Dukakis 2004

What was the New Yorker thinking with this cover? Are they so out-of-touch with mainstream Americans that they don't understand how easily their fears are roused about those they perceive as 'different' or 'exotic' (read: BLACK)? - Blog comment on New Yorker cover with Obama couple dressed as terrorists.

Zé Gato 2008

Magistral comando, o daquelas pessoas que chefiaram a captura do CELÉ. O vocabulário ?!?!! Atentem !!!! Pá, é só disparos f.... o gajo está f...... e na pá p...p... pá, avança com a carrinha c..... cuidado, o gajo está a fugir f.... houve uma saraivada de balas, pergunta o magina pá, o gajo c...??? Mais uma saraivada de balas, pergunta o magina outra vez, pá o gajo c..... informen f..... como a resposta não vinha, lá pergunta o homem : pá, o gajo está ferido c.... ??? Mais uma saraivada de balas. Nova pergunta, c.... pessoal informem, c ...... então hove-se uma resposta : uma ambululância, temos um ferido. Pergunta o comando : quantos , quem ???? Como não veio resposta diz o homem, estes c .... não respondem f ..... Venham 3 ambulâncias rápido, aí umas três fala o superintendente, magina , que venham rápido. Por fim o homem tem a notícia : Está morto,. está morto, com 26 tiros !!!.... Perante isto pergunto eu, aquela gente que c.... estavam ali a fazer ???? Qual a M .... da cultura deles ???? todas aquelas palavras vem na M ..... Dos livros onde aprenderam a ser agentes ???? -

Grapilho - Comentário a: Sacavém: dois detidos em novo tiroteio na Quinta da Fonte (Público)

Sibelius 2008

Sista flyttningslasset hade gått; hyresgästen, en ung man med sorgflor på hatten, vandrade ännu en gång genom våningen för att se om han glömt något. — Nej, han hade icke glömt något, absolut ingenting; och så gick han ut, i tamburen, fast besluten att icke mer tänka på det han upplevat i denna våning. Men se, i tamburen, invid telefonen, satt ett halvt ark papper fastnubbat; och det var fullskrivet med flera stilar, somt redigt med bläck, annat klottrat med blyerts eller rödpenna. Där stod det, hela denna vackra historia, som avspelats på den korta tiden av två år; allt han ville glömma stod där; ett stycke mänskoliv på ett halvt ark papper.
Han tog ner arket; det var sådant där solgult konceptpapper, som det lyser av. Han lade det på salskakelugnens kappa, och lutad över detsamma läste han. Först stod hennes namn: Alice, det vackraste namn han då visste, därför att det var hans fästmös. Och numret — 15 11. Det såg ut som ett psalmnummer i kyrkan. Därpå stod: Banken. Det var hans arbete, den heliga arbetet, som gav brödet, hemmet och makan, grunden till existensen. Men det var överstruket! Ty banken hade störtat, men han hade räddats över på en annan bank, dock efter en kort tid av mycken oro.
Så kom det. Blomsterhandeln och hyrkusken. Det var förlovningen, då han hade fickan full av pängar.
Därpå: möbelhandlarn, tapetserarn: han sätter bo. Expressbyrån: de flytta in.
Operans biljettkontor: 50 50. De äro nygifta och gå på Operan om söndagarne. Deras bästa stunder då de själva sitta tysta, och råkas i skönhet och harmoni i sagolandet på andra sidan ridån.
Här följer ett mansnamn, som är överstruket. Det var en vän, som nått en viss höjd i samhället, men som icke kunde bära lyckan, utan föll, ohjälpligt, och måste resa långt bort. Så bräckligt är det!
Här synes något nytt ha inträtt i makarnes liv. Det står, med en fruntimmershand, och blyertspenna: »Frun». Vilken fru? — Jo, den med den stora kappan och det vänliga deltagande ansiktet, som kommer så tyst, och aldrig går genom salen, utan tar korridorvägen till sängkammaren.
Under hennes namn står Doktor L.
För första gången dyker här upp namnet på en släkting. Det står »Mamma». Det är svärmodren, som diskret hållit sig undan för att icke störa de nygifta, men nu påkallas i nödens stund, och kommer med glädje, efter som hon behövs.
Här börjar ett stort klotter med blått och rött. Kommissionskontoret: jungfrun har flyttat, eller skall en ny anställas. Apoteket. Hm! Det mörknar! Mejeribolaget. Här rekvireras mjölk, tuberkelfri.
Kryddbon, slaktarn etc. Huset börjar skötas per telefon; då är husmodren icke på sin plats. Nej. Ty hon ligger till sängs.
Det som sedan följde kunde han icke läsa, ty det börjar skymma för hans ögon, som det måtte göra för den drunknande på havet, när han skall se igenom salt vatten. Men där stod: Begravningsbyrån. Det talar ju nog! — En större och en mindre, underförstått, kista. Och i parentes var skrivet: av stoft.
Sedan stod där intet mer! Stoft slutade det med; och det gör det.
Men han tog solpapperet, kysste det och lade det i sin bröstficka.
På två minuter hade han genomlevat två år av sitt liv.
Han var icke böjd, när han gick ut; han bar tvärtom sitt huvud högt, som en lycklig och stolt människa, ty han kände att han dock ägt det skönaste. Hur många arma, som aldrig fått det!

Strindberg - Ett halvt ark papper (1903)

Yehuda 2008

The enormous size of the leviathan is thus illustrated by R. Johanan, from whom proceeded nearly all the haggadot concerning this monster: "Once we went in a ship and saw a fish which put his head out of the water. He had horns upon which was written: 'I am one of the meanest creatures that inhabit the sea. I am three hundred miles in length, and enter this day into the jaws of the leviathan'" (B. B. l.c.). When the leviathan is hungry, reports R. Dimi in the name of R. Johanan, he sends forth from his mouth a heat so great as to make all the waters of the deep boil, and if he would put his head into paradise no living creature could endure the odor of him (ib.). His abode is the Mediterranean Sea; and the waters of the Jordan fall into his mouth (Bek. 55b; B. B. l.c.).
The body of the leviathan, especially his eyes, possesses great illuminating power. This was the opinion of R. Eliezer, who, in the course of a voyage in company with R. Joshua, explained to the latter, when frightened by the sudden appearance of a brilliant light, that it probably proceeded from the eyes of the leviathan. He referred his companion to the words of Job xli. 18: "By his neesings a light doth shine, and his eyes are like the eyelids of the morning" (B. B. l.c.). However, in spite of his supernatural strength, the leviathan is afraid of a small worm called "kilbit", which clings to the gills of large fishes and kills them (Shab. 77b).

Wikipedia entry on Leviathan

Castaños 2005

Un violento golpe arrebató el papel de mis manos. Encabritose mi caballo, y al avanzar siguiendo el escuadrón, sentí la estrepitosa risa de un soldado quedecía: «Aquí no se viene a leer cartas». Corrimos fuera de la carretera, y todos mis compañeros proferían exclamaciones de frenética alegría. Vi los cañones inmóviles y delante una espesa cortina de humo, que al disiparse permitía distinguir los restos del batallón de marinos. En el frente francés flotaba una bandera blanca, avanzando hacia nuestro frente. La batalla había concluido.
Nuestros soldados se abrazaban con delirio. Confundíanse los diversos regimientos, y los paisanos advenedizos con la tropa. La gente del vecino pueblo de Bailén acudía con cántaros y botijos de agua. Agrupábanse hombres y mujeres junto a los heridos para recogerlos. Los caballos recorrían orgullosos la carretera, y los generales confundidos con la gente de tropa, demostraban su alegría con tanta llaneza como esta. Los gritos de ¡viva España!, ¡viva Fernando VII! parecían un concierto que llenaba el espacio como antes el ruido del cañón; y el mundo todo se estremecía con el júbilo de nuestra victoria y con el desastre de los franceses, primera vacilación del orgulloso Imperio. En tanto yo recorría el campamento, miraba al suelo, miraba las manos de todos, las cureñas de los cañones, los charcos de sangre, los mil rincones del suelo, junto al cuerpo de un herido y bajo la cabeza del caballo moribundo. Marijuán se llegó a mí con los brazos abiertos y gritó:
-Les vencimos, Gabriel. ¡Viva España y los españoles,y la Virgen del Pilar a quien se debe todo! Pero ¿qué buscas, que así miras al suelo?
-Busco un papel que se me ha perdido -le contesté.

Benito Pérez Galdós - Bailén (1876)

Khaleed 2008

If any Mouse Loom fighter goes to battle field and get killed, called "Martyrs" and he is entitled to enter Paradise without let and hindrance; there he will be enjoying with charming ladies and blue eyed lady boys, wearing silky dress and necklace. This facility is for Mouse Loom fighters only, and the journalist language invented by Profiteer MO to hold a tight grip on them.- AlHooti from Oman - comment to Israel to Exhume Bodies of Martyrs Ahead of Swap (Aljazeera)

Ossian 2008

Mais enfin, monsieur, direz-vous sans doute, quel est donc ce je ne sais quoi de mystérieux que Delacroix, pour la gloire de notre siècle, a mieux traduit qu'aucun autre? C'est l'invisible, c'est l'impalpable, c'est le rêve, c'est les nerfs, c'est l'âme; et il a fait cela, - observez-le bien, monsieur, - sans autres moyens que le contour et la couleur; il l'a fait mieux que pas un; il l'a fait avec la perfection d'un peintre consommé, avec la rigueur d'un littérateur subtil, avec l'éloquence d'un musicien passionné. C'est, du reste, un des diagnostics de l'état spirituel de notre siècle que les arts aspirent, sinon à se suppléer l'un l'autre, du moins à se prêter réciproquement des forces nouvelles

Baudelaire - L'Œuvre et la vie d'Eugène Delacroix (1863)

Wittgenstein 2004

TROMPETEN

Unter verschnittenen Weiden, wo braune Kinder spielen
Und Blätter treiben, tönen Trompeten. Ein Kirchhofsschauer.
Fahnen von Scharlach stürzen durch des Ahorns Trauer,
Reiter entlang an Roggenfeldern, leeren Mühlen.

Oder Hirten singen nachts und Hirsche treten
In den Kreis ihrer Feuer, des Hains uralte Trauer,
Tanzende heben sich von einer schwarzen Mauer;
Fahnen von Scharlach, Lachen, Wahnsinn, Trompeten.

Georg Trakl

Mrs. Green 2008

Friday, 21st. Got the Copper Oven ashore and fixed it in the bank of the breastwork. Yesterday, as Mr. Green and Dr. Monkhouse were taking a walk, they happened to meet with the Body of the Man we had shott, as the Natives made them fully understand; the manner in which the body was interred being a little extraordinary. I went to-day, with some others, to see it. Close by the House wherein he resided when living was built a small shed, but whether for the purpose or no I cannot say, for it was in all respects like some of the Sheds or Houses they live in. This shed was about 14 or 16 feet long, 10 or 12 broad, and of a proportionable height. One end was wholy open, the other end and two sides was partly inclosed with a kind of wicker'd work. In this Shed lay the Corps, upon a Bier or frame of wood, with a matted bottom, like a Cott frame used at Sea, and Supported by 4 Posts about 5 feet from the Ground. The body was cover'd with a Matt, and over that a white Cloth; alongside of the Body lay a wooden Club, one of their Weapons of War. The Head of the Corps lay next the close end of the Shed, and at this end lay 2 Cocoa Nutt Shells, such as they sometimes use to carry water in; at the other end of the Shed was a Bunch of Green leaves, with some dry'd twigs tied all together and stuck in the Ground, and a stone lying by them as big as a Cocoa Nutt. Near to these lay a young Plaintain Tree, such as they use as Emblems of Peace, and by it lay a stone Axe. At the open end of the Shed was stuck upwright in the ground the Stem of a Plaintain Tree about 5 feet high, on the Top of which stood a Cocoa Nutt shell full of fresh water, and on the side of the post hung a small Bag, wherein was a few pieces of Bread Fruit roasted ready for eating. Some of the pieces were fresh and others Stale. The Natives did not seem to like that we should go near the body, and stood at a little distance themselves while we examin'd these matters, and appeared to be pleased when we came away. It certainly was no very agreeable place, for it stunk intollerably, and yet it was not above 10 yards from the Huts wherein several of the living resided. The first day we landed we saw the Skeleton of a human being laying in this manner under a shade that was just big enough to cover it, and some days after that, when some of the Gentlemen went with a design to examine it more narrowly, it was gone. It was at this time thought that this manner of interring their Dead was not common to all ranks of People, as this was the first we had seen Except the Skeleton just mentioned; but various were the opinions concerning the Provisions, etc., laid about the Dead. Upon the whole, it should seem that these people not only believe in a Supreem being, but in a future state also, and this must be meant either as an Offering to some Deitie or for the use of the Dead in the other world; but this latter is not very probable, as there appeared to be no Priest Craft in the thing, for whatever Provisions were put there it appeared very plain to us that there it remain'd until it consumed away of itself. It is most likely that we shall see more of this before we leave the Island, but if it is a Religious ceremony we may not be able to understand it, for the Misteries of most Religions are very Dark and not easily understood, even by those who profess them.

James Cook - Captain Cook's Journal, First Voyage/Chapter 3 - Tahiti

Isoldas e Tritões 2008

Sara & André fazem uma exposição hands-off. Escolhem não os melhores artesãos (como Koons) mas os artistas possíveis dentro da micro-estrutura económica que é a sua própria galeria, e iniciam uma linha de produção, uma espécie de mini-Factory em Open Studio. Fazem das contradições económicas do seu ambiente as suas próprias premissas conceptuais – se cinquenta por cento do valor de venda das obras em exposição reverte para o galerista, porque não há-de ser a ele, numa análise feita em espelho, delegada toda a produção da exposição, servindo-se da sua própria mercadoria: os outros artistas? Se S&A tivessem seguido, para além das estratégias de criação de uma Fundação e da delegação sistemática de trabalho, outras orientações do trabalho de M. Cattelan e reproduzissem a sua acção de pendurar o galerista no tecto, minimizariam ou maximizariam o factor de risco desta exposição?

Lígia Afonso - Arte Capital.Net

Marcadante 2006

Fuggite, amanti, Amor, fuggite 'l foco;
l'incendio è aspro e la piaga è mortale,
c'oltr'a l'impeto primo più non vale
né forza né ragion né mutar loco.

Fuggite, or che l'esemplo non è poco
d'un fiero braccio e d'un acuto strale;
leggete in me, qual sarà 'l vostro male,
qual sarà l'impio e dispietato gioco.

Fuggite, e non tardate, al primo sguardo:
ch'i' pensa' d'ogni tempo avere accordo;
or sento, e voi vedete, com'io ardo.

Michelangelo Buonarroti

Sture 2006

Carl etc. Wår ynnest etc. Oß hafwer Wårt Cammar Collegium i Underdh. demonstrerat, hurusåsom icke allenast Ränte och Proviantmästaren Axel Christerßon är oskyldig til den af Eder honom påförde balance, och fördenskull aldeles befrijadh, uthan och at Staden Narven haar haft goda och gijltige skiähl at excipera emot det, som dhe i lijka måtto giöras skyldige, och tycka derföre wara mycket swårt och eftertänkeligit at I strax hafwe hotat den förre med execution och uthi Eder skrifwelse til Magistraten förekastat dem såsom skulle dhe wilja föra process emot Oß, i dy at dhe offerera sigh med en grundelig förklaring at inkomma och reservera sigh beneficia juris, sägandes I, at såsom Wij äro öfwer lagen och kunnom ändra lagen så skulle denne dheras begäran wara hård och eftertenkelig i en saak som intet under ingen [sic] rätt uthan Execution hörer; Hwilket heelt annorlunda är beskaffat och annorledes böör uthaf Eder considereras; ty först böör ingen Execution skee uthan uthi klare och ostridige saker och uppå föregången laga ransakning och dom och effter wederbörandes först inhämtade skääl och förklaring. 2. Heter det intet at föra process emot Oß at biuda sigh til förklaring och til beneficia juris, den Wij ingen af Wåre trogne Undersåtare nåntzin börom eller wiljom wägra och neka. 3. Ehuruwäl kunne uthi wiße måhl säijas wara öfwer lagen, så wijda Wij äga macht och rätt med moget och wälbetänkt råd at ändra eller förklara eller moderera lagen när någon evident billigheet eller oumgängelig nödtorfft dhet fordrar och tillåter, men i oträngde måhler och uthi den ordinarie af Oß stadgade processu at giöra någon ändring, eller at skatta Oß så öfwer lagen at Wij intet wilie låta Wåre Undersåtare niuta och nyttia dhen til sin tryggheet och förswar, dhet är aldeles alient ifrån Wårt Konglige Embete och incompatibelt med Wåre Undersåtares säkerheet dhen Wij dem emot dheras trohetz och hörsamhetz plicht lofwat och swurit hafwe. Ty måste I för all ting achta och see Eder wäl före, at I icke betage I någon ting Wåre trogne Undersåtare beneficia juris och tijdh och tillfälle sin nödtorfft igenom skähl och förklaringar at andraga; hwar wid Wij ohså [sic] finne nödigt at påminna dhet I uthi brefwen til Magistratz Personerne låten af dem som sådanne författa, bruka mi[ld]are expressioner och itt fogeligare maneer, hwarmed man offte så hoos dhe förnämare som ringare betiente mycket mehra uthrättar och winner, än med all för stoor strängheet och hårda ordeformer, på det dhe hwad som af dem fordras, måge med så mycket gladare hierta och större redebogenheet antaga och förrätta, så kan åter alfwarsamheten i sielfwa wärket när så behöfwes, komma så mycket bättre till paß och winna större efftertryck. Hwilket alt Wij uthi en nådig mening påminne och i den intentionen at förekomma här inrijkes dhe widrige omdömen, som elliest skulle förorsakas, och at dheruthi stiffta en sådan harmonie emellan Eder som å Wåre wägnar hafwa at befalla i Gouvernementet, och dhe som åter böra lyda, så at I bägge siders kunne hugna Eder af itt godt inbördes förstånd, och Wij så mycket mindre beswär hafwa at förwänta, när alt med fogligheet och stillheet i dhe saker som kunne och böra så rättas, aflöper; och åther igen dher ifwer och alfwar tarfwas, den samme i lijka måtto brukas. Hwar med Oß skeer itt nådigt nöije etc.
CAROLUS

Karl XI - reskript till General Schultz i Narva

Druso 2008

TI·CLAVDIO·DRVSI·F·CAISARI AVGVSTO·GERMANICO PONTIFICI·MAXIM·TRIB·POTESTAT·XICOS·V·IMP·XXII·CENS·PATRI·PATRIAI SENATVS·POPVLVSQVEROMANVS·QVODREGES·BRITANNORUM·XI·DEVICTOS·SINEVLLA·IACTVRA·IN·DEDITIONEM·ACCEPERIT GENTESQVE·BARBARAS·TRANS·OCEANVMPRIMVS·IN·DICIONEM·POPVLI·ROMANI·REDEGERIT

Touissant 2008

¿Cuáles eran los elementos de vida moral y política de Santo Domingo antes de la anexión? Solo la influencia del general Santana era suficiente a contener al pueblo dentro de los límites que hasta entonces reconociera y aceptara; y esto era efecto de las luchas civiles que ensangrentaban el país y de las constantes amenazas de Haití. Además, administraciones como las de Jiménez y Baez dejaron al país exhausto de recursos después de haber hecho pública irrisión de las leyes y burlándose de la moral pública. Oh, si, a los dominicanos les tenia mas ventaja disolverse a continuar sosteniéndose en pie de guerra, cerradas todas las fuentes de una prosperidad racional y a la vista de calamidades que después de hacerles arrostrar todas las inquietudes, todos los disgustos y sinsabores de una vida agitada, en medio de su genio vivo y de su carácter independiente, noble y altivo, hubiera concluido por hacerles morir de inanición. ¿Y cree esto justo, humanitario, patriótico el autor del libelo? La anexión debía de conjurar esa serie de peligros, poniendo a salvo la antigua nacionalidad de la primada de las Antillas. ¿Ha llenado su objeto, si o no? Los hechos, mejor que nosotros, contestan afirmativamente y del modo mas satisfactorio a esta pregunta. La mas completa calma, la mayor tranquilidad ha reemplazado a la inquietud, al malestar que hace poco se sentía de un extremo a otro del territorio dominicano: la afluencia de capitales revela claramente la consolidación de una paz duradera, el entusiasta desarme de las fuerzas del país es un indicio seguro de trabajo y prosperidad, y la presencia de un brazo fuerte, de un gobierno estable y prudente una señal inequívoca de que los partidos rivales cesarán de hostilizarse en adelante. En el interés de los mismos partidos está el no turbar el orden, cediendo a un sentimiento de ambición o de venganza.

Manuel de Jesús Galván - El general Don Pedro Santana y la anexión de Santo Domingo a España; Contestación al folleto clandestino titulado: LA GRAN TRAICIÓN DEL GENERAL PEDRO SANTANA acompañada de breves consideraciones políticas, económicas y sociales acerca de aquel memorable acontecimiento.

Khamenei 2008

IRAN is trying to lose all her youths before the day of judgement. The Paradise key holder youths, in war with Iraq, still stranded at the gates of Paradise and none them, so far, succeeded to open the gates and grip those untouched rechargeable enchantingly young women. - AlHooti from Oman commenting Israel to strike Iran before new U.S. president sworn in (Aljazeera)

Breton 2008

Poète noir, un sein de pucellete hante,
poète aigri, la vie boutet la ville brûle,
et le ciel se résorbe en pluie,
ta plume gratte au cœur de la vie.

Forêt, forêt, des yeux fourmillent
sur les pignons multipliés;
cheveux d’orage, les poètes
enfourchent des chevaux, des chiens.

Les yeux ragent, les langues tournent,
le ciel afflue dans les narines
comme un lait nourricier et bleu;
je suis suspendu à vos bouches
femmes, cœurs de vinaigre durs

Artaud - (Poète Noir) L’Ombilic des limbes

Cintra 2006

Ganda pinta, Vale! Assim mesmo é que é. E o mais extraordinário é que não roubou o Estado, chegou aldrabar o Benfica e uns amigos. É quase caso para dizer-se que ficou tudo em família. Agora, Valito, tens de comprar um yacht novo, chmar-lhe Lucky Guy e fazeres-te à água no Serpentine, aí no Hyde Park. Vais ver que vai ser um happening aí em Londres. Uma coisa assim tipo Ascott, topas? Depois, até seres tu-cá-tu-lá com a família real é uma questão de dias. E esses podem cair com muito mais do que 15 milhões. 15 milhões, o que é isso? Peanuts!

Mancha Negra, Vladivostok - comentário a Condenado a 7,5 anos e com mandado de captura
Vale e Azevedo vive no bairro mais caro de Londres numa mansão de 15 milhões (Público)

Sá 2005

Como já anteriormente tinhamos anunciado no nosso blogue, Cunhal começa uma aproximação ao marxismo-leninismo. Saudamo-lo por isso embora já o soubéssemos. Tal como o camarada B., anterior militante revisionista e que é neste momento um grande dirigente do proletário vermelho. Já o Barnabé ziguezagueia desorientado entre a classe operária aliada ao pequeno campesinato e a burguesia revisionista.
Relembramos comentários anteriormente feitos a um outro post (é significativo da verdadeira natureza do Barnabé a confissão de (auto?)censura feita por um dos seus membros):
Caros revisionistas do barnabé:
A vocês que começam por renegar Estalin, e depois renegam Lenin e depois renegam Marx e depois renegam Proudhon e depois renegam tudo aquilo de que é feita a esquerda para depois virem dizer que são da esquerda deixo aqui de novo o poema do Robert Wyatt sobre o revisionismo:

They say the working class is dead, we're all consumers now

They say that we have moved ahead - we're all just people now

There's people doing 'frightfully well' there's others on the shelf

But never mind the second kind this is the age of self

They say we need new images to help our movement grow

They say that life is broader based as if we didn't know

While Martin J. and Robert M. play with printer's ink

The workers 'round the world still die for Rio Tinto Zinc

And it seems to me if we forget

Our roots and where we stand

The movement will disintegrate

Like castles built on sand

Afixado por o proletário vermelho em novembro 12, 2003 02:22 PM

é verdade, o Wyatt é um dos últimos estalinistas. Confesso que o omiti de propósito dado o contexto. Mas a ele perdoa-se-lhe tudo.

