European Elegies/Autumn (2)/The burden of the night
91.THE BURDEN OF THE NIGHT
Weary, beyond the crest
Of mountains in the west,
The sun sinks down to slumber,
While in the darkening blue
The light comes glimmering through
Of star-eyes without number.
Of mountains in the west,
The sun sinks down to slumber,
While in the darkening blue
The light comes glimmering through
Of star-eyes without number.
Earth's features fade away,
And colours of the day
Are swallowed up in shadows;
Silent the marsh-bird flits
In sleepy search of its
Soft nest among the meadows.
And colours of the day
Are swallowed up in shadows;
Silent the marsh-bird flits
In sleepy search of its
Soft nest among the meadows.
Now the returning night
Has touched us with its blight
Of grief too deep for tears:
Man, whom the fates shall kill,
Must first with groans fulfil
Life's black predestined years.
Has touched us with its blight
Of grief too deep for tears:
Man, whom the fates shall kill,
Must first with groans fulfil
Life's black predestined years.
But slumber breaks the blow
That else would overthrow
The shaken heart of sorrow;
Through the still hours of sleep
Returning life-tides creep
And rally towards the morrow.
That else would overthrow
The shaken heart of sorrow;
Through the still hours of sleep
Returning life-tides creep
And rally towards the morrow.
From the Catalan of Emili Guanyavents.