Farm Workers, Edgars Iltners (1925 – 1983) Soviet-Latvian painter Pan’s BedBetween the last roses a
Farm Workers, Edgars Iltners (1925 – 1983) Soviet-Latvian painter Pan’s BedBetween the last roses and the first mint,Between July’s bird chorus and November’s stormsFleeting Time has burned up the cult of Pan.So between the golden sunny daysAnd the threatening stormy wallsPan sleeps in his gold and purple bed.Though Pluto sends him PersephoneWith flax flowers, and narcissus in hand,Bacchus offers the cup with vine-leaf crownAnd sheaves and fruits, encircling round;Still the cups foam with divine fuel,Still the flow of plenty masks the rustle of destruction.Is Autumn loss or gain?The seed of life? Or nearing of annihilation?Do we again feel chilled, turned to tin?No! - Autumn is more than just pain,He is both the culmination of Summer,And in death, wears the wreath of May.- Aspazija (From her collection: In The Time Of Asters - Autumn Poems, 1928)My translation from the Latvian. Read more for the Latvian original. Even if you can’t read Latvian it is worth looking, just so that you can see the strong rhyming she used here - alas, sacrificed in the translation.PĀNA GULTAStarp pēdējām rozēm un pirmajām mētrām,Starp jūlija tvīksmi un novembra vētrāmLaiks gavilēs sadedzis Pāna kultā.Nu vidū starp zeltainām saules dienāmUn melni draudošām negaisa sienāmGuļ Pāns savā zelta un purpura gultā.Gan Plūtons tam sūta PersefoniAr veļu puķēm, narcisēm, rokā,Bet Bakhus sniedz kausu ar vīnlapu kroni,Un kūļi un augļi visapkārt stāv lokā;Vēl kausi puto no dievišķās malkas,Vēl pilnības plūsma sedz nīcības šalkas.Vai rudens zaudējums ir vai guvums?Vai dzīvības sēkla? Vai nīcības tuvums?Vai atkal mums atsalt stinguma alvā?Nē! —Rudens nav vien tikai sāpinājums,Viņš reizē ir vasaras kāpinājums,Un nāvei maija vaiņags ir galvā. -- source link
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