2017-08-24

【Theme】

Carl Spitteler (1845—1924)

〖Nobel Prize in Literature in 1919〗

            Bell with the tongue of silver-tone,

            I would make thy secret known -

            Cooped with screech-owl, flittermouse,

            In the crumbling belfry-h

2017-08-24

【Another Waking】

Carl Spitteler (1845—1924)

〖Nobel Prize in Literature in 1919〗

            From the nightmare world of dream

            I awakened with a scream.

            Chime of bells and song of a bird

            Deep in budding woods I heard;

2017-08-24

【Aiden in English】

        The final day of vacation is always a sad one. But a well-said phrase from our program director of the Viking Kvasir states otherwise: "Don't feel so sad that the journey is over; be happy it happened." I'm certainly happy this Rhine Getaway took place, and although I missed out on many opportunities to drink alcohol, I have no regrets.

        However, the final

2017-08-24

【Morning Bell】

Carl Spitteler (1845—1924)

〖Nobel Prize in Literature in 1919〗

       It seemed as though the dawn would never come

       To save me from the night's delirium,

       Those hells of thought I wandered in - who schooled

       My brain at other times, and strictly ruled

       It's every motion. Fever now was king;

       My spirit groped, a shudder

2017-08-24

【A Shout of Joy】

Carl Spitteler (1845—1924)

〖Nobel Prize in Literature in 1919〗

        Oh what has changed my thought's defiant tread

          To winged ride on drifting clouds o'erhead?

          Is it my view, unfettered and wide,

               O'er countryside?

          Is it the torrent's ring

2017-08-23

【The Modest Little Wish】

Philippe Jaccottet (1925—2021)

            In the days when I was little

               had they asked me what I wanted,

            What I'd wish for first if wishes

               ever could be really g

2017-08-23

【Distances】

Philippe Jaccottet (1925—2021)

          Swifts turn in the heights of the air;

          higher still turn the invisible stars.

          When day withdraws to the ends of the earth

          their fires shine on a dark expanse of sand.

          We live in a

2017-08-23

【It’s easy to talk, and writing words on the page】

Philippe Jaccottet (1925—2021)

       It’s easy to talk, and writing words on the page

       doesn’t involve much risk as a general rule:

       you might as well be knitting late at night

       in a warm room, in soft, treacherous light.

       The words are all written in the same ink,

     ‘flower’ and ‘fear’

2017-08-23

【Winter's Close • I】

Philippe Jaccottet (1925—2021)

           So little is left to the errant soul,

              almost nothing to expel

              the fear of losing space

              And yet what sings,

2017-08-23

【Aiden in English】

        Finally, off the ship in Basel, Switzerland, I forgot the feeling of the smooth glide of the boat. Replaced by a bumpy, unpleasant bus ride to our next destination, Lucerne, I immediately missed the blissful form of travel provided on the Viking Kvasir. However, the transfer off the boat was slightly buffered by a long bus ride in which I took a good nap. I didn't miss the important section on the trip, though. A trip to where?

2017-08-23

【Winter's Close•II】

Philippe Jaccottet (1925—2021)

            A scattering of tears

            on the altered face,

            the sparkling season

            of swelling rivers:

          &

2017-08-23

【Winter's Close•III】

Philippe Jaccottet (1925—2021)

          Gossamer shadows

        in the strands of winter’s surviving grass,

          hidden patient flutes

          convey the faithful and discreet

          but as yet u

2017-08-22

【German Folksong • Good-Bye Winter】

            Winter good-bye, departing hurts

            But your departure makes

            my heart laugh

            Winter good-bye, departing hurts

2017-08-22

【Where?】

Heinrich Heine (1797—1856)

            Where shall I, of wandering weary,

            Find my resting-place at last?

            Under drooping southern palm-trees?

            Under limes the Rhine sweeps past?

     &nb

2017-08-22

【Bestiary: the Parade of Orpheus • The Peacock】

Guillaume Apollinaire (1880—1918)

               In spreading out his fan, this bird,

               Whose plumage drags on earth, I fear,

               Appears more lovely than before,

               But makes his derrière appear.

—— • —— • —— •

2017-08-22

【I wept in my dreams】

Heinrich Heine (1797—1856)

               I wept in my dreams.

               I dreamed you lay in the grave;

               I awoke, and the tears

               still poured down my cheeks.

