Poets' Corner

Francesco Petrarca (1304-1374), commonly anglicized as Petrarch, was an Italian Renaissance poet, scholar and humanist. Here is an image of a stamp featuring a profile portrait of Petrarch, designed by French artist Louis-Charles Muller (1902-1957), engraved by Jean Pheulpin, and issued by France on November 10, 1956, Scott No. 811, Y&T No. 1082, plus an image of a painted portrait of the poet, and an English translation of Petrarch's Sonnet 227.

- nethryk



Sonnet 227

Breeze, blowing that blonde curling hair,
stirring it, and being softly stirred in turn,
scattering that sweet gold about, then
gathering it, in a lovely knot of curls again,

you linger around bright eyes whose loving sting
pierces me so, till I feel it and weep,
and I wander searching for my treasure,
like a creature that often shies and kicks:

now I seem to find her, now I realise
she's far away, now I'm comforted, now despair,
now longing for her, now truly seeing her.

Happy air, remain here with your
living rays: and you, clear running stream,
why can't I exchange my path for yours?

- Petrarch
Translated from the Italian by A. S. Kline

Zachris Topelius 14,January 1818-12 March 1896 was Swedish speaking Finnish author,journalist,historian and wrote novels,related to Finnish history in Swedish. The greatest popularity his "Fältskårns Berättelser"
"Tales 0f a Barber-Surgeon"
Zachris Topelius died in his manor house of Björkudden in Sibbo,Finland,
where he wrote his greatest works.

Johan Ludvig Runeberg was born in Jakobstad 5 February 1804 and died 6 may 1877 in Borgå was a Finnish-Swedish poet and is the national poet of Finland.
Runeberg´s most famous work is "Fänrik Ståls Sägnar" ( The Tales of Ensign Stål)The first poem "Vårt Land" (Our Land) became the Finnish National Song.
Runeberg Day is celebrated on 5 February each year with a delicacy called Runeberg torte.

[The wife to Finland´s national peot Johan Ludvig Runeberg was a authoress and she honored 1948 with a stamp, but not valid for postage.
The stamp was designed by Signe Hammarsten-Jansson and issued in blue and reddish brown coluors.
Signe Hammarsten-Jansson was mother to "Moomin" Tove Jansson and here a postcard franked with "Moomin" stampsb from 1982 and the Fredrika Runeberg label stamp.[/b]




Painting from the house of J.L.Runeberg.
K.E.Jansson: " A coin in the collection-bag"

Rolle - Good ones. Thanks!

Saint Arunagirinathar was a 15th century Tamil poet who lived in Tamil Nadu, India, and was the creator of Tiruppugazh, a book of poems in Tamil in praise of the Hindu god Murugan, who had transformed him into a saint. Here is an image of a stamp depicting Saint Arunagirinathar, printed by photogravure, and issued by India on August 14, 1975 to commemorate the 600th anniversary of the saint's birth in 1375, Scott No. 688, plus an image of a painting of Saint Arunagirinathar which was probably the model for this stamp's design.

- nethryk

Happy Birthday to Nikolay Platonovich Ogarev (1813-1877), a Russian poet, historian and political activist. Much of Ogarev's poetry concerns the issues of personal and societal freedom, loneliness, doubt and despair. Here is an image of a stamp featuring a portrait of the poet, designed by Russian artist Evgeny Nikolaevich Gundobin (1910-1975), printed by photogravure, and issued by Russia (USSR) on August 29, 1952, Scott No. 1637, Zagorski No. 1605, plus a portrait of Nikolay Ogarev as a young man (and sans beard), and a translation of Ogarev's poem "The Road."

- nethryk



The Road

Faint shines the far moon
Through misty night,
Sad lies the dead field
In the moon's light.

White with frost along
The road without end,
Bare-branched their long line
Birches extend.

Bells tinkle, the team
Swiftly whirls along,
My drowsy driver hums
Softly his song.

Onward I travel
In my crazy cart
Sadly, pitying
The land of my heart.

- Nikolay Ogarev
Translated by Percy Ewing Matheson

Carl Friedrich Georg Spitteler (1845-1924) was a Swiss poet who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1919 "in special appreciation of his epic, Olympian Spring" (Der olympische Frühling, 1900–05; revised in 1910). Here is an image of a stamp featuring a portrait of the poet, designed by Lennart Forsberg, engraved by Arne Wallhorn, and issued by Sweden on November 15, 1979, Scott No. 1312, Facit No. 1112, plus a photography of Carl Spitteler in 1919. Unfortunately, I have been unable to find an English translation of Olympian Spring to share.

- nethryk

Happy Birthday to Imre Madách de Sztregova et Kelecsény (1823-1864), a Hungarian poet, writer, lawyer and politician. Imre Madách's major literary work is Az ember tragédiája ("The Tragedy of Man," 1861), a dramatic poem in 15 scenes involving Adam, Eve and Lucifer traveling through time to visit different turning-points in human history. Here is an image of a stamp featuring a portrait of Madách, designed by Hungarian artists György Haiman (1914-1996) and János Kass (1927-2010), printed by photogravure, and issued by Hungary on January 20, 1973 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the poet's birth, Scott No. 2210, plus a photograph of Imre Madách which may have been the model for this stamp's design (in mirror-image), and an illustration by Hungarian graphic artist Mihály Zichy (1827-1906) of Scene 7, "In Constantinople," of the Tragedy. Bonus: Moustache.