Afixado por celsomartins em novembro 12, 2003 11:43 PM

Bordiga 2007

In reality one reads a book because of practical impulses (and one should find out why certain impulses are more general than others) and one re-reads for artistic reasons. The aesthetic emotion hardly ever comes on the first reading. - Antonio Gramsci

Comden 2008

You're the top! You're the Colosseum,
You're the top! You're the Louvre Museum,
You're a melody from a symphony by Strauss,
You're a Bendel bonnet, a Shakespeart sonnet,
You're Mickey Mouse.
You're the Nile, You're the Tow'r of Pisa,
You're the smile on the Mona Lisa.
I'm a worthless check, a total wreck, a flop,
But if, Baby, I'm the bottom, You're the top!

Cole Porter - Anything Goes

Hume 2008

The sun is warm, the sky is clear,
The waves are dancing fast and bright,
Blue isles and snowy mountains wear
The purple noon's transparent light:
The breath of the moist earth is light
Around its unexpanded buds;
Like many a voice of one delight -
The winds', the birds', the ocean-floods' -
The City's voice itself is soft like Solitude's.

I see the Deep's untrampled floor
With green and purple sea-weeds strown;
I see the waves upon the shore
Like light dissolved in star-showers thrown:
I sit upon the sands alone;
The lightning of the noon-tide ocean
Is flashing round me, and a tone
Arises from its measured motion -
How sweet! did any heart now share in my emotion.

Alas! I have nor hope nor health,
Nor peace within nor calm around,
Nor that Content, surpassing wealth,
The sage in meditation found,
And walk'd with inward glory crown'd -
Nor fame, nor power, nor love, nor leisure;
Others I see whom these surround -
Smiling they live, and call life pleasure;
To me that cup has been dealt in another measure.

Yet now despair itself is mild
Even as the winds and waters are;
I could lie down like a tired child,
And weep away the life of care
Which I have borne, and yet must bear,
Till death like sleep might steal on me,
And I might feel in the warm air
My cheek grow cold, and hear the sea
Breathe o'er my dying brain its last monotony.

Shelley - Stanzas Written In Dejection Near Naples

Müller 2005

Catarì, Catarí...
pecché mm''e ddice sti pparole amare?!
Pecché mme parle e 'o core mme turmiente Catarí'?!
Nun te scurdá ca t'aggio dato 'o core, Catarí'...
Nun te scurdá...

Catarí...
Catarí, che vène a dicere
stu pparlá ca mme dá spáseme?
Tu nun ce pienze a stu dulore mio?!
Tu nun ce pienze, tu nun te ne cure...

Core, core 'ngrato...
T'hê pigliato 'a vita mia!
Tutto è passato...
e nun ce pienze cchiù.

Catarí, Catarí...
tu nun 'o ssaje ca fino e 'int'a na chiesa
io só trasuto e aggiu pregato a Dio, Catarí...
E ll'aggio ditto pure a 'o cunfessore: "Io stó a murí
pe' chella llá...
Stó a suffrí,
stó a suffrí nun se pò credere...
stó a suffrí tutte li strazie..."
E 'o cunfessore, ch'è perzona santa,
mm'ha ditto: "Figliu mio lássala stá, lássala stá!..."

Core, core 'ngrato...
T'hê pigliato 'a vita mia!
Tutto è passato...
e nun ce pienze cchiù

Canzona da Napule

Brossa 2007

Amic Millàs-Raurell:
Prampolini ha fet trossos la munífica Vesta de Beatriu (de Giovanni Duprè). Siena n'és conmoguda. A Florència -per via sense fils- la dissort hi és vinguda així mateix: els plecs del monument a Ferrari Corbelli són desapareguts. Les pubilles, tot nues, s'han posat a cantar com diablesses una cançó infernal. Suara he arribat jo.
A "Valori Plastici", es diu: Giovanni Papini ha enviat per correu a Marx Berkman, un xop cervesa Pilsen. (Il mio futurismo). -Ara no ho féssiu córrer, que els de "Noi" no s'ho poden acabar.
Aquí a Roma es murmura que per a comprendre En Foix de Sarrià hom deu llegir a Sòfocles primer. La Laieta ha plorat, car haurà de tornar a començar pel Narro... perquè no el sap llegir.
Dídac Ruiz, a Mòdena (ens ho ha fet saber Antonio Foschini), ha escrit que la blasfèmia és la rosa de foc de la virtut. Per aquest expedient Prampolini ha sortit de la presó.
-M. Giobbe ha esgrafiat una testa de Ruiz. -Giuseppe Ravegnani ha manat a Strawinsky que en fes la partitura: ha comprat els pentagrames a Gerald de Tyrwitt. Tot això no està bé, ja ho saps, però jo en enterar-me'n he enviat un telegrama a En V. Solé de Sojo. Que en tregui ell l'entrellat.
-En Carrà i En Soffici s'han canviat una tela. És la darrera nova que he sabut

Joan Salvat-Papasseit -Lletra d'Itàlia (Poemes en ondes hertzianes 1919)

Turner 2008

I

No, no, go not to Lethe, neither twist
Wolfs-bane, tight-rooted, for its poisonous wine;
Nor suffer thy pale forehead to be kiss'd
By nightshade, ruby grape of Proserpine;
Make not your rosary of yew-berries,
Nor let the beetle, nor the death-moth be
Your mournful Psyche, nor the downy owl
A partner in your sorrow's mysteries;
For shade to shade will come too drowsily,
And drown the wakeful anguish of the soul.

II

But when the melancholy fit shall fall
Sudden from heaven like a weeping cloud,
That fosters the droop-headed flowers all,
And hides the green hill in an April shroud;
Then glut thy sorrow on a morning rose,
Or on the rainbow of the salt sand-wave,
Or on the wealth of globed peonies;
Or if thy mistress some rich anger shows,
Emprison her soft hand, and let her rave,
And feed deep, deep upon her peerless eyes.

III

She dwells with Beauty - Beauty that must die;
And Joy, whose hand is ever at his lips
Bidding adieu; and aching Pleasure nigh,
Turning to poison while the bee-mouth sips:
Ay, in the very temple of Delight
Veil'd Melancholy has her sovran shrine,
Though seen of none save him whose strenuous tongue
Can burst Joy's grape against his palate fine;
His soul shall taste the sadness of her might,
And be among her cloudy trophies hung.

John Keats - Ode on Melancholy

Marschner 2005

XXIX.

Es war ein alter König,

Sein Herz war schwer, sein Haupt war grau;

Der arme alte König,

Er nahm eine junge Frau.

Es war ein schöner Page,
Blond war sein Haupt, leicht war sein Sinn;

Er trug die seidne Schleppe

Der jungen Königin.

Kennst du das alte Liedchen?
Es klingt so süß, es klingt so trüb!
Sie mußten beyde sterben,

Sie hatten sich viel zu lieb.

