CONTENTS

O F   P A G E   I I I.
_____

Evening.
From André Chénier.
O tarry not in Distant Parts.
_____
 

EVENING.

WHEN falls below the crimson day
    Of earth's smoke-coloured end,
When steam goes up, and far away
    With shadows all does blend,�
Then I do ponder quietly
    Eternity and love,
And someone's voice will whisper me:
    "Shalt grieve soon as dost move."
And watching with a humbled soul
    The heavens, I think thus:
They might do many a miracle,
    But it shan't be for us,
Not for a worthless fool to see,
    To whom thy gaze and words
Will to the end more precious be
    Than all divine rewards.
    _____

FROM ANDRÉ CHÉNIER.

FOR common wealth it may so happen that I fall,
Or spend a fruitless exile far away from all;
It may so happen, stricken by sly calumnies,
Before the world and thee abased by enemies,
I shan't find strength to bear shame's crown which does impend
And shall myself step forth to my untimely end;
Then wouldst not thou accuse the youthful sufferer:
I beg of thee, send thou then not a mocking glare.
Thy tears my woeful, frightening lot does merit, for
How e'er much evil I commit, I suffer more.
Let me be culpable before my haughty foes,
Let them avenge themselves; not in the soul, heaven knows,
Am I a villain, no, my fate is my undoer;
I e'er press'd on ahead, I wanted to be pure;
Having all tired with fleeting world's inanity,
I had to keep the vow in its solemnity;
Though to society I've done a lot of harm,
To thee, my friend, have ever, ever I been warm;
I loved in solitude, amid the insurgent mob;
For thee did throb my heart, and ever gently throb.
_____

O TARRY NOT IN DISTANT PARTS.

O TARRY not in distant parts,
I beg, my friend, hie hither thence.
Thou'lt throw some glance which Friendship charts,
And our own ways then go we hence.

And when I shall have caught that gaze
And the last speech I'd hear from thee,
Though stern reproach be in thy phrase,
My heart shall save their memory.

And on a day of fatal grief,
Thy gaze that conscience knows to reach
Shall I make out, and find relief
In the repeating of thy speech.

And thou'lt be once again where I am,
And shall I, shall recall I whence
It came that met we the first time
And how our own ways went we hence.
_____
 

[A link to the preceding page.]
[A link to the next page.]
[A link to the title page.]
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

BONUS.
____
 

DO I LOOK IN INDECISION (1833).

DO I look in indecision
On the silver spurs I've got;
For your sides, come their incision,
Tremble I, my leaper good.

Our forefathers had not one,
And, when prancing mid the plains,
With a sturdy lash whipp'd on
Steeds who yet weren't used to reins.

With Enlightenment's success,
In the stead of coarse old times,
By inventions does it bless
Of the hitherto strange climes;

In our age they curry, feed,
Save back's honour from the blows...
Once they struck � now prick the steed!..
What's to advantage more? � God knows!..
_____
 

MY DOUBT OF COMING DAYS GROWS GREATER (1836).

MY doubt of coming days grows greater,
The past is ills and torments drear...
What for no earlier or no later
Has Nature caused me to appear?

How did the Maker seek me out,
Why did so menacingly flout
At the aspirations of my youth?..
He gave the cup of peace and strife,
And said, "I'll ornament thy life,
Thou shalt be famed 'mongst men for truth!.."

And I put faith into His word,
And, with the passionate will replete,
I then did my career record
Up from the height of my soul's seat.
Fought ill with sanctity in me �

The voice I choked of sanctity,
My heart of any tears wrung I.
As a young fruit dried of its juice,
It languish'd from Doom's tempests' use
Under Existence' sultry sky.

Then, for the impertinent contest set,
I penetrated human hearts
Through the mysterious coverlet
Of passions and of worldly arts.

_____