An Anthology of Czechoslovak Literature/The Waterfall
MARTIN RÁZUS
(b. 1888) (Slovak)
The Waterfall
In headlong cascade swirling,
Over rocks hissing, whirling,
Crystalline waters, ye,
Amid whom something calls, someone entices me
With tender embrace, with nimble signs,
If I but stand in the glen of the pines
On a massive boulder, rinsed in the spray,
O’er the seething depths,—unsullied are they,—
Eyes from them call me and promise delight,
Eyes that are comely and greenishly bright;
With such fire and bloom and strength do they teem,
That drunken with their magic I deem
It almost were bliss in the eddy to leap
To drink and be cleansed, soul and body to steep
Utterly,—and to shout forth from the brake:
These are the waters wherefrom ye shall take
To christen your children. With the torrent’s unrest
O’er boulders, o’er rocks on their life’s holy quest
Let them triumph.
Ha, stay, who goes there?
A single move would bring havoc. Beware.
’Tis here that Death lurks, here is Life yet to be. . . .
Waters, waters ye
In headlong cascade swirling,
Over rocks hissing, whirling,
Glorious waters are ye!
Ah, Beloved Earth (1919)
This work is a translation and has a separate copyright status to the applicable copyright protections of the original content.
| Original: |
This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published before January 1, 1930. The longest-living author of this work died in 1937, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 87 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.
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| Translation: |
This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published before January 1, 1930. The longest-living author of this work died in 1970, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 54 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.
Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse |
