1144: Ovid in the Third Reich | Geoffrey Hill
"Ovid in the Third Reich"
Geoffrey Hill
non peccat, quaecumque potest peccasse negare,
solaque famosam culpa professa facit.
-(Amores, III, xiv)
I love my work and my children. God
Is distant, difficult. Things happen.
Too near the ancient troughs of blood
Innocence is no earthly weapon.
I have learned one thing: not to look down
So much on the damned. They, in their sphere,
Harmonize strangely with the divine
Love. I, in mine, celebrate the love-choir.
The Latin translation is "She does not sin who can deny her sin,/'Tis only the fault avowed that brings dishonour".
Geoffrey Hill
non peccat, quaecumque potest peccasse negare,
solaque famosam culpa professa facit.
-(Amores, III, xiv)
I love my work and my children. God
Is distant, difficult. Things happen.
Too near the ancient troughs of blood
Innocence is no earthly weapon.
I have learned one thing: not to look down
So much on the damned. They, in their sphere,
Harmonize strangely with the divine
Love. I, in mine, celebrate the love-choir.
The Latin translation is "She does not sin who can deny her sin,/'Tis only the fault avowed that brings dishonour".