I'm putting on an AIDS ballet with my students which will be performed for other schools. There will be a prologue with facts about AIDS and three poems will be read aloud as a small part of the performance. The poems don't necessarily have to have anything to do with AIDS, I'm looking for a wistful atmosphere. I need a poem about love, about death and about hope- and perhaps also about life. We have decided to use English-language poems even though we are performing for Danish students (aged roughly 14-18). That means, however, that we're looking for something relatively simple.

I'd love to use Shakespeare, so if anyone knows of a modern "translation" online, let me know! Thanks Clare

-- Clare Ward (clare.ward@nebbegaard.dk), August 23, 1999

Answers

Clare - am I too late! There is a poem by Gary Snyder "The Trail is Not A Trail" which hints at where one can be led in life by the circumstances of life, but how ultimately the choices are the individuals. It is a very simple poem in so far as the language is concerned, but like all good poems has layer upon layer of meaning, and is one that is fitting for many circumstances, but I feel it is perhaps very appropriate for your purposes. Please let me know if you are interested and I will type it out and email for you.

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-- (John.MacPherson@btinternet.com), September 18, 1999.