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W. H. Auden
Words

A sentence uttered makes a world appear
Where all things happen as it says they do;
We doubt the speaker, not the tongue we hear:
Words have no words for words that are not true.

Syntactically, though, it must be clear;
One cannot change the subject half-way through,
Nor alter tenses to appease the ear:
Arcadian tales are hard-luck stories too.

But should we want to gossip all the time,
Were fact not fiction for us at its best,
Or find a charm in syllables that rhyme,

Were our fate not by verbal chance expressed,
As rustics in a ring-dance pantomime
The Knight as some lone cross-roads of his quest?

Date: 2008-05-03 03:00 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ra66it.livejournal.com
Words have no words for words that are not true.
Эта строчка почему то всегда завораживала...

Date: 2008-05-03 05:34 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] chamaimelon.livejournal.com
Меня больше трогает "Syntactically, though, it must be clear" :)

Date: 2008-05-30 04:20 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] lupandin.livejournal.com
A sentence uttered makes a world appear
!!!

Date: 2008-06-05 06:55 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] lupandin.livejournal.com
We doubt the speaker, not the tongue we hear
А мне кажется, что по слову можно многое сказать о говорящем.

Date: 2008-07-10 02:19 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] logophilka.livejournal.com
...а меня вчера студент-англист пытался убедить, что Оден не писал сонетов:)

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