Autumn (II): When sunflakes glisten

Stefan George, The Year of the Soul (1887), "Wir schreiten auf und ab im reichen flitter"

---

Up to the gate and back again we wander //
Between the beeches with their gold and gloom, //
And glancing through the bars, we pause to ponder //
The almond tree beyond, in second bloom. //

We search for benches where there is no shade //
And alien voices never fret. In dreams //
Your arm in mine and mine in yours is laid, //
And we are bathed in long and mellow beams, //

And feel beholden when the sunflakes glisten //
Around us from the leaves alive with sound,
And only lift our heads to look and listen //
When fruit, too rich with ripeness, taps the ground. //

Translators: Olga Marx and Ernst Morwitz, 1949/1974. University of North Carolina Press. https://cdr.lib.unc.edu/concern/journals/d791sn64d

#poetry #StefanGeorge #ImJahrDerSeele #WirSchreitenAufUndAb #OlgaMarx #ErnstMorwitz

For the original German version, see my parallel post: https://mastodonapp.uk/@the_roamer/115284228137789543