TO THE LAWYER SATURNINO APOLO, FRIEND OF BAD POETRY
AND OF OTHER PEOPLE’S PURSES
O petty lawyer, plumping out your purse
With other people’s cash and gold doubloons,
The cream of rascals, no one could be worse,
Brother superior, sucking blood from other’s
wounds,
The pen that you wield—a wild and coarsening
quill—
Can only spit the vilest blots on earth.
“A professor of vile verses” fits the bill,
Arselicker extraordinary, malformed from birth,
A stinking heap, a dunghill of a man,
Of pride and lechery a steaming cesspit,
The greatest farter of lies since the world began
And miner of the muses’ dregs—no respite.
Never your lyre, always a purse you follow,
You offspring of Cacus, you bastard of Apollo!
BY DON LUIS DE GONGORA
ON THE FLEETING NATURE OF BEAUTY AND OF LIFE
Whilst gold—sun-burnished—tries to catch
The glitter and the brightness of thy hair;
Whilst the lily-of-the-field can never match
The whiteness of thy brow—beyond compare;
Whilst more eyes yearn to pluck thy ruby lips
Than gaze upon the first carnation of the year;
And whilst thy lovely, glowing neck outstrips
The shiniest crystal—for you have no peer—
Take now enjoyment in thy neck and brow,
Thy lips and hair, before this—thy prime
Of lily, gold, carnation, crystal—now
Is changed to silver or dead violas by time,
And you and they together soon be wrought
To earth, smoke, dust, and shadow—naught!
BY FELIX LOPE DE VEGA CARPIO
ON THE DELIGHTS AND CONTRADICTIONS OF LOVE
Fainting, daring, full of rages,
Tender, rough, expansive, shy,
Treacherous, loyal, cowardly, courageous,
Hoping, despairing to live or to die;
Away from one’s love—no center or repose,
Furious, brave, yet ready for flight,
Humble, haughty, all joy, then all woes,
Offended, wary, then dizzy with delight;
Averting one’s gaze from evident deceit,
When poison foul gives off a honey’d smell
