Poets' Corner

Hugo Laurenz August Hofmann von Hofmannsthal (1874-1929) was an Austrian poet, novelist, librettist, dramatist, narrator, and essayist. Here is an image of a stamp featuring a portrait of Hofmannsthal, designed by Adalbert Pilch, engraved by Werner Pfeiler, and issued by Austria on February 1, 1974 to commemorate the centenary of Hofmannstahl's birth, Scott No. 980, plus a photo of the poet, and a translation of his poem Kleine Erinnerungen.

- nethryk



Remembered

Your little sister
Has tossed her
Untied hair forward
Like a living veil,
Like a fragrant hedge,
And peers, with such eyes!
Through a fragrant veil,
Through a dark hedge ...
How sweet it is to only
Think of such little things.

Fruits have ripened
On all the longing branches
In your nightly garden,
Chinese lanterns like red fruits
Sway and illuminate
The longing branches
Rustled by the night wind
In your little garden ...

How sweet it is to only
Think of such little things.

- Hugo von Hofmannsthal, translated by Johannes Beilharz.

Giosuè Alessandro Giuseppe Carducci (1835-1907) was an Italian poet, translator and teacher, widely regarded as the official national poet of modern Italy. In 1906 Carducci became the first Italian to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. Here is an image of a stamp featuring a portrait of Giosuè Carducci, designed by Italian illustrator and poster artist Corrado Mancioli (1904-1968), engraved by Mario Colombati, and issued by Italy on October 14, 1957 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the poet's death, Scott No. 728, plus a photo of Carducci, and a translated excerpt from his poem Inno a Satana (Hymn to Satan, 1865).

- nethryk



Hymn To Satan (First five stanzas)

To you, creation's
mighty principle,
matter and spirit
reason and sense

Whilst the wine
sparkles in cups
like the soul
in the eye

Whilst earth and
sun exchange
their smiles and
words of love

And shudders
from their secret embrace run down
from the mountains, and
the plain throbs with new life

To you my daring
verses are unleashed,
you I invoke, O Satan
monarch of the feast.

- Giosuè Carducci

Ole Peter Arnulf Øverland (1889-1968) was a Norwegian poet and author who during the 1940s was imprisoned in Sachsenhausen concentration camp in Germany for clandestinely publishing some of his anti-Nazi poems. Here is an image of a stamp featuring a portrait of Arnulf Øverland, designed and engraved by Knut Løkke-Sørensen, and issued by Denmark on November 24, 1989 to commemorate the poet's birth centenary, plus an undated photographic portrait of Øverland, and a translated excerpt from one of his most famous poems, Du må ikke sove! (Dare not to sleep!)

- nethryk



Dare not to sleep! (First four stanzas)

I was awakened one morning, by the quaintest of dreams
'twas like a voice, spoken to me
It sounded afar - like an underground stream,
I rose and said: Why do you call me?

Dare not to slumber! Dare not to sleep!
Dare not believe, it was merely a dream!
Yore I was judged.
The gallows were built in the court this evening,
They'll come for me — 5' in the morning

This dungeon is teeming,
And barracks stand dungeon by dungeon
we lie here, awaiting, in cold cells of stone,
We lie here, we rot, in these murky holes.

We know not ourselves, what does lie ahead
Who will be the next one they'll reach for.
We moan and we shriek: But do you take heed?
Is there none among you who'll hearken?

- Arnulf Øverland

Translated by Lars-Toralf Storstrand

What a great thread! Keep them coming, Nethryk!

NBSTAMPER - Thanks!

Here are images of the three semi-postal Red Cross (charity) stamps in a set depicting illustrations by Finnish-speaking Swedish painter Albert Gustaf Aristides Edelfelt (1854-1905) of scenes from Tales of Ensign Stal, an epic poem written by Finnish poet Johan Ludvig Runeberg (1804-1877) between 1848 and 1960, designed by Swedish artist Signe "Ham" Hammarsten-Jansson (1882-1970), engraved by Reijo Achrén (crosses printed by typography in red), and issued by Finland on November 24, 1955, Scott Nos. B132-B134, Facit No. 451-53.

- nethryk

General Georg Carl von Döbeln (1758-1820) at the Battle of Juthas, September 13, 1808.


Colonel Joachim Zachris Duncker (1774-1809) holding the flag.


The son of a fallen soldier.

