habila
Still on Caine Prize related matters, here's an excerpt from Love Poems, for which Helon Habila became the 1st Nigeria to win the award, back in 2001...
But it was Lomba's bowdlerization of Sappho's 'Ode' that brought the superintendent to the cell door:
A peer of goddesses she seems to me
The lady who sits over against me
Face to face,
Listening to the sweet tones of my voice,
And the loveliness of my laughing.
It is this that sets my heart fluttering
In my chest,
For if I gaze on you but for a little while
I am no longer master of my voice,
And my tongue lies useless
And a delicate flame runs over my skin
No more do I see with my eyes;
The sweat pours down me
I am all seized with trembling
And I grow paler than the grass
My strength fails me
And I seem little short of dying.
Read Love Poems online...
But it was Lomba's bowdlerization of Sappho's 'Ode' that brought the superintendent to the cell door:
A peer of goddesses she seems to me
The lady who sits over against me
Face to face,
Listening to the sweet tones of my voice,
And the loveliness of my laughing.
It is this that sets my heart fluttering
In my chest,
For if I gaze on you but for a little while
I am no longer master of my voice,
And my tongue lies useless
And a delicate flame runs over my skin
No more do I see with my eyes;
The sweat pours down me
I am all seized with trembling
And I grow paler than the grass
My strength fails me
And I seem little short of dying.
Read Love Poems online...
posted by Wordsbody at 9:33 am
2 Comments:
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
I have a blogging friend, who has a blog you might like:
http://apoeticjustice.blogspot.com/
I think you can have over 300 posts, you can only edit your last 300.
Post a Comment
<< Home