Judith Fonseca Lestrange/Selected works

Selected works by 19th-century Channelier poet Judith Fonseca Lestrange

A Seaside Eulogy
Eddies ebb and flow endlessly, Capricious crabs glide to and fro, Knotted kelp for you to see— Somewhere south lies thy soul.

Hatred harkens to every plea, Like leopard seals on the prowl, Fortunes follow do believe— That thy yes are my waterfowl.

If Iasion were here my dear, He h'would think little of thee, Though then Lord Zeus struck fear— Death did set him—and me— Relieve!

Letter from the Maid
Master, I am sorry—to inform That I—cannot—come today

In the morning—when
 * I—
 * saw the sea admiring—
 * its beauty—

It called—
 * I came.

So– Perhaps you too—should Come out the house today.

On Wise Men

 * As wise men search desperately for truth,

So too, the maiden girl, by the booth. Confounded by the idiosyncrasies of life, Little children, play freely with no strife.
 * Is it truth we find in wearèd canon,

Or perhaps torn papers from dear Landon? I do not proclaim to know the truth, But probing is better than to be aloof.
 * For curious minds are ones who seek,

And gaze upon celestial spheres so to speak, But do you suppose that truth can think? I regard it as an immobile, quick blink,
 * Others insist that it shifts and moves,

Like rugged rocks smoothèd with grooves. As time wears it away to nothingness, I think wise men have no place in this.
 * For this truth flees in light of proof.

When I came down to Audbon
When I came down to Audubon, There was someone without a son, And though I knew something t'was wrong, I could not stop to talk too long.

I said 'adieu' and went along!