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Dreams in the Witch House.

"101.

A wandering fire at a terrible height--
can it be a star shining like that?
Transparent star, wandering fire,
your brother, Petropolis, is dying.

The dreams of earth blaze at a terrible height,
a green star is burning.
O if you are a star, this brother of water and sky,
your brother, Petropolis, is dying.

A great ship at a terrible height
is rushing on, spreading its wings.
Green star, in splendid poverty
your brother, Petropolis, is dying.

Above the black Neva transparent spring
has broken, the wax of immortality is melting,
O if you are a star, Petropolis, your city,
your brother, Petropolis, is dying."

--Brown & Merwin's Mandelstam

Girl in a shell museum.

The eagerness of forgetting, like a dog at your elbow who gulps every scrap.

LATIN POEMS IN HONOUR OF QUEEN ELIZABETH II.