Petrarch’s Canzone on a Dream of Laura, Translated by Margaret Coats The Society July 30, 2021 Beauty, Love Poems, Poetry, Translation 10 Comments . When softly my sustaining comfort stirs Herself to offer solace coveted, Advancing toward the left side of my bed With that sweet courtly...
‘Intelligence from Cuba’ by Margaret Coats The Society July 27, 2021 Culture, Deconstructing Communism, Poetry 13 Comments . 23 July 2021 Don't send money. No food to buy. One scanty meal at work or nothing. Outside the factory today There was a freedom...
‘A Girl in Her Own Words’ by Eustache Deschamps (1346-1406), translated by Margaret Coats The Society July 16, 2021 Beauty, Humor, Poetry, Translation 21 Comments . Am I, am I beautiful? Surely my face qualifies: Forehead pearly bright to rise Over sweetest lips cerise. Tell me if I’m beautiful! Cupid’s...
Two Poems on Amber, by Margaret Coats The Society July 6, 2021 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 29 Comments . Amber Song I come from amber, Baltic gold, A gem but not a stone, And not a thousand ages old, A girl from pine sap grown, When fully cured, of...
A Poem on Father Francis Gloudeman of California, by Margaret Coats The Society June 28, 2021 Culture, Poetry 38 Comments . A Sign of the Spirit Poet’s note: These heroic couplets paraphrase the conclusion of a recent sermon for which the preacher, Father Francis...
‘Meeting Petrarch’ by Margaret Coats The Society June 15, 2021 Beauty, Culture, Poetry, Translation 10 Comments . Francesco, is it you? Be confident. Sorgue vineyard pathways never were too dusty __For you—plump face and figure lusty. Come nearer; focus my...
‘Climate Charge’: A Poem for Pentecost by Margaret Coats The Society May 22, 2021 Beauty, Culture, Poetry, Terza Rima 36 Comments . The Spirit blazes in an upper room; A hundred twenty flames spout sparks to cast Christ’s wildfire on the earth, and make it bloom. The...
‘The Praise of Age’ by Walter Kennedy (1450–1508), Translated by Margaret Coats The Society May 8, 2021 Beauty, Culture, Poetry, Translation 23 Comments . At Matins’ hour, the middle of the night,I woke, and soon found I was not alone;A man who seemed past sixty to my sightThis sentence said, and...
An Ancient Prophecy on Vaccinations Discovered by Margaret Coats The Society April 28, 2021 Culture, Poetry, The Pandemic 19 Comments . Vaticination Sibylla says, Fear archers of immunity! Beware the vanguard shock troops sharpening double tongues, Whetted with grave authority To...
‘Cherry Blossom Viewing’ by Margaret Coats The Society April 6, 2021 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 34 Comments . Like someone else, in unaccustomed dress, I choose that silken smoothness graze my skin __As fragile branches effloresce, Revealing vernal...
Easter Season Sonnets by Anne de Marquets (1533–1588), translated by Margaret Coats The Society April 3, 2021 Beauty, Culture, Holidays, Poetry, Translation 20 Comments . Sonnet 181 Jesus had suffered more than we can tell, But when released, His soul at once aspired To save the just, whom their long wait had...
‘Saint Joseph’s Table’ by Margaret Coats The Society March 19, 2021 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 34 Comments . The night before, old furniture And scrap wood set afire Smoke out the winter’s wickedness— An equinoctial pyre Of habits, sins, misfortunes...
For Valentine’s Day: ‘The Tale of the Rose’ by Christine de Pisan (1364–1431), translated by Margaret Coats The Society February 13, 2021 Beauty, Culture, Love Poems, Poetry, Translation 22 Comments . . The Tale of the Rose (Excerpt) by Christine de Pisan (1364-1431), translated by Margaret Coats . This Tale comes from the Paris home of the...
‘Lament for Henderson’s’: A poem for Burns’ Night 2021, by Margaret Coats The Society January 23, 2021 Culture, Humor, Poetry 16 Comments . January 25 is the birthday of Scottish poet Robert Burns (1759–1796). On or near this day, Scots worldwide gather for a supper of haggis...
Poem Found on Our Lady of Guadalupe Painting, Translated by Margaret Coats The Society December 9, 2020 Beauty, Culture, Found Poem, Poetry, Translation 26 Comments The Painting of the Virgin God, seeing in America a child Embracing Faith with jubilation meet, Took up His paints, and on a flowered sheet By...
‘Shisendo, Hall of the Poetry Immortals’ by Margaret Coats The Society November 24, 2020 Beauty, Culture, Poetry, Video 23 Comments The Shisendō is a hideaway villa in the eastern hills of Kyoto, Japan, created by poet and calligrapher Jōzan Ishikawa (1583–1672) as a...
Chant Royal on Urban Disturbances by Margaret Coats after Eustache Deschamps (c.1346–1406) The Society October 25, 2020 Culture, Deconstructing Communism, Poetry, Translation 32 Comments Renowned but wayward Troy, vain Babylon, Harsh Nineveh, and languid Rome were felled; Long ago they exercised dominion, But since from...
A Poem for Nantes Cathedral, by Margaret Coats The Society September 10, 2020 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 23 Comments For Nantes Cathedral Ravaged by Arson in July 2020, a Tribute This holy place, where the enthusiasm of builders was succeeded by doubt...
Translations of John Gower Poems on Marriage, by Margaret Coats The Society June 18, 2020 Beauty, Culture, Poetry, Translation 10 Comments Translator's Note: John Gower (c.1330–1408) wrote his Traitié de Matrimoine in French (with Latin notes throughout) to reach the widest possible...
Three Translations of the Poetry of Jean Froissart, by Margaret Coats The Society January 18, 2020 Beauty, Culture, Deconstructing Communism, Poetry, Rondeau, Translation 3 Comments Translator's note: The following consists of three poems by Jehan (or Jean) Froissart (c.1335–c.1410), translated not very literally but as far as...
‘Political Correctness’ by Margaret Coats The Society March 6, 2018 Culture, Humor, Poetry 4 Comments After Joachim du Bellay’s "Les Regrets LXVIII" I hate the Florentines' foul avarice, I hate lewd Sienese profanity, I hate Geneva's glib...
Haiku Competition 2021 The Society July 28, 2021 Beauty, Culture, Haiku and Senryu, Poetry, Poetry Contests 157 Comments . Write a haiku and post it in the comments section below. The haiku must adhere to the traditional parameters of a haiku to qualify and may be...
Society of Classical Poets Journal IX Published The Society June 27, 2021 From the Society, Poetry 2 Comments . The Society of Classical Poets Journal IX has been published. It features poetry selected from poetry published on the SCP website between February...
A Review of Amanda Hall’s The Gift of Life: An Epic in Verse The Society June 12, 2021 Essays, Poetry, Reviews 31 Comments Reviewed Book: The Gift of Life: An Epic in Verse by Amanda Hall, 2021. by Margaret Coats So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see, So long lives...
Winners of 2021 Poetry Translation Competition Announced The Society February 1, 2021 From the Society, Poetry, Poetry Contests, Translation 4 Comments . Judges Margaret Coats Evan Mantyk . First Place ($100) Francesca Leader, Virginia "The Iroha Poem" by Kūkai (空海) (774–835) . Second...
2021 Poetry Translation Competition The Society September 1, 2020 From the Society, Poetry, Poetry Contests, Translation 2 Comments "Poetry ... is a more philosophical and a higher thing than history: for poetry tends to express the universal, history the particular."...
Ten Great Spenserian or Scottish Sonnets The Society May 15, 2020 Beauty, Culture, Essays, Love Poems, Poetry 19 Comments Edmund Spenser by Margaret Coats Edmund Spenser (1552–1599) wrote 121 sonnets of rhyme scheme abab bcbc cdcd ee, including 87 in his love...
Turning to Heaven During CCP Virus Epidemic: Three Poems The Society March 24, 2020 Beauty, Culture, Poetry, The Pandemic 6 Comments Remember God “Men have forgotten God; that’s why all this has happened.” —Alexandr Solzhenitsyn by Connie Phillips We must...
Winners of 2020 Poetry Translation Competition Announced The Society February 1, 2020 Poetry, Poetry Contests, Translation 1 Comment Thank you to everyone who participated! The quality of submitted translations continues to rise. First Place ($100 Prize): Margaret Coats,...
Three Poems on the Fire at Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris The Society April 16, 2019 Beauty, Culture, News of Note, Poetry 31 Comments The Cathedral, Burning by T. M. Moore Flames wreck the walls and ceilings that had stood for centuries, scorch ancient timbers, raze to ash...
‘The American Revolution: An Epic Poem,’ Chapter III, by Andrew Benson Brown The Society November 3, 2020 Beauty, Culture, Epic, Humor, Poetry 20 Comments The American Revolution: An Epic Poem Chapter I Chapter II by Andrew Benson Brown Chapter III: The New-World Mercury The historical...
The Society of Classical Poets Releases Journal VIII The Society June 12, 2020 From the Society, Poetry 5 Comments The Society of Classical Poets website receives millions of views every year. Visitors read engaging, beautiful, topical verse that...
Poetry The Society April 6, 2019 Poetry Defined Poetry is typically the use of any language in a structured way that unifies word sounds (using most typically...
Members The Society February 21, 2017 X Members of the Society (MSCP) 2021 Achee, Lorraine, New Orleans Adams, Dale, Oklahoma Anderson, C.B., Massachusetts Aine Mae, Oregon Ashurst, Alan,...
Short Story: ‘The Tin Shant Social Collective’ by Neal Dachstadter The Society August 2, 2014 Humor, Short Stories 8 Comments I. The Tin Shant on the hill in Martinique is stoutly situated, unique in design, and built half a century ago. Though stucco and cinderblock,...
