OUR LUCKY STAR

     Under the starry autumn skies
     I lie, my wounded breast afire.
     The vision of my love's eyes
     Grows fainter - and will soon expire.

     If you are musing at this hour
     In our old home by open window,
     You, too, search out our lucky star
     That in my dimming eyes keeps dwindling.

     Our eyes would thus a last tryst keep,
     As stars burn brighter before dawn.
     Be brave, beloved, do not weep,
     But think of me as fighting on.

     The fascists run, and endless rows
     Of crosses by the roads they leave,
     And in the future times no foes
     Will ever venture past my grave.

     The wind sings low, the shrapnel hacks
     The icy trenches, bullet-ridden.
     My comrades rise soon to attack.
     Oh how I wish I could be with them!

     The battle sounds come from afar.
     Good hunting, brothers, and - goodbye!
     My love, search out our lucky star
     Before it pales. Before I die.

1947
Translated by S.Roy

       OUR FRIENDSHIP WAS TENDER

     Our friendship was tender,
     Our love was strong,
     And I poured all my heart
     In a song,
     In a song.

     Birchtree leaves fell three times,
     Thrice grew green again.
     I still wait for your letters,
     For your letters
     In vain.

     Days slip by like green fields,
     Wilt away like flowers,
     Like the cut stems of rye
     Fall away
     Our hours.

     When you look out the window,
     Couldn't I sway there and lurch
     In the wind, rustling leaves
     Like a birch,
     Like a birch?

     In transparent moonlight
     I'd be close to you,
     And I'd bathe in the silver
     Of the dew,
     Of the dew.

     And when for the night
     You would douse the light,
     I would bow and bid you
     A good night,
     A good night.

     Till my longing should wane,
     Couldn't I sway there and lurch
     In the wind, rustling leaves
     Like a birch,
     Like a birch?

1961
Translated by S.Roy