Another sonnet from the collection 'mannen utan väg' by the Swedish poet Erik Lindegren

XXV

the faithful bee hums for the shrivelled rose

the rabid dog drinks from the sunken storm’s throat

and the flying dutchman hauls his bride on board

so as to bury himself in her fury-cut hair

at the lists the lance of the black knight grows

and in the air the tragic mask of the charwoman glitters

in the dandelion pasture even the catchfly’s tar-bubbles burst

and the butterflies’ blinkers now say their final prayer

in the skies desert-singed clouds stack from verandahs

and the pulse’s tambourine makes the virginia creeper tremble

a taboo summer squirms uneasily on crystal-clear noes

the jaws of the tiger lily sink softly into the past

from the trailer of time hurrahs are flung out at death

dully garrisons rest beneath the rain’s silent leaps