This is a recent $1.00 find from the book store at the Thrall Library in Middletown. Art & Love, An Illustrated Anthology of Love Poetry. So many great poems and works of art. The above title for my blog today came from the first line of one of the poems in the book. I used this one because it surprised me. It seemed too modern to be from a Roman poet.
Here is a poem from the book by Petrarch, Italian 1304-1374
TO LAURA
I saw the tracks of angels in the earth,
The beauty of heaven walking by itself on the world.
Joke or sorrow now, it seems a dream
Shadow, or smoke.
I saw a kind of rain that made the sun ashamed,
And heard her, speaking sad words, make mountains
Shift, the rivers stop.
Love, wisdom, valor, pity, pain,
Made better harmony with weeping
Than any other likely to be heard in the world
And the air and the wind were so filled with this deep music
No single leaf moved on its still branch
_______________________
Do you think either of these poets thought a woman hundreds of years in the future would be reading their words?
I love that book store too. What a great find!
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