Translation:Follow the Angel

by Teofil Lenartowicz

Angel, I will follow you by Jacek Malczewski, a painting inspired by the poem of Teofil Lenartowicz, just like the triptych Follow the Angel, (parts of the triptych: the left, the center i the right).

Angel! I will follow you,
I will leave mother and father,
And the brother with whom I play,
I will not take anything with me.
I will leave the garden, trees
And our quiet cubby, ^[1]
My plaited cradle,
At which the mother me sings,
A little sister in diapers,
Who can't speak yet
A stick with a goat ^[2] with bone's beard,
On which I ride outside.
I will leave even a dress
And so in little shirt, as I stand,
My silver – I will give you a hand
And we're gonna go away together.

        If bandits somewhere will surprise us
Or dark hailstorm cloud,
Your wings will surround me
And I will hide under the feathers.
If me legs will pass out
Or tired I will take a nap,
You will carry me in turn
And to lower on the ground again.
When will be close to dawn, ^[3]
We will hum songs to heavens,
At evening we will go on a stubble field
For golden wheat ears.
And when night will cover the earth
And the bright stars will light up,
I will throw my arms around your neck ^[4]
I will tilt the little head and fall asleep.

1. Or „And our quiet little room,”
2. A stick with a goat – A goat's head on a stick (type of wooden toy), but literally: „Stick with grandfather”, from the shape of the head, (sometimes human-animal).
3. When will be close to sunrise,
4. Literally: „I will hold you by the neck” (but the sense seems to be closer to „złapię cię za kark”); or maybe: „I'll hold your neck,”