Elegija o nemogućoj uspomeni- Horhe Luis Borhes

Šta ne bih dao za sećanje
na prašnjav puteljak sa niskim ogradama
i visokog konjanika što zoru ispunjava
(pohaban dugački pončo)
jednog dana među danima ravnice,
jednog dana bez datuma.
Šta ne bih dao za sećanje
na majku koja posmatra jutro
na estansiji Svete Irene
a ne zna da će se zvati Borhes.
Šta ne bih dao za sećanje
da sam se borio kod Sepede
i video Estanislaa Del Kampa
kako pozdravlja prvi kuršum
s radošću hrabra čoveka.
Šta ne bih dao za sećanje
na kapiju skrivenog letnjikovca
koju je moj otac svake večeri zatvarao
pre no što bi se izgubio u snu
i koju je zatvorio poslednji put
četrnaestog februara 38.
Šta ne bih dao za sećanje
na Hengistove čunove
koji kreću sa peščanih obala Danske
da osvoje ostrvo
koje još Engleska ne beše.
Šta ne bih dao za sećanje
(imao sam ga i izgubio)
na jedno zlatasto Tarnerovo platno
široko kao muzika.
Šta ne bih dao za sećanje
da sam čuo Sokrata
kad je pred veče kukute
s vedrinom ispitivao problem
besmrtnosti,
naizmenično navodeći mitove i razloge
dok se plava smrt penjala
iz već studenih nogu.
Šta ne bih dao za sećanje
da si mi rekla da me voliš
i da nisam spavao do zore,
bestidan i srećan.

A Visit From Wisdom- Khalil Gibran

In the stillness of night Wisdom came and stood
By my bed. She gazed upon me like a tender mother
And wiped away my tears, and said : “I have heard
The cry of your spirit and I am come to comfort it.
Open your heart to me and I shall fill it with light.
Ask of me and I shall show you the way of truth.”

And I said : “Who am I, Wisdom, and how came
I to this frightening place? What manner of things
Are these mighty hopes and these many books and
Strange patterns ? What are these thoughts that pass
As doves in flight? And these words composed by
Desire and sung by delight, what are they? What are
These conclusions, grievous and joyous, that embrace
My spirit and envelop my heart? And those
Eyes which look at me seeing into my depths and
Fleeing from my sorrows ? And those voices mourning
My days and chanting my littleness, what are they ?

“What is this youth that plays with my desires
And mocks at my longings, forgetful of yesterday’s
Deeds, rejoicing in paltry things of the moment,
Scornful of the morrow’s coming?

“What is this world that leads me whither I know
Not, standing with me in despising? And this earth
That opens wide its mouth to swallow bodies and
Lets evil things to dwell on its breast? What is this
Creature that is satisfied with the love of fortune,
Whilst beyond its union is the pit? Who seeks Life’s
Kiss whilst Death does smite him, and brings the
Pleasure of a minute with a year of repentance, and
Gives himself to slumber the while dreams call him?
What is he who flows with the rivers of folly to the
Sea of darkness? O Wisdom, what manner of things
Are these?”

And she answered, saying :
“You would see, human creature, this world
Through the eyes of a god. And you would seek to
Know the secrets of the hereafter with the thinking
Of men. Yet in truth is this the height of folly.
“Go you to the wild places and you shall find
There the bee above the flowers and behold the eagle
Swooping down on his prey. Go you into your neighbor’s
House and see then the child blinking at the
Firelight and his mother busied at her household
Tasks. Be you like the bee and spend not the days of
Spring looking on the eagle’s doing. Be as the child
And rejoice in the firelight and heed not your Mother’s affairs. All that you see with your eyes was

And is for your sake.

“The many books and the strange patterns and
Beautiful thoughts are the shades of those spirits
That came ere you were come. The words that you
Do weave are a bond between you and your brothers.
The conclusions, grievous and joyous, are the
Seeds that the past did scatter in the field of the
Spirit to be reaped by the future. That youth who
Plays with your desires is he who will open the door
Of your heart to let enter the light. This earth with
The ever open mouth is the savior of your spirit from
The body’s slavery. This world which walks with
You is your heart; and your heart is all that you
Think that world. This creature whom you see as
Ignorant and small is the same who has come from
God’s side to learn pity through sadness, and knowledge
By way of darkness.”

Then Wisdom put her hand on my burning brow
And said:
“Go then forward and do not tarry, for before walks Perfection. Go, and have not fear of thorns
On the path, for they deem naught lawful save Corrupted blood.”

The House of ASterion- Jorge Luis Borges

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoXnZ-wyMsU

Two English Poems- Jorge Luis Borges

The useless dawn finds me in a deserted street-
corner; I have outlived the night.
Nights are proud waves; darkblue topheavy waves
laden with all the hues of deep spoil, laden with
things unlikely and desirable.
Nights have a habit of mysterious gifts and refusals,
of things half given away, half withheld,
of joys with a dark hemisphere. Nights act
that way, I tell you.
The surge, that night, left me the customary shreds
and odd ends: some hated friends to chat
with, music for dreams, and the smoking of
bitter ashes.  The things my hungry heart
has no use for.
The big wave brought you.
Words, any words, your laughter; and you so lazily
and incessantly beautiful.  We talked and you
have forgotten the words.
The shattering dawn finds me in a deserted street
of my city.
Your profile turned away, the sounds that go to
make your name, the lilt of your laughter:
these are the illustrious toys you have left me.
I turn them over in the dawn, I lose them, I find
them; I tell them to the few stray dogs and
to the few stray stars of the dawn.
Your dark rich life …
I must get at you, somehow; I put away those
illustrious toys you have left me, I want your
hidden look, your real smile — that lonely,
mocking smile your cool mirror knows.

II

What can I hold you with?
I offer you lean streets, desperate sunsets, the
moon of the jagged suburbs.
I offer you the bitterness of a man who has looked
long and long at the lonely moon.
I offer you my ancestors, my dead men, the ghosts
that living men have honoured in bronze:
my father’s father killed in the frontier of
Buenos Aires, two bullets through his lungs,
bearded and dead, wrapped by his soldiers in
the hide of a cow; my mother’s grandfather
–just twentyfour– heading a charge of
three hundred men in Peru, now ghosts on
vanished horses.
I offer you whatever insight my books may hold,
whatever manliness or humour my life.
I offer you the loyalty of a man who has never
been loyal.
I offer you that kernel of myself that I have saved,
somehow –the central heart that deals not
in words, traffics not with dreams, and is
untouched by time, by joy, by adversities.
I offer you the memory of a yellow rose seen at
sunset, years before you were born.
I offer you explanations of yourself, theories about
yourself, authentic and surprising news of
yourself.
I can give you my loneliness, my darkness, the
hunger of my heart; I am trying to bribe you
with uncertainty, with danger, with defeat.