Below, a depth of stars; above,
The heaven stars begem, -
He seems an endless lightning that
Is wandering through them.

And from the Chaos’ vales he sees
How in an immense ring
Round him, as in the World’s first day,
Lights from their sources spring;

How, springing, they hem him like an
Ocean that swimming nears…
He flees carried by his desire
Until he disappears…

Mihai Eminescu ( January 15, 1850 – June 15, 1889)

Evening Star (Luceafarul)

…Porni luceafărul. Creşteau
În cer a lui aripe,
Şi căi de mii de ani treceau
În tot atâtea clipe.

Un cer de stele dedesubt,
Deasupra-i cer de stele -
Părea un fulger ne’ntrerupt
Rătăcitor prin ele.

Şi din a chaosului văi,
Jur împrejur de sine,
Vedea, ca-n ziua cea dentâi,
Cum izvorau lumine;

Cum izvorând îl înconjor
Ca nişte mări, de-a-notul…
El zboară, gând purtat de dor,
Pân’ piere totul, totul;…

                                                                      Born January 15, 1850

By Mihai Eminescu *

“O remain, dear one, I love you,
Stay with me in my fair land,
For your dreamings and your longings
Only I can understand.

You, who like a prince reclining
Over the pool with heaven starred;
You who gaze up from the water
With such earnest deep regard.

Stay, for where the lapping wavelets
Shake the tall and tasseled grass,
I will make you hear in secret
How the furtive chamois pass.

Oh, I see you wrapped in magic,
Hear your murmur low and sweet,
As you breqk the shallow water
With your slender naked feet;

See you thus amidst the ripples
Which the moon’s pale beams engage,
And your years seem but an instant,
And each instant seems an age.”

Thus spake the woods in soft entreaty;
Arching boughs above me bent,
But I whistled high, and laughing
Out into the open went.

Now though even I roamed that country
How could I its charm recall …
Where has boyhood gone, I wonder,
With its pool and woods and all?

* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mihai_Eminescu

(Translated by Corneliu M. Popescu)

To the star up in ethereal heights
There’s a path so far to stray,
Thousands of years might have its lights
Been wandering ‘til today.

Maybe it perished long ago
On its way down through blue space,
This moment yet you come to know
Its shine upon your face.

The icon, gently soaring high,
Of that star now long since dead:
Could never spot it while alive,
Now gone - we see it yet.

Alike when our desire grown old
And lost in deepest night,
The light of faded love now cold
Still reaches our sight.

By Mihai Eminescu (January 15, 1850 – June 15, 1889)
Transl. by Alfred W. Tüting