Hermann Hesse (tr. from German by James Wright):
Emily Dickinson:
It would have starved a Gnat - / To live so small as I - / And yet, I was a living child - / With Food's necessity // Opon me - like a Claw - / I could no more remove / Than I could modify [a Leech] coax a Leech / away - / Or make a Dragon - move - // Nor like the Gnat - had I - / The privilege to fly / And gain seek a Dinner for myself - / How mightier He - than I! // Nor like Himself - the Art / Opon the Window Pane / To gad my little Being out -/ And not begin - again -
Gabriel Gudding:
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William Blake:
Ingeborg Bachmann (tr. from German by Peter Filkins):
Nick Drake, “The Fly,” rec. 1970:
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