LARA.
CANTO THE FIRST.
I.
The Serfs are glad through Lara's wide domain,
And slavery half forgets her feudal chain;
He, their unhoped, but unforgotten lord —
The long self-exiled chieftain is restored:
......
Too proud to die; broken and blind he died
The darkest way, and did not turn away,
A cold kind man brave in his narrow pride
On that darkest day, Oh, forever may
He lie lightly, at last, on the last, crossed
Hill, under the grass, in love, and there grow
Young among the long flocks, and never lie lost
Or still all the numberless days of his death, though
......
Let them bury your big eyes
In the secret earth securely,
Your thin fingers, and your fair,
Soft, indefinite-colored hair,—
All of these in some way, surely,
From the secret earth shall rise;
Not for these I sit and stare,
Broken and bereft completely;
Your young flesh that sat so neatly
On your little bones will sweetly
......
If I should die, think only this of me:
That there's some corner of a foreign field
That is for ever England. There shall be
In that rich earth a richer dust concealed;
A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware,
Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam,
A body of England's, breathing English air,
Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home.
And think, this heart, all evil shed away,
......
The sun descending in the west,
The evening star does shine;
The birds are silent in their nest,
And I must seek for mine.
The moon, like a flower,
In heaven's high bower,
With silent delight
Sits and smiles on the night.
Farewell, green fields and happy groves,
......
O Ganga, who doth not take pride in thy arms
The earthly life, scornful, is always proud of thy touch
O Ganga, who doth not take pride in thy divine alms
O thou, let the life be full of joy and happiness much.
Thou, look into our eyes; somewhere thou must be.
Now, our lives today are so uplifted anew by thy privacy
Or, into the core of our lives we seek thy eternity,
Open eyed, to manure lives, or to be heir to thy legacy.
Let us seek beauty in thee, O! let us be free from obscurity.
......
The river flows on,
Though there are murky forests
On its either side.
Ljepotice , jezerska lakomice.
Ime djevojačko ko ti dade?
Podno Skadra grada golubice.
Ti što tečeš smjerna dolje đe,
s mašćela robu peru Skadranke đevojke.
Vodom tvojom da ubijele ruho nevjestinsko.
Za ruku se s bratom Drimom držiš.
Što se zadihao od dugoga puta.
Na more se s njime spremaš poći.
Dolinom ćeš šetajuć' polako.
......
Soaring Amidst Song
sudden chance meeting
of a cheetah and monkey
then green treetop flight
Happenstance
zebra on the plain
......
it's the golden hour
young duck swimming afternoon
hard rain patters down
the sun yet shines on
duck revelry in late bath
green river frolic
drought endured so long
but blooms and smiles are coming
......