Auld Lang Syne

Thursday, June 9, 2011

A favorite poem; you should read

If you  have not read the collection, Interrogations at Noon, by Dana Gioia, you might consider looking for a copy and adding it to your library. I first heard Dana read the poem below at the Teaching of Poetry Conference in Santa Rosa CA in, hmmm, maybe it was 2000??? I was absolutely gobsmacked by the poem, part of a libretto he'd written for the Nosferatu opera. The poem is part of a 3 part slightly longer piece. The other 2 parts are wonderful too, but THIS bit really gets to me. Enjoy.

Nosferatu's Serenade (aria from Act II of Nosferatu)

I am the image that darkens your glass,
The shadow that falls wherever you pass.
I am the dream you cannot forget,
The face you remember without having met.
I am the truth that must not be spoken,
The midnight vow that cannot be broken.
I am the bell that tolls out the hours.
I am the fire that warms and devours.

I am the hunger that you have denied,
The ache of desire piercing your side.
I am the sin you have never confessed,
The forbidden hand caressing your breast.
You've heard me inside you speak in your dreams,
Sigh in the ocean, whisper in streams.
I am the future you crave and you fear.
You know what I bring. Now I am here.

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