“Am I Hamlet or Don Quixote?”

paul vi

“The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune…” – Hamlet

“Truly I was born to be an example of misfortune, and a target at which the arrows of adversary are aimed.” – Don Quixote

With ermine cuffs I sharpen up each gem
That studs this crown…No, Papa was not king
Despite this barber’s bowl. And Mama’s hymns
Remain in mind but there’s no will to sing.
Milan, more French than Roman, sings instead
Inside my veins – the fluted lace, the neat
And crimson fashions – coy frissons of the dead
Which resurrects a joy, now made complete
Confusion.
                  Oh, Papa! Oh, Mama! Since
I chose this road of sorrow, I confess
To neither left nor right. For Denmark’s prince
Well knew that failure proves its own success
And windmills creak and tilt upon the breeze
Canticles to a world I could not please.

Comments

  1. Big Jon Bully says

    Piquant poem, thanks.

  2. Big Jon Bully says

    Didn’t he say that the smoke of satan was rising to the highest levels of The Church? Interesting guy.

  3. Brian Jobe says

    I can’t quite figure the meaning here any more than I can figure PF. And perhaps that’s a good thing.

  4. Brian Jobe says

    Nice echoes of “Beyond the Alps” though, I like that.

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