swifty@fluke.UUCP (steve swift) (09/20/83)
Here are a couple of my favorite Hermann Hesse poems. Both of these poems were translated by Francis Allard back in 1974 while he was a professor of Germanics at the University of Washington. The last I heard about him was that he was going to teach at Standford... does anyone know where he is? September The garden is in mourning; The rain falls cool among the flowers. Summer shivers quietly On its way towards its end. Golden leaf after leaf Falls from the tall acacia. Summer smiles, astonished, feeble, In this dying dream of a garden. For a long while, yet, in the roses, She will linger on, yearning for peace, And slowly Close her weary eyes. ______________________________________________________________ Going to Sleep Now that day wearies me, My yearning desire Will receive more kindly, Like a tired child, the starry night. Hands, leave off your deeds, Mind, forget all thoughts; All of my forces Yearn only to sink into sleep. And my soul, unguarded, Would soar on widespread wings, To live in night's magical sphere More profoundly, more variously. steve swift (...decvax!microsof!fluke!swifty)