The clamorous strains of history

by chuckofish

Did you know that in 1961 Jorge Luis Borges, aging and mostly blind, began teaching at the University of Texas, Austin, and the state of Texas captured a special place in his heart, as reflected in his poem “Texas”?

Texas

Here too. Here, as on the other unfurling

Frontier of the continent, the great

Prairie where a solitary cry fades out;

Here too the lariat, the Indian, the yearling.

Here too the secretive and unseen bird

That over the clamorous strains of history

Sings for one evening and its memory;

Here too the mystic alphabet, the word

Of stars which dictate to my cursive flow

Names that the days on their labyrinthine way

Will leave behind them: San Jacinto, say,

Or that other Thermopylae, the Alamo.

Here too that unknown, brief,

Needy and fretful commotion, life.

–translated by Robert Mezey

Well, he did. The world is more than we know.

Daughter #2, along with my dear DP, will pick up the slack on the blog while we are out of town, so be sure to tune in for an update on Miss Katiebelle, fashion-setting trendsetter of the daycare set.

And pray for traveling mercies as we launch ourselves out into the unfurling Frontier of the continent.