Still lost am I in valleys dark with night,Alas, my soul, for hope's bewildering light!
I bury sorrows in the grave of death,I pour my anguish in affliction's breath.
I've heard the bird sing forth and make things plain,And seen the moon shine with full light again.
I've heard the night complain in bitter moan,And watched the light pass by in splendour shown.
I've heard the wretched poet sing his strain,In longing and in weeping's constant pain.
He crafts his verses—they depart, then raceThrough creation's mouth, flinging sparks apace.
I've seen the wretched pauper yearning flyAbove the horizons of fate's reply.
Would I knew: which soul does not aspireTo every safety from a life like fire?
What people suffer grieves me to the core—Of torment, healing, and of weariness sore.
Alas, my soul! What good in bending low?What use in life that's but a votive woe?
Grief that o'erspread creation healed my sight,And made the cosmos darkness to my light.
Whenever I surveyed the world to see,I found but darkness upon darkness free.
These worlds are lost like exiles on the way,Like gazelles fleeing from the hunter's prey.
At times they step as steps the infant child,Then like the stray gazelle run wild.
O thou this day, who dost divide in twainTwo eras: darkness and the light's domain—
Thou art to me a nobler crown of pride,To thee belongs all good and loyal tide.
We shall forget what cups we drained of wine,We shall forget what toil was ours and thine.
We shall forget what suns we lost on high,We shall regain the radiance gone awry.
We'll anchor on a shore of golden sand,We'll frolic to the water-music's band.
We'll savour fragrance of those shadows fair,We'll find the life for which we hoped with care.
We'll soar above the common people's dreams,Where we shall live in quietness that gleams.
Where we'll escape fate's overwhelming tide,And see the world in peace's gentle light.
We'll spend our lives in song like birds that soar,We'll watch the stars through all the night once more.
We'll spend our lives in song at dawn's first gleam,While time's sharp arrows pierce life's inmost seam!
Book Details 
