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Michael R Burch Jun 2020
Lament for the Makaris ("Lament for the Makers/Poets")
by William Dunbar [c. 1460-1530]
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

i who enjoyed good health and gladness
am overwhelmed now by life’s terrible sickness
and enfeebled with infirmity ...
how the fear of Death dismays me!

our presence here is mere vainglory;
the false world is but transitory;
the flesh is frail; the Fiend runs free ...
how the fear of Death dismays me!

the state of man is changeable:
now sound, now sick, now blithe, now dull,
now manic, now devoid of glee ...
how the fear of Death dismays me!

no state on earth stands here securely;
as the wild wind shakes the willow tree,
so wavers this world’s vanity ...
how the fear of Death dismays me!

Death leads the knights into the field
(unarmored under helm and shield)
sole Victor of each red mêlée ...
how the fear of Death dismays me!

that strange, despotic Beast
tears from its mother’s breast
the babe, full of benignity ...
how the fear of Death dismays me!

He takes the champion of the hour,
the captain of the highest tower,
the beautiful damsel in full flower ...
how the fear of Death dismays me!

He spares no lord for his elegance,
nor clerk for his intelligence;
His dreadful stroke no man can flee ...
how the fear of Death dismays me!

artist, magician, scientist,
orator, debater, theologist,
must all conclude, so too, as we:
“how the fear of Death dismays me!”

in medicine the most astute
sawbones and surgeons all fall mute;
they cannot save themselves, or flee ...
how the fear of Death dismays me!

i see the Makers among the unsaved;
the greatest of Poets all go to the grave;
He does not spare them their faculty ...
how the fear of Death dismays me!

i have seen the Monster pitilessly devour
our noble Chaucer, poetry’s flower,
and Lydgate and Gower (great Trinity!) ...
how the fear of Death dismays me!

since He has taken my brothers all,
i know He will not let me live past the fall;
His next victim will be—poor unfortunate me!—
how the fear of Death dismays me!

there is no remedy for Death;
we all must prepare to relinquish breath
so that after we die, we may be set free
from “the fear of Death dismays me!”

This is my modern English translation of "Lament for the Makaris," an elegy by the great early Scottish poet William Dunbar [c. 1460-1530]. Dunbar was a court poet in the household of King James IV of Scotland. The Makaris were "makers," or poets. The original poem is a form of danse macabre, or "dance of death," in which people of all social classes are summoned by Death. The poem has a refrain: every fourth line is the Latin phrase "timor mortis conturbat me" ("the fear of death dismays me" or "disturbs/confounds me"). The poem was probably composed around 1508 A.D., when Dunbar was advancing in age and perhaps facing the prospect of death himself (it is not clear exactly when he died). In his famous poem Dunbar mentions other poets who passed away, including Geoffrey Chaucer, John Lydgate, and John Gower. Dunbar is generally considered to have been the greatest Scottish poet before Robert Burns, and he is noted for his comedies, satires, and sometimes ribald language. Keywords/Tags: Dunbar, translation, Scottish, dialect, Scotland, lament, makaris,  makers, poets, mrbtr, danse, macabre, refrain, Latin, timor, mortis, conturbat, dirge, lamentation, eulogy, epitaph, death, dismay, sorrow, fear, terror, writing, death, evil, sympathy, sorrow



Sunset
by Michael R. Burch

This poem is dedicated to my grandfather, George Edwin Hurt

Between the prophecies of morning
and twilight’s revelations of wonder,
the sky is ripped asunder.

The moon lurks in the clouds,
waiting, as if to plunder
the dusk of its lilac iridescence,

and in the bright-tentacled sunset
we imagine a presence
full of the fury of lost innocence.

What we find within strange whorls of drifting flame,
brief patterns mauling winds deform and maim,
we recognize at once, but cannot name.
Mike Essig May 2015
Lightening
in a night sky:

not there,
there,
not there.

Our lives
in this world:

not here,
here,
not here.

From nothing
a brief flash
of being
before nothing.

Death does
not end,
it resumes.

No fear.

   ~mce
* The fear of death disturbs me.
MetaVerse Apr 19
Ah!  Timor, timor mortis,
Mortis conturbat me!
     Ah!  Ubi sunt?
     Descenderunt!
Mortis conturbat te!


Qualyxian Quest Dec 2022
It's hard to say
Precisely where the Terror comes from
The logical answer
Is also the most frightening:
God.

But let's just speak of the Universe
A gazillion exoplanets
UFOs, what are those?
Extrasolar water

Sexuality
No we don't
Don't die
Yes, we mult
Iply

What might have been is painful
Fantasies don't come true
But they persist

Father Greeley said
The Crucifixion does not mean
Jesus died for your sins

Rather - no one dies alone.

                 Annihilation.
Qualyxian Quest Mar 2023
American, still American
But at my best I too resist
Thailand Land of the Free
Embers' closing kiss

Timor Mortis Conturbat Me
Otto - gonna watch
Used to drink the Wine
Never tried the Scotch

Secluded shunyata
Shabu Shabu Boston town
Shabu Shabu Tokyo
Off like a purple prom gown

I wish that she would hold me
Talk before good bye
Frederick, Maryland
Sally Hemings, Life of Pi

            Ay! Ay! Ay!
Qualyxian Quest Nov 2022
Yo soy un isolato
I like the quiet
But sad dad sad

My boys are my joys
I thank you, O Life!

