Stagnating PoolHad I a crumb of what once filled my day
the trembling, the fever, the red, the burning
blood that seethed and rushed madly through my veins ─
I would be rich, I would live like a lord.
Because then, in those times, night and day love
was there with me: and it was the boat
that swiftly sailed, it was the wind
that pushed it onward, and the open sea
that stretched so vast before me.
Oh love, Oh love, Oh days without rest,
Oh days without peace, oh days filled with wonder
brightly overflowing in my sleep. How sad,
my love, it is to feel this rebel walking
so slowly through my veins and come to rest
so weary and cold, this shabby raggedness,
stagnating pool, water standing still.
(Translated by Novella Bonaffini)