Geoffrey Hill

Ovid in the Third Reich

non peccat, quaecumque potest peccasse negare,
    solaque famosam culpa professa facit.
 
   Amores, III, xiv
 
I love my work and my children. God
Is distant, difficult. Things happen.
Too near the ancient troughs of blood
Innocence is no earthly weapon.
 
I have learned one thing: not to look down
So much upon the damned. They, in their sphere,
Harmonize strangely with the divine
Love. I, in mine, celebrate the love-choir.
Other works by Geoffrey Hill...



Top