SONNET
The
darkening tide of time has stripped us down –
Bared
to the heart, the very soul, we stand
Truly
inviolate, alone and grand,
Stark
winter trees with rigid antler-crown...
The
more our blossom blazed into the sky,
The
deeper strove our roots through sand and earth:
For
us who, free from care, face spring or death,
The
wraithlike shadows of the world swirl by...
And
still our first-known spring and all its dreaming
Holds
charmed our quiet inner life with meaning...
And
then infinity bursts into light...
Our
eyes in exultation gain the timeless
Transcending
vision of those blessed with blindness,
For
whom, though earthbound, God came into sight.
First
published in the periodical Helikon
1938, p.49; subsequently published in Boutens’ final collection Tusschenspelen (Interludes, 1942).
1 comment:
i can't find a version of the original poem on the internet, so have now included it above the translation, which is a slightly revised version of the translation i did back in the 1980s.
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