No More Learning

But always let your brain weave

The full form that conceives.

The Rabbit

Rabbits

'Rabbits'
Frederick Bloemaert, Abraham Bloemaert, Nicolaes Visscher (I), after 1635 - 1670, The Rijksmuseun

There's another cony I remember

That I'd so like to take alive.

Its haunt is there among the thyme

In the valleys of the Land of Tender.

The Dromedary

Four Dromedaries

'Four Dromedaries'
Nicolaes de Bruyn, 1594, The Rijksmuseun

With his four dromedaries

Don Pedro of Alfaroubeira

Travels the world and admires her.

He does what I would rather

If I'd those four dromedaries.

The Mouse

Flowers and a Mouse on an Apple

'Flowers and a Mouse on an Apple'
Assuerus van Londerseel, 1594, The Rijksmuseun

Sweet days, the mice of time,

You gnaw my life, moon by moon.

God! I've twenty eight years soon,

and badly spent ones I imagine.

The Elephant

Two Elephants

'Two Elephants'
Nicolaes de Bruyn, 1594, The Rijksmuseun

I carry treasure in my mouth,

As an elephant his ivory.

At the price of flowing words,

Purple death! . . . I buy my glory.

Orpheus

Orpheus and Eurydice

'Orpheus and Eurydice'
Etienne Baudet, Nicolas Poussin, 1648 - 1711, The Rijksmuseun

Look at this pestilential tribe

Its thousand feet, its hundred eyes:

Beetles, insects, lice

And microbes more amazing

Than the world's seventh wonder

And the palace of Rosamunde!
The Caterpillar

Plants, Caterpillars and Insects

'Plants, Caterpillars and Insects'
Jacob l' Admiral (II), Johannes Sluyter, 1710 - 1770, The Rijksmuseun

Work leads us to riches.

Poor poets, work on!

The caterpillar's endless sigh

Becomes the lovely butterfly.

The Fly

The Fable of the Ant and the Fly

'The Fable of the Ant and the Fly'
Aegidius Sadeler, Marcus Gheeraerts (I), Marcus Gheeraerts (I), 1608, The Rijksmuseun

The songs that our flies know

Were taught to them in Norway

By flies who are they say

Divinities of snow.

The Flea

Old Woman Picking Flea's from a Child's Head

'Old Woman Picking Flea's from a Child's Head'
Jan Miel, 1599 - 1664, The Rijksmuseun

Fleas, friends, lovers too,

How cruel are those who love us!

All our blood pours out for them.

The well-beloved are wretched then.

The Grasshopper

The Plagues of Locusts and Water Turned to Blood

'The Plagues of Locusts and Water Turned to Blood'
Jan Miel, 1599 - 1664, The Rijksmuseun

Here's the slender grasshopper

The food that fed Saint John.

May my verse be similar,

A treat for the best of men.

Orpheus

Orpheus

'Orpheus'
Pierre -Cecile Puvis de Chavannes, French, 1824 - 1898, Yale University Art Gallery

His heart was the bait: the heavens were the pond!

For, fisherman, what fresh or seawater catch

equals him, either in form or savour,

that lovely divine fish, Jesus, My Saviour?

The Dolphin

Arion on the Dolphin

'Arion on the Dolphin'
Jan Harmensz. Muller, Harmen Jansz Muller, 1589, The Rijksmuseun

Dolphins, playing in the sea

The wave is bitter gruel.

Does my joy sometimes erupt?

Yet life is still so cruel.

The Octopus

Sea Monster

'Sea Monster'
Anonymous, 1661, The Rijksmuseun

Hurling his ink at skies above,

Sucking the blood of what he loves

And finding it delicious,

Is myself the monster, vicious.