Strait the passage, slender, long,
Reaching depths where visions throng.
Sinking down, you turn your eyes
Where an ice-wrought castle lies.
When from here you sink below,
Twinkling shafts of colour glow;
Someone's peeping eyes are seen —
Adamant and moonstone sheen.
There's the snowy opal; here
Budding emeralds appear.
Hearken — in these castles be
Flutes and lutes and dainty glee.
Whose may be the feet that don
Crystal shoon you gaze upon?
Ice in pillars, lustre, snow,
Dainty, flaky, pearly glow.
Strait the passage, slender, long,
Reaching realms where splendours throng;
But to find the path you need,
You must set your foot with heed.
Тонкий, узкий, длинный ход
В глубь земли мечту ведёт.
Только спустишься туда,
Встретишь замки изо льда.
Чуть сойдёшь отсюда вниз,
Разноцветности зажглись,
Смотрит чей-то светлый глаз,
Лунный камень и алмаз.
Там опал снежит, а тут
Расцветает изумруд.
И услышишь в замках тех
Флейты, лютни, нежный смех.
И увидишь чьих-то ног
Там хрустальный башмачок.
Льды, колонны, свет, снега,
Нежность, снежность, жемчуга.
Тонкий, узкий, длинный ход
В этот светлый мир ведёт.
Но, чтоб знать туда пути,
Нужно бережно идти.
«Alone, I come to the road. / The stony track gleams in the mist: / the calm night listens to God, / and star is speaking to star. All’s marvellous, grave, in the sky! / Earth sleeps in the radiant blue… / Why such pain then, such weight on the heart? / Do I regret, wait for somethin...»
«Don’t tempt me with your tender ruses, / with the return of passion’s blaze: / a disenchanted man refuses / inveiglements of former days! / My faith in faithfulness has faded, / my faith in love has passed its prime; / I won’t indugle another time / in dreams degrading and degrad...»
«I like the Lutheran service, calm and grave, / I like its ritual, solemn and severe; / the message of these bare and empty walls / I bow to, I revere. But don’t you see? Why surely you must know / that for the last time Faith is with us there. / She has not crossed the threshold yet to ...»
«At first a thought that could be brought / Into an ode of lyric soul / For the smart set is not overt / Alike a charm in a young girl. / Then on acquiring a chance / It comes evasive and talkative, / Can be perceived at a glance — / Alike a novel wife — nuance / With othe...»