........Spring........
So sweet in the evening
More delicious still at noon
Icy waters of early morning
Breezes blown from the sea
Bays crowded with shipping
Warm wave-lapped shores
Somewhere between now and the vernal equinox...Somewhere upon a stage in Long Beach... The block-quote will rise with an excess of drama and an absence of accreditation.
The stage will function as an assembly line for poets, musicians, and others...But the recitation of the above might be a highlight of what is commonly referred to as an "Open Mic Night"
The "poet" who recites this ode to Spring will, no doubt, have a new starstruck bedmate by evening's end. The bedmate will never know that the poem was actually first published in France in 1927. It is extracted from Andre Gide's FRUITS OF THE EARTH
This translation first published by Martin Secker & Warburg 1949
Published in Penguin Modern Classics 1970
Verbatim italic words are the nearest thing to a hyperlink on this page.
Much more about Mr. Gide will appear in upcoming posts.
Oscar Wilde was strongly under the influence of Andre Gide.
So was Sartre & Camus, amongst countless other luminous writers.
So is the format of the next FATHER FRANK post.
The title above explains how LCSoL's Carl Hobbes schooled me in correct pronunciation but a prominent character in FRUITS OF THE EARTH has an easy-to-pronounce name: God
The man below is Andre Gide
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