Thursday, March 16, 2017
Latin Ash and Greek Dust
Charles Baudelaire (1821-1867), "La Voix," lines 1-4 (tr. Francis Scarfe):
The contents of the book-case in my parents' house, so far as I can remember:
Newer› ‹Older
My cradle had its back to the book-case,
a gloomy Babel in which novels, works of science, medieval tales,
everything including Latin ash and Greek dust,
was jumbled together. I was no taller than a folio.
Mon berceau s'adossait à la bibliothèque,
Babel sombre, où roman, science, fabliau,
Tout, la cendre latine et la poussière grecque,
Se mêlaient. J'était haut comme un in-folio.
The contents of the book-case in my parents' house, so far as I can remember:
- Reader's Digest Condensed Books
- Golden Book Encyclopedia
- Grimm Brothers' Fairy Tales
- Webster's Dictionary
- Baltimore Catechism
- Douay Bible
- A.J. Cronin, The Keys of the Kingdom
- The Fireside Book of Christmas Stories
- Paul Pim, Telling Tommy about Days We Celebrate
- Fannie Farmer's Cookbook
- Magazines (Time, Life, National Geographic, Reader's Digest)