Heirich Heine - Neue Gedichte (1844)

Struensee 2008

Considering Copenhagen as the capital of Denmark and Norway, I was surprised not to see so much industry or taste as in Christiania. Indeed, from everything I have had an opportunity of observing, the Danes are the people who have made the fewest sacrifices to the graces.
The men of business are domestic tyrants, coldly immersed in their own affairs, and so ignorant of the state of other countries, that they dogmatically assert that Denmark is the happiest country in the world; the Prince Royal the best of all possible princes; and Count Bernstorff the wisest of ministers.
As for the women, they are simply notable housewives; without accomplishments or any of the charms that adorn more advanced social life. This total ignorance may enable them to save something in their kitchens, but it is far from rendering them better parents. On the contrary, the children are spoiled, as they usually are when left to the care of weak, indulgent mothers, who having no principle of action to regulate their feelings, become the slaves of infants, enfeebling both body and mind by false tenderness.
I am, perhaps, a little prejudiced, as I write from the impression of the moment; for I have been tormented to-day by the presence of unruly children, and made angry by some invectives thrown out against the maternal character of the unfortunate Matilda. She was censured, with the most cruel insinuation, for her management of her son, though, from what I could gather, she gave proofs of good sense as well as tenderness in her attention to him. She used to bathe him herself every morning; insisted on his being loosely clad; and would not permit his attendants to injure his digestion by humouring his appetite. She was equally careful to prevent his acquiring haughty airs, and playing the tyrant in leading-strings. The Queen Dowager would not permit her to suckle him; but the next child being a daughter, and not the Heir-Apparent of the Crown, less opposition was made to her discharging the duty of a mother.
Poor Matilda! thou hast haunted me ever since may arrival; and the view I have had of the manners of the country, exciting my sympathy, has increased my respect for thy memory.
I am now fully convinced that she was the victim of the party she displaced, who would have overlooked or encouraged her attachment, had not her lover, aiming at being useful, attempted to overturn some established abuses before the people, ripe for the change, had sufficient spirit to support him when struggling in their behalf. Such indeed was the asperity sharpened against her that I have heard her, even after so many years have elapsed, charged with licentiousness, not only for endeavouring to render the public amusements more elegant, but for her very charities, because she erected, amongst other institutions, a hospital to receive foundlings. Disgusted with many customs which pass for virtues, though they are nothing more than observances of forms, often at the expense of truth, she probably ran into an error common to innovators, in wishing to do immediately what can only be done by time.
Many very cogent reasons have been urged by her friends to prove that her affection for Struensee was never carried to the length alleged against her by those who feared her influence. Be that as it may she certainly was no a woman of gallantry, and if she had an attachment for him it did not disgrace her heart or understanding, the king being a notorious debauchee and an idiot into the bargain. As the king's conduct had always been directed by some favourite, they also endeavoured to govern him, from a principle of self-preservation as well as a laudable ambition; but, not aware of the prejudices they had to encounter, the system they adopted displayed more benevolence of heart than soundness of judgment. As to the charge, still believed, of their giving the King drugs to injure his faculties, it is too absurd to be refuted. Their oppressors had better have accused them of dabbling in the black art, for the potent spell still keeps his wits in bondage.
I cannot describe to you the effect it had on me to see this puppet of a monarch moved by the strings which Count Bernstorff holds fast; sit, with vacant eye, erect, receiving the homage of courtiers who mock him with a show of respect. He is, in fact, merely a machine of state, to subscribe the name of a king to the acts of the Government, which, to avoid danger, have no value unless countersigned by the Prince Royal; for he is allowed to be absolutely aim idiot, excepting that now and then an observation or trick escapes him, which looks more like madness than imbecility.
What a farce is life. This effigy of majesty is allowed to burn down to the socket, whilst the hapless Matilda was hurried into an untimely grave.

"As flies to wanton boys, are we to the gods;They kill us for their sport."
Adieu!

Mary Wollstonecraft - Letters Written during a Short Residence in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark (1796)

Zandomeneghi 2004

"Oh! Pietro! Pietro!... ti vedo!...", gridò esultante; con un accento indescrivibile che avea più dell'urlo dello spasimo che del trasporto della gioia; "m'ami?!... m'ami tu?!!!..."

E si rovesciò assieme a lui sul canapè vincendo, con uno sforzo disperato, miracoloso, la difficoltà di proferire, il torpore della mente, l'inerzia delle forze, l'agonia insomma.

"Pietro, m'ami ancora?!"

"Sì! sì! t'adoro!...", singhiozzò egli tentando inumidire l'aridità di quella pelle coll'umido delle sue labbra, di scacciare il torpore di quelle membra, la pesantezza di quelle palpebre coll'impeto dei suoi baci; cercando trasfondere la vita che sentiva rigogliosa, giovane, potente in lui, nel soffio che alitava fra le labbra di lei violacee, semiaperte e convulse.

Giovanni Verga - Una peccatrice (1866)

Clinton 2005

The Iraq war was a disaster for Iraq, a disaster for the United States, a disaster for the Middle East, a disaster for the world community, but most of all, it was a disaster for the experts. - Al Jazeera - 8 Jun 2008

Colbert 2008

25. On passera après la Piramide, où l’on s’arrestera un moment, et après on remontera au chasteau par le degré de marbre qui est entre l’Esguiseur et la Vénus honteuse, on se tournera sur le haut du degré pour voir le parterre du Nort, les statues, les vases, les couronnes, la Piramide et ce qu’on peut voir de Neptune, et après on sortira du jardin par la mesme porte par où l’on est entré. Quand on voudra voir le mesme jour la Ménagerie et Trianon, après avoir fait la pause auprès d’Apollon, on ira s’embarquer pour aller à la Ménagerie. En montant sur l’amphithéatre, on fera une pause pour considérer le canal et ce qui le termine du costé de Trianon. On ira dans le salon du milieu. On entrera dans toutes les cours, où sont les animaux. Après on se rembarquera pour aller à Trianon. En arrivant, on montera par les rampes, on fera une pause en haut, et l’on fera remarquer les trois jets, le canal et le bout du costé de la Ménagerie. On ira droit à la fontaine du milieu du parterre bas, d’où l’on montrera la maison. Après l’on ira la voir par dedans, on entrera dans le peristile, on y remarquera la veüe de l’advenue, et du jardin l’on verra la Cour ; après on ira dans le reste de la maison jusques au salon du haut de la gallerie. On montrera le jardin du Roy. On reviendra par la mesme salon du bout de la gallerie pour entrer dans les Sources. Et après on passera dans la gallerie pour aller à Trianon sous bois. On ira jusques sur la terrasse du haut de la cascade, et puis on viendra sortir par le salon du bout de la gallerie du costé du bois. On ira le long de la terrasse jusques à l’angle, d’où l’on voit le canal, on tournera après au cabinet du bout de l’aisle d’où l’on verra le chasteau, les bois et le canal. On en sortira et l’on passera le long du corps du logis du côté des offices et l’on ira jusques à l’allée du milieu.

Louis XIV - Manière de montrer les jardins de Versailles

Goerdler 2007

Schwarze Milch der Frühe wir trinken sie abends
wir trinken sie mittags und morgens wir trinken sie nachts
wir trinken und trinken
wir schaufeln ein Grab in den Lüften da liegt man nicht eng
Ein Mann wohnt im Haus der spielt mit den Schlangen der schreibt
der schreibt wenn es dunkelt nach Deutschland dein goldenes Haar Margarete
er schreibt es und tritt vor das Haus und es blitzen die Sterne er pfeift seine Rüden herbei
er pfeift seine Juden hervor läßt schaufeln ein Grab in der Erde
er befiehlt uns spielt auf nun zum Tanz

Schwarze Milch der Frühe wir trinken dich nachts
wir trinken dich morgens und mittags wir trinken dich abends
wir trinken und trinken
Ein Mann wohnt im Haus der spielt mit den Schlangen der schreibt
der schreibt wenn es dunkelt nach Deutschland dein goldenes Haar Margarete
Dein aschenes Haar Sulamith wir schaufeln ein Grab in den Lüften da liegt man nicht eng

Er ruft stecht tiefer ins Erdreich ihr einen ihr andern singet und spielt
er greift nach dem Eisen im Gurt er schwingts seine Augen sind blau
stecht tiefer die Spaten ihr einen ihr andern spielt weiter zum Tanz auf

Schwarze Milch der Frühe wir trinken dich nachts
wir trinken dich mittags und morgens wir trinken dich abends
wir trinken und trinken
ein Mann wohnt im Haus dein goldenes Haar Margarete
dein aschenes Haar Sulamith er spielt mit den Schlangen
Er ruft spielt süßer den Tod der Tod ist ein Meister aus Deutschland
er ruft streicht dunkler die Geigen dann steigt ihr als Rauch in die Luft
dann habt ihr ein Grab in den Wolken da liegt man nicht eng

Schwarze Milch der Frühe wir trinken dich nachts
wir trinken dich mittags der Tod ist ein Meister aus Deutschland
wir trinken dich abends und morgens wir trinken und trinken
der Tod ist ein Meister aus Deutschland sein Auge ist blau
er trifft dich mit bleierner Kugel er trifft dich genau
ein Mann wohnt im Haus dein goldenes Haar Margarete
er hetzt seine Rüden auf uns er schenkt uns ein Grab in der Luft
er spielt mit den Schlangen und träumet der Tod ist ein Meister aus Deutschland

dein goldenes Haar Margarete
dein aschenes Haar Sulamith

Paul Celan - Todesfugue

Mendizabal 2008

Nadie comprendía el perfume
de la oscura magnolia de tu vientre.
Nadie sabía que martirizabas
un colibrí de amor entre los dientes.

