David Ferry
Born
in Orange, New Jersey, The United States
March 05, 1924
Died
November 05, 2023
Genre
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Bewilderment: New Poems and Translations
7 editions
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published
2012
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Of No Country I Know: New and Selected Poems and Translations
4 editions
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published
1999
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Dwelling Places: Poems and Translations
4 editions
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published
1993
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Strangers: A Book of Poems
3 editions
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published
1983
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Total Mets: The Definitive Encyclopedia of the New York Mets' First Half-Century
by
2 editions
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published
2012
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Ellery Street: Poems
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Painting Without a Brush
7 editions
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published
1991
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He Speaks: Monologues for Men
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published
2007
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On the Way to the Island
5 editions
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published
1960
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ECG in Ten Days
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published
2006
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“How long does a building stand before it falls?
How long does a contract last? How long will brothers
share the inheritance before they quarrel?
How long does hatred, for that matter, last?
Time after time the river has risen and flooded.
The insect leaves the cocoon to live but a minute.
How long is the eye able to look at the sun?
From the very beginning nothing at all has lasted.”
― The Epic of Gilgamesh
How long does a contract last? How long will brothers
share the inheritance before they quarrel?
How long does hatred, for that matter, last?
Time after time the river has risen and flooded.
The insect leaves the cocoon to live but a minute.
How long is the eye able to look at the sun?
From the very beginning nothing at all has lasted.”
― The Epic of Gilgamesh
“How long does a building stand before it falls?
How long does a contract last? How long will brothers
share the inheritance before they quarrel?
How long does hatred, for that matter, last?
Time after time the river has risen and flooded.
The insect leaves the cocoon to live but a minute.
How long is the eye able to look at the sun?
From the very beginning nothing at all has lasted.
See how the dead and the sleeping resemble each other.
Seen together, they are the image of death.
The simple man and the ruler resemble each other.
The face of the one will darken like that of the other.”
― Gilgamesh: A New Rendering in English Verse
How long does a contract last? How long will brothers
share the inheritance before they quarrel?
How long does hatred, for that matter, last?
Time after time the river has risen and flooded.
The insect leaves the cocoon to live but a minute.
How long is the eye able to look at the sun?
From the very beginning nothing at all has lasted.
See how the dead and the sleeping resemble each other.
Seen together, they are the image of death.
The simple man and the ruler resemble each other.
The face of the one will darken like that of the other.”
― Gilgamesh: A New Rendering in English Verse
“Gilgamesh wandered in the wilderness grieving over the death of Enkidu and weeping saying: “Enkidu has died. Must I die too? Must Gilgamesh be like that?” Gilgamesh felt the fear of it in his belly. He said to himself that he would seek the son of Ubartutu, Utnapishtim, he, the only one of men by means of whom he might find out how death could be avoided. He said to himself that he would hasten to him, the dangers of the journey notwithstanding.”
― Gilgamesh: A New Rendering in English Verse
― Gilgamesh: A New Rendering in English Verse