Thursday, September 17, 2009

Compare and Contrast













Dreams
by Langston Hughes

Hold fast to dreams
for if dreams die
life is a broken-winged bird
that cannot fly.

Hold fast to dreams
for when dreams go
life is a barren field
frozen with snow.












Trees
Pablo Neruda (tranlated into Englishy by Ben Belitt)


When I switched off the lights last night
all my roots went to sleep
while my eyes remained
caught in the leafage:
later, with dark flooding in,
a branch fell over my dreams:
the cold night rose
from the trunk, crystal-clear,
a transparent iguana.

I slept soundly then.

I closed my eyes and my leaves.