W.B.YEATS

CHOSEN

[from A WOMAN YOUNG AND OLD (1933)]

The lot of love is chosen. I learnt that much
Struggling for an image on the track
Of the whirling Zodiac.
Scarce did he my body touch,
Scarce sank he from the west
Or found a subterranean rest
On the maternal midnight of my breast
Before I had marked him on his northern way,
And seemed to stand although in bed I lay.


I struggled with the horror of daybreak,
I chose it for my lot! If questioned on
My utmost pleasure with a man
By some new-married bride, I take
That stillness for a theme
Where his heart my heart did seem
And both adrift on the miraculous stream
Where – wrote a learned astrologer–
The Zodiac is changed into a sphere.

W.B.YEATS

Ales

Toate iubirile se aleg. Am aflat asta
Incercand sa patrund imaginea
Zodiacului rotindu-se.
Tocmai mi-a atins trupul,
Scufundandu-se dinspre vest
Sau a gasit un tainic loc de odihna
In intunericul pieptului meu,
Inainte de a-l zari urcand spre nord.
Parea ca sta desi stateam si eu.

M-am luptat cu spaima rasaritului,
Alegandu-l drept soarta. Daca o mireasa
M-ar intreba despre desavarsirea langa un barbat
I-as vorbi de acel punct
In care inimile noastre se suprapun,
Purtate de valuri dincolo de real,
Acolo unde, spunea un invatat astrolog,
Zodiacul se preschimba in sfera.

Traducere: Raluca Romaniuc, Second Year English Major