Inscription for the tomb of Domenico Greco
This in graceful form, oh wanderer,
a solid key of jasper gleaming bright
denies to all the world the softest brush
which ever wood gave soul, or canvas life.
His name, deserving even greater breath
than Fame needs for her clarions to play,
this ground of solemn marble amplifies:
revere it and continue on your way.
Here lies the Greek. To Nature he bequeathed
his Art; to Art, his skill. To rainbows, hues.
To Phoebus, lights (to Morpheus his darks).
May this great urn, despite its hard veneer,
drink tears and all the odors in the sweat
of the Arabian tree's funereal bark.
Translated by Alix Ingber
