J O H A N N W O L F G A N G V O N G O E T H E
____________________________________________________
from VENETIAN EPIGRAMS
Translated by Jerome Rothenberg
Urns and sarcophagi
pagans paint into life,
dancing fauns,
dancing bands of bacchantes,
bright lines of them,
goatfooted, fatcheeked,
squeeze sounds
hot & wild
through brass horns,
percussions & cymbals
blare out,:
we see & hear
on the marble
birds beating wings,
sweet taste of the fruit
on your beaks,
no noise to frighten you.off
still less to drive Eros away
who joins the bright crowds
rejoicing,
hoisting his torch.
So bounty overcomes death
& the ashes within
in the house made of silence
still find pleasure in life.
Some day
may the tomb of the poet
be graced
with this scroll
he has richly bejewelled
with life.
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