Page:The Czechoslovak Review, vol3, 1919.djvu/440
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THE CZECHOSLOVAK REVIEW
Halek’s Evening Songs
(Translated by Dr. Joseph Štýbr.)
1.
The spring came flying from afar;
With fresh desires all’s teeming;
All things pressed forward to the sun
So long all had been dreaming!
The spring came flying from afar;
With fresh desires all’s teeming;
All things pressed forward to the sun
So long all had been dreaming!
The finches flew out of their nest
And children from their bowers,
And in the meadows sweetest scents
Breathe countless little flowers.
And children from their bowers,
And in the meadows sweetest scents
Breathe countless little flowers.
Young leaves press their way from the twigs
And from birds’ throats their voices,
And in the heart with budding love
The youthful breast rejoices.
And from birds’ throats their voices,
And in the heart with budding love
The youthful breast rejoices.
2.
I am the knight from the old tale
Who proudly to far regions rode
To see the lass, fair as a rose,
And to discover her abode.
I am the knight from the old tale
Who proudly to far regions rode
To see the lass, fair as a rose,
And to discover her abode.
Who would behold her—said her fame—
Would by a ban at once be struck;
His heart would be rent from his breast,
Or he would change to be a rock.
Would by a ban at once be struck;
His heart would be rent from his breast,
Or he would change to be a rock.
Thought I to myself, possibly
For clemency there might be room.
I ventured out and for my sin—
Became a bard by rigid doom.
For clemency there might be room.
I ventured out and for my sin—
Became a bard by rigid doom.
3.
Though all the world has gone to sleep,
The heart wakes in the body,
And God himself knows that the heart
Ne’er sleeps for anybody.
Though all the world has gone to sleep,
The heart wakes in the body,
And God himself knows that the heart
Ne’er sleeps for anybody.
The whole God’s world is silence-bound,
The heart still goes, well rated,
And God himself knows that the heart
Gets never fatigated.
The heart still goes, well rated,
And God himself knows that the heart
Gets never fatigated.
Thy lips then press Thou close to mine;
From one mouth let the prayer rise—
Let me the words press on Thy lips,
And Thou send them to paradise.
From one mouth let the prayer rise—
Let me the words press on Thy lips,
And Thou send them to paradise.
Our prayer shall be strong, indeed,
Our offer purest in that case—
For angels, too, when they do pray,
Are praying just in such embrace.
Our offer purest in that case—
For angels, too, when they do pray,
Are praying just in such embrace.
Sleep is the conqueror of thought,
Night is day’s alternation—
But in the breast the heart e’er wakes
And guards its love’s sweet passion.
Night is day’s alternation—
But in the breast the heart e’er wakes
And guards its love’s sweet passion.
4.
Stars by the hundreds dot the sky
With sister Moon at leisure,
And God and angels view the world
From heaven’s height with pleasure.
Stars by the hundreds dot the sky
With sister Moon at leisure,
And God and angels view the world
From heaven’s height with pleasure.
A smiling angel’s coming down
To earth like heaven’s vision—
Fair as the fragrant breath of spring,
And love is his sweet mission.
To earth like heaven’s vision—
Fair as the fragrant breath of spring,
And love is his sweet mission.
Wherever he but passes by,
All’s stricken with sweet passion,
And nightingales and fair white doves
All sing with animation.
All’s stricken with sweet passion,
And nightingales and fair white doves
All sing with animation.
And he whom his white wing does touch
Is transformed all over,
And something sweet comes to his breast
That human words can’t cover.
Is transformed all over,
And something sweet comes to his breast
That human words can’t cover.
5.
God summoned me to Paradise
To get me educated.
“’Tis hard for me to be alone!”
The Lord then Eve created.
God summoned me to Paradise
To get me educated.
“’Tis hard for me to be alone!”
The Lord then Eve created.
He took not one rib from my breast,
My heart in half He parted.
That is why my heart still tends back
From where once Thine has started.
My heart in half He parted.
That is why my heart still tends back
From where once Thine has started.
And that is why such strange desires
So oft in my heart gather
And I feel as though both our hearts
Should grow again together.
So oft in my heart gather
And I feel as though both our hearts
Should grow again together.
And that is why when I’m away
Pain to my heart is creeping,
My foot does of itself turn back,
And I am sad—to weeping.
Pain to my heart is creeping,
My foot does of itself turn back,
And I am sad—to weeping.
6.
My sweetheart, come, kneel down with me
Now is the time for us to pray—
The moon has risen o’er the woods
And my time has just passed away.
My sweetheart, come, kneel down with me
Now is the time for us to pray—
The moon has risen o’er the woods
And my time has just passed away.
But, darling, do not clasp Thy hands;
Embrace me as I Thee with mine—
And thus, instead of clasping hands,
Two hearts will in one prayer join.
Embrace me as I Thee with mine—
And thus, instead of clasping hands,
Two hearts will in one prayer join.