The poems have been selected internationally: there are poems in more than 30 different languages. This is an example, featuring William Shakespeare's Sonnet #30.
Leiden CityPoem: Sonnet #30, Shakespeare
They started in 1992. ‘They’ are the Stichting TEGEN-BEELD. Their idea was: let’s get poems on the walls, in the public realm, in the city of Leiden. More than 13 years later, they say that they are ready. By now, no less than 101 poems can be found in the city of Leiden.
The initiators hope that passers-by will be inspired by the text and the visual image of the poem. Many different writings refer to the many different cultures. Many poems reflect on language, colour or poethood. Most poems have a sign underneath them, translating the poem into Dutch and English.
Leiden has always been a city of writers. Many well known Dutch writers (such as Piet Paaltjens, J.C. Bloem, Maarten Biesheuvel, Jan Wolkers and Maarten ’t Hart) lived or studied in Leiden. Leiden houses the oldest university of The Netherlands, being founded in 1574 by William of Orange, and has drawn many scientists for centuries from all over the world.
The international character of the Leiden CityPoem project underlines this. It has poems in Afrikaans, Arabic, Basque, Buginese, Catalan, Chinese, Creek, Czech, Dutch, English, French, Frisian, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Ancient Javanese, Latin, Latvian, Moroccan, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Sanskrit, Spanish, Surinam, Swedish, Turkish, and Urdu.
Today we feature one of these many poems in Leiden, and why not start with the world’s perhaps most famous poet: William Shakespeare.
More information about the Leiden CityPoem project:
> http://www.muurgedichten.nl/wallpoems.html, a website that has all the 101 poems in different languages online, and provides background information.
> For more on Leiden as writer's city, see: Leiden Book Swanks
When to the sessions of sweet silent thought
I summon up remembrance of things past,
I sigh the lack of many a thing I sought,
And with old woes new wail my dear time's waste;
Then can I drown an eye, unused to flow,
For precious friends hid in death's dateless night,
And weep afresh love's long-since-cancelled woe,
And moan th' expense of many a vanished sight;
Then can I grieve at grievances foregone,
And heavily from woe to woe tell o'er
The sad account of fore-bemoanèd moan,
Which I new pay as if not paid before.
But if the while I think on thee, dear friend,
All losses are restored and sorrows end.
About the author
William Shakespeare (1564 –1616) was an English poet and playwright widely regarded as the greatest writer of the English language, as well as one of the greatest in Western literature, and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He wrote about thirty-eight plays and 154 sonnets, as well as a variety of other poems. Already a popular writer in his own lifetime, Shakespeare's reputation became increasingly celebrated after his death and his work adulated by numerous prominent cultural figures through the centuries. In addition, Shakespeare is the most quoted writer in the literature and history of the English-speaking world. He is often considered to be England's national poet and is sometimes referred to as the "Bard of Avon" (or simply "The Bard") or the "Swan of Avon".
Shakespeare is is counted among the very few playwrights who have excelled in both tragedy and comedy, and his plays combine popular appeal with complex characterisation, poetic grandeur and philosophical depth.
Shakespeare's sonnets are a collection of 154 poems that deal with such themes as love, beauty, and mortality. All but two first appeared in the 1609 publication entitled Shakespeare's Sonnets. The Sonnets were written over a number of years, probably beginning in the early 1590s.
The conditions under which the sonnets were published are unclear. The 1609 text is dedicated to one "Mr. W.H.", who is described as "the only begetter" of the poems in the dedication. It is unknown if the dedication was written by Shakespeare or Thomas Thorpe, the publisher. It is also unknown who this man was, although there are many theories, including those who believe him to be the young man featured in the sonnets. In addition, it is not known whether the publication of the sonnets was even authorised by Shakespeare.
(Abstract from WikiPedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakespeare)
Inspiring Cities Museum of CityPoems
Inspiring Cities has collected many citypoems over the years, as well as organized salons with citypoets and cities doing special projects. We have two criteria for what a citypoem is: the intention must be poetic, and it must be in the public realm of cities. Shapes, form and locations can and do differ.
The Museum of CityPoems has citypoems from cities all over the world. From Alhambra to Zonnebeke, from Taipei to Lima.
Got one yourself? Mail us your pictures (free of rights) and description, and we will publish.