And if... [Şi dacă...]
And if the poplars do not sleep
And scratch my window blind
It is because I want to keep
Your pretty face in mind.
And if the stars shine in the lake
And make its bottom bright
It is because, for old time's sake,
I need to see the light.
And if the clouds run from the sky
And leave the moon up there
It is because I'll always sigh
For you in my despair.
poem by Mihai Eminescu, translated by Octavian Cocoş
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What dreary soul... [Ce suflet trist...]
What dreary soul have given me
My folks, I can't explain,
How come it's filled up to the brim
With restlessness and pain?
What dreary soul, without an aim,
Made of a lifeless clay,
Which after many lies and tricks
Still hopes to find its way?
How come it doesn't feel the curse,
The blows that make it bow?
O, waves of the majestic sea,
Please, take me with you now!
poem by Mihai Eminescu, translated by Octavian Cocoş
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After so much time [După ce atâta vreme]
After so much time, o, baby,
When we've not discussed at all,
I think we've forgotten maybe
That our love can never fall.
But I see you now before me
How you sit, pale and sincere –
In a humble voice I ask thee,
Let me kneel like always, dear!
How I pity you, I'm shattered,
Let me kiss your hands and cheeks...
Little hands where have you wandered
All these long and dreary weeks?
poem by Mihai Eminescu, translated by Octavian Cocoş
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In the forest thick and stout [La mijloc de codru des]
In the forest thick and stout
All the birds are coming out
Of the cold and gloomy shade
Into the delightful glade,
Near the clear and little lake
Where the reeds will gently shake
And afraid of being drowned
Stick their roots deep in the ground,
Where the moon and stars will shine,
Where the birds will cross in line,
Where will stay the moon and sun,
And the swallows will not shun,
For it mirrors my dear one.
poem by Mihai Eminescu, translated by Octavian Cocoş
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Out of all the masts [Dintre sute de catarge]
Out of all the masts that sail
Far away when the sea raves
How many will be destroyed
By the winds and by the waves?
Out of all the birds that fly
Over lands with their wings
How many will be wiped out
By the waves and by the winds?
If you chase away your luck
Your ideals and your aims
You'll be followed everywhere
By the winds and by the waves.
And your thought remains unknown
When you gently sing your hymns
But is carried all around
By the waves and by the winds.
poem by Mihai Eminescu, translated by Octavian Cocoş
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Sleepy birds [Somnoroase păsărele]
Sleepy birds in trees residing
In the nests they end their flight,
Then in foliage they are hiding –
Sleep well, good night!
Only the cold springs are weeping,
While the woods their turmoil cease;
Flowers in the park are sleeping –
Repose in peace!
The white swan is gliding now to
The thick reeds, making small streams –
May the angels always watch you
In your sweet dreams!
The full moon above is gleaming
Spreading everywhere its light
All is harmony and dreaming –
Sleep well, good night!
poem by Mihai Eminescu, translated by Octavian Cocoş
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Out of the night...
Out of the night when mind is blurred,
In which all things do flow,
Our life's caresses, every word,
The twilight rays, which glow,
The night when nothing passes through
From what is doomed to die –
I wish for once in life that you
Could rise up to the sky.
And if the eyes of my caprice
Will not spread rays about,
Just look at me and hold your peace
Although their lights are out.
And if the voice that I recall
Keeps silent in the gloom,
I still can hear your loving call
From there, beyond the tomb.
poem by Mihai Eminescu, translated by Octavian Cocoș
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However many stars... [Oricâte stele...]
However many stars burn in the sky
However many sparkle in the sea,
Just by their light and by the glow we see
No one can tell how they exist and why.
It's up to you to take the path or not.
If you are good and great or stained by crime,
It's the same dust and the same ruthless time,
To be forgotten is your wretched lot.
It seems that I am dead... and at the gate
Are gathered those who want to bury me...
I'm hearing songs, the candles burn till late.
O, sweet dark shadow, come and set me free
I want to feel the death, which people hate,
With his black wings, wet lids and vicious glee.
poem by Mihai Eminescu, translated by Octavian Cocoş
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If the years passed... [De-or trece anii...]
If the years passed as we are seeing,
I'd be enraptured by her strut,
Because she harbors in her being,
"I don't know how", "I don't know what".
I wonder, has she charmed me slowly
The moment we have met just now?
Although she is a woman only,
She's different though, "I don't know how".
That's why for me it doesn't matter,
If her mouth speaks or if it's shut,
Her voice is sweet when we two chatter,
Her silence is, "I don't know what".
And thus enslaved by the same wailing,
Tread the same road and gravely vow...
Among her charms these are prevailing,
"I don't know what", "I don't know how".
poem by Mihai Eminescu, translated by Octavian Cocoş
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The Lake
Water lilies load all over
The blue lake amid the woods,
That imparts, while in white circles
Startling, to a boat its moods.
And along the strands I‘m passing
Listening, waiting, in unrest,
That she from the reeds may issue
And fall, gently, on my breast;
That we may jump in the little
Boat, while water‘s voices whelm
All our feelings; that enchanted
I may drop my oars and helm;
That all charmed we may be floating
While moon‘s kindly light surrounds
Us, winds cause the reeds to rustle
And the waving water sounds.
[...] Read more
poem by Mihai Eminescu from Poems (Poesii) (September 1876), translated by Dimitrie Cuclin
Added by Dan Costinaş
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