V. Nezval (Born 1900)
V. NEZVAL
(Born 1900)
Hiss goes the rain in the rushes!
Watery sunlight is shining,
Down on a pinafore beating:
Two by two the laundrymaids go.
Watery sunlight is shining,
Down on a pinafore beating,
An apron that floats down the Seine.
Two by two the laundrymaids go,
Walking as if on a stage, like
Daughters of Israel stepping,
Holding procession, like dancers;
Delicate opera dancers
Walking like Venuses, lightly
Dancing along with a tray.
Hiss goes the rain in the rushes!
Bright like a gleaming topaz
Glitters the water. The maidens
Step to the waist in the river.
Friends from the homes by the Seine
Join in the song of the girls,
Singing like sirens, and thinking
Still, as they sing, of the fishermen,
Wrapped in the blue of the haze,
Folded in afternoon mist.
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