The Whet

Translated from Lucian Blaga's Eu nu strivesc corola de minuni a lumii, 1919.

I would not tread upon the petaled crown of worldy wonder
nor would I kill
within my mind, the secrets, that which meets me
in my way,
in flowers, eyes, on lips or tombs.
The others' light
suffocates the unknown's magic, hidden
in the depths of darkness,
but I,
I with my light enliven worldly mystery--
and just as with her white rays Luna
does not lessen, but, in trembling,
magnifies the night's great secret,
just so, I bless the dark horizon
with profound shudders of holy mystery
and all ununderstood¹
becomes still more occult
before my eyes--
for still I love
yet flowers, eyes, lips, and tombs.

1. It's true that only an appreciation of other tongues will truly tell you just how short the English falls; and not just as a matter of comparison, but against itself! "Ununderstood", it's required, the underness perfectly negatable, but for reasons thoroughly outside of reason, we're to take the negating prefix as unfixable.

   Conventional English blows. Force mistakes today. [↩]