Wednesday 5 June 2019

Vilhelm Ekelund: 'Färger'

Ferries

The calm clearness of the sunset
lies like a veil of golden-brown dust,
like a quivering and warm shimmer
of rosy matt-violet.
Out of the rain-laden greyness
the sea rises. Slowly
the blue starts to play,
while farthest out
beyong the long, white strip of shore,
out towards the faintly yellow horizon
there is a rim of patinaed green.

Like a floating thin membrane
of transparent pink gold
the evening light spreads into towards the bay.
Farthest out a bow-stroke
of matt silver-coloured streaks,
smooth, melting,
then shading off
towards the warm
gently floating red.

Scarcely perceptible
the swell breathes
out of the silent stillness
against the jetty wall.

And against the background of
blue and gold-violet
I see from my boat
the fishing hamlet emerge
fine and ethereal
immobile
with all its lines floating
in the translucent,
golddust-saturated air.

*

A ship’s lantern
gleams faintly red
far,
far to the east.


It is possible to download Ekelund's collected poems in Swedish.
This poem is in volume I, pp. 74-75 



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