Snow
I deeply love the violet virgin
Spread of snow away from the bridge,
The sad wet coldness that I feel surging
In patient loves enduring spirit.
Darling! My soul is filling with snow.
The days flit past and I age too.
All I have done is explore alone
My country a velvet desert of blue.
Alas! My life begins and ands there:
January and I are on good terms
But eternally I shall remember,
As white as snow, your pallid arms.
Darling, I see, I look, I stare at
Your weak arms drooping in snowy wreaths.
Now, in the desert, your mantle flares up,
Dies out and flashes, bright but brief.
Thats why I love the violet virgin
Spread of snow from our river bridge,
A feeling of grief, of blowing, of swirling,
A row of iris, blown down, outstretched.
With blue, tired dreams this days glad tidings
Have snowed me down. Still falls the snow.
If winter would somehow leave me behind it,
If the wind would leave me and cease to blow.
There is a way, a game, but slow
And you walk alone, always alone.
I loved in your voice as I love the snow
That secret melancholy tone.
Then I was drunk, in love and fevered:
Quiet days passed, a crystal white dream:
Your hair that the leaves of the meadow disheveled,
The wind that blew your hair in a stream.
A thirst has come over me, a thirst as strong
As a homeless wanderers for a home.
White forests follow me in a strong:
Again my self and I are alone.
With blue, tired snowflakes such a days tidings
Have snowed me down. Still falls the snow.
If winter would somehow leave me behind it,
If the wind would leave me and cease to blow.
1916