The White Goddess
All saints revile her, and all sober men
Ruled by the God Apollo's golden mean -
In scorn of which we sailed to find her
In distant regions likeliest to hold her
Whom we desired above all things to know,
Sister of the mirage and echo.
It was a virtue not to stay,
To go our headstrong and heroic way
Seeking her out at the volcano's head,
Among pack ice, or where the track had faded
Beyond the cavern of the seven sleepers:
Whose broad high brow was white as any leper's,
Whose eyes were blue, with rowan-berry lips,
With hair curled honey-coloured to white hips.
The sap of Spring in the young wood a-stir
Will celebrate with green the Mother,
And every song-bird shout awhile for her;
But we are gifted, even in November
Rawest of seasons, with so huge a sense
Of her nakedly worn magnificence
We forget cruelty and past betrayal,
Heedless of where the next bright bolt may fall.
Is that the Three-and-Twentieth, Strabo mine,
Marching below, and we still gulping wine?”
From the sad magic of his fragrant cup
The red-faced old centurion started up,
Cursed, battered on the table. “No,” he said,
“Not that! The Three-and-Twentieth Legion’s dead,
Dead in the first year of this damned campaign—
The Legion’s dead, dead, and won’t rise again.
Pity? Rome pities her brave lads that die,
But we need pity also, you and I,
Whom Gallic spear and Belgian arrow miss,
Who live to see the Legion come to this,
Unsoldierlike, slovenly, bent on loot,
Grumblers, diseased, unskilled to thrust or shoot.
O, brown cheek, muscled shoulder, sturdy thigh!
Where are they now? God! watch it struggle by,
The sullen pack of ragged ugly swine.
Is that the Legion, Gracchus? Quick, the wine!”
“Strabo,” said Gracchus, “you are strange tonight.
The Legion is the Legion; it’s all right.
If these new men are slovenly, in your thinking,
God damn it! you’ll not better them by drinking.
They all try, Strabo; trust their hearts and hands.
The Legion is the Legion while Rome stands,
And these same men before the autumn’s fall
Shall bang old Vercingetorix out of Gaul.
There's no money in poetry. Then again, there's no poetry in money either.
Robert GravesTo jest dzika ziemia, kraj, który sam wybrałem,
W nim szorstka, skalna góra, wielkie wrzosowisko.
Rzadko na pustych polach tych głos jakiś słychać,
Chyba głos zimnej wody, co gdzieniegdzie płynie
Przez skały i wrzos wiotki rosnący w pustkowiu.
Mysz tędy przebiegnie ni ptak nie przeleci,
Bojąc się myszołowa, co po niebie płynie.
Szybuje tam i krąży, kołysząc skrzydłami,
Królestwo swe szerokie bystrym mierzy okiem,
Łowi drżenie niewielkich ukrytych żyjątek,
Rozdziera na kawałki i zrzuca je z nieba;
Tkliwości i litości serce nie dopuszcza,
Tam gdzie woda i skała tylko są pokarmem -
Życie niełatwe, strachu jest pełne i wstrząsów.
Czas nigdy nie wędrował do tego odludzia,
Wrzos i czarne bażyny kwitną po terminie,
Skały sterczą, strumyki spływają śpiewając,
O to, czy pora wczesna, czy późna, nie dbają;
Niebo płynie nad głową, błękitne lub szare;
Zimę poznałbyś po tym, że śniegiem zacina,
Gdyby nie to, że czerwiec jej zbroi się ima.
Jednak to moja ziemia, najbardziej ją kocham,
Pierwszy kraj, jaki powstał z Potopu, Chaosu;
Nie ma w nim żadnych dolin miłych dla popasu,
Nie ma podkutych koni, krwią nie był kupiony.
Kraj odwieczny - pagórki są w nim fortecami
Dla półbogów, gdy kroczą po ziemi, strach siejąc
Wśród tłumu tłustych mieszczan w odległych dolinach.
To be a poet is a condition rather than a profession.
Robert GravesAnd what thoughts or memories, would you guess, were passing through my mind on this extraordinary occasion? Was I thinking of the Sibyl's prophecy, of the omen of the wolf-cub, of Pollio's advice, or of Briseis's dream? Of my grandfather and liberty? Of my grandfather and liberty? Of my three Imperial predecessors, Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, their lives and deaths? Of the great danger I was still in from the conspirators, and from the Senate, and from the Gaurds battalions at the Camp? Of Messalina and our unborn child? Of my grandmother Livia and my promise to deify her if I ever became Emperor? Of Postumus and Germanicus? Of Agrippina and Nero? Of Camilla? No, you would never guess what was passing through my mind. But I shall be frank and tell you what it was, though the confession is a shameful one. I was thinking, 'So, I'm Emperor, am I? What nonsense! But at least I'll be able to make people read my books now. Public recitals to large audiences. And good books too, thirty-five years' hard work in them. It wont be unfair. Pollio used to get attentive audiences by giving expensive dinners. He was a very sound historian, and the last of the Romans. My history of Carthage is full of amusing anecdotes. I'm sure that they'll enjoy it.
Robert GravesI made no more protests. What was the use of struggling against fate
Robert GravesI was thinking, "So, I’m Emperor, am I? What nonsense! But at least I'll be able to make people read my books now.
Robert GravesTags: books robert-graves roman emperor claudius
Cuinchy bred rats. They came up from the canal, fed on the plentiful corpses, and multiplied exceedingly. While I stayed here with the Welsh, a new officer joined the company... When he turned in that night, he heard a scuffling, shone his torch on the bed, and found two rats on his blanket tussling for the possession of a severed hand.
Robert GravesThere’s no money in poetry, but then there’s no poetry in money either.” - Robert Graves
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