Osip Mandel’stam

Osip Mandelstam – Un povero raggio / Light sheds its meagre ray

Victor Vasnetsov, The Birds of Joy and Sorrow, 1896 Light sheds its meagre ray, coldly in the damp forest. I carry Sorrow, a grey  bird, sluggish, in my chest. What to do with the wounded bird? Solid, restrained, the silence:  the bells, out of the misted  bell-tower, have been stolen. And the heights stand,  like …

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Osip Mandelstam – Mi lavavo all’aperto ch’era notte / In the yard, I was washing, at night

Anselm Kiefer, Falling Stars, 1995 In the yard, I was washing, at night – Harsh stars were fiercely shining. Like salt on an axe, rays of starlight,  the rain-barrel freezing, brimming. The gates are shut with a padlock, and earth’s bleak, in all conscience – you’d scarce find anything more basic, more pure, than truth’s …

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Osip Mandelstam – Per la tua gioia, accetta dalle palme / For joy’s sake, from my hands

Francois Gerard, Psyche Receiving The First Kiss Of Cupid, 1798 For joy’s sake, from my hands, take some honey and some sun,  as Persephone’s bees told us. Not to be freed, the unmoored boat. Not to be heard, fur-booted shadows. Not to be silenced, life’s dark terrors. Now we only have kisses,  dry and bristling …

Osip Mandelstam – Per la tua gioia, accetta dalle palme / For joy’s sake, from my hands Read More »