Monday, March 23, 2015

the forlorn maid in springtime







The Forlorn Maid in Springtime

The west wind gusts soft;
the warming sun grows.
Now earth bares her breasts
and sweetness overflows.

Spring steps decked in purple,
wearing her royal gems.
She scatters flowers on the ground,
leaves on woodland limbs.





Beasts ready birthing lairs
and gentle birds their nests,
trilling their rightful pleasure
from trees' flowering crests.

I've ears to hear such things,
and I have these eyes ---
but, oh, in place of their joys,
I am racked with sighs.





I sit alone, brooding
and chilled and drear,
and if, by chance, I look up,
nothing I see or hear.

You, though, for the sake of spring,
go listen, go learn
from leaves, from blooms and meadows.
My spirit lags. I yearn.


--- anonymous, c. 1000
(my translation)



1 comment:

  1. Levis exsurgit Zephyrus,
    et sol procedit tepidus;
    iam terra sinus aperit,
    dulcore suo diffluit.

    Ver purpuratum exiit,
    ornatos suos induit:
    aspergit terram floribus,
    ligna silvarum frondibus.

    Struunt lustra quadrupedes,
    et dulces nidos volucres;
    inter ligna florentia
    sua decantant gaudia.

    Quod oculis dum video
    et auribus dum audio,
    heu, pro tantis gaudiis
    tantis inflor suspiriis.

    Cum mihi sola sedeo
    et haec revolvens palleo,
    si forte caput sublevo,
    nec audio nec video.

    Tu saltim, Veris gratia,
    exaudi et considera
    frondes, flores et gramina;
    nam mea languet anima.

    ReplyDelete