The Rainbow

Do you not see the rainbow

trembling as the ray passes through,

as though it were a serpent upon its couch,

as though it were the serpent of the sky in its orange hues?

Behold it, raising its neck amid the mist,

as though it were a jeweled sword,

as though it were the bridge of space,

the great bridge of space!..

Is it a bridge for the passing of your angels,

O mighty Creator?

Upon this bridge do they attain unto You?

Ah, if only I could reach

unto where this bridge begins!

Climbing the stairs of the blue firmament,

walking upon the crown of death and time,

and our two bodies fused together... O Lawrence.

"Lamartine"

translated by: Abu Shabaka

* * *

The Light...

The night has a thousand eyes...

and the day but one....

yet the light of the universe fades away

with the fading of the setting sun's ray.

And the mind has a thousand eyes...

and the heart has but one..

and what remains of the light of life

when the ember of love dies out?.

Bourdillon

translated by: Mahmoud al-Akhal