I had forgotten that Von Hoffmansthal was the librettist for several of the most famous operas of Richard Strauss, including "Der Rosenkavalier" and "Elektra", the latter one of the most dramatic and controversial operas ever written. It is too bad that so many of these great men and women are so little known. Great that he has been commemorated in a lovely stamp. As I become more familiar with the stamps of Austria, I begin to appreciate the great contribution this little country has made to world cultural history.

NBSTAMPER - Politicians, entertainers, athletes and assorted pop "celebrities" seem to dominate our mass media coverage, and also to receive the lion's share of popular adulation. Outstanding achievers in the sciences and the arts may be briefly acknowledged ("their 15 minutes of fame"), but even so they are often soon forgotten by the fickle crowd. By posting information about the postage stamps that have been issued to honor such worthy people, perhaps we at SCF can make a modest contribution towards keeping public awareness of their accomplishments alive!


János Arany (1817-1882), was a Hungarian poet, journalist, writer, and translator. He has been called the "Shakespeare of ballads." He wrote more than 40 ballads which have been translated into over 50 languages. Here is an image of a stamp featuring a portrait of János Arany, designed by Hungarian graphic artist and engraver József Vertel (1922–1993), printed by photogravure, and issued by Hungary on September 15, 1957 to commemorate the 75th anniversary of Arany's death, Scott No. 1170, plus an autographed photo of the poet and a link to a Youtube.com video with a recitation in Hungarian (and written English translation) of Arany's ballad The Bards of Wales, written in 1857: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6vL9vGe-Bs

-nethryk

Salvador Espriu (Santa Coloma de Farners, 1913 - Barcelona, 1985) One of the two Catalonia's National Poets. Shown on an Andorra stamp, as we share language, culture and traditions.

Johan Herman Wessel (1742-1785) was a Norwegian-Danish poet and playwright, best remembered for his many humorous and satiric verse tales concerning man's foolishness and injustice. Here is an image of one of the two similar stamps in a set featuring a portrait of Wessel, designed by Norwegian cartoonist and illustrator Harald Damsleth (1906-1971), printed by photogravure, and issued by Norway on October 6, 1942 to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the poet's birth, Scott No. 252, Facit No. 313, plus a portrait of Wessel published as an illustration in 1868 which was probably the model for this stamp's design, and a translation of Wessel's poem Epitaph. Note: Wessel's middle name, Herman, is misspelled with an extra "n" on the stamp.

- nethryk



Epitaph

I, the late Owe Gierløv Meyer,
Did stupid things my life entire,
Though this time I did five of them,
The last of which was quite a gem;
For I went home and cut my throat,
And here I sit, in Hell's deep moat,
Where now the devil sets on fire
Me, the late Owe Gierløv Meyer.

- Johan Herman Wessel

Rainis was the pseudonym of Janis Pliekšans (1865-1929), a Latvian poet, playwright, translator, and politician whose works had a profound influence on the literary Latvian language, and the ethnic symbolism he employed in his major works has been central to Latvian nationalism. Here is an image of a stamp featuring a profile portrait of Rainis, designed by M. Ozolin, printed by photogravure, and issued by Russia (USSR) on September 8, 1965 to commemorate the poet's birth centenary, Scott No. 3064B, Zagorski No. 3163, plus a photo of Rainis. Among Rainis's volumes of collected poems are Klusa gramata (The Quiet Book, 1909), and Tie, kas neaizmirst (Those Who Do Not Forget, 1911).

- nethryk

Cesário Verde (1855-1886) was a Portuguese realist poet whose works often deal with scenes of poverty, disease and moral decay; they have been described as bohemian, decadent and socially aware. Though he was largely ignored during his lifetime, Verde is now widely considered to be one of Portugal's greatest poets. Here is an image of a stamp featuring a portrait of Verde, designed by Portuguese illustrator and painter Júlio Coelho da Silva Gil (1924-2004), printed by lithography, and issued as one of a set of two similar stamps issued by Portugal on December 12, 1957 (belatedly) commemorating the poet's birth centenary, Scott No. 828, plus an image of a book of his poetry with an illustration which was probably the model for this stamp's design, and a translated excerpt from Verde's poem De Verão ("In The Summer").

- nethryk



From De Verão ("In The Summer")

And you asked about the latest inventions
In agriculture. What well-washed villages!
Good airs! Good light! Good food!
Look: the countrymen alive, corpulent
What great hat-drops they give us!

- Cesário Verde

Scott USA 1436 issued 28 August 1971.

