"Life owes me nothing", by Anonymous

[med_cat]

Life Owes Me Nothing

Life owes me nothing. Let the years
Bring cloud or azure, joy or tears;
Already a full cup I’ve quaffed;
Already wept and loved and laughed.
And seen, in ever-endless ways,
New beauties overwhelm the days.

Life owes me nought. No pain that waits
Can steal the wealth from memory’s gates;
No aftermath of anguish slow
Can quench the soul fire’s early glow.
I breathe, exulting every breath,
Embracing Life, ignoring Death.

Life owes me nothing. One clear morn
Is boon enough for being born;
And be it ninety years or ten,
No need for me to question when.
While Life is mine, I’ll find it good.
And greet each hour with gratitude.

Anonymous

Comments

[rejectomorph]

I believe the last word in line three should be "quaffed" and not "qualified." The latter is a very poor rhyme for "laughed."

[med_cat]

Thanks! Corrected :)

(sorry, I was copy'n'pasting from a website and didn't notice the typo; thanks for catching it)

P.S. ...and now I see that website had several more typos...correcting...

[duathir.livejournal.com]

I like this; thank you.

[med_cat]

You're very welcome! It's from the anthology to which I sent you a link yesterday.

This poem reminded me of another anon poem I'd read years ago in an anthology I own:

"Living"

To touch the cup with eager lips and taste,
not drain it;

To woo and tempt and court a bliss – and
not attain it;

To fondle and caress a joy, yet hold it lightly,

Lest it become a necessity and cling too
tightly;

To watch the sun set in the west without
regretting;

To hail its advent in the east – the night
forgetting;

To smother care in happiness and grief in
laughter;

To hold the present close – not questioning
hereafter;

To have enough to share – to know the joy
of giving;

To thrill with all the sweets of life – is living.”

and also this anon poem, which I'd posted to this comm on Nov. 8, 2010

[med_cat]

Do Something

If the world seems cool to you,
Kindle fires to warm it!
Let their comfort hide from you
Winters that deform it.

Hearts as frozen as your own
To that radiance gather;
You will soon forget to moan,
"Ah! The cheerless weather!"

If the world's "a vale of tears,"
Smile till rainbows span it;
Breathe the love that life endears--
Clear from clouds to fan it.

Of your gladness lend a gleam
Unto souls that shiver;
Show them how dark sorrow's stream
Blends with hope's bright river.

[duathir.livejournal.com]

I appreciate the sentiment, though I think the verse might be better translated into Russian without the rhyme.

(Pardon an old pedant, my lady; my intention is humor, but that is not my strong point.)

[med_cat]

You, sir, are really funny ;)

I wish I could rhyme, you know--funnily enough, both my parents could, but I didn't inherit the ability...:P

(and you know something? another LJ friend bought an anthology of Russian poetry, with English translations, last year, and showed me some--the translations there were unrhymed! I suppose there's a shortage of good poets willing to translate, these days?)

[duathir.livejournal.com]

And you, madame, are very kind.

I can rhyme and scan as a robot might; precisely but lifelessly. It is so bad I have saved none of my attempts. The form I prefer is the four-line Japanese waka: if it is not good, at least it is over quickly.

[med_cat]

:)

I see; have you ever posted some of your works? I'd like to see them if so :)

I never heard of waka; heard of haiku, of course; the 5th graders were actually writing these, last school year.

[duathir.livejournal.com]

They are at http://duathir.livejournal.com/79779.html - there is one waka and two tanka, which is the five-line form.

I recommend the books The Crane's Bill: Zen Poems of China and Japan and Only Companion: Japanese Poems of Love and Longing; many poems I think you will like.

There is a game my household used to play, 'The Haiku Game', where each player takes the previous player's last line for their own first line, keeping to the strict 5-7-5 pattern of syllables. Your 5th graders might enjoy this.

[med_cat]

Thank you for the book and game recommendations!

Your poems are very good; thank you for sharing these :)

[duathir.livejournal.com]

You are most welcome; I am glad you like them.

[duathir.livejournal.com]

I like this one too; thank you.

I still cannot open the anthology on this computer, or on this computer's server at this time. Internet service to my region is poor, but better after midnight when usage drops. If I still cannot open the file then, I will try on another friend's computer when I can.

Here is a poem you may have seen before, in which I have often found consolation:

Samurai Song

When I had no roof I made
Audacity my roof. When I had
No supper my eyes dined.

When I had no eyes I listened.
When I had no ears I thought.
When I had no thought I waited.

When I had no father I made
Care my father. When I had
No mother I embraced order.

When I had no friend I made
Quiet my friend. When I had no
Enemy I opposed my body.

When I had no temple I made
My voice my temple. I have
No priest, my tongue is my choir.

When I have no means fortune
Is my means. When I have
Nothing, death will be my fortune.

Need is my tactic, detachment
Is my strategy. When I had
No lover I courted sleep.

by Robert Pinksy

[med_cat]

Hope you are able to open the file later or on a friend's computer, then. And you're welcome re: poem.

Thank you, the poem you showed me is one I'd not seen before, and I like it.

[med_cat]

This poem reminded me of others--perhaps you might like them, if you'd not seen some of them before:

look at "everything passes" tag in my LJ

:)

http://med-cat.livejournal.com/tag/everything%20passes

[duathir.livejournal.com]

I do like them; thank you.

There are some here (http://greatpoets.livejournal.com/3394447.html), here (http://greatpoets.livejournal.com/3545863.html) and here (http://greatpoets.livejournal.com/3578906.html) that you may like, on similar themes.

[med_cat]

Thank you very much; I did like them.