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January 3, 2008
epitaphs
In times past the speaking of epigrams at burials was a custom used to inspire in
mourners a sense of confidence and hope in the future.
I
(for Marc)
The child I was the child
Plays without ever thinking about
The unlit turnings of time
Never ending he plays for fun
He keeps safe his spring
His stream is a torrent
My pleasures were sheer delight
But I died when I was nine.
II
Pain is like a knife
That cuts into living flesh
And I suffered the agony of pain
Like the bird the shock of the arrow
Like the plant the heart of the desert
Like ice on the water
My heart suffered the wrongs
Of injustice and unhappiness
I lived in an unclean time
When some would find their pleasure
By forgetting their sons and brothers
Chance sealed me in its walls
But in my nights I dreamed only of the blue sky.
*
I could do anything I could do nothing
I could love anything but not enough.
*
Sky sea earth
Swamped over me
Man brought me to life again.
*
Here lies one who lived never doubting
That dawn is good at every age
When he died he thought of birth
For the sun was rising again.
*
I lived tired for myself and others
But I always wished to free my shoulders
And the shoulders of my poorest brothers
Of that burden we all bear that leads us to the grave
For my hopes sake I set my face against the dark.
*
Stop and remember the forest
The meadow brightest in the shining sun
Remember the faces without remorse or mist of tears
Mine faded away yours took its place
For this survival we alive remain
We crown the wish to last and to abide.
III
You have forgotten them those who put me to death
Those who feared only to lack my heart
I am in your every day as the light is there
Like a living man who is only warm on earth
Only my hope and my courage have remained
You utter my name and you breathe more freely
I had believed in you we are bountiful
We go our way and happiness burns the past
And our strength grows younger for all to see.
Paul Eluard
Posted by amin at January 3, 2008 11:08 PM