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117
I WANT MY VERSES TO BE LIKE JEWELS
I want my verses to be like jewels,
Able to endure into the far future
Untarnished by the death
That lurks in each thing,
Verses which forget the hard and sad
Brevity of our days, taking us back
To that ancient freedom
We’ve perhaps never known.
Here in these friendly, far-removed shadows
Where history ignores us, I remember those
Who carefully weave
Their carefree verses.
And remembering you above all others,
I write beneath the veiled sun
And drink, immortal Horace,
Superfluous, to your glory.
5 AUGUST 1923
I WANT MY VERSES TO BE LIKE JEWELS
I want my verses to be like jewels,
Able to endure into the far future
Untarnished by the death
That lurks in each thing,
Verses which forget the hard and sad
Brevity of our days, taking us back
To that ancient freedom
We’ve perhaps never known.
Here in these friendly, far-removed shadows
Where history ignores us, I remember those
Who carefully weave
Their carefree verses.
And remembering you above all others,
I write beneath the veiled sun
And drink, immortal Horace,
Superfluous, to your glory.
5 AUGUST 1923