E impartita omenirea

Mihai Eminescu (Premiul I la Colocviul M. Eminescu, Iasi)

E impartita omenirea
In cei ce vor si cei ce stiu.
In cei dentai traieste firea,
Ceilalti o cumpanesc s-o scriu.
Cand unii tese haina vremei,
Ceilalti a vremii coji adun:
Viata unii dau problemei,
Ceilalti gandirei o supun.

Dar pace este intre dansii:
Ce unii fac iau alti-aminte.
Caci pana azi domneste-ntr-insii
A cartii tale graiuri sfinte.
N-a intrat viermele-ndoielii,
Copil e ochiul lor cand vede,
Cainta vad urmand greselii,
Caci omul tot in tine crede.

Al raului geniu arate-mi
Un om din vita pamanteasca,
Ce-ar fi-ncercat ale lui patemi
Naintea ta sa-ndreptateasca;
Caci buni si rai traiesc in tine,
Cuvantul tau e calea lor ¬
De-a lor abateri li-i rusine,
Caci tu esti tinta tuturor.

Virtutea nu mai e un merit,
Caci merit nu-i cand nu e lupta.
Asupra ta ei nu se-ntarat
Cu viata-n joc, cu mintea rupta;
Manand cu anii colbul scolii,
Ei cred far-a fi inteles,
Din carti stravechi roase de molii
Isi implu mintea cu eres.

Ei nu patrund a ta marire ¬
Minune-i pentru dansii tot.
Necercetand nimic in fire,
Nimic nu stiu, nimic nu pot;
Caci nu-i supusa lamuririi
Gandirea-n capul intelept ¬
La toate farmecele firii
Se bat cu manile pe piept.

Urmand a cartilor straveche
Statornic, nemiscat invat,
E surda azi a lor ureche
Privindu-ti firea cu dispret;
Legata-n lant e a lor minte
Si rodul mintii e salbatec,
Se plac in mistice cuvinte
Si-esplica totul enigmatic.

On Earth, Men of Two Kinds Are Born

On Earth, men of two kinds are born:
Those with a will, and knowing ones.
The former give substance a form,
The latter know how substance runs.
These give a face to times they see –
Those linger at the back of times:
Through some, the issue comes to be
Some touch it merely with their minds.

The two have reached a balance, still;
While some will do, others will look -
For in their hearts still lies, tranquil,
The holy credo of your book.
No philosophical doubts yet –
Their inner eyes can see no wrong,
They can’t conceive but to repent
Their every fault – their faith is strong.

I dare the evil mind to find
One born out of a human seed
Who thinks that sufferings of his kind
Weigh heavier than your ordeal.
For good and bad both share the world,
Both see your teachings as their guide
And blush at breaching their God’s code –
They both want to be on your side.

There’s no virtue in what they do
For there’s no struggle in it either,
They don’t disect their faith in you
With throbbing hearts, with minds on fire.
They waste their youth in schools, like worms,
To achieve faith they cannot grasp
They fill their minds with empty words
From books covered in years – and dust.

They fail to grasp you have no bound
And then, amazed at all they see
Fail to disect the world around,
Powerless in their mind and deed.
For no man can explain the thought
That makes the wisdom of a mind –
And everything that nature brought
Makes the conceit of men their kind.

Translated by Ecaterina Mintici

E impartita omenirea

Mihai Eminescu (Mentiune la Colocviul M. Eminescu, Iasi)

E impartita omenirea
In cei ce vor si cei ce stiu.
In cei dentai traieste firea,
Ceilalti o cumpanesc s-o scriu.
Cand unii tese haina vremei,
Ceilalti a vremii coji adun:
Viata unii dau problemei,
Ceilalti gandirei o supun.

Dar pace este intre dansii:
Ce unii fac iau alti-aminte.
Caci pana azi domneste-ntr-insii
A cartii tale graiuri sfinte.
N-a intrat viermele-ndoielii,
Copil e ochiul lor cand vede,
Cainta vad urmand greselii,
Caci omul tot in tine crede.

Al raului geniu arate-mi
Un om din vita pamanteasca,
Ce-ar fi-ncercat ale lui patemi
Naintea ta sa-ndreptateasca;
Caci buni si rai traiesc in tine,
Cuvantul tau e calea lor ¬
De-a lor abateri li-i rusine,
Caci tu esti tinta tuturor.

Virtutea nu mai e un merit,
Caci merit nu-i cand nu e lupta.
Asupra ta ei nu se-ntarat
Cu viata-n joc, cu mintea rupta;
Manand cu anii colbul scolii,
Ei cred far-a fi inteles,
Din carti stravechi roase de molii
Isi implu mintea cu eres.

Ei nu patrund a ta marire ¬
Minune-i pentru dansii tot.
Necercetand nimic in fire,
Nimic nu stiu, nimic nu pot;
Caci nu-i supusa lamuririi
Gandirea-n capul intelept ¬
La toate farmecele firii
Se bat cu manile pe piept.

Urmand a cartilor straveche
Statornic, nemiscat invat,
E surda azi a lor ureche
Privindu-ti firea cu dispret;
Legata-n lant e a lor minte
Si rodul mintii e salbatec,
Se plac in mistice cuvinte
Si-esplica totul enigmatic.

Humans Are So Utterly Divided

Humans are so utterly divided
In those who want and those who know.
The former burn so bright with passion
The latter weigh it up in their pens’ vow;
While some weave, oh, so richly the time’s frock,
Still others gather up the crumbs of time.
While some let all life’s problems run amok,
Others still carve it in their mind’s design.

But harmony reigns queen over them all:
The deeds of some are parables for th’ others.
For to this day, Thy sacred tongues they call
Out from the Good Book, making them all brothers.
And troubled not by doubt’s own vermin foul,
The eye remains transparent to the soul;
Remorse is intertwined when wild sins follow
For man will still believe in you tomorrow.

Oh, let the spectral demons show to me
An earthborn man treading these lands
Who’s ever tried to lay his trials all
On your back, to blame them on your hands;
For bad and good, they live within your grace
Your word is their only path to take –
In front of their miscarriages in shame
They bow their face,
For You are in the sole final telos’ wake.

And virtue ceases to be glory
For there’s no glory to be had without yon’strife.
They do not mount against you their own selves
With minds shattered, and on the line their life;
Driving in circles in the schoolyard dust,
They all believe without, but having understood.
Amidst old tomes devoured threadbare by moths’ lust
They fill their minds with heretics’ soulfood.

For they can’t comprehend your heav’nly glory –
And all they see before their eyes is wonder
Never inquiring about a thing out yonder
And naught they know, and naught they can;
Doubtful chunks all trouble pondering minds
And their wisdom entwined with doubts they beget. -
Instead at all the marvels that the world has let
They only pound their chests as if they were
Their very own finds.

Translated by Maria Zirra