De battre mon coeur s'est arrêté

Jenny Davidson of Light Reading inspires me -- as always -- by sharing two of her favorite poems. I only have one best-loved poem but it's a stunner that never fails to make my heart skip a beat. From East Window by W.S. Merwin, a $16 paperback I clearly remember saving up to buy in college (what little money I had went to: dog food, gas, cigarettes, coffee, books, toast at the diner, in that order). It's a translation, with Aijaz Ahmad, of a poem by Mirza Ghalib (1797 - 1869, Urdu).

Ghazal XXV

If it ever occurs to her to be kind to me
    she remembers how cruel she's been
    and it frightens her off

Her temper's as short as my tale of love is long
    much too long
    bores even the messenger

    and I despair
    and lose the thread of my own thoughts

    and can't bear to think of someone else
    setting eyes on her

Do you have a favorite poem? Do tell.

Comments

[Michelle]

Hi Lauren,
What a beautiful poem! My pre-1950 favorites are John Donne's "The Broken Heart" and W.H. Auden's "As I walked out one evening." I can't really decide among the modern/postmodern poems, although this one comes close: "your limbs are like the cranes, my little fascist"