Mil caballitos persas se dormían
en la plaza con luna de tu frente,
mientras que yo enlazaba cuatro noches
tu cintura, enemiga de la nieve.

Entre yeso y jazmines, tu mirada
era un pálido ramo de simientes.
Yo busqué, para darte, por mi pecho
las letras de marfil que dicen ''siempre'',

''siempre, siempre'': jardín de mi agonía,
tu cuerpo fugitivo para siempre,
la sangre de tus venas en mi boca,
tu boca ya sin luz para mi muerte.

Lorca - Gacela del Amor Imprevisto

Godoy 2004

Tendo o terrível Bonaparte à vista,
Novo Aníbal, que esfalfa a voz da Fama,
"Ó capados heróis!" (aos seus exclama
Purpúreo fanfarrão, papal sacrista):

"O progresso estorvai da atroz conquista
Que da filosofia o mal derrama?...
"Disse, e em férvido tom saúda, e chama,
Santos surdos, varões por sacra lista:

Deles em vão rogando um pio arrojo,
Convulso o corpo, as faces amarelas,
Cede triste vitória, que faz nojo!

O rápido francês vai-lhe às canelas;
Dá, fere, mata: ficam-lhe em despojo
Relíquias, bulas, merdas, bagatelas.

Bocage - Soneto Napoleónico

Shaftsbury 2008

O Rose, thou art sick!
The Invisible worm,
That flies in the night,
In the howling storm,

Has found out thy bed
Of Crimson joy;
And his dark secret love
Does thy life destroy.

William Blake - The sick Rose

Hyperion 2006

O flaumenleichte Zeit der dunkeln Frühe!
Welch neue Welt bewegest du in mir?
Was ists, daß ich auf einmal nun in dir
Von sanfter Wollust meines Daseins glühe?

Einem Kristall gleicht meine Seele nun,
Den noch kein falscher Strahl des Lichts getroffen;
Zu fluten scheint mein Geist, er scheint zu ruhn,
Dem Eindruck naher Wunderkräfte offen,
Die aus dem klaren Gürtel blauer Luft
Zuletzt ein Zauberwort vor meine Sinne ruft.

Bei hellen Augen glaub ich doch zu schwanken;
Ich schließe sie, daß nicht der Traum entweiche.
Seh ich hinab in lichte Feenreiche?
Wer hat den bunten Schwarm von Bildern und Gedanken
Zur Pforte meines Herzens hergeladen,
Die glänzend sich in diesem Busen baden,
Goldfarbgen Fischlein gleich im Gartenteiche?

Ich höre bald der Hirtenflöten Klänge,
Wie um die Krippe jener Wundernacht,
Bald weinbekränzter Jugend Lustgesänge;
Wer hat das friedenselige Gedränge
In meine traurigen Wände hergebracht?

Und welch Gefühl entzückter Stärke,
Indem mein Sinn sich frisch zur Ferne lenkt!
Vom ersten Mark des heutgen Tags getränkt,
Fühl ich mir Mut zu jedem frommen Werke.

Die Seele fliegt, so weit der Himmel reicht,
Der Genius jauchzt in mir! Doch sage,
Warum wird jetzt der Blick von Wehmut feucht?
Ists ein verloren Glück, was mich erweicht?
Ist es ein werdendes, was ich im Herzen trage?
– Hinweg, mein Geist! hier gilt kein Stillestehn:
Es ist ein Augenblick, und Alles wird verwehn!

Dort, sieh, am Horizont lüpft sich der Vorhang schon!
Es träumt der Tag, nun sei die Nacht entflohn;
Die Purpurlippe, die geschlossen lag,
Haucht, halbgeöffnet, süße Atemzüge:
Auf einmal blitzt das Aug, und, wie ein Gott, der Tag
Beginnt im Sprung die königlichen Flüge!

Eduard Mörike - Am einem Wintermorgen, vor Sonnenaufgang

Sjoström 2008

Kärlek är en känsla som präglas av en stark ömhet och tillgivenhet. Kärleken kan vara riktad mot abstrakta ting som konst eller nationen, mot mer allmänna konkreta ting som naturen eller Kyrkan, eller till mer specifika konkreta objekt som ens hem, ens husdjur eller en nära medmänniska, inklusive den egna personen. Kärlek i dess olika varianter är ett ofta återkommande tema inom litteratur, film och sång. - Wikipedia

Ramsés 2008

«Nous sommes les deux plus grands peintres de ce siècle, Picasso dans le style égyptien, et moi dans le style réaliste» - Henri Rousseau

Lesseps 2004

"61. But to love me is better than all things: if under the night stars in the desert thou presently burnest mine incense before me, invoking me with a pure heart, and the Serpent flame therein, thou shalt come a little to lie in my bosom. For one kiss wilt thou then be willing to give all; but whoso gives one particle of dust shall lose all in that hour. Ye shall gather goods and store of women and spices; ye shall wear rich jewels; ye shall exceed the nations of the earth in spendour & pride; but always in the love of me, and so shall ye come to my joy. I charge you earnestly to come before me in a single robe, and covered with a rich headdress. I love you! I yearn to you! Pale or purple, veiled or voluptuous, I who am all pleasure and purple, and drunkenness of the innermost sense, desire you. Put on the wings, and arouse the coiled splendour within you: come unto me!"

Aleister Crowley - Liber AL vel Legis

Scott Walker 2008

Ne me quitte pas
Il faut oublier
Tout peut s'oublier
Qui s'enfuit déjà
Oublier le temps
Des malentendus
Et le temps perdu
A savoir comment
Oublier ces heures
Qui tuaient parfois
A coups de pourquoi
Le coeur du bonheur
Ne me quitte pas
Ne me quitte pas
Ne me quitte pas
Ne me quitte pas
Moi je t'offrirai
Des perles de pluie
Venues de pays
Où il ne pleut pas
Je creuserai la terre
Jusqu'après ma mort
Pour couvrir ton corps
D'or et de lumière
Je ferai un domaine
Où l'amour sera roi
Où l'amour sera loi
Où tu seras reine
Ne me quitte pas
Ne me quitte pas
Ne me quitte pas
Ne me quitte pas
Ne me quitte pas
Je t'inventerai
Des mots insensés
Que tu comprendras
Je te parlerai
De ces amants là
Qui ont vu deux fois
Leurs coeurs s'embraser
Je te raconterai
L'histoire de ce roi
Mort de n'avoir pas
Pu te rencontrer
Ne me quitte pas
Ne me quitte pas
Ne me quitte pas
Ne me quitte pas
On a vu souvent
Rejaillir le feu
D'un ancien volcan
Qu'on croyait trop vieux
Il est paraît-il
Des terres brûlées
Donnant plus de blé
Qu'un meilleur avril
Et quand vient le soir
Pour qu'un ciel flamboie
Le rouge et le noir
Ne s'épousent-ils pas
Ne me quitte pas
Ne me quitte pas
Ne me quitte pas
Ne me quitte pas
Ne me quitte pas
Je ne vais plus pleurer
Je ne vais plus parler
Je me cacherai là
A te regarder
Danser et sourire
Et à t'écouter
Chanter et puis rire
Laisse-moi devenir
L'ombre de ton ombre
L'ombre de ta main
L'ombre de ton chien
Ne me quitte pas
Ne me quitte pas
Ne me quitte pas
Ne me quitte pas - Jacques Brel (1959)

Leporello 2004

Madamina, il catalogo è questo
Delle belle che amò il padron mio;
un catalogo egli è che ho fatt'io;
Osservate, leggete con me.
In Italia seicento e quaranta;
In Almagna duecento e trentuna;
Cento in Francia, in Turchia novantuna;
Ma in Ispagna son già mille e tre.
V'han fra queste contadine,
Cameriere, cittadine,
V'han contesse, baronesse,
Marchesine, principesse.
E v'han donne d'ogni grado,
D'ogni forma, d'ogni età.
Nella bionda egli ha l'usanza
Di lodar la gentilezza,
Nella bruna la costanza,
Nella bianca la dolcezza.
Vuol d'inverno la grassotta,
Vuol d'estate la magrotta;
È la grande maestosa,
La piccina e ognor vezzosa.
Delle vecchie fa conquista
Pel piacer di porle in lista;
Sua passion predominante
È la giovin principiante.
Non si picca - se sia ricca,
Se sia brutta, se sia bella;
Purché porti la gonnella,
Voi sapete quel che fa.

