European Elegies/Autumn (1)/The storm
22.THE STORM
Rent sail and rudder, roar of wind and wave,
Outcry of stricken crew, and spent pump's groan:
The last worn cable severs with a moan,
The wild sun sinks in blood, and naught can save.
Outcry of stricken crew, and spent pump's groan:
The last worn cable severs with a moan,
The wild sun sinks in blood, and naught can save.
The tempest howls in triumph; on the deck
Grey shapeless breakers raise appalling crests,
And Death's grey spirit the doomed ship invests
Like soldiers storming through a breached wall's wreck.
Grey shapeless breakers raise appalling crests,
And Death's grey spirit the doomed ship invests
Like soldiers storming through a breached wall's wreck.
Some sailors lie half-dead, inert with fear;
Some cross themselves and take a last embrace;
Some pray, that their last words may conquer death.
Some cross themselves and take a last embrace;
Some pray, that their last words may conquer death.
But one, a traveller, sits in silence near
And thinks: "How happy he who faints, or prays,
Or bids a friend farewell with pious breath!"
And thinks: "How happy he who faints, or prays,
Or bids a friend farewell with pious breath!"
From the Polish of Adam Mickiewicz.