Credo
Author: Nikolai Gumiliev, fall 1905
From whence I came I know of nothing,
I do not know where I will go
In time when I'm consumed, in triumph
In glittering garden of my soul.
When I am full to brim with beauty,
And fed up with caress of rose,
When overwhelmed and tired of visions
My soul will beg me for repose.
I live as though a dance of shadows,
In dying hour of an ailing day.
I am full of secrecy of moments,
And charming goblet of red flame.
The world's disclosed all secrets to me -
The shade of light and brightness of the sun,
A flickering light of tender planets
In triumphant ether up above.
I'm not in search of ailing knowledge
Of why and whence I'm coming from.
I know of flare being there
Of star locked in a kiss with other star.
I know there rang divinely singing
In front of beauty's lofty shrine.
With holy flowers, white as virgins,
Entwined as visions caught in dance.
With ardent heart believing wonders,
With knowledge of the sky above.
No matter where I go and dwell in,
All things I'll cover in my trance.
All time alive, all time in power,
Engrossed in love with beauty's spell,
And rainbow of harmonic accords
Will light up kingdom of eternal rest.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Posted: Dec 2010
About this poem:
Another translation from Russian poet Nikolai Gumiliev, whom I admire.