Red Priest Among Gods
(Vivaldi's Autumn Sonnet)

Plentiful harvest and
the ploughmen
make merry,
carousing in song and dance.
The wine god smiles,
pours out his blessing
with a liberality that
speeds away all care.

At length
Bacchus and the autumn air
beckon conspire
the mirth of the grape dissolves
into peaceful languor.
Song and dance are cast aside
as the ploughmen surrender
to sleep.

---------------------

Early morning and
hunters burst forth

greet the November dawn with
guns dogs the call of a horn such

noise a lone stag

flies in terror furious chase

beast run to ground--
He attempts a
half-hearted escape.
At last overcome,
the oppressed embraces death.

(Image: Valazquez: The Feast of Bacchus [The Drunkards] )