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

Hotarata (de la o femeie si tanara si in varsta)

Soarta iubirii este hotarata. Macar atat am invatat
Tanjind dupa o imagine de pe traseul
Zodiacului care se roteste.
El de-abia mi-a atins trupul,
El de-abia s-a scufundat usor din vest
Sau a gasit un loc de odihna subteran
La pieptul meu matern, in miaza-noapte
Inainte sa-l intalnesc in drumul sau spre nord,
Si-mi parea ca-s in picioare, desi eram intinsa-n pat.

M-am luptat cu oroarea zorilor de zi,
Eu mi-am hotarat soarta! Intrebata de
Placerea mea cea mai mare cu un barbat
De catre o mireasa proaspat casatorita,
As opri in loc acea clipa,
In care inima lui parea inima mea
Si amandoi eram purtati in deriva pe miraculosul suvoi,
Unde – un intelept astrolog spusese –
Zodiacul se transforma intr-o sfera.

Traducere: Paula Vranceanu, Second Year English Major