Rob Angeli
Bio
sunt lacrimae rerum et mentem mortalia tangunt
There are tears of things, and mortal objects touch the mind.
-Virgil Aeneid I.462
Stories (161/0)
Mary Queen of Scots as a Writer: Part II
Sometimes what defines the legacy of a remarkable person is not their astounding rise to success, but the breadth of experience and tragic dignity that is gained from a life of suffering and thwarted aims. If you lose your kingdom, or even your head, maybe something greater is gained through the perennial power of the written word.
By Rob Angeli12 months ago in FYI
The Story of Cypress: 2 Sonnets
The Ancient Greeks had an etiological myth explaining the origin of cypress trees, which are associated with mourning. The god Apollo had befriended a boy named Cyparissus, who used to go about with him hunting and duetting on the lyre; however there was one animal, a large and gentle stag, that Cyparissus had made his pet and therefore not only would he never harm the creature, but he swore to protect it all his life. He pampered and spoiled the stag, feeding it from his hand and decorating the beast with all kinds of precious jewels, necklaces and such, as well as fresh flowers in season. The youngster's divine friend would give him all kinds of votary offerings humans had strewn his altars with, so that he could adorn his pet so splendidly.
By Rob Angeli12 months ago in Poets
The First Margarita
Queen Cleopatra sat like an impenetrable statue under silken awnings on a barge afloat in the Nile. Bobbing and rocking ever so gently to the wavelets. A movement of the hand betrayed her vivid fluidity. She was not crafted of stone, yet she sipped pearls. The Latin word for pearl is margarita.
By Rob Angeli12 months ago in Fiction
Mary Queen of Scots as a Writer, Part I
Mary Stuart, three times married and three times widowed, accused of adultery, murder, treason and conspiracy. She was Queen of Scotland and Dowager Princess of France, and ultimately beheaded by her cousin-monarch Queen Elizabeth I for the crimes imputed to her. Her life was one of adventure and tragedy that has been the subject of many films, plays, operas, and novels.
By Rob Angeli12 months ago in FYI
Sonnet to a Nose
Luis de Góngora (1561-1627) and Francisco de Quevedo (1580-1645) were well-known as the bitterest of rival poets in the golden age of Spanish Literature. Góngora, on the one hand, represented the movement of Culteranismo, which relished obtusely referential content and a freer, more surreal style; Quevedo, on the other hand, was the major proponent of Conceptismo, favoring concision in style and wit in content. They ceaselessly composed poems lampooning each others physical, moral, and literary demerits. In the following parody-sonnet, "A una Nariz," Francisco de Quevedo paints the nose of his rival on an epic scale. Here is a translation of it I finished recently, as well as the original Spanish given after.
By Rob Angeli12 months ago in Poets