An Anthology of Modern Bohemian Poetry/By the Ocean
Růzena Jesenská (b. 1863).
BY THE OCEAN
The night is deep and dark, with starry skies,
Before me lies the ocean's vast domain;
Its organ's psalm in storm to heaven doth rise,
In mystic distance vanishing again.
And on their crests the billows are aglow
With azure eyes that haunt the depths below;
The shadows quiver, full of phantom sprites. . . .
Some black-hued ship, long sunken to its doom,
Unheard was swimming in the veils of gloom,
Where blinks the golden eye of beacon lights. . . .
Here is the ocean—with a heavenly maze
Of unplumbed secrets, dread, alluring ocean,
With clouds and worlds, with gloom of hidden ways,
Like to a ruthless law, a dream in motion,
And comforting as Death . . . .
Alone I pass,
Wherein Eternity may send a glance
On restless passion, majesty of rest!
The ship draws nigh from far away perchance. . . .
Does it behold me, in my glowing zest?
Does it not stray ? And founders not the skiff,
Which decked with garlands should for me be sent?
O dismal shores, with many a barren cliff,
By boundless ocean!
Night and gloom are blent. . . .
"When the Hour is Late" (1910).
This work is a translation and has a separate copyright status to the applicable copyright protections of the original content.
| Original: |
This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published before January 1, 1929. The longest-living author of this work died in 1940, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 83 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.
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| Translation: |
This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published before January 1, 1929. The longest-living author of this work died in 1970, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 53 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.
Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse |
