World Poetry Day: Assorted Poems, Assorted Languages

For World Poetry Day, students recite from their favorite poems from different languages: Italian, French, Chinese, Turkish, Portuguese, German, Polish, and Arabic.

Italian

Il trionfo di Bacco e Arianna by Lorenzo de’ Medici
read by Yuxing “Estele” Li ’19

How beautiful our Youth is
That’s always flying by us!
Who’d be happy, let him be so:
Nothing’s sure about tomorrow.Here are Bacchus, Ariadne,
Lovely, burning for each other:
Since deceiving time must flee,
They seek their delight together.
These nymphs, and other races,
Are full of happiness forever.
Who’d be happy, let him be so:
Nothing’s sure about tomorrow.


French

L’Eternité by Arther Rimbaud
read by Ian Manzi ’18

It has been found again.
What ? – Eternity.
It is the sea fled away
With the sun.Sentinel soul,
Let us whisper the confession
Of the night full of nothingness
And the day on fire.

From human approbation,
From common urges
You diverge here
And fly off as you may.

Since from you alone,
Satiny embers,
Duty breathes
Without anyone saying : at last.

Here is no hope,
No orietur.
Knowledge and fortitude,
Torture is certain.

It has been found again.
What ? – Eternity.
It is the sea fled away
With the sun.


Chinese

On the Stork Tower, by Wang Zhihuan
read by Shasha Cui, Warner School

The sun beyond the mountain glows,
The yellow river seawards flows.
You can enjoy a great sight,
By climbing to a greater height.


Turkish

Fotoğraf by Melih Cavdet Anday
read by Linnie Schell ’19

The four of us had our photo taken in the park
Me, Orhan, Oktay, and Şinasi
Autumn apparently
Some of us in coats, some of us in jackets
Leafless trees behind us…
Oktay’s father hasn’t died yet
I have a mustache,
Orhan hasn’t met Master SüleymanBut I’ve never been so melancholy;
What in this picture would remind me of death?
For all of us are alive


Portuguese

Alô, Liberdade by Chico Buarque
read by Isabella dos Santos ’20

Hello freedom. Sorry I came without warning, but it was already late.
I have so much joy, postponed, suffocating, that I could scream.
And by escaping the opposite, I feel twice as strong.
Come, but come without fantasy.
It is always good to remember that an empty cup is full of air.


German

Mailied by Goethe
read by Philemon Rono ’21

How grandly nature
Shines upon me!
How glistens the sun!
How laughs the mead!From countless branches
The blossoms thrust,
A thousand voices
From underbrush,

And joy ecstatic
Fills everyone.


Polish

Warsaw by Julian Tuwim
read by Jolene Bowser

How great is Warsaw!
How many houses, how many people!
How much pride and joy
The capital is awakening in our hearts!How many streets, schools, gardens,
Squares, shops, traffic, bustle,
Cinemas, theaters, cars
And walks and areas!

Even the old Vistula enjoys,
That the capital has grown,
Because she remembers her as a child
And today she is an adult.


Arabic

Al-Quds (Jerusalem) by Nizar Qabbani
read by Nuh Shahirah ’19

I cried till tears ended
I prayed .. till candles melted
I knelt .. till kneeling got bored with me
In you, I asked about Muhammad and Jesus
O, Quds, O, city scented by prophets
O, you, shortest paths between earth and heaven
O, Quds! O, you, minaret of religions
O, you pretty child with burnt fingers
Your eyes are sad, O, you city of the virgin (Mary)

Help us caption & translate this video!

https://amara.org/v/frQE/