The Soul Of A Century/The anniversary
THE ANNIVERSARY
The familiar road I travelled on changed before my very eyes.
Even the trees that grew before me out of the lifeless snow
Seemed not the same! In the filtering greenish light smouldered the sunset.
Like an extinct pyre of a dead, wasted day, now strangely saddened.
The horizon narrowed self with a drawn circle of steel. The night ripened.
I saw black brotherhoods of forests kneeling to the ground,
As if to pray for the dead . . . The pall of the heavens was lowered
Above my head, as if pressed and weighted down by the dusk.
The stillness that smoked from afar, fell from above and weirdly glorious
It deadened the steps . . . With whispers of awed respect quivered the voice of my soul,
(Something languishly feeble filled the air as if its freshness were absorbed
By the glowing thirst of burning tapers.)
It was a time like this, in the past when with mournful rapture I inhaled
The prolonged dying of colors and lights and listened to the music
Of approaching shadows . . . A mysterious meaning, spoke to me
Through the nearness of the night and the sighing of eternal dreams.
Today an unknown fear swept hurriedly across my cheeks, and long forgotten years
Again in my soul arose. How strange now appears my very breath,
As if some one invisible walked with me at my side.
And with a touch I knew, were to press my shaking hand.
O Holy One . . . This is the festive day in your garden of eternity.
It is a requiem my thoughts are chanting as in a billowy choir.
Mingling with the warm tears of the tapers, where crimson blood o’erflows
The chalice of eternal light, upon your black draped altar . . . . .
The breath of cold death blew a curtain of shadow into my soul
And the prayer of meditant solitude pityingly pressed my hand;
For the black-draped flowing veil of my life’s memories,
Was the downy couch, whereon forever was impressed the outline of your lifeless form . . . .
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 1929, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 94 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 |
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| Translation: |
This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was legally published within the United States (or the United Nations Headquarters in New York subject to Section 7 of the United States Headquarters Agreement) between 1929 and 1977 (inclusive) without a copyright notice. The longest-living author of this work died in 1987, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 36 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 |
