401c. 1862 / 1896

What Soft – Cherubic Creatures –
These Gentlewomen are –
One would as soon assault a Plush –
Or violate a Star –

Such Dimity Convictions –
A Horror so refined
Of freckled Human Nature –
Of Deity – ashamed –

It’s such a common – Glory –
A Fisherman’s – Degree –
Redemption – Brittle Lady –
Be so – ashamed of Thee –

401JŠ06

Jemná, andělská bytost
každá z dam zdá se být.
Tak dal by se plyš napadnout,
či hvězda urazit.

Co barchetových zásad,
co hrůzy z pihaté
přirozenosti lidské,
co studu před božstvem.

Toť ona prostá sláva,
důstojnost rybáře.
Kéž spása, křehká dámo,
i k vám stud prokáže.

402c. 1862 / 1929

I pay – in Satin Cash –
You did not state – your price –
A Petal, for a Paragraph
Is near as I can guess –

403c. 1862 / 1935

The Winters are so short –
I’m hardly justified
In sending all the Birds away –
And moving into Pod –

Myself – for scarcely settled –
The Phoebes have begun –
And then – it’s time to strike my Tent –
And open House – again –

It’s mostly, interruptions –
My Summer – is despoiled –
Because there was a Winter – once –
And all the Cattle – starved –

And so there was a Deluge –
And swept the World away –
But Ararat’s a Legend – now –
And no one credits Noah –

404c. 1862 / 1929

How many Flowers fail in Wood –
Or perish from the Hill –
Without the privilege to know
That they are Beautiful –

How many cast a nameless Pod
Upon the nearest Breeze –
Unconscious of the Scarlet Freight –
It bear to Other Eyes –

404JŠ06

Co květů v lese uvadá
či v stráni zahyne,
bez práva smět se dozvědět,
že jsou tak půvabné.

Kolik jich bezejmenný lusk
pohodí do vánku
a neví, že pro jiný zrak
má váhu šarlatu.

405c. 1862 / 1935

It might be lonelier
Without the Loneliness –
I’m so accustomed to my Fate –
Perhaps the Other – Peace –

Would interrupt the Dark –
And crowd the little Room –
Too scant – by Cubits – to contain
The Sacrament – of Him –

I am not used to Hope –
It might intrude upon –
Its sweet parade – blaspheme the place –
Ordained to Suffering –

It might be easier
To fail – with Land in Sight –
Than gain – My Blue Peninsula –
To perish – of Delight –

406c. 1862 / 1929

Some – Work for Immortality –
The Chiefer part, for Time –
He – Compensates – immediately –
The former – Checks – on Fame –

Slow Gold – but Everlasting –
The Bullion of Today –
Contrasted with the Currency
Of Immortality –

A Beggar – Here and There –
Is gifted to discern
Beyond the Broker’s insight –
One’s – Money – One’s – the Mine –

406JŠ99

Část – dělá pro nesmrtelnost,
větší – pro časnou mzdu.
Dnešek dává plat hotově,
ona šek na slávu –

pozdní, však věčné zlato.
Kov dnešní výplaty,
rozdílný od oběživa
dnů nesmrtelnosti,

i žebrák tu a tam
odlišit dovedl
líp než vhled finančníka.
Toť dukát – a to důl.

407c. 1862 / 1914

If What we could – were what we would –
Criterion – be small –
It is the Ultimate of Talk –
The Impotence to Tell –

407  Když naše „chtít“ by bylo „mít“JŠ67

Když naše „chtít“ by bylo „mít“,
ztratí se měřítko.
Pro řeč je vrchol výrazu,
co slova nevyřknou.

407JŠ99

Když naše chtít by bylo mít,
zmenší se měřítko.
Je konečný cíl mluvení,
co slova nevyřknou.

408c. 1862 / 1947

Unit, like Death, for Whom?
True, like the Tomb,
Who tells no secret
Told to Him –
The Grave is strict –
Tickets admit
Just two – the Bearer –
And the Borne –
And seat – just One –
The Living – tell –
The Dying – but a Syllable –
The Coy Dead – None –
No Chatter – here – no tea –
So Babbler, and Bohea – stay there –
But Gravity – and Expectation – and Fear –
A tremor just, that All’s not sure.

409c. 1862 / 1891

They dropped like Flakes –
They dropped like Stars –
Like Petals from a Rose –
When suddenly across the June
A wind with fingers – goes –

They perished in the Seamless Grass –
No eye could find the place –
But God can summon every face
On his Repealless – List.

409  BojištěAK07

Jak jisker let, jak řady hvězd,
  jak růže padli list,
když náhle tak dnem červnovým
  jde chladný větru svist.

Do neplodných tu znikli trav,
  kde, nenajde zrak víc,
a Boha jen hlas nezvratný
  můž’ svolat každou líc.

409  Bitevní poleYS99

Padali jak vločky, padali jak hvězdy,
Jako lístky na mlází,
Červnovým dnem náhle
vítr prsty odchází.

Zahynuli v husté trávě,
Bez svědků a růže;
Ale ze své kruté listiny
Bůh svolává všechny muže.

409EK06

Padali dolů jako sníh,
jak hvězdy padali,
jak plátky růží kryli zem –
když prsty větru najednou
přeběhly přes červen.

Zmizeli v trávě beze stop,
okem nic nepoznáš,
však Bůh povolá všechny z nás –
nelze se odvolat.

410c. 1862 / 1947

The first Day’s Night had come –
And grateful that a thing
So terrible – had been endured –
I told my Soul to sing –

She said her Strings were snapt –
Her Bow – to Atoms blown –
And so to mend her – gave me work
Until another Morn –

And then – a Day as huge
As Yesterdays in pairs,
Unrolled its horror in my face –
Until it blocked my eyes –

My Brain – begun to laugh –
I mumbled – like a fool –
And tho’ ’tis Years ago – that Day –
My Brain keeps giggling – still.

And Something’s odd – within –
That person that I was –
And this One – do not feel the same –
Could it be Madness – this?

410JŠ99

Po dni pak přišla noc.
A vděčna, že už jej
a jeho děs mám za sebou,
já řekla duši: „Pěj!“

Prý přišla o struny,
a smyčec – rozlámán.
A s její správkou měla jsem
co dělat do rána.

A pak den obrovský
jak zástup včerejšků
prostřel svou hrůzu přede mnou
a zakryl vyhlídku.

Mozek se začal smát,
mumlám – jak bláznivá.
A i když přešla řada let,
mozek se chechtá dál.

A uvnitř – divná věc –
moje já dřívější
a tohle – nejsou totožná.
Je to snad šílenství?

411c. 1862 / 1935

The Color of the Grave is Green –
The Outer Grave – I mean –
You would not know it from the Field –
Except it own a Stone –

To help the fond – to find it –
Too infinite asleep
To stop and tell them where it is –
But just a Daisy – deep –

The Color of the Grave is white –
The outer Grave – I mean –
You would not know it from the Drifts –
In Winter – till the Sun –

Has furrowed out the Aisles –
Then – higher than the Land
The little Dwelling Houses rise
Where each – has left a friend –

The Color of the Grave within –
The Duplicate – I mean –
Not all the Snows could make it white –
Not all the Summers – Green –

You’ve seen the Color – maybe –
Upon a Bonnet bound –
When that you met it with before –
The Ferret – cannot find –

412c. 1862 / 1891

I read my sentence – steadily –
Reviewed it with my eyes,
To see that I made no mistake
In its extremest clause –
The Date, and manner, of the shame –
And then the Pious Form
That “God have mercy” on the Soul
The Jury voted Him –
I made my soul familiar – with her extremity –
That at the last, it should not be a novel Agony –
But she, and Death, acquainted –
Meet tranquilly, as friends –
Salute, and pass, without a Hint –
And there, the Matter ends –

412JŠ99

Čtu bez vzruchu svůj rozsudek,
zkoumám část po části,
zda jsem vše správně přečetla
v posledním odstavci –
datum a způsob pohany
i zbožnou doložku,
že „Bůh je duši milostiv“,
a výrok porotců.
Snažila jsem se připravit svou duši na konec,
aby to pro ni nebyla tak zdrcující zvěst,
však smrt kolem ní přešla,
přátelsky pozdravíc,
klidně a bez všech poznámek –
a dál není, co říct.

413c. 1862 / 1929

I never felt at Home – Below –
And in the Handsome Skies
I shall not feel at Home – I know –
I don’t like Paradise –

Because it’s Sunday – all the time –
And Recess – never comes –
And Eden’ll be so lonesome
Bright Wednesday Afternoons –

If God could make a visit –
Or ever took a Nap –
So not to see us – but they say
Himself – a Telescope

Perennial beholds us –
Myself would run away
From Him – and Holy Ghost – and All –
But there’s the “Judgment Day”!

414c. 1862 / 1945

’Twas like a Maelstrom, with a notch,
That nearer, every Day,
Kept narrowing its boiling Wheel
Until the Agony

Toyed coolly with the final inch
Of your delirious Hem –
And you dropt, lost,
When something broke –
And let you from a Dream –

As if a Goblin with a Gauge –
Kept measuring the Hours –
Until you felt your Second
Weigh, helpless, in his Paws –

And not a Sinew – stirred – could help,
And sense was setting numb –
When God – remembered – and the Fiend
Let go, then, Overcome –

As if your Sentence stood – pronounced –
And you were frozen led
From Dungeon’s luxury of Doubt
To Gibbets, and the Dead –

And when the Film had stitched your eyes
A Creature gasped “Reprieve”!
Which Anguish was the utterest – then –
To perish, or to live?

415c. 1862 / 1929

Sunset at Night – is natural –
But Sunset on the Dawn
Reverses Nature – Master –
So Midnight’s – due – at Noon.

Eclipses be – predicted –
And Science bows them in –
But do one face us suddenly –
Jehovah’s Watch – is wrong.

416c. 1862 / 1896

A Murmur in the Trees – to note –
Not loud enough – for Wind –
A Star – not far enough to seek –
Nor near enough – to find –

A long – long Yellow – on the Lawn –
A Hubbub – as of feet –
Not audible – as Ours – to Us –
But dapperer – More Sweet –

A Hurrying Home of little Men
To Houses unperceived –
All this – and more – if I should tell –
Would never be believed –

Of Robins in the Trundle bed
How many I espy
Whose Nightgowns could not hide the Wings –
Although I heard them try –

But then I promised ne’er to tell –
How could I break My Word?
So go your Way – and I’ll go Mine –
No fear you’ll miss the Road.

417c. 1862 / 1929

It is dead – Find it –
Out of sound – Out of sight –
“Happy”? Which is wiser –
You, or the Wind?
“Conscious”? Won’t you ask that –
Of the low Ground?

“Homesick”? Many met it –
Even through them – This
Cannot testify –
Themself – as dumb –

418c. 1862 / 1890

Not in this World to see his face –
Sounds long – until I read the place
Where this – is said to be
But just the Primer – to a life –
Unopened – rare – Upon the Shelf –
Clasped yet – to Him – and me –

And yet – My Primer suits me so
I would not choose – a Book to know
Than that – be sweeter wise –
Might some one else – so learned – be –
And leave me – just my A – B – C –
Himself – could have the Skies –

419c. 1862 / 1935

We grow accustomed to the Dark –
When Light is put away –
As when the Neighbor holds the Lamp
To witness her Goodbye –

A Moment – We uncertain step
For newness of the night –
Then – fit our Vision to the Dark –
And meet the Road – erect –

And so of larger – Darknesses –
Those Evenings of the Brain –
When not a Moon disclose a sign –
Or Star – come out – within –

The Bravest – grope a little –
And sometimes hit a Tree
Directly in the Forehead –
But as they learn to see –

Either the Darkness alters –
Or something in the sight
Adjusts itself to Midnight –
And Life steps almost straight.

419ZH98

Tmě přivykáme teprve,
když světlo zaniklo a není –
Jako když soused podrží
nám lampu, svědka rozloučení,

a na okamžik – nejistě
pro novost noci vykročíme –
pak – přizpůsobíce zrak tmě –
potkáme cestu – a jdem přímě.

Tak v rozlehlejších temnotách –
v těch nocech mozku, v jehož krajích
měsíc nedává znamení
a ani hvězdy nesvítají –

nejstatečnější zatápou
a někdy také při bloudění
narazí na strom, – ale když
se naučí novému zření,

buď promění se temnota,
anebo něco v zraku tmě –
té půlnoční – se přizpůsobí –
a život rovně nocí jde.

419JŠ99

Na tmu si zvolna přivyknem,
když světlo dají pryč.
Jako když soused na sbohem
nám vyjde posvítit,

okamžik šlapem nejistě,
zmateni náhlou tmou –
pak přivykneme na noc zrak
a dojdem na cestu.

Tak i v těch větších temnotách
mozku – v té noci v nás –
bez stop po svitu měsíce
anebo po hvězdách,

i silní trochu tápou
a stane se jim pak,
že vrazí čelem na strom.
Však když naučí zrak,

buď temnota se změní,
či něco v pohledu
si zvykne na tu půlnoc –
a téměř žijí dál.

420c. 1862 / 1935

You’ll know it – as you know ’tis Noon –
By Glory –
As you do the Sun –
By Glory –
As you will in Heaven –
Know God the Father – and the Son.

By intuition, Mightiest Things
Assert themselves – and not by terms –
“I’m Midnight” – need the Midnight say –
“I’m Sunrise” – Need the Majesty?

Omnipotence – had not a Tongue –
His lisp – is Lightning – and the Sun –
His Conversation – with the Sea –
“How shall you know”?
Consult your Eye!

420JŠ06

To poznáš – jako poledne –
po slávě,
že to slunce žhne –
po slávě,
stejně jako v nebi
budeš znát Otce se Synem.

Intuicí věci největší,
ne názvem, co jsou, osvědčí.
„Jsem půlnoc,“ má snad říkat noc,
„jsem úsvit,“ má ta vznešenost?

Všemohoucnost, ta nemá řeč,
k šepotu slunce nebo blesk.
Jak oslovuje oceán
„jak můžeš znát?“ –
jen pohleď sám!

421c. 1862 / 1891

A Charm invests a face
Imperfectly beheld –
The Lady dare not lift her Veil
For fear it be dispelled –

But peers beyond her mesh –
And wishes – and denies –
Lest Interview – annul a want
That Image – satisfies –

421JŠ99

Šarm halí obličej
spatřený nejasně.
Dáma svůj závoj nezvedne
z obav, že pohasne,

jen hledí zpod tylu
a zve a zrazuje,
aby řeč nezničila cit,
jejž obraz vzbuzuje.

422c. 1862 / 1935

More Life – went out – when He went
Than Ordinary Breath –
Lit with a finer Phosphor –
Requiring in the Quench –

A Power of Renowned Cold,
The Climate of the Grave
A Temperature just adequate
So Anthracite, to live –

For some – an Ampler Zero –
A Frost more needle keen
Is necessary, to reduce
The Ethiop within.

Others – extinguish easier –
A Gnat’s minutest Fan
Sufficient to obliterate
A Tract of Citizen –

Whose Peat lift – amply vivid –
Ignores the solemn News
That Popocatapel exists –
Or Etna’s Scarlets, Choose –

423c. 1862 / 1935

The Months have ends – the Years – a knot –
No Power can untie
To stretch a little further
A Skein of Misery –

The Earth lays back these tired lives
In her mysterious Drawers –
Too tenderly, that any doubt
An ultimate Repose –

The manner of the Children –
Who weary of the Day –
Themself – the noisy Plaything
They cannot put away –

423EK06

Z měsíců zbudou konce – roky se zauzlí,
nikdo to nezmění –
nedá se poroztáhnout
přadeno trápení.

Země zmožené životy
vkládá do tajných skříněk
tak něžně, že není pochyby –
na věčný odpočinek.

Tak jako malé děti,
když je den usouží,
sebe – tu hlučnou hračku –
nemohou odložit.

424c. 1862 / 1935

Removed from Accident of Loss
By Accident of Gain
Befalling not my simple Days –
Myself had just to earn –

Of Riches – as unconscious
As is the Brown Malay
Of Pearls in Eastern Waters,
Marked His – What Holiday

Would stir his slow conception –
Had he the power to dream
That but the Dower’s fraction –
Awaited even – Him –

425c. 1862 / 1929

Good Morning – Midnight –
I’m coming Home –
Day – got tired of Me –
How could I – of Him?

Sunshine was a sweet place –
I liked to stay –
But Morn – didn’t want me – now –
So – Goodnight – Day!

I can look – can’t I –
When the East is Red?
The Hills – have a way – then –
That puts the Heart – abroad –

You – are not so fair – Midnight –
I chose – Day –
But – please take a little Girl –
He turned away!

425JŠ99

Dobrý den, noci –
jdu domů, smím?
Den už mne měl dost,
jen proto tu jsem.

Sladko je na slunci,
chci tam, kde žhne,
však ráno mě nechce – tak
dobrou noc, dne!

Smím uvidět snad
rudnout obláčky?
To kopce mají vzhled,
co srdce unáší.

Tak krásná nejsi, noci,
já chci den.
Však přijmi to děvčátko,
jež vyhnal ven!

426c. 1862 / 1945

It don’t sound so terrible – quite – as it did –
I run it over – “Dead”, Brain, “Dead.”
Put it in Latin – left of my school –
Seems it don’t shriek so – under rule.

Turn it, a little – full in the face
A Trouble looks bitterest –
Shift it – just –
Say “When Tomorrow comes this way –
I shall have waded down one Day.”

I suppose it will interrupt me some
Till I get accustomed – but then the Tomb
Like other new Things – shows largest – then –
And smaller, by Habit –

It’s shrewder then
Put the Thought in advance – a Year –
How like “a fit” – then –
Murder – wear!

427c. 1862 / 1945

I’ll clutch – and clutch –
Next – One – Might be the golden touch –
Could take it –
Diamonds – Wait –
I’m diving – just a little late –
But stars – go slow – for night –

I’ll string you – in fine Necklace –
Tiaras – make – of some –
Wear you on Hem –
Loop up a Countess – with you –
Make – a Diadem – and mend my old One –
Count – Hoard – then lose –
And doubt that you are mine –
To have the joy of feeling it – again –

I’ll show you at the Court –
Bear you – for Ornament
Where Women breathe –
That every sigh – may lift you
Just as high – as I –

And – when I die –
In meek array – display you –
Still to show – how rich I go –
Lest Skies impeach a wealth so wonderful –
And banish me –

428c. 1862 / 1945

Taking up the fair Ideal,
Just to cast her down
When a fracture – we discover –
Or a splintered Crown –
Makes the Heavens portable –
And the Gods – a lie –
Doubtless – “Adam” – scowled at Eden –
For his perjury!

