maxbandini — 18 years ago(July 23, 2007 03:58 AM)

Ode on immortality in honour of the divine Aphrodite Caprice Bourret
Stanzas: 5
Lines used: 50
Lines: decasyllables
Rhyme structure: ABBA, ABBA, CDC and CDC.
1
Sweet oleanders, one day I will be cold ash!
Unluckily nobody will remember me!
Leafy cypresses will fall with a great crash,
A day of light I will no longer see!
Is this the cruel destiny I deserve?
Is this the destructive fate of mankind?
We are inconsistent grains since our birth,
Fragile molecules that suddenly swerve,
Weak leaves that an impetuous wind will bind,
Unspotted pearls that do not know mirth.
2
Are we a useless part of the universe?
Are we unfinished aspects of the whole?
I am now trying to answer in verse,
At present, of my void I see the hole.
Sad loneliness pervades my blameless heart!
Inaccessibility distinguishes our time!
Men are not allowed to communicate!
Of a perverse mechanism we are part!
We are candid angels who feel the sublime,
But passing time stops us: we arrive late!
3
We are miserable germs of a nasty mother!
Shaky steps of a huge, infinite ladder,
The incumbent fate is our adverse father,
And our days become sadder and sadder.
Our unendurable sufferings Fate sees,
Nevertheless I see cold indifference,
Disgusting egoism towards our holy souls.
We are evanescent drops of broken trees,
From this we can deduce an inference,
That we are bravely playing heroic roles.
4
We are in a process of destruction,
Nature is strangling us with its fierce power,
Of this system we are a small fraction,
The sweetest, even though insignificant flower.
We are immaculate lilies of purity,
Whose highest hope is to live another day,
Even if death effaces any chance to exist.
Can we live in this deep insecurity?
We are aware that one day we will decay,
That we will not be able to resist!
5
In spite of this I will not surrender!
I must immortalize your endless beauty,
Of your charm thanks to God I render,
To engrave your glory on marble is my duty!
The myth of everlasting art will never die!
You will see the triumph of life upon death,
In every heart your fame will forever shine!
Aphrodite, to your eternal soul I will fly!
In my faultless spirit there will be no wrath,
Caprice, I love you since you are divine!
Yours faithfully and eternally
Massimo Bandini
maxbandini@hotmail.com