2017-08-22

【Bestiary: the Parade of Orpheus • The Dove】

Guillaume Apollinaire (1880—1918)

                   Dove, both love and spirit

                   Who engendered Jesus Christ,

                   Like you I love a Mary.

                   And so with her I marry.

—— • ——

2017-08-22

【Bestiary: the Parade of Orpheus • The Carp】

Guillaume Apollinaire (1880—1918)

                 In your pools, and in your ponds,

                 Carp, you indeed live long!

                 Is it that death forgets to free

                 You fishes of melancholy?

—— • —— • ——

2017-08-22

【Bestiary: the Parade of Orpheus • The Dolphin】

Guillaume Apollinaire (1880—1918)

                 Here’s the slender grasshopper

                 The food that fed Saint John.

                 May my verse be similar,

                 A treat for the best of men.

—— • —— • —— &#

2017-08-22

【Aiden in English】

        Another perplexing Alsatian town. It is difficult to pinpoint what culture it belongs to. By now, I've accepted that these places, switching between the German and French lands in history, have created a new culture altogether. 

        Today's shore excursion was based in Colmar, one of the hottest spots in France. As the capital of Alsatian wine, Colmar has a strong

2017-08-21

【Bestiary: the Parade of Orpheus • The Grasshopper】

Guillaume Apollinaire (1880—1918)

                Here’s the slender grasshopper

                The food that fed Saint John.

                May my verse be similar,

                A treat for the best of men.

—— • —— • —— • —— •

2017-08-21

【Bestiary: the Parade of Orpheus • The Flea】

Guillaume Apollinaire (1880—1918)

                 Fleas, friends, lovers too,

                 How cruel are those who love us!

                 All our blood pours out for them.

                 The well-beloved is wretched then.

—— • —— 

2017-08-21

【Bestiary: the Parade of Orpheus • The Caterpillar】

Guillaume Apollinaire (1880—1918)

                 Work leads us to riches.

                 Poor poets, work on!

                 The caterpillar’s endless sigh

                 Becomes the lovely butterfly.

—— • —— • —— •

2017-08-21

【Bestiary: the Parade of Orpheus • The Elephant】

Guillaume Apollinaire (1880—1918)

                 I carry treasure in my mouth,

                 As an elephant his ivory.

                 At the price of flowing words,

                 Purple death!… I buy my glory.

—— • —— • —

2017-08-21

【Bestiary: the Parade of Orpheus • The Mouse】

Guillaume Apollinaire (1880—1918)

                 Sweet days, the mice of time,

                 You gnaw my life, moon by moon.

                 God! I’ve twenty-eight years soon,

                 and badly spent ones I imagine.

—— • —— 

2017-08-21

【You are so like a flower】

Heinrich Heine (1797—1856)

            You are so like a flower,

            So lovely, fair, and pure;

            I gaze at you and wistful

            Melancholy slips into my heart.

2017-08-21

【Aiden in English】

        Today, Mom and I entered France. No, Germany. Ehhhh... France. Maybe Germ- no, no, definitely France. By now, after two world wars, everyone in Strasbourg is tired of switching back and forth between the countries. Luckily, both countries use euros, so whatever nation Strasbourg now falls under will use the same currency.

        Being one of the largest cities on the romantic Rhine, S

2017-08-20

【What is love】

Heinrich Heine (1797—1856)

Love is a star shrouded in morning fog

Without you

Heaven is hell

Li River War lovely, subtle shaking

This… Shy sweet embrace —

On your beautiful lips,

I preferred kissing instead of the language

My kiss is like the smoke from my heart aflame!

Yesterday kissed my happiness,

Today has come to naught,

I received a sincere love

Always the total can not be sustained.

Women to men there is a way to be happy；

but unfortunately the way to a man trapped in there m

2017-08-20

【Declaration】

Heinrich Heine (1797—1856)

      Shadowing downward came dusky evening,

      Wildly the breakers rolled,

      I sat alone upon the shore and gazed

      At the white dance of the waves.

      And my bosom heaved with the sea,

      Deep homesickness yearningly seized my heart

2017-08-20

【Why the roses are so pale】

Heinrich Heine (1797—1856)

              Dearest, canst thou tell me why

              The rose should be so pale?

              And why the azure violet

              Should wither in the vale?

              And why the lark should in the cloud

            &nbs

2017-08-20

【The old dream comes again to me】

Heinrich Heine (1797—1856)

              HE old dream comes again to me:

              With May-night stars above,

              We two sat under the linden-tree

              And swore eternal love.