Frédéric-Louis Sauser (1887-1961), better known as Blaise Cendrars, was a Swiss poet and novelist who became a naturalized French citizen in 1916. He was a writer of considerable influence in the European modernist movement. Here is an image of a stamp designed and engraved by René Quillivic after a sketched portrait of Cendrars by Italian painter and sculptor Amedeo Clemente Modigliani (1884-1920), and issued by France on November 6, 1987 to commemorate the poet's birth centenary, Scott No. 2057, Y&T No. 2497, plus a photo of Cendrars, and Cendrars's poem Trouées ("Chinks"), along with a translation of the poem by Dick Jones.

- nethryk



Trouées

Echappées sur la mer
Chutes d'eau
Arbres chevelus moussus
Lourdes feuilles caoutchoutées luisantes
Un vernis de soleil
Une chaleur bien astiquée
Reluisance
Je n'écoute plus la conversation animée de mes amis qui se partagent les nouvelles que j'ai apportées de Paris
Des deux côtés du train toute proche ou alors de l'autre côté de la vallée lointaine
La forêt est là et me regarde et m'inquiète et m'attire comme le masque d'une momie
Je regarde
Pas l'ombre d'un œil

- Blaise Cendrars


Chinks

Sea vistas
Waterfalls
Trees long-haired with moss
Heavy rubbery glossy leaves
Glazed sun
High burnished heat
Glistening
I've stopped listening to the urgent voices of my friends discussing
The news that I brought from Paris
On both sides of the train close by or along the banks of
The distant valley
The forest is there watching me unsettling me enticing me like
a mummy's mask
I watch back
Never the flicker of an eye.

- Translation by Dick Jones

Lord Byron (1788-1824) was an Anglo-Scottish poet and a leading figure in the Romantic movement. He is regarded as one of the greatest British poets and remains widely read and influential. Byron joined the fight against the Ottoman Empire in the Greek War of Independence, for which Greeks revere him as a national hero. He died at age 36 from a fever contracted while in Missolonghi in Greece. Here are images of the two stamps in a set honoring Byron, engraved and printed by Bradbury, Wilkinson & Co., Ltd., and issued by Greece on April 16, 1924 to commemorate the centenary of the poet's death, plus some related images and Byron's poem She Walks in Beauty (1814).

- nethryk

Portrait of Byron, and a painting of the poet in 1824 by English artist Thomas Philipps (1770-1845) which may have been the model for this stamp's design.


Byron at Missolonghi, designed after a painting (1861) by Greek artist Theodoros Vryzakis (1814-1878), and the original artwork.


She Walks in Beauty

She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that's best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes:
Thus mellow'd to that tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies.

One shade the more, one ray the less,
Had half impaired the nameless grace
Which waves in every raven tress,
Or softly lightens o'er her face;
Where thoughts serenely sweet express
How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.

And on that cheek, and o'er that brow,
So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,
The smiles that win, the tints that glow,
But tell of days in goodness spent,
A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent!

- Lord Byron

Aasmund Olavsson Vinje (1818-1870) was a Norwegian poet, journalist and language reformer. Here are images of the two stamps in a set featuring a portrait of Vinje, designed and engraved by Knut Løkke-Sørensen, and issued by Norway on May 21, 1968 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the poet's birth, Scott Nos. 515 & 516, Facit Nos. 600 & 601, plus a photo of Vinje which may have been the model for these stamps' design, and an English translation by William Jewson of Vinje's poem Våren ("Springtime," 1869).

- nethryk



Springtime

Once again I have seen the winter
give way to spring;
The wild cherry trees in full bloom,
I saw once again.
Once again I saw the ice
break free from the land,
Saw the snow melt and the foam of the river
swirl and rage.
And the plants and flowers once again
I saw them bloom;
And again I heard the spring song of the birds
expectant of sun and summer.

And I was privileged to see
dancing on the spring hillsides,
Butterflies fluttering and flitting
among the garlands of flowers.
All the life of the spring I saw again
that I so missed.
But I am weary and I ask myself:
is this the last one?
Let it be so: much that was waited
in life I have enjoyed;
I have received more than I deserved
and all may fade.

Once I was myself, in the full flow of spring
that fills my sight,
Once I wanted to find myself a home
and convivial company.
All that the spring presented to me
and even the flowers I plucked,
And I thought it was the ancestral spirits
that danced and sighed,
And so between birch and fir tree I found
a mystery in the spring;
And so the sound of the flute that I cut
seemed full of tears.

- Aasmund Olavsson Vinje