Thursday, December 22, 2011

Happy Holidays


Raoul Dufy, Sailor
Lithograph with pochoir colouring, 1920

PRAYER
after Guillaume Apollinaire, Prière

When I was a small child
My mother dressed me in blue and white
O Blessed Virgin
Do you still love me
I know
I will love you
To my dying day
Even if it’s all over
And I don’t believe in heaven or hell
I don’t believe I don’t believe any more
That seaman who was saved
Because he never once forgot
To say his Hail Mary
Was like me was like me

translation © Neil Philip 2011

Raoul Dufy, Amphitrite
Etching, 1930

I wish all my readers a merry Christmas, a happy Hannukah, and a peaceful and healthy New Year. I promise I will resume regular posts when circumstances allow. In the meantime I hope you enjoy these two prints by one of my favourite artists, Raoul Dufy, paired with a poem by his friend Guillaume Apollinaire.