"The Harp of Alfred" by Robert E. Howard (in English)

I heard the harp of Alfred

As I went o'er the downs,

When thorn-trees stood at even

Like monks in dusky gowns;

I heard the music Guthrum heard

Beside the wasted towns:

When Alfred, like a peasant,

Came harping down the hill,

And the drunken danes made merry

With the man they sought to kill,

And the Saxon king laughed in their beards

And bent them to his will.

I heard the harp of Alfred

As the twilight waned to night;

I heard ghost armies tramping

As the dim stars flamed white;

And Guthrum walked at my left hand,

And Alfred at my right.

"At Verona" by Oscar Wilde (in English)

How steep the stairs within Kings' houses are

For exile-wearied feet as mine to tread,

And O how salt and bitter is the bread

Which falls from this Hound's table,--better far

That I had died in the red ways of war,

Or that the gate of Florence bare my head,

Than to live thus, by all things comraded

Which seek the essence of my soul to mar.

'Curse God and die: what better hope than this?

He hath forgotten thee in all the bliss

Of his gold city, and eternal day'--

Nay peace: behind my prison's blinded bars

I do possess what none can take away,

My love, and all the glory of the stars.

"Autumn Days" by Lord Alfred Douglas (in English)

I have been through the woods to-day

And the leaves were falling,

Summer had crept away,

And the birds were not calling.

And the bracken was like yellow gold

That comes too late,

When the heart is sad and old,

And death at the gate.

Ah, mournful Autumn ! Sad,

Slow death that comes at last,

I am mad for a yesterday, mad !

I am sick for a year that is past!

Though the sun be like blood in the sky

He is cold as the lips of hate,

And he fires the sere leaves as they lie

On their bed of earth, too late.

They are dead, and the bare trees weep

Not loud as a mortal weeping,

But as sorrow that sighs in sleep,

And as grief that is still in sleeping.

"Como Nuvens que Passam" (Cantos VI and VII) by José Thiesen (in Portuguese)

Canto VI

     - Que vais fazer?

     - Vou para Itália, Eduardo.

     - Quando? Onde na Itália?

     - Um lugarejo perto de Rimini. Já está tudo acertado, casa, trabalho...

     - Um lugarejo perto de Rimini?

     - Isso.

     - Eu não acredito! O que houve com o mundo? Só porque mudei-me pra New York, aquele fascista ganha as eleições no Brasil, Luciano se casa com uma lambisgóia e te vais pra Itália? Mas fazer o que "num lugarejo perto de Rimini"? Então fica comigo aqui, no centro do mundo!

     - Já tenho tudo acertado com a mãe de Giorgio. Vou ficar contigo umas semaninhas, se não te importas e depois tomo o meu rumo.

     Houve uma pausa e depois ele continuou: Acredite, não estou fugindo; nem estou sofrendo. Estava apaixonado e isso passou. Ou se não passou, passará. Mas não vou ficar à mercê de uma pessoa que me quer mas quer conforto familiar mais que a mim. Agora estou indo pra Itália; um mundo novo a desbravar; não sei o que há por lá, mas estou livre para descobrir.

Canto VII

     Eu e Eduardo fomos tomando na vida rumos distintos, em todos os sentidos. Enquanto ele renovava-se tendo romance novo a cada semana, bêbado com a vida novaiorquina, eu era muito, muito mais restrito e os poucos que tive, foram - ao menos de minha parte - sempre intensos, como se fossem minha última opção na vida.

     Poucos conseguiam dar-me o troco devido.

     Giorgio foi um deles.

"Zorak’s Revenge" by Unknown Writer (in English)

art by Dan Spiegle - Space Ghost #1 – Gold Key, 1966.

"Ecclesiastes" (Chapter IV) by Qoheleth (in English)

Chapter 4

1 Again I considered all the oppressions that take place under the sun: the tears of the victims with none to comfort them! From the hand of their oppressors comes violence, and there is none to comfort them! 2 And those now dead, I declared more fortunate in death than are the living to be still alive. 3 And better off than both is the yet unborn, who has not seen the wicked work that is done under the sun. 4 Then I saw that all toil and skilful work is the rivalry of one man for another. This also is vanity and a chase after wind.

5 "The fool folds his arms

and consumes his own flesh" -

6 Better is one handful with tranquillity

than two with toil and a chase after wind!

7 Again I found this vanity under the sun: 8 a solitary man with no companion; with neither son nor brother. Yet there is no end to all his toil, and riches do not satisfy his greed. "For whom do I toil and deprive myself of good things?" This also is vanity and a worthless task.

9 Two are better than one: they get a good wage for their labor. 10 If the one falls, the other will lift up his companion. Woe to the solitary man! For if he should fall, he has no one to lift him up. 11 So also, if two sleep together, they keep each other warm. How can one alone keep warm? 12 Where a lone man may be overcome, two together can resist. A three-ply cord is not easily broken.

13 Better is a poor but wise youth than

an old but foolish king

who no longer knows caution; 14 for from a prison house one comes forth to rule, since even in his royalty he was poor at birth. 15 Then I saw all those who are to live and move about under the sun with the heir apparent who will succeed to his place. 16 There is no end to all these people, to all over whom he takes precedence; yet the later generations will not applaud him. This also is vanity and a chase after wind.

17 Guard your step when you go to the house of God. Let your approach be obedience, rather than the fools' offering of sacrifice; for they know not how to keep from doing evil.

"Manifestatis Probatum" by Pope Alexander III (in Portuguese)

     "Alexandre, Bispo, Servo dos Servos de Deus, ao Caríssimo filho em Cristo, Afonso, Ilustre Rei dos Portugueses, e a seus herdeiros, in 'perpetuum'. Está claramente demonstrado que, como bom filho e príncipe católico, prestaste inumeráveis serviços a tua mãe, a Santa Igreja, exterminando intrepidamente em porfiados trabalhos e proezas militares os inimigos do nome cristão e propagando diligentemente a fé cristã, assim deixaste aos vindouros nome digno de memória e exemplo merecedor de imitação. Deve a Sé Apostólica amar com sincero afecto e procurar atender eficazmente, em suas justas súplicas, os que a Providência divina escolheu para governo e salvação do povo. Por isso, Nós, atendemos às qualidades de prudência, justiça e idoneidade de governo que ilustram a tua pessoa, tomamo-la sob a proteção de São Pedro e nossa, e concedemos e confirmamos por autoridade apostólica ao teu excelso domínio o reino de Portugal com inteiras honras de reino e a dignidade que aos reis pertence, bem como todos os lugares que com o auxílio da graça celeste conquistaste das mãos dos Sarracenos e nos quais não podem reivindicar direitos os vizinhos príncipes cristãos. E para que mais te fervores em devoção e serviço ao príncipe dos apóstolos S. Pedro e à Santa Igreja de Roma, decidimos fazer a mesma concessão a teus herdeiros e, com a ajuda de Deus, prometemos defender-lha, quanto caiba em nosso apóstolico magistério."