European Elegies/Autumn (1)/In the cemetery
7.IN THE CEMETERY
I sought the cemetery, where the sodShrouds with its green the symbols of decay—The mounds where Age lies quiet in the clodAnd Beauty is forever laid away.
I gazed upon a newly opened grave,Three feet across, a fatal fathom deep,The last cold bed that tired mortals crave,Where human thought is stilled in endless sleep.
My heart sighed bitterly in sick dismay;My clenched hands beat my bosom with a groan;My plaint paid ghastly tribute to Decay,And the dank tombs gave back a hollow moan.
From the Slovene of Simon Jenko.