Tag Archives: Rhyme

My Clock’s Old Chime

My clock’s old chime
Is out of time
With this modern age.
But I must engage
For I know
That the clock
Will not stop
Though I wish
It would do so.

Four Last Songs: the poems that comprise the final song cycle by Richard Strauss

My thanks to my friend Brian for introducing me to these poems by Hermann Hesse and Joseph Karl Benedikt Freiherr von Eichendorff, which where set to music by Richard Strauss https://intranslation.brooklynrail.org/german/four-last-songs-the-poems-that-comprise-the-final-song-cycle-by-richard-strauss/.

My favourite is, I think September by Hermann Hesse.

Dissociation

I pass
People behind
Opaque glass.
I find
They say
Words, half-heard
As I, caught behind
My own cracked glass,
Half lose my mind.
A child’s laugh
Can bring me back.
But fragile glass
So easily cracks.

I Heard A Leaf Fall

I heard a leaf fall.
It fell, dry and dead,
And rested there
On greying head.
And brought a thought
Of the passing kind
Into my so mortal mind …

When the Wife of Vicar Ted

When the wife of vicar Ted
Was found in another man’s bed,
It caused great consternation
Among the vicar’s congregation.
And the bishop turned bright red …!

A Young Lady of Pleasure

I know a young lady of pleasure
Who says her name it is Heather.
I was warned by mum
To avoid the hot sun,
But she didn’t say anything about Heather …!

I Recall Honeysuckle on a Wall

I recall honeysuckle on a wall
And the scent of Grandfather’s roses.
The poet composes
A rhyme
To Time
Who ends all.