De Profundis

There is a stubble field on which a black rain falls. There is a tree which, brown, stands lonely here. There is a hissing wind which haunts deserted huts- - How sad this evening. Past the village pond The gentle orphan still gathers scanty ears of corn. Golden and round her eyes are gazing in the dusk And her lap awaits the heavenly bridegroom. Returning home Shepherds found the sweet body Decayed in the bramble bush. A shade I am remote from sombre hamlets. The silence of God I drank from the woodland well. On my forehead cold metal forms. Spiders look for my heart. There is a light that fails in my mouth. At night I found myself upon a heath, Thick with garbage and the dust of stars. In the hazel copse Crystal angels have sounded once more. Translated by Michael Hamburger