Cherishing – our poor Ideal –
Till in purer dress –
We behold her – glorified –
Comforts – search – like this –
Till the broken creatures –
We adored – for whole –
Stains – all washed –
Transfigured – mended –
Meet us – with a smile –

429c. 1862 / 1891

The Moon is distant from the Sea –
And yet, with Amber Hands –
She leads Him – docile as a Boy –
Along appointed Sands –

He never misses a Degree –
Obedient to Her Eye
He comes just so far – toward the Town –
Just so far – goes away –

Oh, Signor, Thine, the Amber Hand –
And mine – the distant Sea –
Obedient to the least command
Thine eye impose on me –

429JŠ99

Měsíc je vzdálen od moře,
však jantarovou paží
je vodí – jako chlapečka –
kol stanovených pláží.

A ono nikdy nezmešká.
Když okem požádá,
jde o kus blíže k městečku
a stejný od něj dál.

Tvá, Pane, paže z jantaru,
mé – moře vzdálené,
plnící vše, oč požádá
Tvé oko ode mne.

430c. 1862 / 1935

It would never be Common – more – I said –
Difference – had begun –
Many a bitterness – had been –
But that old sort – was done –

Or – if it sometime – showed – as ’twill –
Upon the Downiest – Morn –
Such bliss – had I – for all the years –
’Twould give an Easier – pain –

I’d so much joy – I told it – Red –
Upon my simple Cheek –
I felt it publish – in my Eye –
’Twas needless – any speak –

I walked – as wings – my body bore –
The feet – I former used –
Unnecessary – now to me –
As boots – would be – to Birds –

I put my pleasure all abroad –
I dealt a word of Gold
To every Creature – that I met –
And Dowered – all the World –

When – suddenly – my Riches shrank –
A Goblin – drank my Dew –
My Palaces – dropped tenantless –
Myself – was beggared – too –

I clutched at sounds –
I groped at shapes –
I touched the tops of Films –
I felt the Wilderness roll back
Along my Golden lines –

The Sackcloth – hangs upon the nail –
The Frock I used to wear –
But where my moment of Brocade –
My – drop – of India?

431c. 1862 / 1896

Me – come! My dazzled face
In such a shining place!
Me – hear! My foreign Ear
The sounds of Welcome – there!

The Saints forget
Our bashful feet –

My Holiday, shall be
That They – remember me –
My Paradise – the fame
That They – pronounce my name –

432c. 1862 / 1945

Do People moulder equally,
They bury, in the Grave?
I do believe a Species
As positively live

As I, who testify it
Deny that I – am dead –
And fill my Lungs, for Witness –
From Tanks – above my Head –

I say to you, said Jesus –
That there be standing here –
A Sort, that shall not taste of Death –
If Jesus was sincere –

I need no further Argue –
That statement of the Lord
Is not a controvertible –
He told me, Death was dead –

433c. 1865 / 1945

Knows how to forget!
But could It teach it?
Easiest of Arts, they say
When one learn how

Dull Hearts have died
In the Acquisition
Sacrifice for Science
Is common, though, now –

I went to School
But was not wiser
Globe did not teach it
Nor Logarithm Show

“How to forget”!
Say – some – Philosopher!
Ah, to be erudite
Enough to know!

Is it in a Book?
So, I could buy it –
Is it like a Planet?
Telescopes would know –

If it be invention
It must have a Patent.
Rabbi of the Wise Book
Don’t you know?

434c. 1862 / 1914

To love thee Year by Year –
May less appear
Than sacrifice, and cease –
However, dear,
Forever might be short, I thought to show –
And so I pieced it, with a flower, now.

435c. 1862 / 1890

Much Madness is divinest Sense –
To a discerning Eye –
Much Sense – the starkest Madness –
’Tis the Majority
In this, as All, prevail –
Assent – and you are sane –
Demur – you’re straightway dangerous –
And handled with a Chain –

435JŠ99

V bláznovství vrchol moudrosti
bystrý zrak odkrývá,
v moudrosti – hloupost bláznů.
Početní převaha
i v tomhle rozhodne.
Přisvědč – jsi soudný tvor,
vzdoruj – jsi nebezpečný všem
a přijdeš pod dozor.

436c. 1862 / 1891

The Wind – tapped like a tired Man –
And like a Host – “Come in”
I boldly answered – entered then
My Residence within

A Rapid – footless Guest –
To offer whom a Chair
Were as impossible as hand
A Sofa to the Air –

No Bone had He to bind Him –
His Speech was like the Push
Of numerous Humming Birds at once
From a superior Bush –

His Countenance – a Billow –
His Fingers, as He passed
Let go a music – as of tunes
Blown tremulous in Glass –

He visited – still flitting –
Then like a timid Man
Again, He tapped – ’twas flurriedly –
And I became alone –

437c. 1862 / 1891

Prayer is the little implement
Through which Men reach
Where Presence – is denied them.
They fling their Speech

By means of it – in God’s Ear –
If then He hear –
This sums the Apparatus
Comprised in Prayer –

437JŠ99

Modlitba je malé nářadí,
jímž dosáhnem,
kam lidem vstup je upřen.
Jím každým dnem

řeč metají v boží sluch.
Slyší‑li pak –
tím svůj chod završuje
ten aparát.

438c. 1862 / 1935

Forget! The lady with the Amulet
Forget she wore it at her Heart
Because she breathed against
Was Treason twixt?

Deny! Did Rose her Bee –
For Privilege of Play
Or Wile of Butterfly
Or Opportunity – Her Lord away?

The lady with the Amulet – will fade –
The Bee – in Mausoleum laid –
Discard his Bride –
But longer than the little Rill –
That cooled the Forehead of the Hill –
While Other – went the Sea to fill –
And Other – went to turn the Mill –
I’ll do thy Will –

439c. 1862 / 1891

Undue Significance a starving man attaches
To Food –
Far off – He sighs – and therefore – Hopeless –
And therefore – Good –

Partaken – it relieves – indeed –
But proves us
That Spices fly
In the Receipt – It was the Distance –
Was Savory –

440c. 1862 / 1945

’Tis customary as we part
A trinket – to confer –
It helps to stimulate the faith
When Lovers be afar –

’Tis various – as the various taste –
Clematis – journeying far –
Presents me with a single Curl
Of her Electric Hair –

440EK06

Při loučení si obvykle
dáváme drobnůstku –
pomáhá věrnost dodržet
milencům na dálku.

Dar podle vkusu liší se –
klematis před cestou
mi z elektrických kadeří
věnuje loknu svou.

441c. 1862 / 1890

This is my letter to the World
That never wrote to Me –
The simple News that Nature told –
With tender Majesty

Her Message is committed
To Hands I cannot see –
For love of Her – Sweet – countrymen –
Judge tenderly – of Me

441  Dopis světuJH77

Svět mi nikdy dopis neposlal,
teď mu píšu já –
prosté věci, řekla mi je příroda,
něžná a vznešená.

Svěřuji vám to poselství,
mí drazí krajani;
pro lásku k ní je přijměte,
dalecí, neznámí.

441  List svetuMR83

Toto je môj list svetu
— ten mi list neposlal —
v ňom vety, aké svetlu
príroda pošepla.

Jej vznešenú zvesť vložím
do rúk, čo nepoznám.
Z lásky k nej, ľudia boží,
láskavo súďte — mňa.

441EK06

Zde je můj dopis pro ten svět,
který mi nechtěl psát,
příroda každé z prostých vět
dá něžný majestát.

Svou zprávu svěří rukám,
jež jsou mi ukryté –
kéž z lásky k ní, mí krajané,
mírně mě soudíte.

441JŠ06

To je můj dopis pro ten svět,
jenž nikdy nepsal mně,
hrst prostých zpráv, jež příroda
mi šeptá vznešeně.

Ten její vzkaz je určen
ruce mně neznámé.
Pro lásku k ní, mí krajané,
šetrně suďte mne.

442c. 1862 / 1891

God made a little Gentian –
It tried – to be a Rose –
And failed – and all the Summer laughed –
But just before the Snows

There rose a Purple Creature –
That ravished all the Hill –
And Summer hid her Forehead –
And Mockery – was still –

The Frosts were her condition –
The Tyrian would not come
Until the North – invoke it –
Creator – Shall I – bloom?

442EK06

Bůh stvořil malý hořec –
rád by se růží stal,
leč léto se mu vysmálo.
Než však sníh napadal,

vyrostla bytost z nachu,
zalehla celý svah,
léto sklopilo čelo
a posměch náhle ztich:

vyrostla díky mrazům –
purpur nepřijde z cest,
než severák jej vyzve –
Pane, a budu – kvést?

443c. 1862 / 1929

I tie my Hat – I crease my Shawl –
Life’s little duties do – precisely –
As the very least
Were infinite – to me –

I put new Blossoms in the Glass –
And throw the old – away –
I push a petal from my Gown
That anchored there – I weigh
The time ’twill be till six o’clock
I have so much to do –
And yet – Existence – some way back –
Stopped – struck – my ticking – through –
We cannot put Ourself away
As a completed Man
Or Woman – When the Errand’s done
We came to Flesh – upon –
There may be – Miles on Miles of Nought –
Of Action – sicker far –
To simulate – is stinging work –
To cover what we are
From Science – and from Surgery –
Too Telescopic Eyes
To bear on us unshaded –
For their – sake – not for Ours –
’Twould start them –
We – could tremble –
But since we got a Bomb –
And held it in our Bosom –
Nay – Hold it – it is calm –

Therefore – we do life’s labor –
Though life’s Reward – be done –
With scrupulous exactness –
To hold our Senses – on –

444c. 1862 / 1929

It feels a shame to be Alive –
When Men so brave – are dead –
One envies the Distinguished Dust –
Permitted – such a Head –

The Stone – that tells defending Whom
This Spartan put away
What little of Him we – possessed
In Pawn for Liberty –

The price is great – Sublimely paid –
Do we deserve – a Thing –
That lives – like Dollars – must be piled
Before we may obtain?

Are we that wait – sufficient worth –
That such Enormous Pearl
As life – dissolved be – for Us –
In Battle’s – horrid Bowl?

It may be – a Renown to live –
I think the Man who die –
Those unsustained – Saviors –
Present Divinity –

445c. 1862 / 1896

’Twas just this time, last year, I died.
I know I heard the Corn,
When I was carried by the Farms –
It had the Tassels on –

I thought how yellow it would look –
When Richard went to mill –
And then, I wanted to get out,
But something held my will.

I thought just how Red – Apples wedged
The Stubble’s joints between –
And the Carts stooping round the fields
To take the Pumpkins in –

I wondered which would miss me, least,
And when Thanksgiving, came,
If Father’d multiply the plates –
To make an even Sum –

And would it blur the Christmas glee
My Stocking hang too high
For any Santa Claus to reach
The Altitude of me –

But this sort, grieved myself,
And so, I thought the other way,
How just this time, some perfect year –
Themself, should come to me –

445  Dnes pred rokom som umrelaMR83

Dnes pred rokom som umrela.
Šušťala kukurica,
keď pozdĺž polí viezli ma,
vlasy jej skryli líca.

Vravela som si: Žltučká
bude, keď v mlyne skončí.
Chcela som vstať a vidieť ju
— ťažili viečka oči.

Myslela som na červené
jabĺčka na strnisku,
zhrbené vozy, v ktorých sa
tekvice zrelé tisnú.

A komu budem chýbať, či
otec na Vďakyvzdanie
dá do zvončeka bankovku,
zachová zbožne zdanie…

Či nepadne tieň na radosť
Vianoc, či privysoko
nebude pre Mikuláša
moja topánka a môj odchod…

Z tých predstáv smútok ovial ma
a snívala som radšej,
že o pár rokov prídu sem
za mnou o tomto čase.

446c. 1862 / 1914

I showed her Heights she never saw –
“Would’st Climb,” I said?
She said – “Not so” –
“With me –” I said – With me?
I showed her Secrets – Morning’s Nest –
The Rope the Nights were put across –
And now – “Would’st have me for a Guest?”
She could not find her Yes –
And then, I brake my life – And Lo,
A Light, for her, did solemn glow,
The larger, as her face withdrew –
And could she, further, “No”?

447c. 1862 / 1929

Could – I do more – for Thee –
Wert Thou a Bumble Bee –
Since for the Queen, have I –
Nought but Bouquet?

448c. 1862 / 1929

This was a Poet – It is That
Distills amazing sense
From ordinary Meanings –
And Attar so immense

From the familiar species
That perished by the Door –
We wonder it was not Ourselves
Arrested it – before –

Of Pictures, the Discloser –
The Poet – it is He –
Entitles Us – by Contrast –
To ceaseless Poverty –

Of Portion – so unconscious –
The Robbing – could not harm –
Himself – to Him – a Fortune –
Exterior – to Time –

448JŠ99

Tohle byl básník. To je ten,
kdo mocný smysl slil
ze slov tak dobře známých
a olej plný sil

z těch nejvšednějších odrůd,
jež vadly u dveří –
teď žasnem, nebyli to my,
kdo věznili jej dřív?

Obrazů objevitel,
hle básník – on to je,
kdo – kontrastem – nás nutí
k trvalé chudobě,

neznalý svého věna,
z kterého nelze krást,
sám pro sebe svým jměním,
postaven mimo čas!

449c. 1862 / 1890

I died for Beauty – but was scarce
Adjusted in the Tomb
When One who died for Truth, was lain
In an adjoining Room –

He questioned softly “Why I failed”?
“For Beauty”, I replied –
“And I – for Truth – Themself are One –
We Brethren, are”, He said –

And so, as Kinsmen, met a Night –
We talked between the Rooms –
Until the Moss had reached our lips –
And covered up – our names –

449  Když pro krásu…OFB47

Když pro krásu jsem zemřela,
v hrob složili mě jen,
a kdos, jenž zemřel pro pravdu,
byl vedle uložen.

On ptal se, proč jsem podlehla?
„Pro krásu,“ děla jsem.
„Já pro pravdu — to jedno je,
jsme tudíž bratry,“ děl.

Jak při shledání příbuzní,
jsme rozmlouvali tam,
až po ústa nám vyrost’ mech
a jména zastřel nám.

449  RozhovorJH77

Já zemřela jsem pro krásu a ledva
mě uložili do země,
kdos jiný zemřel pro pravdu
a pochován byl vedle mne.

Zeptal se tiše, proč jsem odešla?
„Pro krásu“ – zašeptla jsem zbytkem sil.
„Já pro pravdu – ta s krásou jedno je;
patříme k sobě,“ odvětil.

Jako když příbuzní se večer sejdou,
my hovořili v hrobkách skrze stěny,
až dorost mech přes naše ústa
i přes kameny s dvěma jmény.

449  Pre krásu umrela somMR83

Pre krásu umrela som, no
len čo sa sprievod vzdialil,
toho, čo umrel pre pravdu,
hneď vedľa pochovali.

Ticho sa spýtal: „Prečo si
tuná?“ „Pre krásu,“ šeptom
vravím. „A ja zas pre pravdu…
Je kráse rodnou sestrou.“

Hovorili sme z hrobu do hrobu
jak príbuzní, keď noc sa mení
v deň — pokým ústa nezarástol mach,
nezakryl mená na kameni.

449JŠ99

Padla jsem za krásu, a jen
mě hrobka uhostí,
ulehl, kdo pad za pravdu,
v sousední místnosti.

Zeptal se, „proč jsem zemřela?“
Odpovím: „Za krásu.“
„Já za pravdu – jsou totožné,
jsi sestra,“ prohlásil.

Tak mluvíme jak příbuzní,
každý v své místnosti,
než vystoupil nám ke rtům mech
a naše jména skryl.

449  Zemřela jsem pro krásuYS99

Zemřela jsem pro krásu – ale sotva
Že mě pochovali
Když toho, který zemřel pro pravdu
Do vedlejšího hrobu dali –

Zeptal se tiše, proč jsem klesla?
„Pro krásu,“ šeptám věnci –
„A já – pro pravdu – jako ty –
Tedy jsme sourozenci“ –

Jak příbuzní v nočních pokojích –
Jsme povídali – muž a žena –
Až nám mech narostl k ústům –
A zastřel – naše jména –

450c. 1862 / 1935

Dreams – are well – but Waking’s better,
If One wake at Morn –
If One wake at Midnight – better –
Dreaming – of the Dawn –

Sweeter – the Surmising Robins –
Never gladdened Tree –
Than a Solid Dawn – confronting –
Leading to no Day –

450  Sny sú dobréMR83

Sny sú dobré, ale lepšie,
ak si ráno hore,
prebudíš sa o polnoci,
v mysli ranné zore.

Radšej jelšu predstaviť si
bez drozdov a smutnú,
než sa zbudiť za úsvitu,
čo nevedie ku dňu.

451c. 1862 / 1935

The Outer – from the Inner
Derives its Magnitude –
’Tis Duke, or Dwarf, according
As is the Central Mood –

The fine – unvarying Axis
That regulates the Wheel –
Though Spokes – spin – more conspicuous
And fling a dust – the while.

The Inner – paints the Outer –
The Brush without the Hand –
Its Picture publishes – precise –
As is the inner Brand –

On fine – Arterial Canvas –
A Cheek – perchance a Brow –
The Star’s whole Secret – in the Lake –
Eyes were not meant to know.

452c. 1862 / 1945

The Malay – took the Pearl –
Not – I – the Earl –
I – feared the Sea – too much
Unsanctified – to touch –

Praying that I might be
Worthy – the Destiny –
The Swarthy fellow swam –
And bore my Jewel – Home –

Home to the Hut! What lot
Had I – the Jewel – got –
Borne on a Dusky Breast –
I had not deemed a Vest
Of Amber – fit –

The Negro never knew
I – wooed it – too –
To gain, or be undone –
Alike to Him – One –

453c. 1862 / 1929

Love – thou art high –
I cannot climb thee –
But, were it Two –
Who knows but we –
Taking turns – at the Chimborazo –
Ducal – at last – stand up by thee –

Love – thou art deep –
I cannot cross thee –
But, were there Two
Instead of One –
Rower, and Yacht – some sovereign Summer –
Who knows – but we’d reach the Sun?

Love – thou art Veiled –
A few – behold thee –
Smile – and alter – and prattle – and die –
Bliss – were an Oddity – without thee –
Nicknamed by God –
Eternity –

454c. 1862 / 1945

It was given to me by the Gods –
When I was a little Girl –
They give us Presents most – you know –
When we are new – and small.
I kept it in my Hand –
I never put it down –
I did not dare to eat – or sleep –
For fear it would be gone –
I heard such words as “Rich” –
When hurrying to school –
From lips at Corners of the Streets –
And wrestled with a smile.
Rich! ’Twas Myself – was rich –
To take the name of Gold –
And Gold to own – in solid Bars –
The Difference – made me bold –

455c. 1862 / 1891

Triumph – may be of several kinds –
There’s Triumph in the Room
When that Old Imperator – Death –
By Faith – be overcome –

There’s Triumph of the finer Mind
When Truth – affronted long –
Advance unmoved – to Her Supreme –
Her God – Her only Throng –

A Triumph – when Temptation’s Bribe
Be slowly handed back –
One eye upon the Heaven renounced –
And One – upon the Rack –

Severer Triumph – by Himself
Experienced – who pass
Acquitted – from that Naked Bar –
Jehovah’s Countenance –

456c. 1862 / 1929

So well that I can live without –
I love thee – then How well is that?
As well as Jesus?
Prove it me
That He – loved Men –
As I – love thee –

457c. 1862 / 1945

Sweet – safe – Houses –
Glad – gay – Houses –
Sealed so stately tight –
Lids of Steel – on Lids of Marble –
Locking Bare feet out –

Brooks of Plush – in Banks of Satin
Not so softly fall
As the laughter – and the whisper –
From their People Pearl –

No Bald Death – affront their Parlors –
No Bold Sickness come
To deface their Stately Treasures –
Anguish – and the Tomb –

Hum by – in Muffled Coaches –
Lest they – wonder Why –
Any – for the Press of Smiling –
Interrupt – to die –

458c. 1862 / 1945

Like Eyes that looked on Wastes –
Incredulous of Ought
But Blank – and steady Wilderness –
Diversified by Night –

Just Infinites of Nought –
As far as it could see –
So looked the face I looked upon –
So looked itself – on Me –

I offered it no Help –
Because the Cause was Mine –
The Misery a Compact
As hopeless – as divine –

Neither – would be absolved –
Neither would be a Queen
Without the Other – Therefore –
We perish – tho’ We reign –

459c. 1862 / 1935

A Tooth upon Our Peace
The Peace cannot deface –
Then Wherefore be the Tooth?
To vitalize the Grace –

The Heaven hath a Hell –
Itself to signalize –
And every sign before the Place
Is Gilt with Sacrifice –

459JŠ06

Jeden zub na klidu
nezohaví náš klid.
K čemu je tedy zub?
Tu milost oživit.

Nebe své peklo má –
je jeho předzvěstí,
a každá značka před ním je
zlacena obětí.

460c. 1862 / 1935

I know where Wells grow – Droughtless Wells –
Deep dug – for Summer days –
Where Mosses go no more away –
And Pebble – safely plays –

It’s made of Fathoms – and a Belt –
A Belt of jagged Stone –
Inlaid with Emerald – half way down –
And Diamonds – jumbled on –

It has no Bucket – Were I rich
A Bucket I would buy –
I’m often thirsty – but my lips
Are so high up – You see –

I read in an Old fashioned Book
That People “thirst no more” –
The Wells have Buckets to them there –
It must mean that – I’m sure –

Shall We remember Parching – then?
Those Waters sound so grand –
I think a little Well – like Mine –
Dearer to understand –

461c. 1862 / 1929

A Wife – at Daybreak I shall be –
Sunrise – Hast thou a Flag for me?
At Midnight, I am but a Maid,
How short it takes to make a Bride –
Then – Midnight, I have passed from thee
Unto the East, and Victory –

Midnight – Good Night! I hear them call,
The Angels bustle in the Hall –
Softly my Future climbs the Stair,
I fumble at my Childhood’s prayer
So soon to be a Child no more –
Eternity, I’m coming – Sir,
Savior – I’ve seen the face – before!

461  NávratJH77

Za jitra budu manželkou,
máš, slunce, pro mne vlajku již?
Je půlnoc, dosud dívkou jsem –
jak rychle budu nevěstou!
Pak uniknu ti, Půlnoci,
až k Východu a Vítězství.

Půlnoci, dobrou noc!
Už slyším, jak mě volají.
V předsíni andělé čekají,
po schodech jde má budoucnost,
koktám svou dětskou modlitbu –
tak brzo jsem dětství pozbyla!
Věčnosti, k tobě nyní jdu –
tu tvář jsem již, Pane, někde spatřila.

462c. 1862 / 1929

Why make it doubt – it hurts it so –
So sick – to guess –
So strong – to know –
So brave – upon its little Bed
To tell the very last They said
Unto Itself – and smile – And shake –
For that dear – distant – dangerous – Sake –
But – the Instead – the Pinching fear
That Something – it did do – or dare –
Offend the Vision – and it flee –
And They no more remember me –
Nor ever turn to tell me why –
Oh, Master, This is Misery –

463c. 1862 / 1896

I live with Him – I see His face –
I go no more away
For Visitor – or Sundown –
Death’s single privacy

The Only One – forestalling Mine –
And that – by Right that He
Presents a Claim invisible –
No wedlock – granted Me –

I live with Him – I hear His Voice –
I stand alive – Today –
To witness to the Certainty
Of Immortality –

Taught Me – by Time – the lower Way –
Conviction – Every day –
That Life like This – is stopless –
Be Judgment – what it may –

464c. 1862 / 1929

The power to be true to You,
Until upon my face
The Judgment push His Picture –
Presumptuous of Your Place –

Of This – Could Man deprive Me –
Himself – the Heaven excel –
Whose invitation – Yours reduced
Until it showed too small –

465c. 1862 / 1896

I heard a Fly buzz – when I died –
The Stillness in the Room
Was like the Stillness in the Air –
Between the Heaves of Storm –

The Eyes around – had wrung them dry –
And Breaths were gathering firm
For that last Onset – when the King
Be witnessed – in the Room –

I willed my Keepsakes – Signed away
What portion of me be
Assignable – and then it was
There interposed a Fly –

With Blue – uncertain stumbling Buzz –
Between the light – and me –
And then the Windows failed – and then
I could not see to see –

465  Jen bzukot mouchyJH77

Jen bzukot mouchy, když jsem umírala.
Je vprostřed ticha tělo mé.
To ticho ve vzduchu, když zuří bouře
a vprostřed náhle ustane.

Kol všichni, oči vyplakány, by rádi
přispěli dechem na pomoc,
ve chvíli poslední, kdy velká Smrt
má dokázat svou moc.

Dárky jsem odkázala na památku,
co ze sebe jsem ještě měla,
jsem rozdala – a nato
ta moucha přiletěla,

modravý bzukot klopýtal a tápal
mezi mnou a světlem svic,
pak okna pohasla, a potom
jsem viděla – už nic.

465  Muchu som počula v tom umieraníMR83

Muchu som počula v tom umieraní
za ticha v izbe — bolo
jak ticho v povetrí, keď búrka zmĺkne,
chystajúc nové kolo…

Navôkol oči blízkych, vyplakané,
ich dych, čo pevnie, aby
poslednej vlne desu čelil, keď Kráľ
ukáže, kto je slabý…

Spísali vôľu, kde som odkázala,
čo darovať sa dalo
z mojich vecí — vtom vletela dnu mucha,
modravo, potkýnavo

bzučala, kmitala sa medzi lampou
a mnou — ten bzukot omámil…
A potom došiel oknám olej a ja
som nevidela očami.

465ZH98

Umírala jsem. Slyšela
jsem bzučet mouchu po komoře.
Byl klid jak ticho ve vzduchu
mezi nárazy bouře.

Okolo oči – vyprahlé –
a šepot – houstl do útoku,
do posledního, kdy se král
v své slávě krále zjeví oku.

Odkázala jsem drobnosti
a tu část sebe, jež se dá
odkázat, – tehdy stalo se,
že se tam moucha vmísila –

s nejistým modrým bzukotem
se mezi mnou a světlem chvěla –
Pak okna oslepla – a pak
už vůbec nic jsem neviděla.

465JŠ99

V smrti jsem mouchu zaslechla.
To ticho u lože
bylo jak ticho uprostřed
poryvů za bouře.

Oči všech kolem vyprahly,
prsa se chystají
na hlavní úder, až sám král
se zjeví v pokoji.

Shledávám dárky, převádím
všechno to, co se z nás
dá převést – a tu najednou
se vmísil její hlas –

modravý, slabý, nejistý –
a zastřel denní svit.
Pak byla v oknech tma – a pak
cit v očích ztratil cit.

466c. 1862 / 1896

’Tis little I – could care for Pearls –
Who own the ample sea –
Or Brooches – when the Emperor –
With Rubies – pelteth me –

Or Gold – who am the Prince of Mines –
Or Diamonds – when have I
A Diadem to fit a Dome –
Continual upon me –

467c. 1862 / 1945

We do not play on Graves –
Because there isn’t Room –
Besides – it isn’t even – it slants
And People come –

And put a Flower on it –
And hang their faces so –
We’re fearing that their Hearts will drop –
And crush our pretty play –

And so we move as far
As Enemies – away –
Just looking round to see how far
It is – Occasionally –

467  Na hroboch nehráme saMR83

Na hroboch nehráme sa,
nie je tu rovná zem,
na hranie máme málo miesta
a ľudia chodia sem,

na hroby kvety kladú
a hlavy majú zvesené.
Čo ak im zrazu na zem padnú,
uvažujeme zdesené,

a rozdrvia nám krehkú
hru? Poďme ďalej! No
zavše sa obzrieme, nech vieme,
či máme ďaleko…

468c. 1862 / 1945

The Manner of its Death
When Certain it must die –
’Tis deemed a privilege to choose –
’Twas Major Andre’s Way –

When Choice of Life – is past –
There yet remains a Love
Its little Fate to stipulate –

How small in those who live –

The Miracle to tease
With Babble of the styles –
How “they are Dying mostly – now” –
And Customs at “St. James”!

469c. 1862 / 1945

The Red – Blaze – is the Morning –
The Violet – is Noon –
The Yellow – Day – is falling –
And after that – is none –

But Miles of Sparks – at Evening –
Reveal the Width that burned –
The Territory Argent – that
Never yet – consumed –

469JŠ99

Rudý požár – je ráno,
fialový – půl dne,
žlutý – dnes zbývá málo
a jiný pak už ne.

Však míle jisker večer
zjeví, kde hořelo –
teritorium stříbra, jež
dosud nezhaslo.

470c. 1862 / 1945

I am alive – I guess –
The Branches on my Hand
Are full of Morning Glory –
And at my finger’s end –

The Carmine – tingles warm –
And if I hold a Glass
Across my Mouth – it blurs it –
Physician’s – proof of Breath –

I am alive – because
I am not in a Room –
The Parlor – Commonly – it is –
So Visitors may come –

And lean – and view it sidewise –
And add “How cold – it grew” –
And “Was it conscious – when it stepped
In Immortality?”

I am alive – because
I do not own a House –
Entitled to myself – precise –
And fitting no one else –

And marked my Girlhood’s name –
So Visitors may know
Which Door is mine – and not mistake –
And try another Key –

How good – to be alive!
How infinite – to be
Alive – two‑fold – The Birth I had –
And this – besides, in – Thee!

470JŠ99

Jsem živa – tohle vím.
Větévky na paži
mám plné ranní slávy
a z prstů proráží

teplý tep karmínu,
a když si podržím
zrcátko u úst, zvlhne –
to stačí lékaři.

Jsem živa, protože
nejsem v té místnosti –
nejčastěji to bývá síň –
určené pro hosty,

co přijdou, hledí z boku
se slovy: „Je jak led.“
A k tomu: „Byla při smyslech
při vstupu na věčnost?“

Jsem živa, protože
nepatří mi ten dům,
určený jmenovitě mně –
nikomu jinému,

s mým jménem na štítku,
aby si návštěvník
nespletl vchod a nezkoušel
omylem jiný klíč.

Jak dobré – býti živ!
Jak neskonalé – žít
dvojnásob – jednou zrozená
se v tobě narodit!

471c. 1862 / 1945

A Night – there lay the Days between –
The Day that was Before –
And Day that was Behind – were one –
And now – ’twas Night – was here –

Slow – Night – that must be watched away –
As Grains upon a shore –
Too imperceptible to note –
Till it be night – no more –

472c. 1862 / 1891

I am ashamed – I hide –
What right have I – to be a Bride –
So late a Dowerless Girl –
Nowhere to hide my dazzled Face –
No one to teach me that new Grace –
Nor introduce – my Soul –

Me to adorn – How – tell –
Trinket – to make Me beautiful –
Fabrics of Cashmere –
Never a Gown of Dun – more –
Raiment instead – of Pompadour –
For Me – My soul – to wear –

Fingers – to frame my Round Hair
Oval – as Feudal Ladies wore –
Far Fashions – Fair –
Skill – to hold my Brow like an Earl –
Plead – like a Whippoorwill –
Prove – like a Pearl –
Then, for Character –

Except the Heaven had come so near –
So seemed to choose My Door –
The Distance would not haunt me so –
I had not hoped – before –

But just to hear the Grace depart –
I never thought to see –
Afflicts me with a Double loss –
’Tis lost – And lost to me –

473c. 1862 / 1929

Fashion My Spirit quaint – white –
Quick – like a Liquor –
Gay – like Light –
Bring Me my best Pride –
No more ashamed –
No more to hide –
Meek – let it be – too proud – for Pride –
Baptized – this Day – A Bride –

474c. 1862 / 1935

They put Us far apart –
As separate as Sea
And Her unsown Peninsula –
We signified “These see” –

They took away our Eyes –
They thwarted Us with Guns –
“I see Thee” each responded straight
Through Telegraphic Signs –

With Dungeons – They devised –
But through their thickest skill –
And their opaquest Adamant –
Our Souls saw – just as well –

They summoned Us to die –
With sweet alacrity
We stood upon our stapled feet –
Condemned – but just – to see –

Permission to recant –
Permission to forget –
We turned our backs upon the Sun
For perjury of that –

Not Either – noticed Death –
Of Paradise – aware –
Each other’s Face – was all the Disc
Each other’s setting – saw –

475c. 1862 / 1929

Doom is the House without the Door –
’Tis entered from the Sun –
And then the Ladder’s thrown away,
Because Escape – is done –

’Tis varied by the Dream
Of what they do outside –
Where Squirrels play – and Berries die –
And Hemlocks – bow – to God –

475EK06

Soudný den je dům bez dveří,
jen ze slunce má vchod
a pak je žebřík odhozen –
a nelze uniknout.

S každým snem mění se,
co venku dělají –
kde šumí les a plody schnou,
Bohu se klaní blín.

476c. 1862 / 1891

I meant to have but modest needs –
Such as Content – and Heaven –
Within my income – these could lie
And Life and I – keep even –

But since the last – included both –
It would suffice my Prayer
But just for One – to stipulate –
And Grace would grant the Pair –

And so – upon this wise – I prayed –
Great Spirit – Give to me
A Heaven not so large as Yours,
But large enough – for me –

A Smile suffused Jehovah’s face –
The Cherubim – withdrew –
Grave Saints stole out to look at me –
And showed their dimples – too –

I left the Place, with all my might –
I threw my Prayer away –
The Quiet Ages picked it up –
And Judgment – twinkled – too –
That one so honest – be extant –
It take the Tale for true –
That “Whatsoever Ye shall ask –
Itself be given You” –

But I, grown shrewder – scan the Skies
With a suspicious Air –
As Children – swindled for the first
All Swindlers – be – infer –

477c. 1862 / 1935

No Man can compass a Despair –
As round a Goalless Road
No faster than a Mile at once
The Traveller proceed –

Unconscious of the Width –
Unconscious that the Sun
Be setting on His progress –
So accurate the One

At estimating Pain –
Whose own – has just begun –
His ignorance – the Angel
That pilot Him along –

478c. 1862 / 1890

I had no time to Hate –
Because
The Grave would hinder Me –
And Life was not so
Ample I
Could finish – Enmity –

Nor had I time to Love –
But since
Some Industry must be –
The little Toil of Love –
I thought
Be large enough for Me –

478  Nemala som čas nenávidieťMR83

Nemala som čas nenávidieť,
k tomu by
cestu mi uzavrel hrob.
Navyše miesta bolo v živote
primálo
na moje nepriateľstvo.

Nemala som čas ani na lásku,
ale že
človek sa musí nejak činiť,
videlo sa mi veľké, nadostač
veliké
to malé lásky hrdlačenie.

478JŠ99

Nemám kdy nevražit –
vždyť hrob
mi nedopřeje čas,
a život není
dlouhý, že
bych dokonala zášť.

Nemám kdy milovat –
že však
se nesmí zahálet,
s láskou se trochu dřít –
myslím –
mi stačí těch pár let.

479c. 1862 / 1929

She dealt her pretty words like Blades –
How glittering they shone –
And every One unbared a Nerve
Or wantoned with a Bone –

She never deemed – she hurt –
That – is not Steel’s Affair –
A vulgar grimace in the Flesh –
How ill the Creatures bear –

To Ache is human – not polite –
The Film upon the eye
Mortality’s old Custom –
Just locking up – to Die.

479JŠ99

Užívá hezkých slov jak dýk,
třpytí se jako skvost
a každé z nich nerv obnaží,
či lehce bodne kost.

Neví, že zranila –
na to kov nemyslí.
Jak vulgárně se chovají,
ten výraz nemístný!

Bolest je cit, ne zdvořilost.
Povlak, co zastře zrak,
starý zvyk smrtelníků –
zamknout – a dokonat.

480c. 1862 / 1929

“Why do I love” You, Sir?
Because –
The Wind does not require the Grass
To answer – Wherefore when He pass
She cannot keep Her place.

Because He knows – and
Do not You –
And We know not –
Enough for Us
The Wisdom it be so –

The Lightning – never asked an Eye
Wherefore it shut – when He was by –
Because He knows it cannot speak –
And reasons not contained –
– Of Talk –
There be – preferred by Daintier Folk –

The Sunrise – Sir – compelleth Me –
Because He’s Sunrise – and I see –
Therefore – Then –
I love Thee –

480  PročJH77

Proč tě miluji, Pane?
Poněvadž –
Vítr se neptá
trávy,
aby mu řekla proč,
když vane,
se musí naklánět.

Záblesk
se oka neptá,
proč se přivírá
před ním –

ví jenom,
že nemůže mluvit, –
a důvody,
jež řeč nepojme,
ponechme – těm vyvoleným.

480JŠ99

Říct, „proč Vás miluji?“
Že snad –
to vítr nechce od trávy
slyšet, proč, když ji pozdraví,
nemůže klidně stát.

Protože ví – a
Vy snad ne –
my nevíme –
nám postačí
moudrost, že to tak je.

To blesk se oka netáže,
proč se vždy před ním uzavře,
protože ví, že nemluví –
a důvod, jejž řeč
nepoví,
nejvýše cení citliví.

Ranní zář, pane, zbožňuji –
že vidím – jen pro samu ji.
Proto Vás
miluji.

481c. 1862 / 1935

The Himmaleh was known to stoop
Unto the Daisy low –
Transported with Compassion
That such a Doll should grow
Where Tent by Tent – Her Universe
Hung out its Flags of Snow –

482c. 1862 / 1896

We Cover Thee – Sweet Face –
Not that We tire of Thee –
But that Thyself fatigue of Us –
Remember – as Thou go –
We follow Thee until
Thou notice Us – no more –
And then – reluctant – turn away
To Con Thee o’er and o’er –

And blame the scanty love
We were Content to show –
Augmented – Sweet – a Hundred fold –
If Thou would’st take it – now –

483c. 1862 / 1945

A Solemn thing within the Soul
To feel itself get ripe –
And golden hang – while farther up –
The Maker’s Ladders stop –
And in the Orchard far below –
You hear a Being – drop –

A Wonderful – to feel the Sun
Still toiling at the Cheek
You thought was finished –
Cool of eye, and critical of Work –
He shifts the stem – a little –
To give your Core – a look –

But solemnest – to know
Your chance in Harvest moves
A little nearer – Every Sun
The Single – to some lives.

484c. 1862 / 1935

My Garden – like the Beach –
Denotes there be – a Sea –
That’s Summer –
Such as These – the Pearls
She fetches – such as Me

484EK06

Má zahrada – jak pláž –
snad moře značit má.
Vždyť léto
perly přináší
takovým – jako já.

485c. 1862 / 1935

To make One’s Toilette – after Death
Has made the Toilette cool
Of only Taste we cared to please
Is difficult, and still –

That’s easier – than Braid the Hair –
And make the Bodice gay –
When eyes that fondled it are wrenched
By Decalogues – away –

486c. 1862 / 1945

I was the slightest in the House –
I took the smallest Room –
At night, my little Lamp, and Book –
And one Geranium –

So stationed I could catch the Mint
That never ceased to fall –
And just my Basket –
Let me think – I’m sure
That this was all –

I never spoke – unless addressed –
And then, ’twas brief and low –
I could not bear to live – aloud –
The Racket shamed me so –

And if it had not been so far –
And any one I knew
Were going – I had often thought
How noteless – I could die –

486  Bola som v dome najslabšiaMR83

Bola som v dome najslabšia,
aj izba bola úzka.
Vzala som si tam lampičku,
knihu a jeden muškát.

Dobre sa mi tam chytalo
mätu, čo stále padá.
Mala som ešte košík. A
to bolo všetko? Hádam.

Ak zo mňa slovo dostali,
bolo vždy šeptom, stručné.
Za ich zhon som sa hanbila,
život sa mi zdal hlučný.

Neraz som na to myslela,
že raz, až odídu tí,
ktorých som dobre poznala,
nik nevšimne si mojej smrti.

486JŠ06

Byla jsem v domě nejslabší –
v nejmenším pokoji,
v noci svou knihu, lampičku
a pelargonii.

Tak usazena chytám zdroj,
jenž padal bez pauzy.
A jen můj košík.
Přemýšlím – jistě,
nic neschází.

Mluvila jsem jen na výzvu,
krátce, tiše i pak.
Nesnesla jsem žít hlasitě,
hluk urážel mě tak.

A ač to dosud nebylo,
jestli mě opustí
mí známí, myslím, zemřu já
snad bez povšimnutí.

487c. 1862 / 1945

You love the Lord – you cannot see –
You write Him – every day –
A little note – when you awake –
And further in the Day.

An Ample Letter – How you miss –
And would delight to see –
But then His House – is but a Step –
And Mine’s – in Heaven – You see.

487EK06

Máš Pána rád, ač jej nevidíš,
píšeš mu každý den
kratičký vzkaz, hned po ránu
a potom celý den.

Přiznáváš se, že schází ti,
že rád ho uvidíš –
však jeho dům je odsud krok,
a můj je v nebi – víš?

488c. 1862 / 1935

Myself was formed – a Carpenter –
An unpretending time
My Plane – and I, together wrought
Before a Builder came –

To measure our attainments –
Had we the Art of Boards
Sufficiently developed – He’d hire us
At Halves –

My Tools took Human – Faces –
The Bench, where we had toiled –
Against the Man – persuaded –
We – Temples build – I said –

488JŠ99

Jsem vyučená tesařem.
Já, spolu s hoblíkem,
jsme pracovali krátký čas,
než přišel stavitel

posoudit naši schopnost –
zvládáme‑li my dva
už to řemeslo prken, pak najme zvlášť
oba.

Nástroje zrudly v tváři,
stůl, na němž děláme,
se ohradil – já řekla:
My chrámy stavíme.

489c. 1862 / 1929

We pray – to Heaven –
We prate – of Heaven –
Relate – when Neighbors die –
At what o’clock to Heaven – they fled –
Who saw them – Wherefore fly?

Is Heaven a Place – a Sky – a Tree?
Location’s narrow way is for Ourselves –
Unto the Dead
There’s no Geography –

But State – Endowal – Focus –
Where – Omnipresence – fly?

490c. 1862 / 1945

To One denied to drink
To tell what Water is
Would be acuter, would it not
Than letting Him surmise?

To lead Him to the Well
And let Him hear it drip
Remind Him, would it not, somewhat
Of His condemned lip?

490EK06

Tomu, kdo nesmí pít,
povědět o vodě:
je to snad horší – nebo ne –
než žít jen v dohadech?

Dovést ho k prameni,
aby jej slyšel téct –
jistě by si tím připomněl,
že na ústech má trest.

490JŠ06

Tomu, kdo nesmí pít,
říci, co voda je,
není krutější, nežli jej
ponechat v dohadech?

Přivést jej ke studni
zvuk kapek uslyšet,
upozorní ho to, či ne,
na odsouzený ret?

491c. 1862 / 1945

While it is alive
Until Death touches it
While it and I lap one Air
Dwell in one Blood
Under one Sacrament
Show me Division can split or pare –

Love is like Life – merely longer
Love is like Death, during the Grave
Love is the Fellow of the Resurrection
Scooping up the Dust and chanting “Live”!

492c. 1862 / 1945

Civilization – spurns – the Leopard!
Was the Leopard – bold?
Deserts – never rebuked her Satin –
Ethiop – her Gold –
Tawny – her Customs –
She was Conscious –
Spotted – her Dun Gown –
This was the Leopard’s nature – Signor –
Need – a keeper – frown?

Pity – the Pard – that left her Asia –
Memories – of Palm –
Cannot be stifled – with Narcotic –
Nor suppressed – with Balm –

492JH48

Civilisace odkopává levhartici!
Byla levhartice odvážná?
Poušť satinem jejím nepohrdla,
její zlato černoch v bázni má.

Brunátná, vědoma svých zvyků,
skvrnitá, tmavohnědý šat,
to byla povaha levhartí, pane,
musí krotitele rozhněvat?

Ubohý levhart, jenž ztratil Asii svou!
Nemůže býti utišen
stesk palem narkotikem
ani balsámem zahojen.

492  Chycená levharticeJH77

Civilizace zapuzuje levhartici.
Byla levhartice odvážná?
Poušť jejím saténem nepohrdá
a černoch její zlato uctívá.

Brunátná, hrdá
na to, jaká je,
skvrnitá, tmavohnědý šat,
to byla levhartí povaha,
má ji strážce za to pokárat?

Ubohá, ztratila Asii svou,
vzpomíná teskně na palmy,
narkotika jí nepomohou
ani balzámy.

493c. 1862 / 1945

The World – stands – solemner – to me –
Since I was wed – to Him –
A modesty befits the soul
That bears another’s – name –
A doubt – if it be fair – indeed –
To wear that perfect – pearl –
The Man – upon the Woman – binds –
To clasp her soul – for all –
A prayer, that it more angel – prove –
A whiter Gift – within –
To that munificence, that chose –
So unadorned – a Queen –
A Gratitude – that such be true –
It had esteemed the Dream –
Too beautiful – for Shape to prove –
Or posture – to redeem!

494Version I, c. 1862 / 1891

Going to Him! Happy letter!
Tell Him –
Tell Him the page I didn’t write –
Tell Him – I only said the Syntax –
And left the Verb and the pronoun out –
Tell Him just how the fingers hurried –
Then – how they waded – slow – slow –
And then you wished you had eyes in your pages –
So you could see what moved them so –

Tell Him – it wasn’t a Practised Writer –
You guessed – from the way the sentence toiled –
You could hear the Bodice tug, behind you –
As if it held but the might of a child –
You almost pitied it – you – it worked so –
Tell Him – no – you may quibble there –
For it would split His Heart, to know it –
And then you and I, were silenter.

Tell Him – Night finished – before we finished –
And the Old Clock kept neighing “Day”!
And you – got sleepy – and begged to be ended –
What could it hinder so – to say?
Tell Him – just how she sealed you – Cautious!
But – if He ask where you are hid
Until tomorrow – Happy letter!
Gesture Coquette – and shake your Head!

494Version II, c. 1862 / 1955

Going – to – Her!
Happy – Letter! Tell Her –
Tell Her – the page I never wrote!
Tell Her, I only said – the Syntax –
And left the Verb and the Pronoun – out!
Tell Her just how the fingers – hurried –
Then – how they – stammered – slow – slow –
And then – you wished you had eyes – in your pages –
So you could see – what moved – them – so –

Tell Her – it wasn’t a practised writer –
You guessed –
From the way the sentence – toiled –
You could hear the Bodice – tug – behind you –
As if it held but the might of a child!
You almost pitied – it – you – it worked so –
Tell Her – No – you may quibble – there –
For it would split Her Heart – to know it –
And then – you and I – were silenter!

Tell Her – Day – finished – before we – finished –
And the old Clock kept neighing – “Day”!
And you – got sleepy – and begged to be ended –
What could – it hinder so – to say?
Tell Her – just how she sealed – you – Cautious!
But – if she ask “where you are hid” – until the evening –
Ah! Be bashful!
Gesture Coquette –
And shake your Head!

494  DopisJH77

Spěj k němu, ty šťastné psaní,
pověz mu –
tu stránku mu pověz, kterou jsem nenapsala,
pověz mu, že jsou tam jen věty,
ale bez podmětu i bez slovesa,
pověz mu jen, jak prsty spěchaly,
pak se pomalu, pomalu začly brouzdat
a pak se tvé stránky měly na něho jen dívat,
aby viděl, co jej tak dojalo.

Pověz mu, že to nebyl zručný spisovatel,
jak sis myslel,
s každou větou se lopotil,
jako by ho zezadu slabou rukou dítě drželo,
až slyšela jsem, jak se trhá můj krajkový šat!
Téměř ti toho bylo líto – tak to bylo,
pověz mu, ne, mlč, vykrucoval by ses,
srdce by mu ranilo dovědět se to,
a pak ty a já bychom raději mlčeli.

Pověz mu, že než jsme skončili, končila noc
a staré hodiny pořád ržály „Je den!“
A tys byl ospalý a prosil, abys byl dopsán,
co tomu může bránit – říci to konečně?
Pověz mu, jak jsem tě opatrně zapečetila,
ale jestli se optá, kde ses skrýval
až do druhého dne, šťastný dopise,
zatvař se záhadně a zavrť jen hlavou!

494  Šťastný listMR83

To k nemu ideš, šťastný list!
K nemu ísť!
Povedz mu stranu, ktorá celá chýba,
povedz mu vence viet, čo z holých slov
som bez prísudku, bez podmetu vila,
povedz mu, ako prsty hnali sa
a potom viazli, brodili sa nehou
a ako sám si túžil oči mať,
aby si videl, čo ich rozochvelo.

Povedz mu, že si zistil hneď
podľa viet,
aká som pri písaní málo zručná,
a že si počul, ako živôtik
mi ťahá, trhá drobná detská rúčka…
A že ti prišlo ľúto, zdalo sa…
povedz mu, nie, nie, vykrúcaj sa, skús tak,
veď srdce by mu z toho puklo a
obidvom by nám zatvorilo ústa.

Povedz mu, že už zbledla noc,
„Je ráno!“
erdžali staré hodiny a ty si
ospalý prosil: „Už ma dopíš, veď
nik nenapíše všetko, čo si myslí.“
Povedz: „S láskou ma zapečatila,“
no ak sa spýta, kam si si ty ľahol
a do obeda pospal, šťastný list,
koketne zatvár sa a pokrúť hlavou.

495c. 1862 / 1935

It’s thoughts – and just One Heart –
And Old Sunshine – about –
Make frugal – Ones – Content –
And two or three – for Company –
Upon a Holiday –
Crowded – as Sacrament –

Books – when the Unit –
Spare the Tenant – long eno’ –
A Picture – if it Care –
Itself – a Gallery too rare –
For needing more –

Flowers – to keep the Eyes – from going awkward –
When it snows –
A Bird – if they – prefer –
Though Winter fire – sing clear as Plover –
To our – ear –

A Landscape – not so great
To suffocate the Eye –
A Hill – perhaps –
Perhaps – the profile of a Mill
Turned by the Wind –
Tho’ such – are luxuries –

It’s thoughts – and just two Heart –
And Heaven – about –
At least – a Counterfeit –
We would not have Correct –
And Immortality – can be almost –
Not quite – Content –

496c. 1862 / 1896

As far from pity, as complaint –
As cool to speech – as stone –
As numb to Revelation
As if my Trade were Bone –

As far from Time – as History –
As near yourself – Today –
As Children, to the Rainbow’s scarf –
Or Sunset’s Yellow play

To eyelids in the Sepulchre –
How dumb the Dancer lies –
While Color’s Revelations break –
And blaze – the Butterflies!

497c. 1862 / 1945

He strained my faith –
Did he find it supple?
Shook my strong trust –
Did it then – yield?

Hurled my belief –
But – did he shatter – it?
Racked – with suspense –
Not a nerve failed!

Wrung me – with Anguish –
But I never doubted him –
’Tho’ for what wrong
He did never say –

Stabbed – while I sued
His sweet forgiveness –
Jesus – it’s your little “John”!
Don’t you know – me?

497JŠ99

Mou víru napnul –
zjistil, že je pružná?
Jistotou cloumal –
selhala kdy?

Věrností mrštil –
však roztříštil ji tím?
Pochybou trýznil –
neznervóznil!

Úzkostí sklíčil –
já si však byla jím jista –
ač o vině
mi neřekl nic.

Ťal, když jsem prosila
za odpuštění.
Kriste, toť tvůj malý „Jan“!
Neznáš mě již?

498c. 1862 / 1896

I envy Seas, whereon He rides –
I envy Spokes of Wheels
Of Chariots, that Him convey –
I envy Crooked Hills

That gaze upon His journey –
How easy All can see
What is forbidden utterly
As Heaven – unto me!

I envy Nests of Sparrows –
That dot His distant Eaves –
The wealthy Fly, upon His Pane –
The happy – happy Leaves –

That just abroad His Window
Have Summer’s leave to play –
The Ear Rings of Pizarro
Could not obtain for me –

I envy Light – that wakes Him –
And Bells – that boldly ring
To tell Him it is Noon, abroad –
Myself – be Noon to Him –

Yet interdict – my Blossom –
And abrogate – my Bee –
Lest Noon in Everlasting Night –
Drop Gabriel – and Me –

499c. 1862 / 1929

Those fair – fictitious People –
The Women – plucked away
From our familiar Lifetime –
The Men of Ivory –

Those Boys and Girls, in Canvas –
Who stay upon the Wall
In Everlasting Keepsake –
Can Anybody tell?

We trust – in places perfecter –
Inheriting Delight
Beyond our faint Conjecture –
Our dizzy Estimate –

Remembering ourselves, we trust –
Yet Blesseder – than We –
Through Knowing – where We only hope –
Receiving – where we – pray –

Of Expectation – also –
Anticipating us
With transport, that would be a pain
Except for Holiness –

Esteeming us – as Exile –
Themself – admitted Home –
Through easy Miracle of Death –
The Way ourself, must come –

500c. 1862 / 1929

Within my Garden, rides a Bird
Upon a single Wheel –
Whose spokes a dizzy Music make
As ’twere a travelling Mill –

He never stops, but slackens
Above the Ripest Rose –
Partakes without alighting
And praises as he goes,

Till every spice is tasted –
And then his Fairy Gig
Reels in remoter atmospheres –
And I rejoin my Dog,

And He and I, perplex us
If positive, ’twere we –
Or bore the Garden in the Brain
This Curiosity –

But He, the best Logician,
Refers my clumsy eye –
To just vibrating Blossoms!
An Exquisite Reply!

500  V mojej záhrade jazdí vtákMR83

V mojej záhrade jazdí vták
na kolese, čo zo spíc
melódie ti vylúdi,
pri akých dobre zaspíš.

Nezastaví, len spomalí
nad ružou plnou peľu,
nezlieza, pije dúškami,
vyhráva, chváli zrelú

chuť, kým sa toho neobje.
A na zázračnom stroji
odletí inam do záhrad.
Ja so psom tuná stojím,

obaja zmätení, či vták
naozaj vzduch tu víril,
alebo či sa preháňal
len v našej fantázii.

Lež pes sa rýchle spamätá
a mojim slabým očiam
ukáže ruže: chvejú sa,
div z hriadky nevyskočia.

500JŠ99

Po zahradě mi jezdí pták
divoce na kole,
jež dělá nepříčetný hluk
jak mlýnek v stodole.

Nestaví, pouze zvolní
svou rychlost nad růží.
Nesestoupí, jen vdechne
a s chválou odkrouží

ochutnat všechny vůně.
A pak svým vozidlem
vrávorá někam do oblak.
A já teď, se svým psem,

v rozpacích uvažujem,
zdali to vše byl fakt,
či výplod mozku – zahrada
a v ní ten divný pták.

On ale, skvělý logik,
můj pohled usměrní
na chvějící se květy!
Důkaz – a nádherný!