2024-06-19 National Garfield the Cat Day

【To A Woman (A une femme)】

Victor Hugo (1802-1885)

  Child! if I were king, I would give the empire,

  And my chariot, and my scepter, and my people on their knees

  And my crown of gold, and my baths of porphyry,

  And my fleets, for which the sea cannot suffice,

  For a look of you!

  If I were God, the earth and the air with the waves,

  Angels, demons bowed before my law,

  And the deep chao

2024-06-18 International Picnic Day

【To the Imperious Beauty (A la belle impérieuse)】

Victor Hugo (1802-1885)

                Love, panic

                Of reason,

                Communicates

2024-06-18 Sustainable Gastronomy Day

【To My Daughter Adele (A ma fille Adèle)】

Victor Hugo (1802-1885)

        As a child, you slept near me, pink and fresh,

        Like a baby Jesus dozing in his manger;

        Your pure sleep was so calm and lovely

        That you didn't hear the bird sing in the shadows;

2024-06-18 National Go Fishing Day

【To Souls Flown Away (A des âmes envolées)】

Victor Hugo (1802-1885)

        These souls that you recall,

        My heart, don't come back.

        Why then do they persist,

        Alas! to stay there?

       &nb

2024-06-17 World Tessellation Day

【Written Beneath a Crucifix (Ecrit au bas d'un crucifix)】

Victor Hugo (1802-1885)

        You who weep, come to this God, for he weeps.

        You who suffer, come to him, for he cures.

        You who tremble, come to him, for he smiles.

        You who pass, come to him, for he remains.

—— •

2024-06-17 National Take Your Cat to Work Day

【More Strong Than Time (Plus fort que le temps)】

Victor Hugo (1802-1885)

    Since I have set my lips to your full cup, my sweet,

    Since I my pallid face between your hands have laid,

    Since I have known your soul, and all the bloom of it,

    And all the perfume rare, now buried in the shade;

    Since it was given to me

2024-06-17 National Stewart's Root Beer Day

【June Nights (Nuits de juin)】

Victor Hugo (1802-1885)

    In summer, when the day has fled, the plain covered with flowers

    Pours out far away an intoxicating scent;

    Eyes shut, ears half open to noises,

    We only half sleep in a transparent slumber.

    The stars are purer, the shade seems pleasanter;

2024-06-17 National Apple Strudel Day

【Sunset (Les Soleils Couchants)】

Victor Hugo (1802-1885)

The sun set tonight in the clouds.

Tomorrow will come the storm, and the evening, and the night;

Then dawn, and its clarity of obstructed vapors;

Then the nights, then the days, not of time that flees!

All these days will pass; they will pass in crowds

On the face of the seas, on the face of the mountains,

On the silver rivers, on the forests where rolls

Like a confused hymn of the dead that we love.

And t

2024-06-17 National Eat Your Vegetables Day

【Tomorrow at Dawn (Demain, dès l'aube)】

Victor Hugo (1802-1885)

    Tomorrow, at dawn, when the countryside brightens,

    I will depart. You see, I know that you wait for me.

    I will go through the woods, I will go past the mountains.

    I cannot remain far from you any longer.

    I will walk, eyes set upon my thoughts,

&

2024-06-02 National Bubba Day

【The Grave and The Rose (La tombe dit à la rose)】

Victor Hugo (1802-1885)

        The grave said to the rose:

        "With the tears that dawn sprinkles upon you

        What do you make, flower of love?"

        The rose said to the tomb:

        "What

2024-06-02 National Rocky Road Day

【If My Verses Had The Wings (Si mes vers avaient des ailes)】

Victor Hugo (1802-1885)

            Songs as sweet as summer brings,

            To your flowery lawn should fly

            If my verses had the wings—

           &nbs

2024-06-02 National Rotisserie Chicken Day

【Tomorrow at Dawn (Demain dès l'aube)】

Victor Hugo (1802-1885)

    Tomorrow, at first dawn, when the country starts to whiten,

    I will set out. You see, I know you’re waiting for me.

    I will go by forest, I will go by mountain,

    Away from you I can no longer remain.

    I will walk with eyes fixed onto my thoughts,

&nbs

2018-07-21

【Bestiary: the Parade of Orpheus • Orpheus】

Guillaume Apollinaire (1880—1918)

               Look at this pestilential tribe

               Its thousand feet, its hundred eyes:

               Beetles, insects, lice

               And microbes more amazing

               Than th

2018-07-21

【Bestiary: the Parade of Orpheus • Orpheus】

Guillaume Apollinaire (1880—1918)

       His heart was the bait: the heavens were the pond!

         For, fisherman, what fresh or seawater catch

         equals him, either in form or savour,

         that lovely divine fish, Jesus, My Saviour?

—— • —— • —— • —— • —— • —— •

2018-07-21

【Bestiary: the Parade of Orpheus • Orpheus】

Guillaume Apollinaire (1880—1918)

      Admire the vital power

      And the nobility of line:

      It’s the voice that the light made us understand here

      That Hermes Trismegistus writes of in Pimander.