Lorenzo Da Ponte - Libretto do D. Giovanni (Mozart)

Rubén Dario 2007

Llega un tableteo de fusilada. El grupo se mueve en confusa y medrosa alerta. Descuella el grito ronco de la mujer, que al ruido de las descargas aprieta a su niño muerto en los brazos.

LA MADRE DEL NIÑO: ¡Negros fusiles, matadme también con vuestros plomos!

MAX: Esa voz me traspasa.

LA MADRE DEL NIÑO: ¡Que tan fría, boca de nardo!

MAX: ¡Jamás oí voz con esa cólera trágica!

DON LATINO: Hay mucho de teatro.

MAX: ¡Imbécil!

El farol, el chuzo, la caperuza del sereno, bajan con un trote de madreñas por la acera.

EL EMPEÑISTA: ¿Qué ha sido, sereno?

EL SERENO: Un preso que ha intentado fugarse.

MAX: Latino, ya no puedo gritar... ¡Me muero de rabia!... Estoy mascando ortigas. Ese muerto sabía su fin... No le asustaba, pero temía el tormento... La Leyenda Negra, en estos días menguados, es la Historia de España. Nuestra vida es un círculo dantesco. Rabia y vergüenza. Me muero de hambre, satisfecho de no haber llevado una triste velilla en la trágica mojiganga. ¿Has oído los comentarios de esa gente, viejo canalla? Tú eres como ellos. Peor que ellos, porque no tienes una peseta y propagas la mala literatura, por entregas. Latino, vil corredor de aventuras insulsas, llévame al Viaducto. Te invito a regenerarte con un vuelo.

DON LATINO: ¡Max, no te pongas estupendo!

Ramón María del Valle-Inclán - Luces de Bohemia

Pippi Langstrumpf 2006

Es war gut, daß ich zu meinem Kunststückchen mit dem Schafe nicht hatte gelangen können. Denn am dritten Tage meiner Luftfahrt, wurde mein Hunger so groß, daß ich mich genöthigt sah, das Schaf zu schlachten. Als ich nun damals unendlich hoch über dem Monde war, und nach einer sechzehnstündigen noch weitern Auffahrt endlich der Sonne so nahe kam, daß ich mir die Augenbrauen versengte, so legte ich das todte Schaf, nachdem ich es vorher abgehäutet, an denjenigen Ort im Wagen, wo die Sonne die meiste Kraft hatte, oder mit andern Worten, wo der Ballon keinen Schatten hinwarf, auf welche Weise es denn in ohngefähr drey Viertel Stunden völlig gar briet. Von diesem Braten habe ich die ganze Zeit her gelebt.“ – Hier hielt mein Mann ein, und schien sich in Betrachtung der Gegenstände um ihn her zu vertiefen. Als ich ihm sagte, daß die Gebäude da vor uns das Seraglio des Großherrn zu Constantinopel wären, so schien er außerordentlich bestürzt, indem er sich ganz wo anders zu befinden geglaubt hatte. „Die Ursache meines langen Fluges, fügte er endlich hinzu, war, daß mir ein Faden zerriß, der an einer Klappe in dem Luftballe saß, und dazu diente, die inflammable Luft herauszulassen. Wäre nun nicht auf den Ball gefeuert und derselbe dadurch aufgerissen worden, so möchte er wohl, wie Mahomet, bis an den jüngsten Tag zwischen Himmel und Erde geschwebt haben.“ Den Wagen schenkte er hierauf großmüthig meinem Bootsmanne, der hinten am Steuer stand. Den Hamelsbraten warf er ins Meer. Was aber den Luftball anlangte, so war der von dem Schaden, welchen ich ihm zugefügt hatte, im herabfallen vollends ganz und gar zu Stücken zerrissen.

Gottfried August Bürger - Wunderbare Reisen zu Wasser und zu Lande, Feldzüge und lustige Abentheuer des Freyherrn von Münchhausen (1786)

Beatrice 2005

[III] E pensando di lei, mi sopragiunse uno soave sonno, ne lo quale m'apparve una maravigliosa visione: che me parea vedere ne la mia camera una nebula di colore di fuoco, dentro a la quale io discernea una figura d'uno segnore di pauroso aspetto a chi la guardasse; e pareami con tanta letizia, quanto a sé, che mirabile cosa era; e ne le sue parole dicea molte cose, le quali io non intendea se non poche; tra le quali intendea queste: "Ego dominus tuus".

Ne le sue braccia mi parea vedere una persona dormire nuda, salvo che involta mi parea in uno drappo sanguigno leggeramente; la quale io riguardando molto intentivamente, conobbi ch'era la donna de la salute, la quale m'avea lo giorno dinanzi degnato di salutare.

E ne l'una de le mani mi parea che questi tenesse una cosa la quale ardesse tutta, e pareami che mi dicesse queste parole: "Vide cor tuum".

E quando elli era stato alquanto, pareami che disvegliasse questa che dormia; e tanto si sforzava per suo ingegno, che le facea mangiare questa cosa che in mano li ardea, la quale ella mangiava dubitosamente.

Appresso ciò poco dimorava che la sua letizia si convertia in amarissimo pianto; e così piangendo, si ricogliea questa donna ne le sue braccia, e con essa mi parea che si ne gisse verso lo cielo; onde io sostenea sì grande angoscia, che lo mio deboletto sonno non poteo sostenere, anzi si ruppe e fui disvegliato.

Dante Alighieri - Vita Nuova

Farrobo 2008

«Villa do Conde, sabbado.
Meu joven poeta
São reservados, e pertencem ao nosso Joaquim os versos a que allude. É claro que sem licença d'elle não devem imprimir-se.Deixe-os no tumulo da desditosa criança, que lá fallam melhor aos que a estremeceram. Se porém combinarem trasladal-os para qualquerpublicação, addiccione o meu amigo ao nome da pobre Zara o do desolado irmão. Para elle foram feitos, a elle serão dedicados.
E nada mais por hoje, meu amado poeta
eu do C.

Anthero de Q.»

ZARA - a Joaquim de Araújo

Feliz de quem passou por entre a magoa
E as paixões da existencia tumultuosa,
Inconsciente, como passa a rosa,
E leve, como a sombra sobre a agua.

Era-te a vida um sonho. Indefinido
E tenue, mas suave e transparente...
Acordaste, sorriste... e vagamente
Continuates o sonho interrompido.

1881.

