La steaua care-a rasarit E-o cale-atât de lunga, Ca mii de ani i-au trebuit Luminii sa ne-ajunga.
Poate de mult s-a stins în drum În departari albastre, Iar raza ei abia acum Luci vederii noastre.
Icoana stelei ce-a murit Încet pe cer se suie; Era pe când nu s-a zarit, Azi o vedem, si nu e.
Tot astfel când al nostru dor Pieri în noapte-adânca, Lumina stinsului amor Ne urmareste înca.
The star is arisen in heaven Further away than we know It took a very long time For its light to arrive here
Space may have blue immensity What we see now before us The light was not here then Dying before showing up here
Its an illusion in the sky The sight of a long dead star Its present in the heavens But not from our mortal view
Our hope might be all but lost Overcome by the dark of night Yet even the dying starlight Is a memorial to our love.
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Posted: Dec 2014
About this poem:
This is a very famous late poem by the Romanian national poet Mihai Eminescu.
In my translation, a long vanished star is depicted as memorial of love - the one kind of light always present even when what gave life to it no longer exists.
Every generation carries that light within them onwards as those before it and love remains in the world.
And for the future - something beautiful like that is not really an illusion; its a tribute to the best part of ourselves.
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