Timor Mortis Conturbat Me

Por favor into not out of.
  
                Xie Xie.
Qualyxian Quest Dec 2022
It's pretty clear
What Springsteen is for me
Tesla is for him
Both of us abused
Both vegetarians

I both do and don't believe in heroes
His music has touched my life
Touched me deeply
I give thanks
Born to Run

I'm not going to be famous
Timor Mortis Conturbat Me
Just wanna do my best
All the way to the end
Planetariums!

I believe in words
And silence
And music
And friends
Taipei 101!

                     xie xie
Qualyxian Quest Feb 2023
So maybe they dismiss
A freak. A Geek. Gone mad.
I need help, Ms. Susan Meek
My brothers and my dad

Timor Mortis Conturbat Me
Dread Annihilation
She holds me and I cry
Temporal salvation

In my solitude
This is my year to wait
San Francisco Zen
Tea at the Dragon Gate

Sans everything
One man come and go
Kamakura Buddha
Seattle cedarsnow

          37 below
Qualyxian Quest Mar 2019
Timor mortis conturbat me
     perhaps why I write poetry
           wishing another soul might see
               words - my attempts at bravery


                      Lament for the makers?
                             Nay, blessed be!
Qualyxian Quest Dec 2022
An analogical imagination
Both oral and **** ***
A decades' long obsession
About my priest's daughter ex

Timor Mortis Conturbat Me
Anxiety attacks
Difficulty sleeping at times
Hard for me to relax

Science fiction movies
Beyond Comics gamestore
Hagia Sophia
Virgins. Mothers. ******.

Chicago in the winter
Reno in the snow
Trappist 1, Midnight Sun
No one on Earth will ever know

                 On we go ....
Qualyxian Quest Aug 2019
no mystic magic here tonight
just me with my regrets

life itself truly tragic
and I am one who frets

time destroys and then erases
our evidence of breath

timor mortis conturbat me
I’m distressed by the fear of death
Qualyxian Quest Jun 2019
timor mortis conturbat me
my whole lifetime I have to say

the anxiety often drives me to pray
for courage when death comes my way

solo solitude again today
to be of help I wish I may

now twilight rain
I quietly listen and lay

                               droplets!
Qualyxian Quest Aug 2021
I am drawn to the oracular
Like long lost ancient Greece

I'm also drawn to Sting
Both solo and with the Police

Language is ambiguous
Like people. Like life itself.

Timor mortis conturbat me
Maybe God can't help

              Maybe Elf.
Qualyxian Quest Mar 2020
Contradictions, benedictions
One hand ridiculous
One sublime

Obsessed, obsessed
With eternity
As we wander here through time

I do true like the taste
Of brown bread and red wine

Timor mortis conturbat me
As you can see in these rhymes
                     of mine.


          Jake Sully, Jake Sully
        (there has been a sign)
Qualyxian Quest Dec 2022
I like to hear Scholem talk
Accent of the German Jew
Major trends, Kabbalistic friends
3772

I'm ambivalent on universities
Not near one now
Timor Mortis Conturbat Me
Bodhisattva vow

Drawn to wisdom literature
Drawn to political fights
3 young sons
2 green lights

Sick and suffering, they said
Sick and suffering is true
SauRon Desantis
La Florida in view

                 et tu?
Timor mortis conturbat me
So I sleep, I sleep, I sleep
Now ends the Month of May
Kindnesses to keep

I might need a lawyer
She files for divorce
I'm all on my own
On my own, of course

I like little libraries
Made of wood and glass
Time just gets away from us
Things fall apart, alas

I like True Grit
Ms. Mattie Ross
Aging is painful
Loss after loss

               Reno!
Qualyxian Quest Mar 2020
I have wasted my years
Said Leonardo near the end

I have to fight my fears
I said to Mark, my best friend

Timor mortis conturbat me
Oft quoted (shamanic?)            
Mr. Markson

Si, es verdad, yo tambien
I say all alone when the
Dark's on

When far, but not near
I agree, Blaise Pascal

When my time finally comes
Please help me die well.

                  Amen.
Qualyxian Quest Mar 2020
Timor mortis conturbat me
Me too, Mr. Markson

I ask for courage when it comes
A little light when the Dark's on

Don't have many friends
But I'm deeply grateful for Mark

And football with my boys
Ah! that sunlit, moonlit park!
Qualyxian Quest Mar 2020
I'm aware that life is tragic
Transient and brief

I do like tales of magic
And silence is relief

Europa has an ocean
Who know what lies beneath?

The Joker's ****** motion
Played perfectly by Heath

Timor mortis conturbat me
At times I pray to Blaise Pascal

Courage when it comes
Plus hope and cope for Israel
Qualyxian Quest Dec 2020
At times I'm superstitious
Coincidences seem

But mostly I am quiet
The nightmare and the dream

I love being a father
I have just one good friend

Timor mortis conturbat me
Please courage at the end.
Qualyxian Quest Jan 2020
Markson's yellow book
Just 5 minutes walk away

Though dead, his words still live
Timor mortis conturbat me

But I battle back the fear
And basketball I play

All my words they fail
Silence is how I pray
Qualyxian Quest Nov 2020
Timor mortis conturbat me
The fear of death distresses me

But my love for them
Can they see?

— The End —