I didn’t think I’d ever learn to die.
Forever young and in my mantle cloaked,
My dreamy eyes I raise towards the star
Of loneliness.
When unexpectedly you glimpsed in front
Along my path, oh anguish, you, achingly so sweet...
Down to the dregs I drank the lusciousness of death
Implacable.
Dismal, I burn alive, tortured like Nessus,
Like Hercules, envenomed by his garment;
My fire to extinguish I cannot with all
The sea’s deep waters.
From my own dream, consumed I groan and sob,
On my own stake, I’m melting in the flames...
Can I renew from it, irradiant like
The ancient Phoenix?
Those vexing eyes may perish from my path
Return into my bosom sad indiference;
So that I die serenely, my own self
Restore to me!
(din volumul Testament - 400 de ani de poezie românească - 400 years of Romanian Poetry - Daniel Ionita asistat de Daniel Reynaud, Adriana Paul și Eva Foster - Editura Minerva, 2019)
Translator: Daniel Ionita
see more poems written by: Mihai Eminescu
