar (c. 1460-1530)
loose translation/modernization/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

after William Dunbar

Sweet rose of virtue and of gentleness,
delightful lily of youthful wantonness,
richest in bounty and in beauty clear
and in every virtue that...

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Translation of the Elegy: On Marceline Desbordes-Valmore - À L'amour - Poem by Marcel Moreau Translated by T. Wignesan

Reprends de ce bouquet les trompeuses couleurs,      (Take back the dubious colours...

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She stood with her back turned to me
Leaning slightly towards where the light tapered off into darkness
Her faced buried deep inside her cupped hands 
Her own shadow towered over her seemingly at odds with her...

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At once she paid a visit. In her colorful dress, so revealing and appealingly suited to her slendern torso. I to gaze the door way, mine heart pounded viciously,  a death knock. I was...

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Synopsis
The lovely Lady Isabeau and her lover, medieval French Knight Etienne escape to flee the lustful advances of wicked Bishop of Aquila causing them to run afoul of him. The evil-bishop places them under a...

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The reading of Villon poems at West Berlin’s Free University, Winter Semester 1957-58
                      ...

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PART 1:          THE MEETING

Alone one night neath lantern light, I trudged a weary mile.
Forlorn, I went with shoulders bent (the storms around me howled)
until I met...

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"Cherish Armour"


She 
wears 
Her armour,

LOVE -

draped like chain mail
shields You 
with Her heart

When She is drowning
She will throw You to the sure
safe for Your future

And She will cry of lost children 
morbid oblivion, 
damnation and...

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Here I am waiting, 
Still waiting to cross over
Here I am waiting with hope in my hand
And listening to the people singing a new song
My heart is a little heavy 
And I am not happy...

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Sad feelings always return,
No matter what I do,
Say or think,
No matter what I don’t do,
Say or think.

Leaving me sometimes,
Sadness disappears,
Just long enough, 
To tease me,
To please me,
To freeze me.

Hope sinks in,
Hope settles down,
Hope hopes for...

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It is not mandatory
However, I feel that it is my duty
To respond to Carl Brouard
‘Knowing how to drink is not an art
Drinking is not a duty’
But a necessity which is obligatory
As it is crucial even...

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Autumn Leaves/Les feuilles mortes de Jacques PREVERT (1900-77) 
Translated by T. Wignesan 

(Note: As far as I can make out, this poem is at the heart of all versions of « The Autumn Leaves "...

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I want more solstice evening silhouettes.
And nights of rhapsody filled with rental stars.
To explore blurred mornings when the sun rises.
With transitions dripping through the trees.

I want to know how the seasons change.
Who makes time a...

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APRIL TO THRILL ME

                My Birth-Month April appears in mirth.
          ...

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SPRING  IN   ZING

         Season’s                    ...

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Seasons

        Scorching                   Dark clouds      ...

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B        O         E                 ...

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Increasing my laughter eyes full of tears invisibly 
Heart shouting help 
Limiting at my ears
Can't be spoken out loud

Faded destiny 
My quest fades in the deep of away
Embellishing my pain with smile
Held contempt of my...

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OUR LOVE
                                 ...

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Your devoted adoring Loving hands
Shields the abyss with trance
in utter bewilderment
As every hand is first an apprentice 
That slaves beneath The Temple Of LOVE
Your Loving hands have valor and daring
to weave my sorrow into a...

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"The Vanilla Ice Cream Knights and The Raspberry Queen"



"You’ve been spooning
too much Vanilla Icecream”, 
she advised the buffoon

all the feathery self-blustering chirpers 
parted way, she had loaded guns
she positively glided into the room

“Diamonds my old...

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Translated: Si la vie demande ça by Laura and Chris Mayne by T. Wignesan.

If Life would not wish it otherwise
 
[Note: The two sister French Caribbean-Martinique Black “Blues” Swan : Laura and Chris MAYNE (lyrics...

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"The Golden Chord"

I have stories
caterwauling
to be told,
I will caste them out there
no matter how bold.

They will not drown,
they’ll survive
soaked to the bone,
transfigured transporting
they’re magic
for the one who sits absent
on her Royal Throne.

Some are parked on...

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"La banque du cœur"




To traverse the deadly deep canyons
of my heart you would need a suit of the 
hardest amour -
steel chain mall and 
crucifix is of no use,
you’d be better equipped with 
Jousting pole...

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J'apprends le français en ce moment
parce que j'ai l'intention de voyager à Paris.
Je ne parle pas couramment le français.
J'ai découvert Le Lac il y a quelques années.

Par un mariage
Du côté de ma mère,
nous sommes liés...

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