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‘To a Fishfinger’

As part of our series introducing you to Peter Simple, the greatest columnist who ever was, we bring you this taste of the poetry of Julian Birdbath.

Birdbath is a character in the world of Peter Simple who lives at the bottom of a disused mine, alone but for his pet toad Amiel, writing poetry.

Among Birdbath’s putative translations of Esperanto verse is this delightful ode to the fishfinger – one of my favourite poems.

To a Fishfinger

Thou shape impacted of Old Ocean’s heart,
With frost imbu’d and golden crumbs bedight,
Casual thy vending and thy worth too light:
How soon thy form symmetric must depart!
In rangéd boxes at the supermart
Thou bidest with thy fellows day and night,
Nor dream’st thou’ll’t scale some culinary height–
Who fries and serve thee needs no subtile art!
And yet for thee the stalwart seaman rov’d
’Mid tempests’ rage; and Iceland’s anger keen
Endur’d; nor glimpsed ’mid perils dire the end
Sublime: that thou, scorned digit, should’st be so lov’d
Dearer than pizza or th’ entinnéd bean,
For soliary men both food and friend!

From The Oxford Book of Esperanto Verse,
edited and translated by Julian Birdbath
Published at 7:56 pm on Thursday 1 March 2007. Categories: Peter Simple Tags: .
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