              Again and again we plighted troth,

          &n

2017-08-20

【German Folksong • Du bist mein, ich bin dein,……】

          Du bist mein, ich bin dein;

          Des sollst du gewiß sein.

          Du bist verschlossen in meinem Herzen;

          Verloren ist das Schlüsselein.

          Du musst

2017-08-20

【On Wings of Song】

Heinrich Heine (1797—1856)

          On Wings of Song,

          Sweetheart, I carry you away,

          Away to the fields of the Ganges,

          Where I know the most beautiful place.

          There is a garden of red fl

2017-08-20

【Pine and Lightning】

Friedrich Nietzsche (1844—1900)

          Over man and animal, I grew too tall;

        Now when I speak - no one speaks with me at all.

          I grew too high and too lonely

          I wait: on what do I wait only?

       &nb

2017-08-20

【Courage】

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749—1832)

            CARELESSLY over the plain away,

            Where by the boldest man no path

            Cut before thee thou canst discern,

            Make for thyself a path!

     &

2017-08-20

【Aiden in English】

        On the first day, we encountered most tourists as Chinese in Heidelberg. It took a while.

        Our Viking Kavsir has docked give-or-take thirty minutes from the actual destination for the past few days. Today, moored in the business city of Mannheim on the bank of the Rhine, it used four busses to transport all 187 passages to Heidelberg, standing at the cradle of the German Romantic movement. Why

2017-08-19

【Hope】

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749—1832)

            Grant that the day's work of my hands,

            lofty Fortune, I may complete!

            Grant that they will not exhaust me!

            No, these are not empty dreams:

2017-08-19

【A Palm-Tree】

Heinrich Heine (1797—1856)

             A single fir-tree, lonely,

             on a northern mountain height,

             sleeps in a white blanket,

             draped in snow and ice.

     &n

2017-08-19

【Life is a mirror】

Friedrich Nietzsche (1844—1900)

            Life is a mirror, 

            and the first thing 

            we strive to pursue is 

            to recognize ourselves from it.

—— • —— • —— 

2017-08-19

【Life's Journey】

Heinrich Heine (1797—1856)

      What laughter and singing! The sun’s rays crossing

      Each other gleam brightly; the billows are tossing

      The joyous bark, and there I reclined

      With friends beloved and lightsome mind.

      The bark was presently wreck’d and shatter’d,

     My friends were poor swimmers, and soon were scatter’d,

2017-08-19

【My day was serene...】

Heinrich Heine (1797—1856)

      My day was serene, my night was happy.

     My people always shouted for joy when I struck the lyre

      Of poetry. My song was lust and fire,

      Has kindled many beautiful clutches.

       My summer is still blooming, but still brought in

    &nbs

2017-08-19

【Consolation】

Heinrich Heine (1797—1856)

            HEART, my heart, no longer mourn,

            Wail no more the weary days,

            Spring will freshen all the ways

            By the winter made forlorn.

2017-08-19

【Loreley • Blackmore's Night】

Heinrich Heine (1797—1856)

     Merrily we sailed along

     Though the waves were plenty strong

     Down the twisting river Rhine

     Following a song

     Legend's faded storyline

     Tried to warn us all

     Oh, they called her "Loreley" 

     Careful or you'

2017-08-19

【The Key】

Friedrich Schiller (1759—1805)

    Wouldst thou know thyself, observe the actions of others.

    Wouldst thou other men know, look thou within thine own heart.

—— • —— • —— • —— • —— • —— • —— • ——

【《锁钥》】

和平使者•席勒(1759生—1805卒)

            你要认识你自己，就去看别人的举动。

        &nb

2017-08-19

【Hymn】

Heinrich Heine (1797—1856)

         I am the Sword, I am the Flame. 

         I have lit you through the darkness; and 

         when the battle began, 

         I fought in the first 

         rank and led you on…… 

        &

2017-08-19

【The Way of the World】

Heinrich Heine (1797—1856)

              He who has already much,

           Finds his wealth increasing faster;

              Who but little, is of all

              Soon bereft by some disaster.

              But if thou hast nothing, friend,

2017-08-19

【Appendix to "Lazarus" • I】

Heinrich Heine (1797—1856)

             Holy parables discarding,

             And each guess, however pious,

             To these awful questions plainly

             Seek with answers to supply us:—

             Wherefore bends the Just One, bleeding

    &nb