I may have borne them each, but it was you,
Whose shoulders carried weight I never knew,
You set the bar so high, so straight, so true,
The surest, strongest Dad? Well, that was you.
I may have dried their tears, but it was you,
Who made them get back up and push on through,
Who taught them well, the skill of making do,
That common sense they have, they got from you.
I may have spoken more, but it was you,
Who guided them in wisdom as they grew,
Who showed them lifelong paths they could pursue,
Whichever route they take, they’ll follow you.
I may have never made it clear to you,
How priceless you are, from my point of view.
Their father, but my treasured husband too . . .
I never knew such love, ‘til I knew you.
Amy Foreman hails from the southern Arizona desert, where she homesteads with her husband and seven children. She has enjoyed teaching both English and Music at the college level, but is now focused on home-schooling her children, gardening, farming, and writing. Her blog is theoccasionalcaesura.wordpress.com
Of Course: “A bad tralsnation.” should be ‘A bad translation.’
“Of course” indeed; and if it was a sense of duty which compelled ya to correct yer own misspelling . . ya may wanna take that same duty back to yer earlier decree to Mr Sale to “Kindly just be ‘quite’”.
. . . only if the creative use of contraction in the earlier phrase, “you’re rhyming is g-dd-mn awful:” gets addressed at the same time. 😉
Well spotted. I’d like to think that it was the nature of the phrase itself which diverted my attention from that little treat. But I’m somehow glad that you saw it first . .
“…if fortune ever finds you in the midst
of other people likewise locked in strife:
to wish to hear it is a vulgar wish.”
–Dante, Inferno XXX.146-148
J. Simon Harris,
A bad tralsnation. Read John Ciardi’s, who really knew Italian: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Ciardi
Ciardi’s version then:
“…should it occur again, as we walk on,
that we find ourselves where others of this crew
fall to such petty wrangling and upbraiding.
The wish to hear such baseness is degrading.”
I like your translation better, J. Simon Harris, for its iambic pentameter, a meter which appears to be missing or smudged in the Ciardi translation. But that may just be my “tin ear” talking! 😉
I want to see more of Amy’s poetry; and I love J Simon Harris’ translations of Dante and want to read the whole thing. Keep going both of you; you are both doing so well.
Thank you, James. And I look forward to reading more of your excellent poetry and prose, as well.
Yes, Amy, I agree with you: I much prefer in the example given Simon’s translation (though I haven’t read the rest of Ciardi) and for a simple and obvious reason: the rhyming! The feminine rhyme of upbraiding/degrading does, I think, detract from the seriousness of the verse, and seems forced. Very suitable for Byron’s Don Juan, but less good here.
. . And surely the worst dig to make,
Of all that were made today;
Was the little-disguised threat to “take
Ones livelihood away”.
p.s. I wish I could be bothered to write a longer poem about the effect on humans who watch too many gangster-films.
Yes, Monty, thank you – I understand what you are saying. It is so important to keep perspective and balance, yin and yang; or otherwise one falls either in Charybdis or is plucked by Scylla.
Indeed, Monty.
But Mr. Sale,
The poet, bold,
Will never quail,
Remains controlled
When foes assail,
When scoffers scold,
He will prevail
And never fold.
The same goes for any who have taken a beating on this thread. Who knew a Father’s Day poem could be so exciting?
Ha! Ha! Ha! Thanks for the poem – not often, if at all, one is written about me! But you are so right: who did indeed know that Father’s Day could be so exciting?
“Such poetry is just not being written now, and so well…”
Amy Foreman may be the Elizabeth Barrett Browning of our era. Who else?