Thread: Hidden Gems
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Unread 04-20-2017, 05:07 AM
John Isbell John Isbell is offline
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Bill: It looks like that's not in Szymborska's Poems New and Collected, translated by Stanislaw Baranczak and Clare Cavanagh, which is pretty good.
Here is an online version:

"Bears are tapping their paws to the beat,
a lion jumps through a flaming hoop,
a monkey in a yellow tunic rides a bicycle,
the whip cracks and the music sounds,
the whip cracks and animals roll their eyes,
an elephant carries around a pitcher on his head,
dogs are dancing with carefully measured steps.

I'm very much ashamed, I --a human.

A horrible time was had that day:
boisterous applause was not lacking,
though an arm longer by the length of a whip
cast a sharp shadow on the sand."

-translated by Walter Whipple
http://www.mission.net/poland/warsaw...ems/circus.htm

Last edited by John Isbell; 04-20-2017 at 05:09 AM. Reason: reference
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