LIBROCUBICULARIST

 

librocubicularist: a person who reads in bed (like yours truly).

CUANDO LEO (PIDO UN DESEO)

CUANDO LEO

Cuando leo, veo en la oscuridad,

abro una ventana en mi cabeza,

pasadizo secreto.

Cuando leo, pido un deseo.

Quiero viajar en el tiempo,

escalar en Tierra del Fuego,

ser invisible,

en una nave viajar a Marte.

Puedo ser vikinga y navegar,

o cherokee en Alabama,

una sirena o astronauta,

enamorar ratas tocando la flauta.

Vuela mi imaginación,

¡mira cómo vuela!

Vivo en otra dimensión,

otra dimensión.

Abro un libro y, ¡ohlalá!

aparece el genio de la lámpara.

Me dice: "lo que pidas te concederé".

Hay tantas cosas que yo quiero hacer.

Quiero viajar en el tiempo,

escalar en Tierra del Fuego,

ser invisible,

en una nave viajar a Marte.

Puedo ser vikinga y navegar,

o cherokee en Alabama,

una sirena o astronauta,

enamorar ratas tocando la flauta.

Y hay un caballero de triste figura,

y también está Frankenstein,

que es una extraña criatura.

Y hay un viaje al centro de la tierra,

una alfombra persa que vuela,

una historia interminable,

un principito y una rayuela,

una fábrica de chocolate,

una reina de las nieves,

un cuarto propio con vistas al mar

y Gloria Fuertes no deja de rimar. 

Leer o no leer, esa es la cuestión.

Mira cómo vuelo con la imaginación.

Leer o no leer, esa es la cuestión.

Mira cómo vivo en otra dimensión.

AN ADDRESS TO SHAKESPEARE (MCGONAGALL)

An Address to Shakespeare

Immortal! William Shakespeare, there’s none can you excel,
You have drawn out your characters remarkably well,
Which is delightful for to see enacted upon the stage—
For instance, the love-sick Romeo, or Othello, in a rage;
His writings are a treasure, which the world cannot repay,
He was the greatest poet of the past or of the present day⎯
Also the greatest dramatist, and is worthy of the name,
I’m afraid the world shall never look upon his like again.
His tragedy of Hamlet is moral and sublime,
And for purity of language, nothing can be more fine⎯
For instance, to hear the fair Ophelia making her moan,
At her father’s grave, sad and alone...
In his beautiful play, As You Like It, one passage is very fine,
Just for instance in the Forest of Arden, the language is sublime,
Where Orlando speaks of his Rosalind, most lovely and divine,
And no other poet I am sure has written anything more fine;
His language is spoken in the Church and by the Advocate at the bar,
Here and there and everywhere throughout the world afar;
His writings abound with gospel truths, moral and sublime,
And I’m sure in my opinion they are surpassing fine;
In his beautiful tragedy of Othello, one passage is very fine,
Just for instance where Cassio loses his lieutenancy by drinking too much wine;
And in grief he exclaims,
“Oh! that men should put an enemy in their mouths to steal away their brains.”
In his great tragedy of Richard the III., one passage is very fine
Where the Duchess of York invokes the aid of the Divine
For to protect her innocent babes from the murderer’s uplifted hand,
And smite him powerless, and save her babes, I’m sure ’tis really grand.
Immortal! Bard of Avon, your writings are divine,
And will live in the memories of your admirers until the end of time;
Your plays are read in family circles with wonder and delight,
While seated around the fireside on a cold winter’s night.

William McGonagall (No relation to Minerva!)

UNEXPRESSED

NO REAL POET EVER WOVE IN NUMBERS
ALL HIS DREAMS
LOVE AND LIFE UNITED
ARE TWIN MYSTERIES, DIFFERENT YET THE SAME
LOVE MAY STRIVE, BUT VAIN IS THE ENDEAVOR
ALL ITS BOUNDLESS RICHES TO EXPRESS
ART AND LOVE SPEAK AND THEIR WORDS MUST BE
LIKE SIGHINGS OF ILLIMITABLE FORESTS

DWELLS WITHIN THE SOUL OF EVERY ARTIST
MORE THAN ALL HIS EFFORT CAN EXPRESS
NO GREAT THINKER EVER LIVED AND TAUGHT YOU
ALL THE WONDER THAT HIS SOUL RECEIVED
NO TRUE PAINTER SET ON CANVAS
ALL THE GLORIOUS VISION HE CONCEIVED
NO MUSICIAN
BUT BE SURE HE HEARD, AND STROVE TO RENDER,
FEEBLE ECHOES OF CELESTIAL STRAINS

"Unexpressed," Adelaide Procter.