Page:The Czechoslovak Review, vol4, 1920.pdf/89
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THE CZECHOSLOVAK REVIEW
77
Antonín Sova: Eternal Unrest.
Spirited words had soaring zest,
The puny heart was frail and shy. . .
We can soar to each topmost crest,
Or linger here. The heart sobbed: Try!
And when I made endless heights my quest,
The heart wailed there below despairingly. . .
And when with the heart I sank to rest,
The eagle’s eyrie stirred me snaringly.
“LYRICS OF LOVE AND LIFE” (1907)
The puny heart was frail and shy. . .
We can soar to each topmost crest,
Or linger here. The heart sobbed: Try!
And when I made endless heights my quest,
The heart wailed there below despairingly. . .
And when with the heart I sank to rest,
The eagle’s eyrie stirred me snaringly.
“LYRICS OF LOVE AND LIFE” (1907)
Otakar Theer: Spake my heart. . .
Spake my heart unto my will:
Why rackest thou me, that I ne’er am still?
Why snappest my growth? And my leafage wrest?
Why marrest the song in each topmost nest?
Why rackest thou me, that I ne’er am still?
Why snappest my growth? And my leafage wrest?
Why marrest the song in each topmost nest?
I desire to clutch dizzily sweet breath of spring,
I desire unto summer my branches to fling,
I desire to be fragrant, to lure, rustle, flower,
I desire a sun-gold, a star-silver dower.
I desire unto summer my branches to fling,
I desire to be fragrant, to lure, rustle, flower,
I desire a sun-gold, a star-silver dower.
Spake my will unto my heart:
It betides thee well, pampered thing that thou art!
Yearlong from bliss to bliss didst thou stray;
But for me, thou wouldst know nor sorrow nor sway.
It betides thee well, pampered thing that thou art!
Yearlong from bliss to bliss didst thou stray;
But for me, thou wouldst know nor sorrow nor sway.
Are we born for struggle, or born for dream?
Are we water and vapour, or hill-top and gleam?
I am mistress, thou’rt slave, hand am I, thing art thou,
At my bidding, as taper in tempest, to bow.
“IN SPITE OF ALL” (1906)
Are we water and vapour, or hill-top and gleam?
I am mistress, thou’rt slave, hand am I, thing art thou,
At my bidding, as taper in tempest, to bow.
“IN SPITE OF ALL” (1906)
Karel Toman: The sun-dial
A house in ruins. On the crannied walls
Moss gluttonously crawls
And lichens in a spongy rabble.
Moss gluttonously crawls
And lichens in a spongy rabble.
The yard is rank with nettle-thickets
And toad-flax. In the poisoned water-pit
Rats have a drinking-lair.
And toad-flax. In the poisoned water-pit
Rats have a drinking-lair.
A sickly apple-tree, by lightning split,
Knows not if it bloomed e’er.
Knows not if it bloomed e’er.
When the days are clear, the whistling finches
Invade the rubble. Beaming, sunlit days
Liven the dial’s arc that fronts the place,
Invade the rubble. Beaming, sunlit days
Liven the dial’s arc that fronts the place,
And freakishly and gaily on its face
Time’s shadow dances
And to the sky recites in words of gloom:
Sine sole nihil sum.
Time’s shadow dances
And to the sky recites in words of gloom:
Sine sole nihil sum.
For all is mask.“THE SUN-DIAL (1913)
*) The above selection has been extracted from a volume which will appear in 1920. The translations, to the number of nearly 50, will be printed opposite to the original Czech texts.