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An Anthology of Modern Bohemian Poetry/The Cloister Garden

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2608575An Anthology of Modern Bohemian Poetry — The Cloister Garden1912Antonín Klášterský, translated by Paul Selver

Ant. Klášterský (b. 1866).

THE CLOISTER GARDEN

O'er Prague the setting sun lies low,
Darker the cloister garden doth grow.

Darker and darker beneath our gaze;
The nuns still wander along its ways.

The bell has chimed and chillness is spread,
Thro' the gloomy gate has the last one sped.

The desolate garden, O child, behold,
To the song of the crickets the gloom doth enfold.

But what is the burthen of the refrain,
That the trees now whisper with secret strain?

As if in their branches that sway on high,
There had seized upon them a peaceful sigh.

And their song in the stillness dies sadly away,
Didst thou understand it, my child, O say?

Thou didst understand it, yea, well I know,
Thou dost kiss me with lips now in passion aglow.

"New Songs" (1901).

 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 1938, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 85 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

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