Reading Hamlet
A barren patch to the right of the cemetery,
behind it a river flashing blue.
You said: "All right then, get thee to a nunnery,
or go get married to a fool . . . ."
It was the sort of thing that princes always say,
but these are words that one remembers.
May they flow a hundred centuries in a row
like an ermine mantle from his shoulders.
2 comments:
Thanks. I just love Akhmatova.
"But the secret reveals itself to some,
and on them silence settles down...
I found this out by accident
and now it seems I'm sick all the time."
Twenty-First. Night. Monday
The off-hand cruelty of lovers it resonates because of the experience that cruelty is so common and transcends time. If Hamlet had truely known the outcome of his words would he have said them.
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