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

Alesul

Sortii iubirii sunt alesi. Atat am invatat
Luptand pentru un chip pe fagasul
Intortocheat al zodiacului.
De-abia daca mi-a atins trupul,
De-abia daca patrunde din vest,
Sau a gasit un refugiu subteran
Pe pieptul meu matern in miez de noapte,
Inainte de a-l fi vazut pe drumul sau spre nord
Si parea ca stau in picioare desi eram intinsa-n pat.

M-am luptat cu groaza zorilor,
L-am ales pentru soarta mea! Intrebata
De cea mai mare placere alaturi de un barbat
De catre o oarecare proaspata mireasa,
Iau tacerea ca raspuns,
Unde inimile noastre se confunda
Si plutesc miraculos in deriva,
Unde – a scris un astrolog invatat –
Zodiacul se preschimba-n sfera.

Traducere: Carmen Dumitru, Second Year English Major