A law old and new/ That goes toward perfection/ From the bottom of the heart of a child/ All the way to Supreme Reason
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Tom’s reviews at bigbridge
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Paul Eluard
Translated by Tom HibbardThe sun that chases the world
I am as certain of it as you
The sun turns the earth into the world
A smile above the night
On the ravaged face
Of sleepers dreaming of dawn
The great mystery of pleasure
This strange swirl of smoke
That lifts off of us the sky and earth
But who allows one to another
Makes one for the other forever
O you whom I rescue from omission
O you to whom I wished happiness
—1944
Proper Justice
It is the hot law of men
Out of reason they make wine
Out of coal they make fire
Out of kisses they make men
It is the hard law of men
To remain intact in spite of
Wars and misery
In spite of the threat of death
It is the soft law of men
To make light from water
Reality from dream
And friends from enemies
A law old and new
That goes toward perfection
From the bottom of the heart of a child
All the way to Supreme Reason
—1951
Georgio de Chirico
A wall denounces another wall
And the shadows defend me from my timid shadow
O tower of my love surrounding my love
My silence turns the walls white
What do you defend? Sky unfeeling and clear,
Trembling you sheltered me. The prominent light
In the sky is no longer the mirror of the sun
But the stars of day among green leaves.
The memory of those who spoke without knowing,
Masters of my weakness. And I have replaced them
With eyes of love and hands too loyal
To depopulate a world from which I am absent.
— 1924
