301c. 1862 / 1890

I reason, Earth is short –
And Anguish – absolute –
And many hurt,
But, what of that?

I reason, we could die –
The best Vitality
Cannot excel Decay,
But, what of that?

I reason, that in Heaven –
Somehow, it will be even –
Some new Equation, given –
But, what of that?

301  MarnostJH77

Přemítám –
  země je malá,
a úzkost bez mezí
a bolesti bez počtu.
Ale k čemu to vše?

Přemítám –
  máme zemřít,
život nejplnější
rozkladu nezabrání.
Ale k čemu to vše?

Přemítám –
  „na nebesích“
vše se nějak znova
možná srovná.
Ale k čemu to vše!

301EK06

Říkám si, jsme tu krátce –
a muka nepomíjí
a spousta křivd –
a co má být?

Říkám si, smrt nás čeká –
žádná chuť do života
rozkladu neodolá,
a co má být?

Říkám si, možná v ráji
se věci vyrovnají
a nově poskládají –
a co má být?

302c. 1862 / 1914

Like Some Old fashioned Miracle
When Summertime is done –
Seems Summer’s Recollection
And the Affairs of June

As infinite Tradition
As Cinderella’s Bays –
Or Little John – of Lincoln Green –
Or Blue Beard’s Galleries –

Her Bees have a fictitious Hum –
Her Blossoms, like a Dream –
Elate us – till we almost weep –
So plausible – they seem –

Her Memories like Strains – Review –
When Orchestra is dumb –
The Violin in Baize replaced –
And Ear – and Heaven – numb –

303c. 1862 / 1890

The Soul selects her own Society –
Then – shuts the Door –
To her divine Majority –
Present no more –

Unmoved – she notes the Chariots – pausing –
At her low Gate –
Unmoved – an Emperor be kneeling
Upon her Mat –

I’ve known her – from an ample nation –
Choose One –
Then – close the Valves of her attention –
Like Stone –

303  VyvoleníJH77

Duše si vybírá pro sebe společnost,
pak dveře zavírá;
a její božské vznešenosti
již nikdo se nevtírá.

Nehnutě pozoruje, jak kočár čeká
u jejích nízkých vrat;
nehnutě císař kleká
na její práh.

Viděla jsem, jak z velkého národa
jednomu jen dá znamení;
pak zavře víčka své pozornosti
a znova zkamení.

303  Duša si zvolí spoločnosťMR83

Duša si zvolí spoločnosť
a dvere pribuchne.
K božskému kruhu nový hosť
sotva už pribudne.

Ňou nepohne, že zastal koč
blízko jej nízkych vrát,
ňou nepohne, že pokľakol
vladár na mäkký prah.

Len na jedného zo všetkých
pozornosť zameria.
Zatvorí zmysly, do sfér tmy
letí jak z kameňa.

303JŠ99

Duše si zvolí společníky –
pak zavře vchod.
Další její vznešenosti
nejsou už vhod.

Lhostejná, kdyby skvělý kočár
u branky stál,
lhostejná, kdyby na rohoži
klečel sám král.

Viděla jsem, jak ze všech vpouští
jen jednoho –
pak spadla víčka pozornosti
jak olovo.

304c. 1862 / 1891

The Day came slow – till Five o’clock –
Then sprang before the Hills
Like Hindered Rubies – or the Light
A Sudden Musket – spills –

The Purple could not keep the East –
The Sunrise shook abroad
Like Breadths of Topaz – packed a Night –
The Lady just unrolled –

The Happy Winds – their Timbrels took –
The Birds – in docile Rows
Arranged themselves around their Prince
The Wind – is Prince of Those –

The Orchard sparkled like a Jew –
How mighty ’twas – to be
A Guest in this stupendous place –
The Parlor – of the Day –

304JŠ99

Den zvolna šel – až do páté,
pak skočil přes vršky
jak skrytý rubín nebo zář,
jež blýskne od pušky.

Nach na východě nezůstal.
Slunce se prodírá
jak širý topas z balíčku,
jejž dáma otvírá.

Vánky se chopí tamburín
a ptáci ze všech stran
se seřadili za pánem –
vánek je jejich pán.

Sad rozzářil se jako žid.
Jak je to úchvatné,
být hostem v této nádheře –
návštěvní síni dne!

305c. 1862 / 1914

The difference between Despair
And Fear – is like the One
Between the instant of a Wreck –
And when the Wreck has been –

The Mind is smooth – no Motion –
Contented as the Eye
Upon the Forehead of a Bust –
That knows – it cannot see –

305  Medzi strachom a zúfalstvomMR83

Medzi strachom a zúfalstvom
je rozdiel taký istý
jak medzi chvíľou nešťastia
a časom po nešťastí.

Myseľ je mäkká, nehne sa,
spokojná ako oko
pod čelom sochy, ktorá vie,
že nevidí nič vôkol.

305EK94

Čím liší se zoufalství
a strach – přirovnat lze
snad zkázy okamžik –
a chvíli po zkáze –

mysl je hladká – nehybná –
tak spokojená je
jak oči, co na čelech soch –
vědí – že nevidí –

305EK06

Rozpoznat, co je beznaděj,
co strach – to liší se
jak zkázy okamžik
od chvíle po zkáze,

kdy mysl je tak klidná
a spokojeně dlí
jak oči, jež na čelech byst
vědí, že nevidí.

305JŠ06

Odlišnost mezi zoufalstvím
a strachem je jak ta
ve chvíli, kdy loď zaniká
a když už zanikla.

Mysl je tichá, klidná,
jak oko ve tváři
sochy už dávno smířené
s tím, že nic nespatří.

306c. 1862 / 1914

The Soul’s Superior instants
Occur to Her – alone –
When friend – and Earth’s occasion
Have infinite withdrawn –

Or She – Herself – ascended
To too remote a Height
For lower Recognition
Than Her Omnipotent –

This Mortal Abolition
Is seldom – but as fair
As Apparition – subject
To Autocratic Air –

Eternity’s disclosure
To favorites – a few –
Of the Colossal substance
Of Immortality

306JŠ99

Duše své velké chvíle
prožívá samotná,
když přítel i ruch světa
se od ní odpoutá,

či ona sama vzlétne
do nedohledných sfér,
odkud je viditelný
už jenom Stvořitel.

Ten únik smrtelnosti
je řídký – krásný však
jak přízrak, v němž lze tušit
královský majestát,

odhalení – jímž věčnost
každého nepoctí –
obrovitého zjevu
Nesmrtelnosti.

307c. 1862 / 1891

The One who could repeat the Summer day –
Were greater than itself – though He
Minutest of Mankind should be –

And He – could reproduce the Sun –
At period of going down –
The Lingering – and the Stain – I mean –

When Orient have been outgrown –
And Occident – become Unknown –
His Name – remain –

308c. 1862 / 1914

I send Two Sunsets –
Day and I – in competition ran –
I finished Two – and several Stars –
While He – was making One –

His own was ampler – but as I
Was saying to a friend –
Mine – is the more convenient
To Carry in the Hand –

309c. 1862 / 1932

For largest Woman’s Heart I knew –
’Tis little I can do –
And yet the largest Woman’s Heart
Could hold an Arrow – too –
And so, instructed by my own,
I tenderer, turn Me to.

310c. 1862 / 1924

Give little Anguish –
Lives will fret –
Give Avalanches –
And they’ll slant –
Straighten – look cautious for their Breath –
But make no syllable – like Death –
Who only shows his Marble Disc –
Sublimer sort – than Speech –

311c. 1862 / 1891

It sifts from Leaden Sieves –
It powders all the Wood.
It fills with Alabaster Wool
The Wrinkles of the Road –

It makes an Even Face
Of Mountain, and of Plain –
Unbroken Forehead from the East
Unto the East again –

It reaches to the Fence –
It wraps it Rail by Rail
Till it is lost in Fleeces –
It deals Celestial Vail

To Stump, and Stack – and Stem –
A Summer’s empty Room –
Acres of Joints, where Harvests were,
Recordless, but for them –

It Ruffles Wrists of Posts
As Ankles of a Queen –
Then stills its Artisans – like Ghosts –
Denying they have been –

311  SníhJH77

Sype se z olověných sít,
popráší celý les,
bělostnou vlnou zaplní
vyjeté vrásky cest.

Jak ptáci rozlétne se,
jak stádo tísní se,
beztížné skládá útvary
jak žonglér v cirkuse.

Proletí, usadí se
a hned se rozptýlí –
a při Kozorohu zapře,
že byl tu před chvílí.

311  SníhJŠ99

Sype se z šedých sít,
popráší celý les,
vyplní vlnou z úběle
hluboké vrásky cest.

Jak ptáci odvíří,
slétá se do houfu,
jak kejklířovy figury
usedá ve vzduchu.

Stočí se, zaváhá,
rozptýlí na místě,
schoulí se na Kozorohu
a zapře, že byl zde.

312c. 1862 / 1914

Her – “last Poems” –
Poets – ended –
Silver – perished – with her Tongue –
Not on Record – bubbled other,
Flute – or Woman –
So divine –
Not unto its Summer – Morning
Robin – uttered Half the Tune –
Gushed too free for the Adoring –
From the Anglo‑Florentine –
Late – the Praise –
’Tis dull – conferring
On the Head too High to Crown –
Diadem – or Ducal Showing –
Be its Grave – sufficient sign –
Nought – that We – No Poet’s Kinsman –
Suffocate – with easy woe –
What, and if, Ourself a Bridegroom –
Put Her down – in Italy?

313c. 1862 / 1891

I should have been too glad, I see –
Too lifted – for the scant degree
Of Life’s penurious Round –
My little Circuit would have shamed
This new Circumference – have blamed –
The homelier time behind.

I should have been too saved – I see –
Too rescued – Fear too dim to me
That I could spell the Prayer
I knew so perfect – yesterday –
That Scalding One – Sabachthani –
Recited fluent – here –

Earth would have been too much – I see –
And Heaven – not enough for me –
I should have had the Joy
Without the Fear – to justify –
The Palm – without the Calvary –
So Savior – Crucify –

Defeat – whets Victory – they say –
The Reefs – in old Gethsemane –
Endear the Coast – beyond!
’Tis Beggars – Banquets – can define –
’Tis Parching – vitalizes Wine –
“Faith” bleats – to understand!

313JŠ99

Byla bych až moc šťastná, vím –
moc domýšlivá – na chabý,
nuzný běh života,
můj malý kruh by zahanbil
můj nový obvod – zhanobil
dřívější prostší stav.

Byla bych až moc v nebi, vím –
spasená – strach moc mlhavý,
než abych mohla říct
včerejší slovo modlitby,
to palčivé – sabachthani –
tak plynně jako dřív.

Zem byla by mi až moc, vím –
a ráj – jen málo lákavý,
jen radost, žádný žal,
bez strachu, jenž ji vykoupí,
a palma – bez hrůz Golgoty
tak, Kriste – ukřižuj.

Prohra prý výhru koření,
útesy u Getsemany
zkrásňují břeh – tam dál!
Žebrák – zná výměr hostiny,
žízeň – chuť vína posilní,
„víra“ reptá – chtíc znát!

314c. 1862 / 1945

Nature – sometimes sears a Sapling –
Sometimes – scalps a Tree –
Her Green People recollect it
When they do not die –

Fainter Leaves – to Further Seasons –
Dumbly testify –
We – who have the Souls –
Die oftener – Not so vitally –

315c. 1862 / 1896

He fumbles at your Soul
As Players at the Keys
Before they drop full Music on –
He stuns you by degrees –
Prepares your brittle Nature
For the Ethereal Blow
By fainter Hammers – further heard –
Then nearer – Then so slow
Your Breath has time to straighten –
Your Brain – to bubble Cool –
Deals – One – imperial – Thunderbolt –
That scalps your naked Soul –

When Winds take Forests in their Paws –
The Universe – is still –

315JŠ99

Přejíždí po duši
jak hráči po klapkách,
než začnou hráti naplno.
Sráží tě po dávkách,
chystá tvou křehkou bytost
na úder neznámý
kladivem lehčím – zpovzdáli,
pak blíž, pak za námi –
dech může nabrat sílu,
mozek vše uvážit –
tne jedním mocným zahřměním,
jež duši obnaží.

Když vichry drží v tlapách les,
svět mlčky přihlíží.

316c. 1862 / 1932

The Wind didn’t come from the Orchard – today –
Further than that –
Nor stop to play with the Hay –
Nor joggle a Hat –
He’s a transitive fellow – very –
Rely on that –

If He leave a Bur at the door
We know He has climbed a Fir –
But the Fir is Where – Declare –
Were you ever there?

If He brings Odors of Clovers –
And that is His business – not Ours –
Then He has been with the Mowers –
Whetting away the Hours
To sweet pauses of Hay –
His Way – of a June Day –

If He fling Sand, and Pebble –
Little Boys Hats – and Stubble –
With an occasional Steeple –
And a hoarse “Get out of the way, I say,”
Who’d be the fool to stay?
Would you – Say –
Would you be the fool to stay?

317c. 1861 / 1914

Just so – Jesus – raps –
He – doesn’t weary –
Last – at the Knocker –
And first – at the Bell.
Then – on divinest tiptoe – standing –
Might He but spy the lady’s soul –
When He – retires –
Chilled – or weary –
It will be ample time for – me –
Patient – upon the steps – until then –
Heart! I am knocking – low at thee.

318c. 1860 / 1890

I’ll tell you how the Sun rose –
A Ribbon at a time –
The Steeples swam in Amethyst –
The news, like Squirrels, ran –
The Hills untied their Bonnets –
The Bobolinks – begun –
Then I said softly to myself –
“That must have been the Sun”!
But how he set – I know not –
There seemed a purple stile
That little Yellow boys and girls
Were climbing all the while –
Till when they reached the other side,
A Dominie in Gray –
Put gently up the evening Bars –
And led the flock away –

319c. 1861 / 1891

The nearest Dream recedes – unrealized –
The Heaven we chase,
Like the June Bee – before the School Boy,
Invites the Race –
Stoops – to an easy Clover –
Dips – evades – teases – deploys –
Then – to the Royal Clouds
Lifts his light Pinnace –
Heedless of the Boy –
Staring – bewildered – at the mocking sky –
Homesick for steadfast Honey –
Ah, the Bee flies not
That brews that rare variety!

319EK06

Sen, jenž byl na dosah, se nesplnil –
nebe nám uniká
jak letní včelka – dovádí
a škádlí školáka,
sedne na blízký jetel,
uhýbá – škádlí – loudá se –
a potom vzhůru do nebes
svou loďkou vyráží
a nedbá na chlapce,
jenž sklesle hledí do oblak,
vzácný med chtěl by mít –
včela, která ho může dát,
však létat neumí.

320c. 1862 / 1891

We play at Paste –
Till qualified, for Pearl –
Then, drop the Paste –
And deem ourself a fool –

The Shapes – though – were similar –
And our new Hands
Learned Gem‑Tactics –
Practicing Sands

320JŠ99

Hraješ si s hlínou –
než stačíš na perlu.
Pak skončíš s hlínou
a zhrdáš hloupou hrou.

Tvary však byly stejné
a rukám jsou blízké
taktiky s drahokamy
dík praxi s pískem.

321c. 1862 / 1890

Of all the Sounds despatched abroad,
There’s not a Charge to me
Like that old measure in the Boughs –
That phraseless Melody –
The Wind does – working like a Hand,
Whose fingers Comb the Sky –
Then quiver down – with tufts of Tune –
Permitted Gods, and me –

Inheritance, it is, to us –
Beyond the Art to Earn –
Beyond the trait to take away
By Robber, since the Gain
Is gotten not of fingers –
And inner than the Bone –
Hid golden, for the whole of Days,
And even in the Urn,
I cannot vouch the merry Dust
Do not arise and play
In some odd fashion of its own,
Some quainter Holiday,
When Winds go round and round in Bands –
And thrum upon the door,
And Birds take places, overhead,
To bear them Orchestra.

I crave Him grace of Summer Boughs,
If such an Outcast be –
Who never heard that fleshless Chant –
Rise – solemn – on the Tree,
As if some Caravan of Sound
Off Deserts, in the Sky,
Had parted Rank,
Then knit, and swept –
In Seamless Company –

321  VítrJH77

Ze všeho znění kolem mne
nic mě tak nevzruší
jako ten starý nápěv beze slov,
když větve stromů rozzvučí.

To vítr letí, jako ruka je
a prsty nebe pročesá,
pak s chvěním snese melodie k nám,
jen bozi slyší je a já.

Když vichry kolem v sboru točí se,
na dveře buší rytmem not
a ptáci vzlétnou, vytvořit
jim orchestrální doprovod,

za toho prosím stromy o milost,
může‑li kdo tak proklet být,
že pro něj tato píseň slavnostní
nezněla nikdy ve větvích,

kdy jak by karavana znění,
jež v pouštích nebe šla,
se roztrhla – a už tu není,
neb spjala se a zmizela

v bezešvém sjednocení.

322c. 1861 / 1890

There came a Day at Summer’s full,
Entirely for me –
I thought that such were for the Saints,
Where Resurrections – be –

The Sun, as common, went abroad,
The flowers, accustomed, blew,
As if no soul the solstice passed
That maketh all things new –

The time was scarce profaned, by speech –
The symbol of a word
Was needless, as at Sacrament,
The Wardrobe – of our Lord –

Each was to each The Sealed Church,
Permitted to commune this – time –
Lest we too awkward show
At Supper of the Lamb.

The Hours slid fast – as Hours will,
Clutched tight, by greedy hands –
So faces on two Decks, look back,
Bound to opposing lands –

And so when all the time had leaked,
Without external sound
Each bound the Other’s Crucifix –
We gave no other Bond –

Sufficient troth, that we shall rise –
Deposed – at length, the Grave –
To that new Marriage,
Justified – through Calvaries of Love –

322JŠ99

S vrcholem léta přišel den,
jen pro mne určený.
Takový by byl pro svaté,
až bude vzkříšení.

Slunce jak jindy vysvitlo,
jako vždy kvetl květ –
jako by nebyl slunovrat,
co mění celý svět.

Čas nebyl řečí znesvěcen –
veškerý slovní znak
byl zbytečný jak v svátosti
pro Pána jeho šat.

Každý z nás dvou – chrám s pečetí,
kde druhý směl dnes přijímat,
aby nic nezkazil,
až bude Hostina.

Čas prchal jako chvíle,
již svírá skoupá dlaň.
Tak tváře z palub hledí zpět,
jež plují do dvou stran.

A všechen čas když unikl,
navenek bez slova
druh vyměnil si s druhem kříž –
jediná zástava.

Závazný slib, že povstanem
nakonec ze země
k té nové svatbě,
kalváriemi své lásky splacené.

323c. 1858 / 1891

As if I asked a common Alms,
And in my wondering hand
A Stranger pressed a Kingdom,
And I, bewildered, stand –
As if I asked the Orient
Had it for me a Morn –
And it should lift its purple Dikes,
And shatter me with Dawn!

323EK06

Jako bych chtěla almužnu,
do rukou užaslých
mi kdosi vtiskl říši,
a já nevím co s ní.

Jako bych chtěla Orient
prosit o bílý den –
a on by zvedl rudou hráz,
a smet mě rozbřeskem!

324c. 1860 / 1864

Some keep the Sabbath going to Church –
I keep it, staying at Home –
With a Bobolink for a Chorister –
And an Orchard, for a Dome –

Some keep the Sabbath in Surplice –
I just wear my Wings –
And instead of tolling the Bell, for Church,
Our little Sexton – sings.

God preaches, a noted Clergyman –
And the sermon is never long,
So instead of getting to Heaven, at last –
I’m going, all along.

324JŠ99

Svátek se světí návštěvou mše –
já nevyjdu z domova –
ptáček vlhovec je můj chórista
a můj sad loď chrámová.

Svátek se světí v rochetě –
já mám křídla zas
a za zvon, jenž ke mši sezvání,
zní kostelníčkův hlas.

Bůh káže, ten slavný kazatel,
kázání rychle ubíhá,
tak namísto nebe až po smrti
mám je už zaživa.

325c. 1861 / 1891

Of Tribulation, these are They,
Denoted by the White –
The Spangled Gowns, a lesser Rank
Of Victors – designate –

All these – did conquer –
But the ones who overcame most times –
Wear nothing commoner than Snow –
No Ornament, but Palms –

Surrender – is a sort unknown –
On this superior soil –
Defeat – an outgrown Anguish –
Remembered, as the Mile

Our panting Ankle barely passed –
When Night devoured the Road –
But we – stood whispering in the House –
And all we said – was “Saved”!

326c. 1862 / 1929

I cannot dance upon my Toes –
No Man instructed me –
But oftentimes, among my mind,
A Glee possesseth me,

That had I Ballet knowledge –
Would put itself abroad
In Pirouette to blanch a Troupe –
Or lay a Prima, mad,

And though I had no Gown of Gauze –
No Ringlet, to my Hair,
Nor hopped to Audiences – like Birds,
One Claw upon the Air,

Nor tossed my shape in Eider Balls,
Nor rolled on wheels of snow
Till I was out of sight, in sound,
The House encore me so –

Nor any know I know the Art
I mention – easy – Here –
Nor any Placard boast me –
It’s full as Opera –

326JŠ99

Neumím tančit po špičkách –
nikdo mě nevedl.
Však uvnitř mysli nejednou
mě jásot posedl,

že kdybych znala balet,
z víru mých piruet
primabalerina zešílí
a sboru ztuhne krev.

Ač nemám šaty z pavučin
a vlasy s vrkoči
a s rukou k nebi nehopsám
jak ptáci – pro oči,

a nestáčím se do koule,
nekroužím před zraky
na kolech sněhu, zas a zas
volána diváky,

ač nevědí, že znám umění,
jímž se tu obírám,
a nechválí mě plakát –
plní se opera.

327c. 1862 / 1891

Before I got my eye put out
I liked as well to see –
As other Creatures, that have Eyes
And know no other way –

But were it told to me – Today –
That I might have the sky
For mine – I tell you that my Heart
Would split, for size of me –

The Meadows – mine –
The Mountains – mine –
All Forests – Stintless Stars –
As much of Noon as I could take
Between my finite eyes –

The Motions of the Dipping Birds –
The Morning’s Amber Road –
For mine – to look at when I liked –
The News would strike me dead –

So safer – guess – with just my soul
Upon the Window pane –
Where other Creatures put their eyes –
Incautious – of the Sun –

328c. 1862 / 1891

A Bird came down the Walk –
He did not know I saw –
He bit an Angleworm in halves
And ate the fellow, raw,

And then he drank a Dew
From a convenient Grass –
And then hopped sidewise to the Wall
To let a Beetle pass –

He glanced with rapid eyes
That hurried all around –
They looked like frightened Beads, I thought –
He stirred his Velvet Head

Like one in danger, Cautious,
I offered him a Crumb
And he unrolled his feathers
And rowed him softer home –

Than Oars divide the Ocean,
Too silver for a seam –
Or Butterflies, off Banks of Noon
Leap, plashless as they swim.

328  PtákJH77

Pták slétl na pěšinu,
nevšiml si mne hned,
překousl v půli žížalu
a syrovou ji sněd.

A když se napil rosy,
již nabídla mu louka,
zdvořile skočil stranou
a nechal přejít brouka.

Náhle mu oči blýskly,
zděšené korálky,
svůj samet rozčepýřil
a vzhlížel do dálky,

jak by se bál; já nabídla
mu drobet – leč do své výše
on domů hned se vznes
na křidelkách tak tiše,

jako když v moři vesla
jen brázdu postříbří
a motýl nezašplíchne,
když nad mez zamíří.

328  Vták zletel na chodníkMR83

Vták zletel na chodník
— mňa nezbadal za chrastím —
prehryzol v dvoje dážďovku
a zhltol obe časti.

Napil sa rosy, čo
núkala svieža tráva,
a potom skočil ku stene
— chrobák sa valil sprava.

Očká mu blýskali,
dve vystrašené perly,
na hlave sa mu šuchoril
zamat, pierka sa prchli

zo strachu … Drobila som
chlieb, aby prišiel bližšie,
ale on rozložil si krídla,
vesloval domov tichšie

než veslá po hladine,
keď more brázdu plní
striebrom, či motýľ pláva vzduchom
od poludňajších pevnín.

329c. 1862 / 1894

So glad we are – a Stranger’d deem
’Twas sorry, that we were –
For where the Holiday should be
There publishes a Tear –
Nor how Ourselves be justified –
Since Grief and Joy are done
So similar – An Optizan
Could not decide between –

330c. 1861 / 1894

The Juggler’s Hat her Country is –
The Mountain Gorse – the Bee’s!

331c. 1861 / 1894

While Asters –
On the Hill –
Their Everlasting fashions – set –
And Covenant Gentians – Frill!

332c. 1862 / 1894

There are two Ripenings – one – of sight –
Whose forces Spheric wind
Until the Velvet product
Drop spicy to the ground –
A homelier maturing –
A process in the Bur –
That teeth of Frosts alone disclose
In far October Air.

333c. 1862 / 1890

The Grass so little has to do –
A Sphere of simple Green –
With only Butterflies to brood
And Bees to entertain –

And stir all day to pretty Tunes
The Breezes fetch along –
And hold the Sunshine in its lap
And bow to everything –

And thread the Dews, all night, like Pearls –
And make itself so fine
A Duchess were too common
For such a noticing –

And even when it dies – to pass
In Odors so divine –
Like Lowly spices, lain to sleep –
Or Spikenards, perishing –

And then, in Sovereign Barns to dwell –
And dream the Days away,
The Grass so little has to do
I wish I were a Hay –

333  TrávaJH77

Tráva má tak málo na práci –
říše prosté zeleně,
jen včely se tu baví,
motýli sedí zasněně.

Čeří se po celý den k písním,
jež nese větru vání,
v náručí slunce chová,
před každým se sklání.

Jak perly celou noc navléká rosu
a má tak jemné vychování –
i kněžna vedle ní je obyčejná,
než by se člověk ohléd za ní.

A i když umírá – do vůní
tak božských pak se promění,
jak vůně nardu, který vadne,
či k spánku uložené koření.

Tráva má tak málo na práci,
když odsnívá den za dnem
ve svých vznosných senících –
jak krásné být jen senem.

3341862 / 1929

All the letters I can write
Are not fair as this –
Syllables of Velvet –
Sentences of Plush,
Depths of Ruby, undrained,
Hid, Lip, for Thee –
Play it were a Humming Bird –
And just sipped – me –

335c. 1862 / 1945

’Tis not that Dying hurts us so –
’Tis Living – hurts us more –
But Dying – is a different way –
A Kind behind the Door –

The Southern Custom – of the Bird –
That ere the Frosts are due –
Accepts a better Latitude –
We – are the Birds – that stay.

The Shiverers round Farmers’ doors –
For whose reluctant Crumb –
We stipulate – till pitying Snows
Persuade our Feathers Home.

335JŠ99

Smrt – ta nás tolik nesouží,
život – ten souží víc.
Však smrt je jiná vyjížďka –
za vrata, bez hranic –

jižní zvyk ptáků, odlétat
a ještě před zimou
si najít lepší zeměpás.
Jsme ti, co zůstanou.

Třesavci u vrat sedláků,
o jejichž skoupý chléb
žádáme – než nás soucitný sníh
přemluví odletět.

336c. 1862 / 1945

The face I carry with me – last –
When I go out of Time –
To take my Rank – by – in the West –
That face – will just be thine –

I’ll hand it to the Angel –
That – Sir – was my Degree –
In Kingdoms – you have heard the Raised –
Refer to – possibly.

He’ll take it – scan it – step aside –
Return – with such a crown
As Gabriel – never capered at –
And beg me put it on –

And then – he’ll turn me round and round –
To an admiring sky –
As one that bore her Master’s name –
Sufficient Royalty!

336JŠ99

Tvář, kterou s sebou ponesu,
až vyjdu mimo čas
si pro hodnost – tam na západ –
to bude tvoje tvář.

Podám ji andělovi:
To, pane, byl můj řád
v království, o němž vzkříšení
ti pověděli snad.

Vezme ji, zhlédne, odstoupí,
vrátí se s korunou,
v níž neplesal sám Gabriel
a jež teď bude mou.

Pak ukáže mě ze všech stran
nebi, jež zatleská,
jak tu, jež nesla pánův erb –
důstojný majestát!

337c. 1862 / 1891

I know a place where Summer strives
With such a practised Frost –
She – each year – leads her Daisies back –
Recording briefly – “Lost” –

But when the South Wind stirs the Pools
And struggles in the lanes –
Her Heart misgives Her, for Her Vow –
And she pours soft Refrains

Into the lap of Adamant –
And spices – and the Dew –
That stiffens quietly to Quartz –
Upon her Amber Shoe –

338c. 1862 / 1891

I know that He exists.
Somewhere – in Silence –
He has hid his rare life
From our gross eyes.

’Tis an instant’s play.
’Tis a fond Ambush –
Just to make Bliss
Earn her own surprise!

But – should the play
Prove piercing earnest –
Should the glee – glaze –
In Death’s – stiff – stare –

Would not the fun
Look too expensive!
Would not the jest –
Have crawled too far!

339c. 1862 / 1929

I tend my flowers for thee –
Bright Absentee!
My Fuchsia’s Coral Seams
Rip – while the Sower – dreams –

Geraniums – tint – and spot –
Low Daisies – dot –
My Cactus – splits her Beard
To show her throat –

Carnations – tip their spice –
And Bees – pick up –
A Hyacinth – I hid –
Puts out a Ruffled Head –
And odors fall
From flasks – so small –
You marvel how they held –

Globe Roses – break their satin flake –
Upon my Garden floor –
Yet – thou – not there –
I had as lief they bore
No Crimson – more –

Thy flower – be gay –
Her Lord – away!
It ill becometh me –
I’ll dwell in Calyx – Gray –
How modestly – alway –
Thy Daisy –
Draped for thee!

340c. 1862 / 1896

Is Bliss then, such Abyss,
I must not put my foot amiss
For fear I spoil my shoe?

I’d rather suit my foot
Than save my Boot –
For yet to buy another Pair
Is possible,
At any store –

But Bliss, is sold just once.
The Patent lost
None buy it any more –
Say, Foot, decide the point –
The Lady cross, or not?
Verdict for Boot!

341c. 1862 / 1929

After great pain, a formal feeling comes –
The Nerves sit ceremonious, like Tombs –
The stiff Heart questions was it He, that bore,
And Yesterday, or Centuries before?

The Feet, mechanical, go round –
Of Ground, or Air, or Ought –
A Wooden way
Regardless grown,
A Quartz contentment, like a stone –

This is the Hour of Lead –
Remembered, if outlived,
As Freezing persons, recollect the Snow –
First – Chill – then Stupor – then the letting go –

341JŠ99

Na konci muk je pocit prázdnoty.
Nervy se usadí – jak náhrobky,
strnulé srdce ptá se: „Tos byl ty?
A kdy? Snad včera, nebo před lety?“

Nohy jdou mechanicky vpřed –
šlapou zem, vzduch, či co –
jak dřevěné,
lhostejno, kam –
křemenné štěstí – pro balvan.

Toť chvíle z olova,
jež v mysli zůstává
jak v těch, co mrzli, obraz sněžení:
zprvu chlad – pak ztupělost – pak smíření.

342c. 1862 / 1929

It will be Summer – eventually.
Ladies – with parasols –
Sauntering Gentlemen – with Canes –
And little Girls – with Dolls –

Will tint the pallid landscape –
As ’twere a bright Bouquet –
Tho’ drifted deep, in Parian –
The Village lies – today –

The Lilacs – bending many a year –
Will sway with purple load –
The Bees – will not despise the tune –
Their Forefathers – have hummed –

The Wild Rose – redden in the Bog –
The Aster – on the Hill
Her everlasting fashion – set –
And Covenant Gentians – frill –

Till Summer folds her miracle –
As Women – do – their Gown –
Or Priests – adjust the Symbols –
When Sacrament – is done –

342  LétoJH77

Konečně léto je a dámy
jdou se slunečníky,
své hole mají pánové
a děti vozíky.

To zbarví bledou krajinu
do záře kytice.
Vnořena v parmském mramoru
leží tu vesnice,

zas bez se sklání pod tíhou
svých purpurových květů
a včely bzučí stále nápěv
svých dávných předků.

Divoká růže rudne v mokřině,
astry kroj nemění
a hořec opakuje stejně
své známé řasení,

až zmizí tento zázrak léta
jak šaty krásných žen
a kněz svůj svatostánek zavře –
obřad je ukončen.

342  Čoskoro leto nadídeMR83

Čoskoro leto nadíde
a páni s paličkami,
dámy so slnečníkmi a
dievčatká s bábikami

sfarbia tú bledú krajinu
a ako jasom ruží
oslepia spiace mestečko,
čo dnes sa do snov hrúži.

Orgován znova prehne sa
pod fialovou ťarchou
a včely vďačne zabzučia
nápev, čo znel už Archou.

Astra sa zjaví na kopci,
korunkou kývne horec
a divá ruža v močiari
pomaly bude horieť.

A leto čudá odloží
jak žena večer šaty,
kňaz po obrade Písmo, kríž
— a všetko sa zas stratí.

343c. 1862 / 1945

My Reward for Being, was This.
My premium – My Bliss –
An Admiralty, less –
A Sceptre – penniless –
And Realms – just Dross –

When Thrones accost my Hands –
With “Me, Miss, Me” –
I’ll unroll Thee –
Dominions dowerless – beside this Grace –
Election – Vote –
The Ballots of Eternity, will show just that.

344c. 1862 / 1929

’Twas the old – road – through pain –
That unfrequented – one –
With many a turn – and thorn –
That stops – at Heaven –

This – was the Town – she passed –
There – where she – rested – last –
Then – stepped more fast –
The little tracks – close prest –
Then – not so swift –
Slow – slow – as feet did weary – grow –
Then – stopped – no other track!

Wait! Look! Her little Book –
The leaf – at love – turned back –
Her very Hat –
And this worn shoe just fits the track –
Herself – though – fled!

Another bed – a short one –
Women make – tonight –
In Chambers bright –
Too out of sight – though –
For our hoarse Good Night –
To touch her Head!

344  StopyJH77

To byla stará cesta bolesti,
ta cesta tak málo vyšlapaná,
plná zákrutů a trní,
která se zastaví až v nebi.

Toto je město, kterým prošla;
tady se naposled zastavila,
pak rychleji vykročila –
to jsou ty těsné malé stopy.

A pak – ne tak chvatně,
pomalu – pomaleji –
jako by nohy byly unaveny,
se zastavila – už žádná stopa.

Počkej! Hleď! V její knížce
stránka s láskou je již obrácena,
ten její klobouk,
ty obnošené boty
jak padnou do té stopy –
a ona, ona – prchla.

Jinou postel, docela malou,
dnes večer ženy rozestelou
v ozářených pokojích;
ona je už příliš daleko,
aby naše chraptivé Dobrou noc
se dotklo její ruky.

345c. 1862 / 1929

Funny – to be a Century –
And see the People – going by –
I – should die of the Oddity –
But then – I’m not so staid – as He –

He keeps His Secrets safely – very –
Were He to tell – extremely sorry
This Bashful Globe of Ours would be –
So dainty of Publicity –

346c. 1862 / 1935

Not probable – The barest Chance –
A smile too few – a word too much
And far from Heaven as the Rest –
The Soul so close on Paradise –

What if the Bird from journey far –
Confused by Sweets – as Mortals – are –
Forget the secret of His wing
And perish – but a Bough between –
Oh, Groping feet –
Oh Phantom Queen!

347c. 1862 / 1890

When Night is almost done –
And Sunrise grows so near
That we can touch the Spaces –
It’s time to smooth the Hair –

And get the Dimples ready –
And wonder we could care
For that old – faded Midnight –
That frightened – but an Hour –

347JŠ99

Když noc je téměř pryč
a východ na dosah,
že můžem hmatat prostor –
je čas se přičesat

a přichystat si úsměv
a žasnout, žes kdy dal
na starou, zvadlou půlnoc,
před níž ses právě chvěl.

348c. 1862 / 1891

I dreaded that first Robin, so,
But He is mastered, now,
I’m some accustomed to Him grown,
He hurts a little, though –

I thought if I could only live
Till that first Shout got by –
Not all Pianos in the Woods
Had power to mangle me –

I dared not meet the Daffodils –
For fear their Yellow Gown
Would pierce me with a fashion
So foreign to my own –

I wished the Grass would hurry –
So – when ’twas time to see –
He’d be too tall, the tallest one
Could stretch – to look at me –

I could not bear the Bees should come,
I wished they’d stay away
In those dim countries where they go,
What word had they, for me?

They’re here, though; not a creature failed –
No Blossom stayed away
In gentle deference to me –
The Queen of Calvary –

Each one salutes me, as he goes,
And I, my childish Plumes,
Lift, in bereaved acknowledgment
Of their unthinking Drums –

348JŠ06

Já měla děs z první červenky,
však tu jsem zvládla teď,
nějak jsem jí už přivykla,
trochu mě bolí přec.

Já myslela, když budu žít,
než mine první křik,
pak žádný z lesních klavírů
mi nemá uškodit.

Já vyhnula se narcisům,
že jejich žlutý šat
by probodl mě módou
mé vlastní cizí tak.

Já poháněla trávu,
ať – až se uzříme,
je veliká, co největší,
a mne si povšimne.

Já nemohla snést příchod včel,
kéž zůstaly by pryč,
v těch temných zemích, do nichž jdou,
co mně by mohly říct?

Jsou zde však, tvor zde nechybí,
jediné okvětí,
v své něžné úctě přede mnou,
královnou Golgoty.

A jak mě v chůzi pozdraví,
já dětským chocholem
jim kynu, s bědným uznáním
těm ranám na buben.

349c. 1862 / 1945

I had the Glory – that will do –
An Honor, Thought can turn her to
When lesser Fames invite –
With one long “Nay” –
Bliss’ early shape
Deforming – Dwindling – Gulfing up –
Time’s possibility.

350c. 1862 / 1945

They leave us with the Infinite.
But He – is not a man –
His fingers are the size of fists –
His fists, the size of men –

And whom he foundeth, with his Arm
As Himmaleh, shall stand –
Gibraltar’s Everlasting Shoe
Poised lightly on his Hand,

So trust him, Comrade –
You for you, and I, for you and me
Eternity is ample,
And quick enough, if true.

351c. 1862 / 1945

I felt my life with both my hands
To see if it was there –
I held my spirit to the Glass,
To prove it possibler –

I turned my Being round and round
And paused at every pound
To ask the Owner’s name –
For doubt, that I should know the Sound –

I judged my features – jarred my hair –
I pushed my dimples by, and waited –
If they – twinkled back –
Conviction might, of me –

I told myself, “Take Courage, Friend –
That – was a former time –
But we might learn to like the Heaven,
As well as our Old Home!”

351JŠ99

Zkoumám svůj život rukama,
chci vědět, zda je tu –
přikládám k dechu zrcátko,
že chci mít jistotu.

Obracím bytí ze všech stran
a nad každou se ptám
na jméno vlastníka –
což vím, že zazní to, co znám?

Mnu v prstech vlasy – zkoumám tvář –
tlačím v ní dolíčky a čekám –
když se srovnají,
snad mne tím dosvědčí.

Říkám si: „Vzmuž se, příteli –
ten čas – je už tentam.
Snad naučíš se mít rád nebe
jako náš starý dům!“

352c. 1862 / 1945

Perhaps I asked too large –
I take – no less than skies –
For Earths, grow thick as
Berries, in my native town –

My Basket holds – just – Firmaments –
Those – dangle easy – on my arm,
But smaller bundles – Cram.

353c. 1862 / 1955

A happy lip – breaks sudden –
It doesn’t state you how
It contemplated – smiling –
Just consummated – now –
But this one, wears its merriment
So patient – like a pain –
Fresh gilded – to elude the eyes
Unqualified, to scan –

354c. 1862 / 1891

From Cocoon forth a Butterfly
As Lady from her Door
Emerged – a Summer Afternoon –
Repairing Everywhere –

Without Design – that I could trace
Except to stray abroad
On Miscellaneous Enterprise
The Clovers – understood –

Her pretty Parasol be seen
Contracting in a Field
Where Men made Hay –
Then struggling hard
With an opposing Cloud –

Where Parties – Phantom as Herself –
To Nowhere – seemed to go
In purposeless Circumference –
As ’twere a Tropic Show –

And notwithstanding Bee – that worked –
And Flower – that zealous blew –
This Audience of Idleness
Disdained them, from the Sky –

Till Sundown crept – a steady Tide –
And Men that made the Hay –
And Afternoon – and Butterfly –
Extinguished – in the Sea –

355c. 1862 / 1929

’Tis Opposites – entice –
Deformed Men – ponder Grace –
Bright fires – the Blanketless –
The Lost – Day’s face –

The Blind – esteem it be
Enough Estate – to see –
The Captive – strangles new –
For deeming – Beggars – play –

To lack – enamor Thee –
Tho’ the Divinity –
Be only
Me –

356c. 1862 / 1935

The Day that I was crowned
Was like the other Days –
Until the Coronation came –
And then – ’twas Otherwise –

As Carbon in the Coal
And Carbon in the Gem
Are One – and yet the former
Were dull for Diadem –

I rose, and all was plain –
But when the Day declined
Myself and It, in Majesty
Were equally – adorned –

The Grace that I – was chose –
To Me – surpassed the Crown
That was the Witness for the Grace –
’Twas even that ’twas Mine –

356JŠ06

Den mojí korunovace
byl jako jiné dny,
než přišla korunovace –
vše bylo jiné s ní.

Jak uhlík v uhlí je
s uhlíkem v démantu
totéž, přec byl by první
matný pro čelenku.

Vstanu, byl všední den,
však když se nakláněl,
jak já on majestátností
byl stejně okrášlen.

Čest, že jsem vybrána,
je víc než koruna,
jež byla svědectvím té cti –
je jedno, že je má.

357c. 1862 / 1891

God is a distant – stately Lover –
Woos, as He states us – by His Son –
Verily, a Vicarious Courtship –
“Miles”, and “Priscilla”, were such an One –

But, lest the Soul – like fair “Priscilla”
Choose the Envoy – and spurn the Groom –
Vouches, with hyperbolic archness –
“Miles”, and “John Alden” were Synonym –

358c. 1862 / 1935

If any sink, assure that this, now standing –
Failed like Themselves – and conscious that it rose –
Grew by the Fact, and not the Understanding
How Weakness passed – or Force – arose –

Tell that the Worst, is easy in a Moment –
Dread, but the Whizzing, before the Ball –
When the Ball enters, enters Silence –
Dying – annuls the power to kill.

359c. 1862 / 1891

I gained it so –
By Climbing slow –
By Catching at the Twigs that grow
Between the Bliss – and me –
It hung so high
As well the Sky
Attempt by Strategy –

I said I gained it –
This – was all –
Look, how I clutch it
Lest it fall –
And I a Pauper go –
Unfitted by an instant’s Grace
For the Contented – Beggar’s face
I wore – an hour ago –

360c. 1862 / 1891

Death sets a Thing significant
The Eye had hurried by
Except a perished Creature
Entreat us tenderly

To ponder little Workmanships
In Crayon, or in Wool,
With “This was last Her fingers did” –
Industrious until –

The Thimble weighed too heavy –
The stitches stopped – themselves –
And then ’twas put among the Dust
Upon the Closet shelves –

A Book I have – a friend gave –
Whose Pencil – here and there –
Had notched the place that pleased Him –
At Rest – His fingers are –

Now – when I read – I read not –
For interrupting Tears –
Obliterate the Etchings
Too Costly for Repairs.

360JŠ99

Smrt dodá věci významu.
Zrak spěchá kolem dál,
ledaže mrtvý člověk
nás něžně požádá

všimnout si pracné drobnůstky
v tužce či bavlnce –
„To dělala, než zemřela“ –
pilná až do konce,

kdy náprstek byl těžký
a zastavil se steh.
A věc pak přišla do polic,
kde zasypal ji prach.

Mám knihu – dárek druha,
jenž tužkou, tu a tam,
zatrhl milé místo.
V klidu je jeho dlaň.

A nyní čtu‑li, nečtu,
poněvadž hořký proud
rozmazává ty tahy,
jež nelze obtáhnout.

361c. 1862 / 1929

What I can do – I will –
Though it be little as a Daffodil –
That I cannot – must be
Unknown to possibility –

361JŠ99

Co dokážu – to chci,
byť je to malé jako narcisy.
Co ne – jak tohle zmoct,
nesmí být známo pro možnost.

361EK06

Co zvládnu – to udělám,
byť je to drobnost – jako tulipán.
Co nezvládnu – to chtít
si nesmím dovolit.

362c. 1862 / 1896

It struck me – every Day –
The Lightning was as new
As if the Cloud that instant slit
And let the Fire through –

It burned Me – in the Night –
It Blistered to My Dream –
It sickened fresh upon my sight –
With every Morn that came –

I thought that Storm – was brief –
The Maddest – quickest by –
But Nature lost the Date of This –
And left it in the Sky –

363c. 1862 / 1890

I went to thank Her –
But She Slept –
Her Bed – a funneled Stone –
With Nosegays at the Head and Foot –
That Travellers – had thrown –

Who went to thank Her –
But She Slept –
’Twas Short – to cross the Sea –
To look upon Her like – alive –
But turning back – ’twas slow –

363EK06

  (Elizabeth Barrettové‑Browningové)

Šla jsem k ní s díky,
spala však
na loži z kamene,
k hlavě a k nohám poutníci
jí kladli květiny.

Přišli k ní s díky,
spala však –
je snadné připlout k ní
a spatřit ji jak zaživa.
Těžší je loučení.

364c. 1862 / 1935

The Morning after Woe –
’Tis frequently the Way –
Surpasses all that rose before –
For utter Jubilee –

As Nature did not care –
And piled her Blossoms on –
And further to parade a Joy
Her Victim stared upon –

The Birds declaim their Tunes –
Pronouncing every word
Like Hammers – Did they know they fell
Like Litanies of Lead –

On here and there – a creature –
They’d modify the Glee
To fit some Crucifixal Clef –
Some Key of Calvary –

364JŠ99

To ráno po žalu –
stává se nejednou –
předčí vše, co se strojilo
až dosud na slavnost.

Příroda nemá cit –
kupí květ na květy
a postrkuje veselí
na odiv oběti.

Pták přednáší svůj zpěv,
jasnými slovy bije
jak kladivy. Kdyby tak znal,
že kov té litanie

zasáhne sem tam tvora,
přešel by z jásotu
do tónin ukřižování,
na klíč pro Golgotu.

365c. 1862 / 1891

Dare you see a Soul at the White Heat?
Then crouch within the door –
Red – is the Fire’s common tint –
But when the vivid Ore
Has vanquished Flame’s conditions,
It quivers from the Forge
Without a color, but the light
Of unanointed Blaze.
Least Village has its Blacksmith
Whose Anvil’s even ring
Stands symbol for the finer Forge
That soundless tugs – within –
Refining these impatient Ores
With Hammer, and with Blaze
Until the Designated Light
Repudiate the Forge –

365JŠ99

Sneseš žár duše žhoucí do běla?
Pak skrč se za ten roh!
Červeň – je odstín plamene.
Když ale živý kov
překoná meze ohně,
chvěje se ve výhni
bezbarvým světlem, se září
ryzího plamene.
Není ves bez kováře,
znak jehož cechu je
symbolem tiché kovárny,
jež v nitru ztvárňuje
a čistí nedočkavý kov
ohněm a kladivem
dotud, než plánovaná zář
kovárnu odvrhne.

366c. 1862 / 1929

Although I put away his life –
An Ornament too grand
For Forehead low as mine, to wear,
This might have been the Hand

That sowed the flower, he preferred –
Or smoothed a homely pain,
Or pushed the pebble from his path –
Or played his chosen tune –

On Lute the least – the latest –
But just his Ear could know
That whatsoe’er delighted it,
I never would let go –

The foot to bear his errand –
A little Boot I know –
Would leap abroad like Antelope –
With just the grant to do –

His weariest Commandment –
A sweeter to obey,
Than “Hide and Seek” –
Or skip to Flutes –
Or All Day, chase the Bee –

Your Servant, Sir, will weary –
The Surgeon, will not come –
The World, will have its own – to do –
The Dust, will vex your Fame –

The Cold will force your tightest door
Some February Day,
But say my apron bring the sticks
To make your Cottage gay –

That I may take that promise
To Paradise, with me –
To teach the Angels, avarice,
You, Sir, taught first – to me.

367c. 1862 / 1929

Over and over, like a Tune –
The Recollection plays –
Drums off the Phantom Battlements
Cornets of Paradise –

Snatches, from Baptized Generations –
Cadences too grand
But for the Justified Processions
At the Lord’s Right hand.

368c. 1862 / 1945

How sick – to wait – in any place – but thine –
I knew last night – when someone tried to twine –
Thinking – perhaps – that I looked tired – or alone –
Or breaking – almost – with unspoken pain –

And I turned – ducal –
That right – was thine –
One port – suffices – for a Brig – like mine

Ours be the tossing – wild though the sea –
Rather than a Mooring – unshared by thee.
Ours be the Cargo – unladen – here
Rather than the “spicy isles –”
And thou – not there –

369c. 1862 / 1935

She lay as if at play
Her life had leaped away –
Intending to return –
But not so soon –

Her merry Arms, half dropt –
As if for lull of sport –
An instant had forgot –
The Trick to start –

Her dancing Eyes – ajar –
As if their Owner were
Still sparkling through
For fun – at you –

Her Morning at the door –
Devising, I am sure –
To force her sleep –
So light – so deep –

370c. 1862 / 1929

Heaven is so far of the Mind
That were the Mind dissolved –
The Site – of it – by Architect
Could not again be proved –

’Tis vast – as our Capacity –
As fair – as our idea –
To Him of adequate desire
No further ’tis, than Here –

371c. 1862 / 1890

A precious – mouldering pleasure – ’tis –
To meet an Antique Book –
In just the Dress his Century wore –
A privilege – I think –

His venerable Hand to take –
And warming in our own –
A passage back – or two – to make –
To Times when he – was young –

His quaint opinions – to inspect –
His thought to ascertain
On Themes concern our mutual mind –
The Literature of Man –

What interested Scholars – most –
What Competitions ran –
When Plato – was a Certainty –
And Sophocles – a Man –

When Sappho – was a living Girl –
And Beatrice wore
The Gown that Dante – deified –
Facts Centuries before

He traverses – familiar –
As One should come to Town –
And tell you all your Dreams – were true –
He lived – where Dreams were born –

His presence is Enchantment –
You beg him not to go –
Old Volumes shake their Vellum Heads
And tantalize – just so –

371  Setkat se s knihou…OFB81

Setkat se s knihou prastarou,
toť vzácný požitek,
když ona roucho ještě má,
jež nosil její věk;

vzít ruku její, cítit v ní
teplo, jež mívala,
věk, dva se vrátit do dob zpět,
kdy mladá bývala,

zvědět těch časů zvyk a mrav,
moudrosti jejich dbát,
starou se vědou poučit
a všechno, všechno znát,

co poutávalo učence,
kam se jich zájem nes,
když současníkem Plato byl
a živ byl Sofokles,

když Sapfó dívkou bývala
a Beatrice šat,
jejž Dante potom oslavil,
nosila napořád.

Zná události předvěké
a promlouvá jak ten,
kdo sny nám divné vykládá:
Je z dob, kdy zrozen sen.

Rozkoš je její přítomnost,
chceš chutnat pocit ten;
leč kniha hlavou potřásá –
vrtkavý pergamen.

372c. 1862 / 1929

I know lives, I could miss
Without a Misery –
Others – whose instant’s wanting –
Would be Eternity –

The last – a scanty Number –
’Twould scarcely fill a Two –
The first – a Gnat’s Horizon
Could easily outgrow –

373c. 1862 / 1935

I’m saying every day
“If I should be a Queen, tomorrow” –
I’d do this way –
And so I deck, a little,

If it be, I wake a Bourbon,
None on me, bend supercilious –
With “This was she –
Begged in the Market place –
Yesterday.”

Court is a stately place –
I’ve heard men say –
So I loop my apron, against the Majesty
With bright Pins of Buttercup –
That not too plain –
Rank – overtake me –

And perch my Tongue
On Twigs of singing – rather high –
But this, might be my brief Term
To qualify –

Put from my simple speech all plain word –
Take other accents, as such I heard
Though but for the Cricket – just,
And but for the Bee –
Not in all the Meadow –
One accost me –

Better to be ready –
Than did next morn
Meet me in Aragon –
My old Gown – on –

And the surprised Air
Rustics – wear –
Summoned – unexpectedly –
To Exeter –

374c. 1862 / 1891

I went to Heaven –
’Twas a small Town –
Lit – with a Ruby –
Lathed – with Down –

Stiller – than the fields
At the full Dew –
Beautiful – as Pictures –
No Man drew.
People – like the Moth –
Of Mechlin – frames –
Duties – of Gossamer –
And Eider – names –
Almost – contented –
I – could be –
’Mong such unique
Society –

375c. 1862 / 1945

The Angle of a Landscape –
That every time I wake –
Between my Curtain and the Wall
Upon an ample Crack –

Like a Venetian – waiting –
Accosts my open eye –
Is just a Bough of Apples –
Held slanting, in the Sky –

The Pattern of a Chimney –
The Forehead of a Hill –
Sometimes – a Vane’s Forefinger –
But that’s – Occasional –

The Seasons – shift – my Picture –
Upon my Emerald Bough,
I wake – to find no – Emeralds –
Then – Diamonds – which the Snow

From Polar Caskets – fetched me –
The Chimney – and the Hill –
And just the Steeple’s finger –
These – never stir at all –

375JŠ99

Ten úzký růžek světa –
když otevírám zrak –
mezi mou zdí a záclonou
jak v silných trhlinách

benátských skel, jenž čeká
a oči osloví –
je pouze větev jablek
našikmo z oblohy.

Pak další obrys, komín,
pak čelo pahorku,
někdy – prst korouhvičky,
však ten jen pořídku.

Běh roku mění obraz.
Můj smaragdový štěp
nemá dnes ráno smaragdy.
Však démanty mi teď

sníh podal z krabic pólu.
Pahorek s komínem
a ukazovák věže –
ty stojí beze změn.

376c. 1862 / 1929

Of Course – I prayed –
And did God Care?
He cared as much as on the Air
A Bird – had stamped her foot –
And cried “Give Me” –
My Reason – Life –
I had not had – but for Yourself –
’Twere better Charity
To leave me in the Atom’s Tomb –
Merry, and Nought, and gay, and numb –
Than this smart Misery.

377c. 1862 / 1896

To lose one’s faith – surpass
The loss of an Estate –
Because Estates can be
Replenished – faith cannot –

Inherited with Life –
Belief – but once – can be –
Annihilate a single clause –
And Being’s – Beggary –

377JŠ06

O víru přijít je
víc nežli o jmění,
vždyť jmění dá se zas
doplnit, víra ne.

Zděděna s životem,
víra jen jednou je.
Zruš pouze jednu klauzuli –
a bytí nuzuje.

378c. 1862 / 1935

I saw no Way – The Heavens were stitched –
I felt the Columns close –
The Earth reversed her Hemispheres –
I touched the Universe –

And back it slid – and I alone –
A Speck upon a Ball –
Went out upon Circumference –
Beyond the Dip of Bell –

379c. 1862 / 1929

Rehearsal to Ourselves
Of a Withdrawn Delight –
Affords a Bliss like Murder –
Omnipotent – Acute –

We will not drop the Dirk –
Because We love the Wound
The Dirk Commemorate – Itself
Remind Us that we died.

379JŠ99

Soukromá přehrávka
štěstí, jež skončilo,
má v sobě půvab vraždy –
sílu a palčivost.

Dýky se nechceš vzdát,
že máš rád bodnutí,
jež připomíná. Tvoji smrt
ti staví před oči.

380c. 1862 / 1890

There is a flower that Bees prefer –
And Butterflies – desire –
To gain the Purple Democrat
The Humming Bird – aspire –

And Whatsoever Insect pass –
A Honey bear away
Proportioned to his several dearth
And her – capacity –

Her face be rounder than the Moon
And ruddier than the Gown
Of Orchis in the Pasture –
Or Rhododendron – worn –

She doth not wait for June –
Before the World be Green –
Her sturdy little Countenance
Against the Wind – be seen –

Contending with the Grass –
Near Kinsman to Herself –
For Privilege of Sod and Sun –
Sweet Litigants for Life –

And when the Hills be full –
And newer fashions blow –
Doth not retract a single spice
For pang of jealousy –

Her Public – be the Noon –
Her Providence – the Sun –
Her Progress – by the Bee – proclaimed –
In sovereign – Swerveless Tune –

The Bravest – of the Host –
Surrendering – the last –
Nor even of Defeat – aware –
When cancelled by the Frost –

381c. 1862 / 1929

A Secret told –
Ceases to be a Secret – then –
A Secret – kept –
That – can appal but One –

Better of it – continual be afraid –
Than it –
And Whom you told it to – beside –

382c. 1862 / 1914

For Death – or rather
For the Things ’twould buy –
This – put away
Life’s Opportunity –

The Things that Death will buy
Are Room –
Escape from Circumstances –
And a Name –

With Gifts of Life
How Death’s Gifts may compare –
We know not –
For the Rates – lie Here –

383c. 1862 / 1935

Exhilaration – is within –
There can no Outer Wine
So royally intoxicate
As that diviner Brand

The Soul achieves – Herself –
To drink – or set away
For Visitor – Or Sacrament –
’Tis not of Holiday

To stimulate a Man
Who hath the Ample Rhine
Within his Closet – Best you can
Exhale in offering.

383JŠ99

Rozjařenost je niterná.
Žádné z vín na světě
neopíjí tak královsky,
jak s božskou vinětou,

které jen duše smí
pít, či skrýt pod zátkou
pro hosta nebo pro svátost.
Nečeká od svátku

na povzbuzení ten,
kdo vlastní mocný Rýn
v svém sklípku – nejopojnější
kdy tobě podaný.

384c. 1862 / 1890

No Rack can torture me –
My Soul – at Liberty –
Behind this mortal Bone
There knits a bolder One –

You cannot prick with saw –
Nor pierce with Scimitar –
Two Bodies – therefore be –
Bind One – The Other fly –

The Eagle of his Nest
No easier divest –
And gain the Sky
Than mayest Thou –

Except Thyself may be
Thine Enemy –
Captivity is Consciousness –
So’s Liberty.

384JŠ99

Skřipec mě neohne –
mé nitro – svobodné.
Moje kost smrtelná
je vnitřní ztužená,

jíž pila nevadí,
nepuká pod šavlí.
Těla – jsou tedy dvě,
druhé – nic nesváže.

Z hnízda sám orel se
tak lehce nevznese
až nad mraky,
jak můžeš ty –

leda že sám se chceš
mít za škůdce.
Nevolnictví je vědomí –
svoboda též.

385c. 1862 / 1945

Smiling back from Coronation
May be Luxury –
On the Heads that started with us –
Being’s Peasantry –

Recognizing in Procession
Ones We former knew –
When Ourselves were also dusty –
Centuries ago –

Had the Triumph no Conviction
Of how many be –
Stimulated – by the Contrast –
Unto Misery –

386c. 1862 / 1935

Answer July –
Where is the Bee –
Where is the Blush –
Where is the Hay?

Ah, said July –
Where is the Seed –
Where is the Bud –
Where is the May –
Answer Thee – Me –

Nay – said the May –
Show me the Snow –
Show me the Bells –
Show me the Jay!

Quibbled the Jay –
Where be the Maize –
Where be the Haze –
Where be the Bur?
Here – said the Year –

387c. 1862 / 1929

The Sweetest Heresy received
That Man and Woman know –
Each Other’s Convert –
Though the Faith accommodate but Two –

The Churches are so frequent –
The Ritual – so small –
The Grace so unavoidable –
To fail – is Infidel –

387JŠ06

Nejsladší kacířství je to,
jež muž a žena zná,
sví konvertité.
Ač ta víra spojuje jen dva,

kostelů je tak mnoho,
tak malé obřady,
milost tak nevyhnutelná –
selžeš – jsi odpadlík.

388c. 1862 / 1935

Take Your Heaven further on –
This – to Heaven divine Has gone –
Had You earlier blundered in
Possibly, e’en You had seen
An Eternity – put on –
Now – to ring a Door beyond
Is the utmost of Your Hand –
To the Skies – apologize –
Nearer to Your Courtesies
Than this Sufferer polite –
Dressed to meet You –
See – in White!

389c. 1862 / 1896

There’s been a Death, in the Opposite House,
As lately as Today –
I know it, by the numb look
Such Houses have – alway –

The Neighbors rustle in and out –
The Doctor – drives away –
A Window opens like a Pod –
Abrupt – mechanically –

Somebody flings a Mattress out –
The Children hurry by –
They wonder if it died – on that –
I used to – when a Boy –

The Minister – goes stiffly in –
As if the House were His –
And He owned all the Mourners – now –
And little Boys – besides –

And then the Milliner – and the Man
Of the Appalling Trade –
To take the measure of the House –

There’ll be that Dark Parade –

Of Tassels – and of Coaches – soon –
It’s easy as a Sign –
The Intuition of the News –
In just a Country Town –

389  Úmrtí na malém městěJH77

Smrt přišla do domu naproti
právě dnes za jitra.
Znám dobře ten výraz strnulý,
jak takový dům má.

Sousedé všustí tam a ven
a lékař odejde.
Okno se jako letní lusk
hned prudce rozlétne.

Někdo vyhodil žíněnku;
děti se sběhly sem.
Na ní že zemřel? Diví se –
kdysi též žasla jsem.

Duchovní vstoupí upjatě,
jak by byl pánem domu
i pozůstalých truchlících
a dětí kolem k tomu.

Pak přijde švadlena a člověk
z té děsné živnosti
a berou v domě míru.
Uzříte smutnou parádu

černých stuh a kočárů –
vidíte, jak jde lehce
objevit všechny novinky
na malém městě.

389  Smrť navštívila domMR83

Smrť navštívila tamten dom,
pred chvíľou sa ta vkradla.
Poznám už pohľad meravý,
akým tie domy hladia.

Susedia vrázdia dnu a von,
doktor je na odchode.
Vtom oblok prudko ako struk
sa otvorí v tom dome.

A niekto matrac vyhodí
— deti sa k nemu zletia,
zvedavé: Na tom zomrela?
I ja som ako dieťa …

Duchovný vojde prísne dnu,
akoby tu bol pánom
a patrili mu trúchliaci
aj s deťmi von za bránou.

A za ním krajčír a ten muž,
čo vedie strašnú živnosť;
nebohej vezmú mieru a
potom sa začne slávnosť,

prehliadka kočov, čiernych stúh.
Hľa, ako dá sa krásne
predvídať, čo sa v mestečku
v jeden deň strašné stane.

389JŠ99

Dnes, právě před chvílí, přišla si smrt
naproti k sousedu.
To řekne mrazivý vzhled,
jejž má hned celý dům.

Lidé se ženou sem a tam,
lékař už odejel,
okno se otevře jak lusk,
strojově, na povel.

Pak někdo vyndá matraci,
houf kluků přiletí,
ptá se, zda na tom umíral –
jako já, před lety.

Pak vejde pastor – škrobeně,
jak by mu patřil dům
a také všichni truchlící
a malí kluci k nim.

A potom švadlena a pak muž
z té hrozné živnosti,
aby vzal míru na pokoj.

Chýlí se k slavnosti

střapců a černých kočárů.
Snadná a bezpečná
je intuice novinek
malého městečka.

390c. 1862 / 1929

It’s coming – the postponeless Creature –
It gains the Block – and now – it gains the Door –
Chooses its latch, from all the other fastenings –
Enters – with a “You know Me – Sir”?

Simple Salute – and certain Recognition –
Bold – were it Enemy – Brief – were it friend –
Dresses each House in Crape, and Icicle –
And carries one – out of it – to God –

391c. 1862 / 1935

A Visitor in Marl –
Who influences Flowers –
Till they are orderly as Busts –
And Elegant – as Glass –

Who visits in the Night –
And just before the Sun –
Concludes his glistening interview –
Caresses – and is gone –

But whom his fingers touched –
And where his feet have run –
And whatsoever Mouth he kissed –
Is as it had not been –

391JŠ99

Návštěvník v záhonech,
jenž rovná každý květ,
až mají klidný půvab soch
a elegantní lesk,

jenž v noci přichází,
nečeká na úsvit
a skončí třpytný rozhovor,
polaská – a je pryč.

Však to, nač vložil prst
a vtiskl chodidlo
a číkoli rty políbil –
je, jak by nebylo.

392c. 1862 / 1929

Through the Dark Sod – as Education –
The Lily passes sure –
Feels her white foot – no trepidation –
Her faith – no fear –

Afterward – in the Meadow –
Swinging her Beryl Bell –
The Mold‑life – all forgotten – now –
In Ecstasy – and Dell –

392DD02

Temným drnem jak vzděláním
lilie si razí cestu –
stvol svůj cítí bez zachvění
její víra bez obav –

Potom – když je na lučině
zvonkem houpe polehoučku –
život v zemi zapomene
v extázi a na paloučku –

393c. 1862 / 1935

Did Our Best Moment last –
’Twould supersede the Heaven –
A few – and they by Risk – procure –
So this Sort – are not given –

Except as stimulants – in
Cases of Despair –
Or Stupor – The Reserve –
These Heavenly Moments are –

A Grant of the Divine –
That Certain as it Comes –
Withdraws – and leaves the dazzled Soul
In her unfurnished Rooms

394c. 1862 / 1945

’Twas Love – not me –
Oh punish – pray –
The Real one died for Thee –
Just Him – not me –

Such Guilt – to love Thee – most!
Doom it beyond the Rest –
Forgive it – last –
’Twas base as Jesus – most!

Let Justice not mistake –
We Two – looked so alike –
Which was the Guilty Sake –
’Twas Love’s – Now Strike!

395c. 1862 / 1914

Reverse cannot befall
That fine Prosperity
Whose Sources are interior –
As soon – Adversity

A Diamond – overtake
In far – Bolivian Ground –
Misfortune hath no implement
Could mar it – if it found –

396c. 1862 / 1929

There is a Languor of the Life
More imminent than Pain –
’Tis Pain’s Successor – When the Soul
Has suffered all it can –

A Drowsiness – diffuses –
A Dimness like a Fog
Envelops Consciousness –
As Mists – obliterate a Crag.

The Surgeon – does not blanch – at pain –
His Habit – is severe –
But tell him that it ceased to feel –
The Creature lying there –

And he will tell you – skill is late –
A Mightier than He –
Has ministered before Him –
There’s no Vitality.

397c. 1862 / 1935

When Diamonds are a Legend,
And Diadems – a Tale –
I Brooch and Earrings for Myself,
Do sow, and Raise for sale –

And tho’ I’m scarce accounted,
My Art, a Summer Day – had Patrons –
Once – it was a Queen –
And once – a Butterfly –

398c. 1862 / 1929

I had not minded – Walls –
Were Universe – one Rock –
And far I heard his silver Call
The other side the Block –

I’d tunnel – till my Groove
Pushed sudden thro’ to his –
Then my face take her Recompense –
The looking in his Eyes –

But ’tis a single Hair –
A filament – a law –
A Cobweb – wove in Adamant –
A Battlement – of Straw –

A limit like the Veil
Unto the Lady’s face –
But every Mesh – a Citadel –
And Dragons – in the Crease –

398JŠ99

Stěny bych nedbala.
Být vesmír skalní hřbet
a kdyby jeho jasný hlas
pronikl tuto zeď,

chodbou se prolámu
k té, co on proráží.
A pak by přišla odměna –
hledět si do tváří.

Je to však pouhý vlas,
vlákénko zákona,
jen pavučina – z démantu,
bašta z trav – nezdolná,

jemná hráz závoje,
jenž halí obličej –
však jeho každé oko – tvrz
a záhyb – dračí sluj.

399c. 1862 / 1945

A House upon the Height –
That Wagon never reached –
No Dead, were ever carried down –
No Peddler’s Cart – approached –

Whose Chimney never smoked –
Whose Windows – Night and Morn –
Caught Sunrise first – and Sunset – last –
Then – held an Empty Pane –

Whose fate – Conjecture knew –
No other neighbor – did –
And what it was – we never lisped –
Because He – never told –

400c. 1862 / 1945

A Tongue – to tell Him I am true!
Its fee – to be of Gold –
Had Nature – in Her monstrous House
A single Ragged Child –

To earn a Mine – would run
That Interdicted Way,
And tell Him – Charge thee speak it plain –
That so far – Truth is True?

And answer What I do –
Beginning with the Day
That Night – begun –
Nay – Midnight – ’twas –
Since Midnight – happened – say –

If once more – Pardon – Boy –
The Magnitude thou may
Enlarge my Message – If too vast
Another Lad – help thee –

Thy Pay – in Diamonds – be –
And His – in solid Gold –
Say Rubies – if He hesitate –
My Message – must be told –

Say – last I said – was This –
That when the Hills – come down –
And hold no higher than the Plain –
My Bond – have just begun –

And when the Heavens – disband –
And Deity conclude –
Then – look for me. Be sure you say –
Least Figure – on the Road –