The Ladies

I've taken my fun where I've found it;
I've rogued an' I've ranged in my time;
I've 'ad my pickin' o' sweet'earts,
An' four o' the lot was prime.
One was an 'arf-caste widow,
One was a woman at Prome,
One was the wife of a ~jemadar-sais~,                        

An' one is a girl at 'ome.
    Now I aren't no 'and with the ladies,
      For, takin' 'em all along,
    You never can say till you've tried 'em,
      An' then you are like to be wrong.
    There's times when you'll think that you mightn't,
      There's times when you'll know that you might;
    But the things you will learn from the Yellow an' Brown,
      They'll 'elp you a lot with the White!

I was a young un at 'Oogli,
Shy as a girl to begin;
Aggie de Castrer she made me,
An' Aggie was clever as sin;
Older than me, but my first un —
More like a mother she were —
Showed me the way to promotion an' pay,
An' I learned about women from 'er!

Then I was ordered to Burma,
Actin' in charge o' Bazar,
An' I got me a tiddy live 'eathen
Through buyin' supplies off 'er pa.
Funny an' yellow an' faithful —
Doll in a teacup she were,
But we lived on the square, like a true-married pair,
An' I learned about women from 'er!

Then we was shifted to Neemuch
(Or I might ha' been keepin' 'er now),
An' I took with a shiny she-devil,
The wife of a nigger at Mhow;
'Taught me the gipsy-folks' ~bolee~;                
Kind o' volcano she were,
For she knifed me one night 'cause I wished she was white,
And I learned about women from 'er!

Then I come 'ome in the trooper,
'Long of a kid o' sixteen —
Girl from a convent at Meerut,
The straightest I ever 'ave seen.
Love at first sight was 'er trouble,
~She~ didn't know what it were;
An' I wouldn't do such, 'cause I liked 'er too much,
But — I learned about women from 'er!

I've taken my fun where I've found it,
An' now I must pay for my fun,
For the more you 'ave known o' the others
The less will you settle to one;
An' the end of it's sittin' and thinkin',
An' dreamin' Hell-fires to see;
So be warned by my lot (which I know you will not),
An' learn about women from me!
    What did the Colonel's Lady think?
      Nobody never knew.
    Somebody asked the Sergeant's wife,
      ~An'~ she told 'em true!
    When you get to a man in the case,
      They're like as a row of pins —
    For the Colonel's Lady an' Judy O'Grady
      Are sisters under their skins!

Os domingos de Lisboa

Os domingos de Lisboa são domingos
Terríveis de passar - e eu que o diga!
De manhã vais à missa aS. Domingos
E à tarde apanhamos alguns pingos
De chuva ou coçamos a barriga.

As palavras cruzadas, o cinema ou a apa,
E o dia fecha-se com um último arroto.
Mais uma hora ou duas e a noite está
Passada, e agarrada a mim como uma lapa,
Tu levas-me p'ra a cama, onde chego já morto.

E então começam as tuas exigências, as piores!
Quer's por força que eu siga os teus caprichos!
Que diabo! Nem de nós mesmos seremos já senhores?
Estaremos como o ouro nas casas de penhores
Ou no Jardim Zoológico, irracionais, os bichos?
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
Mas serás tu a minha «querida esposa»,
Aquela que se me ofereceu menina?
Oh! Guarda os teus beijos de aranha venenosa!
Fecha-me esse olho branco que me goza
E deixa-me sonhar como um prédio em ruína!...

Poesias Completas
1951/1981

Red is the colour

When the pawn hits the conflicts he thinks like a king
What he knows throws the blows when he goes to the fight
And he'll win the whole thing 'fore he enters the ring
There's no body to batter when your mind is your might
So when you go solo, you hold your own hand
And remember that depth is the greatest of heights
And if you know where you stand, then you know where to land
And if you fall it won't matter, cause you'll know that you're right

Fiona Apple

I've got a little black book with "her" poems in

T was a long parting, but the time
For interview had come;
Before the judgment-seat of God,
The last and second time.

These fleshless lovers met,
A heaven in a gaze,
A heaven of heavens, the privilege
Of one another's eyes. 

No lifetime set on them,
Apparelled as the new
Unborn, except they had beheld,
Born everlasting now. 

Was bridal e'er like this?
A paradise, the host,
And cherubim and seraphim
The most familiar guest.

O Nada - Versão Anabolizante

O Palácio da Ventura

Sonho que sou um cavaleiro andante.
Por desertos, por sóis, por noite escura,
Paladino do amor, busca anelante
O palácio encantado da Ventura!

Mas já desmaio, exausto e vacilante,
Quebrada a espada já, rota a armadura...
E eis que súbito o avisto, fulgurante
Na sua pompa e aérea formusura!

Com grandes golpes bato à porta e brado:
Eu sou o Vagabundo, o Deserdado...
Abri-vos, portas d'ouro, ante meus ais!

Abrem-se as portas d'ouro, com fragor...
Mas dentro encontro só, cheio de dor,
Silêncio e escuridão -- e nada mais!

Antero de Quental

Pelas entre-linhas

À guerra não ligues meia,
Porque alguns grandes da terra,
Vendo a guerra em terra alheia
Não querem que acabe a guerra.

_

Sei que pareço um ladrão...
mas há muitos que eu conheço
que, não parecendo o que são,
são aquilo que eu pareço.

_

Quem prende a água que corre
É por si próprio enganado;
O ribeirinho não morre,
Vai correr por outro lado.