And When the Murmurs...

And when the murmurs of my inner thoughts cease,
I sink into the stilled hush of sweet piety -
It's then I want you. So come to me,
Part the cold mist so I can see your face.

And can you lift the power of this night, but gently
With those large eyes, those messengers of peace?
Rise up through the shadows of space
And time so I'll see you coming -
Like a dream you come to me!

Come to me slowly... nearer and nearer,
Look down into my eyes as you lean over smiling
And if you sigh, I'll know your love is true.

Let your eyelashes near my eyelids linger
So I can sense your heart beating -
Though lost to me, I still worship you.

Când însuși glasul
English translation by Brenda Walker

From the Multitude of Masts

From the multitude of masts
Setting out with seagulls' cries,
How many will be torn apart as
Winds rise, waves rise?

Of those migratory birds
Filing land and sea with cries,
How many will be drowned as
Waves rise, winds rise?

If you throw away good fortune
Or ideals, likewise
You'll be followed everywhere, when
Winds rise, waves rise.

The subtlety of what you write
They'll never recognize,
Yet your song will sing in flight
As waves rise, winds rise.

Dintre sute de catarge
English translation by Brenda Walker

Time flows by...

Time flows by, and has passed like rivers
Since that hallowed moment we first saw each other,
Yet I'll never forget the love we had together,
You miracle, with large eyes and cold fingers.

Oh, come back! To bring words only you can inspire,
Watch over me so your gaze gently lingers,
Let me marvel at this moment that hungers
For those new words you wring from my lyre.

You're not even aware that when you're near
A great peace descends to quell my agony,
Just like the silence at the rising of a star;

If I could only see you like a child, smiling up at me,
All the suffering of my life would disappear,
My eyes rekindle, my soul grow within me.

Sunt ani la mijloc
English translation by Brenda Walker

A Dacian's Prayer - Mihai Eminescu

When there was no death, nor immortality,
Nor any seeds of light for life's entity,
There was no today, or tomorrow, yesterday, or forever,
Because life springs from one and everything was together,
When the whole earth, the sky, the air, and sea
Were among those things which had yet to be -
There was only You! So I find myself asking:
Who is this god to whom we'are all praying?

He was alone, the only god, there was no other
And for life's spark drew power from vastness of water.
He gave souls to other gods, and happiness to his creation,
Remaining for mankind the source of their salvation:
Lift up your hearts! Praise him in your belief,
He is the death of death, the resurrection of life.

And he gave me eyes so I could see the light,
And a heart that filled at every pitiable sight.
I heard his footsteps when the wind was whining,
And his loving words, in the voice of a song, -
But despite all these gifts I have one more request:
Allow me the gift of eternal rest!

Let him curse all those who now would pity me,
Let him bless those determined to oppress me,
Let him listen to any mouth that wants to insult me,
And put strength into the arm that's about to kill me,
And make first among men, he that when I'm dead
Would rob me of the stone they place at my head.

And let them chase me through life, let them harass me
Until I feel the tear ducts of my eyes empty,
And each man in this world to be my sworn enemy,
Until I no longer recognise my own body,
Until feelings turn to stone after so much agony,
Until I curse my mother, whom once I loved dearly -
For if cruel hate turned to the love that I deny,
Perhaps I'd forget suffering, and then could die.

Let me die a stranger, alone in banishment,
Let them throw my worthless corpse wherever they want.
Let the dogs rip out my heart, and to the man who incites them,
To him, Father, - give a golden diadem.
But the one who would stone my face to disfigure me,
On him, Lord, take pity. Let him live eternally.

And only then can I thank you, dear Father,
For allowing me the chance to live on this sphere.
But I'm not going to kneel and plead for gifts from you,
Just hatred and curses are what I really beg of you,
And to feel that in your breath my own breath will cease,
Then vanish in eternal emptiness, without trace!

Rugăciunea unui dac
English translation by Brenda Walker

Now It's Autumn - Mihai Eminescu

Now it's autumn, leaves roam and scatter,
Again the wind flings heavy drops against the glazing;
And you're reading old letters, tattered and fading
And retrace a whole life-time in just one hour.

With sweet trifles you enjoy such time-wasting,
You'd hate to be disturbed by a tap on the shutter;
For when it's sleeting outside, it's so much better
To dream by the fireside, sleepily nodding.

So I stay in my chair, staring into the fire,
Dreaming of old tales and a fairy queen's sighs;
Around me the mist rises higher and higher;

Suddenly the rustling of silk makes me rise,
Steps so soft, barely touched by the old floor...
Then with slender, icy hands - you hide my eyes.

Afară-i toamnă
English translation by Brenda Walker 

Years Have Trailed Past... - Mihai Eminescu

Years have trailed past like clouds over a country,
And they'll never return, for they're gone forever,
And I no longer enjoy such light endeavour
As the magic of folk songs or the land of faery

Which as a child filled me with wonder,
Not quite understood yet meaning so much to me,
And now these shadows try to recapture me
In this hour of mystery, this twilight hour.

These trembling fingers touch the strings in vain
To find the right notes from the fading memory
Of youth, so that my soul can vibrate again.

Everything's disappeared from the horizon of that distant plain
And you can no longer hear the voice of past harmony.
Behind me time gathers... and I darken!

Trecut-au anii
English translation by Brenda Walker 

So Far Away From You - Mihai Eminescu

So far away from you and lonely by the fire,
I think about my luckless life while sitting here,
I seem to be eighty, and feel that I've lived
As long a time as winter, - that you're already dead.
Memories seep drop by drop into my soul,
Awakening within me what was once trivial;
The wind taps against the pane with its fingers,
The thread of tender moments is spun and lingers,
And there through the mist you again go past me
Tears in your large eyes, slender hands, icy,
With arms round my neck, you stay clinging
As if you'd something to tell me ... then you're sobbing...
Such treasure of love and beauty I hold close to my heart,
United in kisses, sad lives kept apart...
From now on let the voice of memory always be silent,
So I'll never again remember that chance moment,
For after that moment you tore yourself away...
I shall be old and lonely, you dead for many a day!

Departe sunt de tine
English translation by Brenda Walker 

I Don't Believe in Jehovah

I don't believe in Jehovah,
Or in Buddha - or in Vishnu,
Or in life, or in death,
Or in extinction, as some do.

They are only empty dreams,
And it doesn't matter to me
Whether I live forever n this earth
Or vanish into eternity.

All such holy, pious secrets
- Mere words with a follow ring -
You try to understand in vain,
For thoughts won't change a thing.

And because I don't believe
In anything - Oh, give me some peace!
I shall do just as I like,
And you just as you please.

Don't try to change me with classics,
Or with the old and pedantic,
I don't care about any of them,
I remain what I was: a romantic.

Nu cred nici în Iehova
English translation by Brenda Walker 

The Lake - Mihai Eminescu

The blue lake of the forest
Patched now with yellow lilies,
Startled - rocks a small boat
In ever-growing circles.

And wandering along banks,
I half listen, half see
You rise up from the rushes
To lean gently against me;

Let's take the small boat,
And join the murmuring water,
I'll drop both the oars, my love,
And let loose the tiller.

Let's float, lost in the spell
Of the moon's hazy light -
The wind will whisper in the reeds,
Ripples sing for our delight!

But she never comes - Lonely
And in vain, I sigh and suffer
On the edge of that blue lake
With yellow lilies on the water.

Lacul
English translation by Brenda Walker 

Sky-blue Flower - Mihai Eminescu

"Are you deep again in the galaxy
In those clouds and the blue canopy?
Dear love, you must never forget me,
For your soul is life to me!

You build yourself images in vain
With lava rivers in the sun,
Plains of the Assyrian
Or the deepest, darkest ocean;

Time-worn pyramids, forcing
Massive peaks into the morning -
Don't go that far, searching
For happiness, my darling."

The young girl stopped chattering,
And stroked my hair smooth.
Ah! I knew it was the truth;
But just laughed, said nothing.

"Come where the wood's all green,
To where springs weep to the valley,
And the large rock hangs ready
To drop to the great ravine.

There close to the eye of the trees
Where the pool is calm and clear,
Under the still rushes there,
We'all sit on blackberry leaves.

And you'll say sweet words so wittily,
Your little mouth telling love-lies;
While I with a daisy shall surmise
How much you really love me.

And because the sun is burning
I shall be red as an apple,
And let golden hair topple
To stop those lips from talking.

And if you were to kiss my hair,
No one would ever discover
For it would always be hidden under
My hat, and who will care?

And when the moon is shining through
The branches of a summer night
You'll hold me in your arms, tight,
And I'll nestle close to you.

On a path under vaulted bowers,
When starting back home to the glen,
We'll kiss each other again and again
Just as sweetly as hidden flowers.

And when we reach the bounds of the gate,
We'll whisper together in the darkness,
No one will be thereto worry about us,
Who cares such love is my fate!"

One more kiss - then gone... After
I stand, like stone in the moonlight,
Oh, how wild are those eyes, and bright,
And so blue, my sweetest flower!

And then sweet wonder, you left,
Love died after that hour -
My flower! My sky-blue flower!
And now the whole world's bereft!

Floare albastră
English translation by Brenda Walker 

Desire - Mihai Eminescu

Come now to the forest's spring
Running wrinkling over the stones,
To where lush and grassy furrows
Hide away in curving boughs.

Then you can run to my open arms,
Be held once more in my embrace,
I'll gently lift that veil of yours
To gaze again upon your face.

And then you can sit upon my knee,
We'll be all alone, alone there,
While the lime tree thrilled with rapture
Showers blossoms on your hair.

Your white brow with those golden curls
Will slowly draw near to be kissed,
Yielding as prey to my greedy mouth
Those sweet, red, cherry lips...

We'll dream only happy dreams
Echoed by wind's song in the trees,
The murmur of the lonely spring,
The caressing touch of the gentle breeze.

And drowsy with this harmony
Of a forest bowed deep as in prayer,
Lime-tree petals that hang above us
Will fall sifting higher and higher.

Dorința
English translation by Brenda Walker

The Evening Star - Mihai Eminescu

Once upon a time if truth be told,
Once in a royal kingdom,
From a noble line in days of old
There lived a beautiful maiden.

No other child was born to her parents,
And a wonder for her years,
She was the Virgin among the Saints,
The moon among stars.

From the stately arch's dark shadow
She guides her steps to a corner
Where, through the open window
The Evening Star awaits her.

There she watches out to sea
How he rises and shines,
Pulling his dark ships silvery
Trails on watery plains.

That night she stares, and each night after,
With longing at the sky above,
And he in turn each night sees her
And slowly falls in love.

As she cradles her arm to pillow her brow
She is lost in dreaming,
Both her heart and her soul now
Cry out with deepest longing.

And every night whenever he saw her
This gentle star would kindle
When she appeared he was set afire
Upon the shadow of the black castle.

***

And step by step he follows her

Into the room then glides

To weave there with his cold fire

A spider's web of blaze.

And when the girl is ready to sleep,

He touches the hand on her breast,

Then softly closes her eyelids to keep

Those sweet eyes at rest.

And from the mirror the light poured

Down on her body like a stream

On large eyes pulsing and closed,

On her face turned towards him.

She smiled and seemed to gaze at him

As he trembled through the mirror

For he plunged deeper into her dream

To claim her soul forever.

While talking to this dream of light,

She whispered, sighing deeply,

"Come down, sweet lord, star of my night

Why don't you come? Be near me!

Descend now from the sky, sweet Lord,

Gliding to earth from night,

Come to my room, and to my mind, 

To flood my life with light."

While he listened, still flickering

His light was growing stronger,

Then just like a flash of lightning

Sank deep into the water.

And the dark sea where he had fallen

Revolved and gently surged

Until a young, handsome man

Majestically emerged.

And with a tall staff in his hand
Adorned with weeds from the sea,
He came to the window and climbed
Over the ledges lightly.

With his long, soft, golden hair,
He seemed a young emperor,
With a bluish shroud held there
By a clasp on his bare shoulder.

And pale as wax was the fine skin
In his translucent grace,
With bright eyes that sparkled in
A handsome dead man's face.

"It was hard to leave my silent sphere
In answer to your prayer,
For the sky is my father here,
And the sea, my mother.

I descended so I could enter your room
And gaze closely upon you,
From the water I was reborn
And left tranquility for you.

Oh, come back with me, my treasure,
Put your world aside!
I am that eternal star,
And you shall be my bride.

I'll take you to coral palaces
An eternity you'll stay
While all the ocean's creatures
Will promise to obey."

"You're as handsome as the angel
Of my dreams, it's true,
But on that path sweet nobleman
I cannot follow you;

Your garments and speech have a strangeness
And your eyes fill me with dread,
For they gleam while still lifeless
I am alive, you are dead."

***

Luceafărul
English translation by Brenda Walker

Tired Birds - Mihai Eminescu

All those sleepy birds
Now tired from flight
Hide among the leaves -
Good-night!

Only the springs whispers
When the wood sleeps silently;
Even flowers in the gardens -
Sleep peacefully!

Swans glide to their nest
Sheltering among the reeds -
May angels guard your rest,
Sweet dreams!

Above a night of sorcery
Comes the moon's graceful light,
All is peace and harmony-
Good-night!

Somnoroase pasărele
English translation by Brenda Walker

From the Star - Mihai Eminescu

The radiance from that new-born star
Will take many thousands of years
To travel a path that comes so far
To finally reach our eyes.

Perhaps it died while on its way
Through infinite blue space,
Yet only now does its light stray
To shine upon your face.

Slowly climbing the dark skies
Is the dead star's icon:
Invisible when it did exist,
Today, we see an illusion.

And so it is when passion's fled
Lost in the depths of night,
The light of our love, now dead,
Still haunts us in its flight.

La steaua
English translation by Brenda Walker

And If - Mihai Eminescu

And if the boughs beat the pane
And poplar trees shiver,
You're there in my mind again
Slowly coming nearer.

And if the stars beat down
On the lake to light its depths,
It's to soothe every pain
And calm all my thoughts.

And if the thick clouds part
To let the full-moon through,
It's so I'll keep you in my heart
And be eternally with you.

Și dacă
English translation by Brenda Walker 

Oh, Mother - Mihai Eminescu

Oh mother, sweet mother, from the rustling of the lime,
Let me hear you calling through the darkness of time;
From above the black stone of this sacred tomb
Autumn and wind cast willow leaves down,
I hear your voice echoed by the branches' gentle tapping...
Boughs will tap forever, forever you'll be sleeping.

When I am dead, my love, don't sit and cry for me;
But break a bough from the sweet lime tree,
And then above my head bury it with care,
Letting your eyes shed every tear-drop there;
One day upon my grave I'll sense a shadow growing,
That shade will grow forever, forever I'll be sleeping.

And if by chance it happens that both of us should die,
Within the rough stone they mustn't let us lie,
Let them dig our grave upon the bank of a river
And place us in the room of our coffin together;
And then as before, near my heart you'll be nestling...
The water will weep forever, forever we'll be sleeping.

O, mamă
English translation by Brenda Walker

Over Tops of Trees - Mihai Eminescu

The moon steps over tops of trees,
Leaves beat gently against the firs,
And from branches of the alders
A melancholy alphorn grieves.

So far off, so far off,
Very slow and very faint,
It makes my body long for death
Easing my troubled heart.

But now, why are you silent
When my spell-bound heart is torn?
Will you ever play again, sweet horn,
To recapture that moment?

Peste vârfuri
English translation by Brenda Walker 

Oh, Stay - Mihai Eminescu

"Oh stay here, stay with me,
For I love you so much!
I'm the one who hears your longings,
I'm the only one you trust;"

In the eery haziness of twilight
You seem to take the disguise
Of some prince who fathoms water
With his deep, sad, dark eyes.

For against the sound of rough waves
And grass bowing low to the crags,
I've helped you hear in secret
The canter of passing stags.

I've watched you, a changeling,
Humming softly in a dream,
While streching out a naked leg
To the sparkle of a stream.

And when you see the full moon
Across the cold blaze of a lake,
Your years seem only moments,
Sweet moments long years take."

Said the wood, in a hushed whisper,
As its arches swayed above me -
In answer I just whistled
Then rushed out merrily.

But today even if I did return
I'd only hear the emptiness.
Where are you now, childhood days,
Your wood, all you possess?

O, rămâi
English translation by Brenda Walker 

Evening On the Hill - Mihai Eminescu

Evening on the hill: the long sad alphorns sound,
Flocks climb towards stars that glisten on the ground,
Springs weep crystal tears, and then I see
You, by the willow, my love, waiting there for me.

Saintly and pure, the full moon glides
While your large eyes gaze at the last of the leaves,
Dewy stars are born on the clear firmament,
In your breast so much longing, in your mind, content.

Clouds flow by, carving light as it streams,
Houses raise to the moon their old roofbeams,
The balance of the shaduf creaks in the wind,
Smoke drifts from the valley, pipes murmur in the fold.

And tired men with scythes, carried high on the shoulder
Return from the field, the call to prayer gets louder,
The bell from the old church fills the evening haze,
My soul suddenly flares with love - a white-hot blaze.

Now it won't be long before dumbness strikes the valley,
Now it won't be long and then I'll have you near me,
We'll stay the whole night beneath the willow tree,
And hour by hour I'll whisper how much you mean to me!

And then you'll rest your head close against mine
And smiling, we'll sleep beneath the vaulted frame
Of the ancient willow -  a golden night of splendour!
Who wouldn't give up his life for such treasure?

Sara pe deal
English translation by Brenda Walker