- nethryk

Quintus Horatius Flaccus (65-8 BC), known in the English-speaking world as Horace, was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of the Emperor Augustus. Here is an image of a stamp featuring a "portrait" of Horace, designed by Romanian artist Serban Zainea (1907-1990), printed by photogravure, and issued by Romania on May 10, 1965, Scott No. 1742, plus a photograph of a modern statue of the poet in his birthplace, Venosa (Venusia), Italy, and a translation of Horace's poem entitled "Fortune's Changes."

- nethryk



Fortune's Changes

Once I wandered, an expert in crazy wisdom,
a scant and infrequent adorer of gods,
now I'm forced to set sail and return,
to go back to the paths I abandoned.

For Jupiter, Father of all of the gods,
who generally splits the clouds with his lightning,
flashing away, drove thundering horses,
and his swift chariot, through the clear sky,

till the dull earth, and the wandering rivers,
and Styx, and dread Taenarus' hateful headland,
and Atlas's mountain-summits shook.
The god has the power to replace the highest

with the lowest, bring down the famous, and raise
the obscure to the heights. And greedy Fortune
with her shrill whirring, carries away
the crown and delights in setting it, there.

- Horace

Joachim du Bellay (c. 1522-1560) was a French poet, critic, and a member of the Pléiade (a group of 16th-century French Renaissance poets). Here is an image of a semi-postal (charity) stamp featuring a portrait of the poet, designed and engraved by Claude Hertenberger (1912-2002), and issued by France on June 7, 1958, Scott No. B321, Y&T No. 1166, plus an image of a painted portrait of Joachim du Bellay, and his poem "A Vow To Heavenly Venus."

- nethryk



A Vow To Heavenly Venus

We that with like hearts love, we lovers twain,
New wedded in the village by thy fane,
Lady of all chaste love, to thee it is
We bring these amaranths, these white lilies,
A sign, and sacrifice; may Love, we pray,
Like amaranthine flowers, feel no decay;
Like these cool lilies may our loves remain,
Perfect and pure, and know not any stain;
And be our hearts, from this thy holy hour,
Bound each to each, like flower to wedded flower.

- Joachim du Bellay

A belated Happy Birthday (May 16) to Desanka Maksimovic (1898-1993) a Serbian poet, professor of literature, and a member of Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts. Here is an image of a stamp featuring a portrait of the poet, designed by Serbian artist Marine Kalezic, printed by lithography, and issued by Yugoslavia on May 7, 1996, Scott No. 2337, plus a photograph of Maksimovic c. 1950, and a link to a website with an English translation by Dragana Konstantinovic of Desanka Maksimovic's "Spring Poem:" http://guskova.ru/~mladich/Desanka_...nja_pesma_en

- nethryk

Happy Birthday to Spanish poet, playwright, and theater director Federico García Lorca (1898-1936). Despite receiving international recognition for his artistic achievements, García Lorca was nevertheless executed by Nationalist forces at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War. Here is an image of a stamp featuring a portrait of García Lorca, printed by lithography, and issued by Spain on June 2, 1998 to commemorate the poet's birth centenary, Scott No. 2946, plus a photo of Federico García Lorca in 1914, and an English translation of his poem "It's True." Bonus: Signature.

- nethryk



It's True

Ay, the pain it costs me
to love you as I love you!

For love of you, the air, it hurts,
and my heart,
and my hat, they hurt me.

Who would buy it from me,
this ribbon I am holding,
and this sadness of cotton,
white, for making handkerchiefs with?

Ay, the pain it costs me
to love you as I love you!

- Federico García Lorca

Absolutely fantastic thread. As usual nethryk's posts are simply fabulous. He has posted stamps of most of the Indian poets! But there must some he's missed - will have to look.

alan - Thanks! I look forward to your contributions to this thread.

June 6 is Russian Language Day! This annual event was established by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 2010 to coincide with the birthday of Aleksandr Pushkin (1799-1837), a Russian poet who is considered the father of modern Russian literature.

Here is an image of a stamp and label honoring Pushkin, designed by Russian artist Adolf Pletnev, printed by lithography, and issued by Russia (USSR) on June 6, 1987, Scott No. 5566, Zagorski No. 5775, plus an English translation of Aleksandr Pushkin's poem "Old Man." Bonus: Signature.

- nethryk



Old Man

I'm not that lover, filled with passion, -
That youth, who left the world amazed:
Alas, my spring and summer passed now,
And didn't leave a single trace.
Cupid, the god of youth and love and virtue!
I used to be your steadfast servant;
Oh, if I could be reborn, - I'd serve you
Even more passionate and fervent!

- Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin