Passion, and then the anguish. And
with whom
To
soothe you, heavy heart that lost so much?
Love's
hour escaped, unstoppered like perfume?
The loveliest – all for nothing –
within touch?
Cloudy the mind: mere muddle all it
tries.
And the great world adrift before
the eyes.
Then music to the fore like angels
swarming,
A million tones in galaxy. We
surrender
All of our inner fort to forces
storming
– Irresistibly overrun with
splendor.
The eye goes damp: in longings past
tomorrow
We guess at the infinite worth of
song and sorrow.
And so the heart, disburdened, in a
flash
Knows: I endure, and beat, and pound
with pleasure!
Gives itself over utterly, in rash
Thanks
for the windfall, life. No common treasure.
Then
came – could it only last! – that feeling of
Double
delight from music and from love.
Translated by
John Frederick Nims