This Be The Verse by Philip Larkin

Випадково натрапила на цей вірш у книзі, яку зараз читаю. Виявляється, він дуже популярний і улюблений в Англії. Шкода, що на наших лекціях з англійської літератури його не було.

from newyorkermag

They fuck you up, your mum and dad.   

    They may not mean to, but they do.   

They fill you with the faults they had

    And add some extra, just for you.

But they were fucked up in their turn

    By fools in old-style hats and coats,   

Who half the time were soppy-stern

    And half at one another’s throats.

Man hands on misery to man.

    It deepens like a coastal shelf.

Get out as early as you can,

    And don’t have any kids yourself.

Звідси

Musical Sunday

Robert Burns – Auld Lang Syne as sung by Dougie MacLean on the album Tribute.

Найкраща версія, яку я чула.

Here is the “translation” into modern English. There is no doubt that Burns did it better!

Days Long Ago
Should old acquaintances be forgotten
And never be remembered?
Should old acquaintances be forgotten
and days long ago.

Chorus:
For days long ago, my dear,
For days long ago
We’ll drink a cup of kindness yet
For days long ago!

And surely you’ll have your pint tankard
And surely I’ll have mine.
And we’ll drink a cup of kindness yet
For days long ago.

Chorus

We two have run about the hills
And pulled the daisies fine
But we’ve wandered many a weary mile
Since the days long ago.

Chorus

We two have paddled in the stream
From morning sun till dinner-time
But the broad seas have roared between us
Since the days long ago.

Chorus

And here’s my hand, my trusty friend,
And give me your hand too,
And we will take an excellent good-will drink
For the days of long ago.

Musical Sunday

Вірш Альфреда Ноєса, написаний, коли автору було тільки 24.

Snow

Шкода, що у нас так і не випав сніг.

The way a crow
Shook down on me
The dust of snow
From a hemlock tree

Has given my heart
A change of mood
And saved some part
Of a day I had rued.

Robert Frost

Jon Krause