Poetic-Verses from ATHANASE
Χαῖρε, κεχαριτωμένη, ὁ Κύριος μετὰ σοῦ
(Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee.)
Let us rejoice
As springtime rejoices
When touched by the grace of the sun.
Let us rejoice
When the soul is embers and passion.
Let us touch with our lips
The clear reflections of clouds in still water.
Let crickets and cicadas
Carry our bodies towards the transparency of the sky,
While our bodies asleep
In the roots of rosebushes
Listen to the murmur of the universe.
Up there, on the hill,
On a day of sublime peace,
The fearful quail
Will read us the intoxicating ode of the hyacinths.
Yes, soul of my soul,
Let us recite this prayer
Which freshens the heart,
We who know
That the earth sums up
In one definitive grave plot
Our faltering destinies!
But now
Let me repeat your name
Until there’s a trembling in
The foaming ecstasy
Of the ocean’s waves
And in the mountain peaks
Drunk on the wine of dusk.
How like a lake
The white leaf
On the modest table
Concentrates in itself
All the joy
Of the world
Which embraces us!
Soul of my soul,
Let us persevere, you and I,
In the gentle light
Of God!
Translated from the French of Athanase Vantchev de Thracy 08 May 2012
Χαῖρε, κεχαριτωμένη, ὁ Κύριος μετὰ σοῦ (English)