Saturday, August 27, 2022


HENRIK IBSEN
"An Evening Roam in the Forest"
____________________

It is too bright, it is too bright
 Where moonlight casts its glow; -- 
 My heart is, by this calm of night,
 Transfused and trembles so;
 On every bloom, each leaf that curls
 Rests evening is string of dew-drop pearls
 And quivers to my gaze! -- 

It is too bright, too bright the glow
 Here by the water is brink! --
 Behold the waves too-silent flow,
 And mirrored stars that sink
 Till in the watery deep they're bathed
 Seem like forget-me-nots grief-swathed,
 Like eyes that sorrow shrouds.
 
Far yonder, to the distant North
 Where fir-trees darkly press,
 Where Hulders in the fell hold forth
 (You might well call it wilderness)
 There I possess a cherished place,
 There I'll direct my steps apace,
 My sanctuary is there!
 
Behold the mountain peaks abrupt
 That muffling clouds enclose; --
 An autumn storm will soon erupt,
 Night is wind already blows! --
 -- O, sweet; -- as though I were inspired
 I feel by this same tempest fired
 To journey through the night! -- --
 
Deep in the woods, away, away!
 O, further still from here,
 Until the soul falls wholly prey
 To this wild, panic fear, --
 Till you're convinced the wraiths of night
 Attend you on your headlong flight
 However swift you speed! --
 
Hush, silence now; -- this is the spot! --
 Amidst the forest bound
 Hark, owls are shrieking, -- mark you not? --
 Ah, how sublime they sound!
 Theirs is a merry melody, --
 Let not one note neglectfully
 Escape you; -- ah, how sweet! -- --
 
The spruces, standing black and tall,
 The tarn is dour verges crowd;
 -- As through the air the storm-winds squall,
 Observe the misty shroud, --
 It glides aloft and then glides down,
 Now wraps about the forest crown
 Now covers the black depths. 

 Here may the heart find such content
 Amid the raging storm;
 Here Nature is visage can present
 My breast in mirrored form,
 An image of my given doom:
 No peace in life nor in the tomb,
 No peace eternally! --


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