The Shijing (詩經) are 305 poems reflecting the social, political, and religious life of ancient China during the Zhou dynasty, consisting of courtship, agriculture, warfare, family relationships, and ritual. These poems were recited and performed during ceremonies and were cited by scholars or officials to communicate criticism. Confucius (551-479 BCE) regarded the Shijing as essential …
Category Archives: Poetry
Dziga Vertov (1896–1954) Kino-Eye (1923)
More than a century after its publication, Vertov’s writing on the revolution in cinematography and the mechanical eye is more relevant than ever in the age of machine learning and data science. Excerpts and translation – …Я – киноглаз. Я строитель. Я посадил тебя, сегодня созданного мной, в не существовавшую до сего момента удивительнейшую комнату, …
On 300 Poems of the T’ong Dynasty
I recently completed reading Three Hundred Poems of the T’ong Dynasty (Taipei, 1965), the traditional anthology of Tang Dynasty poetry compiled by Sun Zhu (孫洙, 1711–1778), who wrote under the name Hengtang Tuishi (蘅塘退士). The English translations in this edition are those associated with Witter Bynner and Kiang Kang-hu, originally published as The Jade Mountain: …
United States 250 – July 4th ‘For the Nation’
For the Nation Twelve score and ten years ago,the British settlers of this abundant landtook matters into their own handsand demanded that King George leave them beand set them free. From the Massachusetts Bay to Georgia’s red clay,from Philadelphia’s philosophersto Virginia’s founding elites,cries of freedom were everywherelike a relentless drumbeat. Common sense and self-evident truthswere …
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Notes from Essays in Idleness by Kenko
I have only copied particular parts…
Brian Spalding
One last poem by turbulence / numerics researcher Prof. Brian Spalding I shall have no regrets when I am dead. Of deadlines none will matter but my own. Unwritten papers? Hopelessly misled. Inheritors? All claimants I’ll disown. Yet hope, while still alive, there’ll be but few Who think: I was a fool to trust him. …
Talking Oak I spoke
ONCE more the gate behind me falls;Once more before my faceI see the moulder’d Abbey-walls,That stand within the chace.Beyond the lodge the city lies,Beneath its drift of smoke;And ah! with what delighted eyesI turn to yonder oak. For when my passion first began,Ere that, which in me burn’d,The love, that makes me thrice a man,Could …
The New Colossus
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,With conquering limbs astride from land to land;Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall standA mighty woman with a torch, whose flameIs the imprisoned lightning, and her nameMother of Exiles. From her beacon-handGlows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes commandThe air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.Keep, ancient lands, your …
Vincent van Gogh and Lewis Carroll
A combination of Carroll’s famous poem at the Tea Party flying high in van Gogh’s Starry Night. Twinkle, twinkle, little bat, How I wonder where you’re at, Over rooftops, fields, and spires, Beneath the sky that never tires. Casting shadows, broad and deep, Over quiet towns asleep, Like a comet, you draw near, In the …
Caverns of the Wind
Silent are the caverns of the wind, But within them, a secret lies pinned Like Pandora’s box, locked up tight Holding within, a glimmer of light For in these tunnels, dreams did reside And hope for the future, they did provide But like Pandora’s box, they were lost Their secrets stolen, at a great cost …