Montezuma 2006

At this festival the great god died in the person of one human representative and came to life again in the person of another, who was destined to enjoy the fatal honour of divinity for a year and to perish, like all his predecessors, at the end of it. The young man singled out for this high dignity was carefully chosen from among the captives on the ground of his personal beauty. He had to be of unblemished body, slim as a reed and straight as a pillar, neither too tall nor too short. If through high living he grew too fat, he was obliged to reduce himself by drinking salt water. And in order that he might behave in his lofty station with becoming grace and dignity he was carefully trained to comport himself like a gentleman of the first quality, to speak correctly and elegantly, to play the flute, to smoke cigars and to snuff at flowers with a dandified air. He was honourably lodged in the temple, where the nobles waited on him and paid him homage, bringing him meat and serving him like a prince. The king himself saw to it that he was apparelled in gorgeous attire, "for already he esteemed him as a god." Eagle down was gummed to his head and white cock's feathers were stuck in his hair, which drooped to his girdle. A wreath of flowers like roasted maize crowned his brows, and a garland of the same flowers passed over his shoulders and under his armpits. Golden ornaments hung from his nose, golden armlets adorned his arms, golden bells jingled on his legs at every step he took; earrings of turquoise dangled from his ears, bracelets of turquoise bedecked his wrists; necklaces of shells encircled his neck and depended on his breast; he wore a mantle of network, and round his middle a rich waistcloth. When this bejewelled exquisite lounged through the streets playing on his flute, puffing at a cigar, and smelling at a nosegay, the people whom he met threw themselves on the earth before him and prayed to him with sighs and tears, taking up the dust in their hands and putting it in their mouths in token of the deepest humiliation and subjection. Women came forth with children in their arms and presented them to him, saluting him as a god. For "he passed for our Lord God; the people acknowledged him as the Lord." All who thus worshipped him on his passage he saluted gravely and courteously. Lest he should flee, he was everywhere attended by a guard of eight pages in the royal livery, four of them with shaven crowns like the palace-slaves, and four of them with the flowing locks of warriors; and if he contrived to escape, the captain of the guard had to take his place as the representative of the god and to die in his stead. Twenty days before he was to die, his costume was changed, and four damsels delicately nurtured and bearing the names of four goddesses--the Goddess of Flowers, the Goddess of the Young Maize, the Goddess "Our Mother among the Water," and the Goddess of Salt--were given him to be his brides, and with them he consorted. During the last five days divine honours were showered on the destined victim. The king remained in his palace while the whole court went after the human god. Solemn banquets and dances followed each other in regular succession and at appointed places. On the last day the young man, attended by his wives and pages, embarked in a canoe covered with a royal canopy and was ferried across the lake to a spot where a little hill rose from the edge of the water. It was called the Mountain of Parting, because there his wives bade him a last farewell. Then, accompanied only by his pages, he repaired to a small and lonely temple by the wayside. Like the Mexican temples in general, it was built in the form of a pyramid; and as the young man ascended the stairs he broke at every step one of the flutes on which he had played in the days of his glory. On reaching the summit he was seized and held down by the priests on his back upon a block of stone, while one of them cut open his breast, thrust his hand into the wound, and wrenching out his heart held it up in sacrifice to the sun. The body of the dead god was not, like the bodies of common victims, sent rolling down the steps of the temple, but was carried down to the foot, where the head was cut off and spitted on a pike. Such was the regular end of the man who personated the greatest god of the Mexican pantheon.

James Frazer - The Golden Bough

Omphale 2007

Pour dire un mot de moi-même : J'ai vu quelquefois mes amis appeler prudence en moi, ce qui était fortune ; et estimer avantage de courage et de patience, ce qui était avantage de jugement et opinion ; et m'attribuer un titre pour autre ; tantôt à mon gain, tantôt à ma perte. Au demeurant, il s'en faut tant que je sois arrivé à ce premier et plus parfait degré d'excellence, où de la vertu il se fait une habitude ; que du second même, je n'en ai fait guère de preuve. Je ne me suis mis en grand effort, pour brider les désirs de quoi je me suis trouvé pressé. Ma vertu, c'est une vertu, ou innocence, pour mieux dire, accidentelle et fortuite. Si je fusse né d'une complexion plus déréglée, je crains qu'il fût allé piteusement de mon fait : car je n'ai essayé guère de fermeté en mon âme, pour soutenir des passions, si elles eussent été tant soit peu véhémentes. Je ne sais point nourrir des querelles, et du débat chez moi. Ainsi, je ne me puis dire nul grand-merci, de quoi je me trouve exempt de plusieurs vices :
si vitiis mediocribus, et mea paucis
Mendosa est natura, alioqui recta, velut si
Egregio inspersos reprehendas corpore nævos.
[Si ma nature, droite d'ailleurs, n'est entachée que de légers défauts,

et en petit nombre, tels que des marques naturelles dispersées sur un beau corps]
Je le dois plus à ma fortune qu'à ma raison. Elle m'a fait naître d'une race fameuse en prudhommie, et d'un très bon père ; je ne sais s'il a écoulé en moi une partie de ses humeurs, ou bien si les exemples domestiques, et la bonne institution de mon enfance, y ont insensiblement aidé ; ou si je suis autrement ainsi né ;
Seu libra, seu me scorpius aspicit
Formidolosus, pars violentior
Natalis horæ, seu tyrannus
Hesperiæ Capricornus undæ.
[Soit que le Balance ou le Scorpion morne,
Témoin redoutable à l’heure du berceau,
M'ait vu naître, ou bien le Capricorne,
Des mers d'Ouest tyrannique flambeau.] - Montaigne - De la cruauté (Essais; Livre II)

Moeran 2008

Beecham was, and remains, much quoted. A book was published in 1978 consisting entirely of his bons mots and anecdotes about him. Some Beecham stories are apocryphal (Neville Cardus admitted to inventing some himself). Some are variously attributed to Beecham or one or more other people, including Arnold Bax and Winston Churchill. The story is told of how, around 1950, Beecham met a lady whom he recognised but whose name he couldn't remember. After some preliminaries about the weather, and desperately racking his memory, he asked how she was.
"Oh, very well, but my brother has been rather ill lately."
"Ah, yes, your brother. I'm sorry to hear that. And, er, what is your brother doing at the moment?"
"Well... he's still King," replied Princess Mary.

Wikipedia - Beecham entry

Lampedusa 2004

U pesci fet d'a testa. - Provérbio Siciliano

Colloredo 2008

SALVIATI:
Excelso emperador, luz de la tierra,
a quien el sumo Altitonante tiene
por pilar de su fe, pues en ti encierra
cuanto a tal ministerio a ver conviene,
por quien el fiero turco se destierra,
y el valiente francés temo, y no viene
a inquietar el mundo, que tu mano
invencible, sujeta y tiene llano.
Guardando el uso que se guarda en esto,
tu majestad católica, en presencia
de Dios, me juro siempre estar dispuesto
con eterna observancia y obediencia
en defender la Iglesia, del molesto
Lutero, y los demás, que con violencia
la ofendieren, siguiendo el crudo intento.

EMPERADOR:
Yo ratifico vuestro juramento.

SALVIATI:
Reciba vuestra majestad, agora,
las insignias que pide la grandeza
de emperador, y aquesta vencedora
mano, tenga este cetro de firmeza;
esta espada, que sea domadora
del enemigo de la fe, y su alteza;
este mundo de oro, que es el mundo
de que os hace señor, sin ser segundo.
Esta corona a vos justa y debida,
sustente la cabeza gloriosa,
como cabeza de la fe, eligida,
para ampararla de la cisma odiosa.
Y el cielo os dé y otorgue tanta vida
cuanto durare en él la luz hermosa
del sol, y os dé vitorias excelentes
de varias, fieras, y enemigas gentes.
Y porque resta que la sacra mano
del vicario de Dios os unja, vamos,
Emperador dignísimo romano,
a quien el ceptro y obediencia damos,
y el Hacedor del cielo tan ufano
os haga, que de vos solo veamos
el nombre eterno, de inmortal memoria,
poniendo fin en esto a nuestra historia.

Juan de La Cueva - El Saco de Roma (1579)

Eluard 2004

A Picasso.

Le printemps laisse errer les fiancés parjures
Et laisse feuilloler longtemps les plumes bleues
Que secoue le cyprès où niche l'oiseau bleu
Une Madone à l'aube a pris les églantines
Elle viendra demain cueillir les giroflées
Pour mettre aux nids des colombes qu'elle destine
Au pigeon qui ce soir semblait le Paraclet
Au petit bois de citronniers s'énamourèrent
D'amour que nous aimons les dernières venues
Les villages lointains sont comme leurs paupières
Et parmi les citrons leurs cœurs sont suspendus -

Guillaume Apollinaire - Les Fiançailles (1911)

Federico 2008

Lancia a cavaliere
ed arco ad arciere. - Garzo (s. XIII)