—— • —— • —— • —— • —— • —— • —— • ——

【《动物寓言：诗神的游行&n

2018-07-21

【Bestiary: the Parade of Orpheus • The Tortoise】

Guillaume Apollinaire (1880—1918)

           From magic Thrace, O delerium!

           My sure fingers sound the strings.

           The creatures pass to the sounds

           Of my tortoise, and the songs I

2018-07-21

【Bestiary: the Parade of Orpheus • The Tibetan Goat】

Guillaume Apollinaire (1880—1918)

               The fleece of this goat and even

               That gold one which cost such pain

               To Jason’s not worth a sou towards

               The tresses with which I’m taken.

—— • —— • —— 

2018-07-21

【Bestiary: the Parade of Orpheus • The Horse】

Guillaume Apollinaire (1880—1918)

          My harsh dreams knew the riding of you

        My gold-charioted fate will be your lovely car

          That for reins will hold tight to frenzy,

          My verses, the patterns of all poetry.

—— • —— • —— • —— • —— •

2018-07-21

【Bestiary: the Parade of Orpheus • The Cat】

Guillaume Apollinaire (1880—1918)

                 I wish there to be in my house:

                 A woman possessing reason,

                 A cat among books passing by,

                 Friends for every season

          &nb

2018-07-21

【Bestiary: the Parade of Orpheus • The Hare】

Guillaume Apollinaire (1880—1918)

                 Don’t be fearful and lascivious

                 Like the hare and the amorous.

                 But always let your brain weave

                 The full form that conceives.

—— • —— •

2018-07-21

【Bestiary: the Parade of Orpheus • The Rabbit】

Guillaume Apollinaire (1880—1918)

                 There’s another cony I remember

                 That I’d so like to take alive.

                 Its haunt is there among the thyme

                 In the valleys of the Land of Tender.

—— •

2018-07-21

【Aiden in English】

        Wow, the Mediterranean Romance is actually almost over. I haven't really been counting the days, but sometimes time flies faster than even you can expect. There's something psychological about the perception of time after crossing over the halfway point, and now I'm racing toward the finish line. 

        My flight home is in sixty-eight hours.

2018-07-20

【Bestiary: the Parade of Orpheus • The Dromedary】

Guillaume Apollinaire (1880—1918)

                 With his four dromedaries

                 Don Pedro of Alfaroubeira

                 Travels the world and admires her.

                 He does what I would rather

        &nb

2018-07-20

【Bestiary: the Parade of Orpheus • The Jellyfish】

Guillaume Apollinaire (1880—1918)

              Medusas, miserable heads

              With hairs of violet

              You enjoy the hurricane

2018-07-20

【Bestiary: the Parade of Orpheus • The Fly】

Guillaume Apollinaire (1880—1918)

                 The songs that our flies know

                 Were taught to them in Norway

                 By flies who are they say

                 Divinities of snow.

—— • —— • —— • —— &#

2018-07-20

【Bestiary: the Parade of Orpheus • The Lion】

Guillaume Apollinaire (1880—1918)

                 O lion, miserable image

                 Of kings lamentably chosen,

                 Now you’re only born in a cage

                 In Hamburg, among the Germans.

—— • —— • —— •

2018-07-20

【Bestiary: the Parade of Orpheus • The Lobster】

Guillaume Apollinaire (1880—1918)

                 Uncertainty, O my delights

                 You and I, we go

                 As lobsters travel onwards, quite

                 Backwards, Backwards, O.

—— • —— • —— • —— &

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

【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. 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. Being the capital of Alsatian wine, it has a strong sense

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

【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 the city of 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 roman

2016-07-18

【Bestiary: the Parade of Orpheus • The Serpent】

Guillaume Apollinaire (1880—1918)

            You set yourself against beauty.

            And how many women have been

            victims of your cruelty!

            Eve, Eurydice, Cleop

2016-07-18

【Bestiary: the Parade of Orpheus • The Octopus】

Guillaume Apollinaire (1880—1918)

                 Hurling his ink at skies above,

                 Sucking the blood of what he loves

                 And finding it delicious,

                 Is myself the monster, vicious.

—— • —— ̶

2016-07-18

【Le Pont Mirabeau】

Guillaume Apollinaire (1880—1918)

         Under the Mirabeau bridge flows the Seine

         And our loves

         Must I remember them

         Joy always followed pain

        &nb

2016-07-18

【Au lac de tes yeux】

Guillaume Apollinaire (1880—1918)

                 Au lac de tes yeux très profond

                 Mon pauvre cœur se noie et fond

                 Là le défont

                 Dans l’eau d’amour et de folie

                 Souvenir et Mél

2016-07-18

【Rhineland Night】

Guillaume Apollinaire (1880—1918)

      My glass is full of wine, trembling like a flame

      Listen to the slow song of the boatman

     Who tells of seeing seven women under the light of the moon

      Twisting their long green hair to their feet

      Standing, you sing louder and dance around

&

2016-07-18

【Aiden in English】

        Finally, we're going into a brand new country. Not to offend any Englishmen, but you're getting old. Therefore, out with the old and in with the new. 

        Paris is the face of modern Europe. Although the UK literally runs every atom of the continent, France still has its symbol hammered into each century of the Common Era. Sure, the English has the popular idea of