For where men look for fruit they graff the tree, And study still the rising plant to train; And artist uses to refine the gold Designed by him the precious gem to hold. 1823, William Stewart Rose, Orlando Furioso, translation of original by Ludovico Ariosto:
Truly, said Pantagruel, if I live to go home--which I hope will be speedily, God willing--I'll set off and graff some in my garden in Touraine, by the banks of the Loire, and will call them bon-Christian or good-Christian pears, for I never saw better Christians than are these good Papimans. 1653-1694, Thomas Urquhart, Peter Anthony Motteux, Gargantua and Pantagruel, translation of original by Francois Rabelais, Book IV:
Whilst living in Squatopolis, I remember returning home with a bag of sweaty skip, and finding him graffing a huge piece on to one wall: the squat logo being smashed with a fist surrounded by the words “Better Let Homes Rot Than Squat”. 2019, George F., “Down with the Shitness”, in Good Times in Dystopia, New Alresford, Hampshire: Zero Books, →ISBN:
There’s nothing like heat in this light. There’s only what I’m graffing—the swirls and orbs and flecks and tags, the pictures I’m making for Stefan. 2014, Beth Kephart, “SO36”, in Going Over, San Francisco, Calif.: Chronicle Books, →ISBN, page 9:
Just two days ago, I had graffed a piece with my crew and went to Sunrise High School. 2011 March 18, Mary A. Monroe, “The Long Drive”, in Tagger: Graffiti Was His Life – and Soul, Bloomington, Ind.: AuthorHouse, →ISBN, page 49:
Were I not hooked-up, and old enough to be her father, I'd be stalking Alyssa Rosenberg because of the following graff:[…] 2008 September 19, Ta-Nehisi Coates, “Why is Hollywood ignoring She-Hulk?”, in The Atlantic: