Meditation on a Bone

A piece of bone, found at Trondhjem in 1901, with the following runic inscription (about A.D. 1050) cut on it: I loved her as a maiden; I will not trouble Erlend’s detestable wife; better she should be a widow.

Words scored upon a bone,

Scratched in despair or rage —

Nine hundred years have gone;

Now, in another age,

They burn with passion on

A scholar’s tranquil page.

The scholar takes his pen

And turns the bone about,

And writes those words again.

Once more they seethe and shout

And through a human brain

Undying hate rings out.

“I loved her when a maid;

I loathe and love the wife

That warms another’s bed:

Let him beware his life!”

The scholar’s hand is stayed;

His pen becomes a knife

To grave in living bone

The fierce archaic cry.

He sits and reads his own

Dull sum of misery.

A thousand years have flown

Before that ink is dry.

And, in a foreign tongue,

A man, who is not he,

Reads and his heart is wrung

This ancient grief to see,

And thinks: When I am dung,

What bone shall speak for me?

Poetry Monster – Home

A few random poems:

External links

Bat’s Poetry Page – more poetry by Fledermaus

Talking Writing Monster’s Page –

Batty Writing – the bat’s idle chatter, thoughts, ideas and observations, all original, all fresh

Poems in English 

• How To Raise Money For Your High School Study Abroad Experience by Poetry In English
• Computer Cookies: Are They Good or Bad? by Poetry In English
• The Best Blues Songs Ever by Poetry In English
• The Effects of Chess on Leadership by Poetry In English
• Holiday & Travel Guide For Paphos, Cyprus by Poetry In English
• Will the SEZ Act Boost Exports? by Poetry In English
• Art Therapy and Loss by Poetry In English
• Fiction Tips – The Snare of Coincidence by Poetry In English
• Interview With Joseph D’Agnese, Author Of Jersey Heat by Poetry In English
• Top 5 Furniture Buying Tactics For the Best Purchase by Poetry In English
• Chinese Zodiac Signs by Poetry In English
• A Brief History of Special Education by Poetry In English
• Priorities of Life and Death by Poetry In English
• Goals – How to Get Everything You Want by Brian Tracy – Review by Poetry In English
• How to Increase Your Faith by Poetry In English
• Top Benefits of Wearing Peridot Birthstone by Poetry In English
• How to Locate, Hire, and Work With an Article Writer by Poetry In English
• Companies See Mobile Games Development As a Profitable Business Option by Poetry In English
• Empowering Women in Gambia by Poetry In English
• Is Hiring a Resume Writer Really Worth It? by Poetry In English

More external links (open in a new tab):

Russian Commerce Agency

Dealing Monster

Doska or the Board – write anything

Search engines:

Yandex – the best search engine for searches in Russian (and the best overall image search engine, in any language, anywhere)

Qwant – the best search engine for searches in French, German as well as Romance and Germanic languages.

Ecosia – a search engine that supposedly… plants trees

Duckduckgo – the real alternative and a search engine that actually works. Without much censorship or partisan politics.

Yahoo– yes, it’s still around, amazingly, miraculously, incredibly, but now it seems to be powered by Bing.

 

Parallel Translations of Poetry

Poems by Author and Category

The Poetry Repository – an online library of poems, poetry, verse and poetic works