Years have trailed past like clouds over a country,
And they’ll never return, for they’re gone forever,
And I no longer enjoy such light endeavour
As the magic of folk songs or the land of faery

Which as a child filled me with wonder,
Not quite understood yet meaning so much to me,
And now these shadows try to recapture me
In this hour of mystery, this twilight hour.

These trembling fingers touch the strings in vain
To find the right notes from the fading memory
Of youth, so that my soul can vibrate again.

Everything’s disappeared from the horizon of that distant plain
And you can no longer hear the voice of past harmony.
Behind me time gathers . . . and I darken!

 

Translated by Corneliu M. Popescu


Trecut-au anii ca nori lungi pe şesuri
Şi niciodată n-or să vie iară,
Căci nu mă-ncântă azi cum mă mişcară
Poveşti şi doine, ghicitori, eresuri,

Ce fruntea-mi de copil o-nseninară,
Abia-nţelese, pline de-nţelesuri –
Cu-a tale umbre azi în van mă-mpesuri,
O, ceas al tainei, asfinţit de sară.

Să smulg un sunet din trecutul vieţii,
Să fac, o, suflet, ca din nou să tremuri
Cu mâna mea în van pe liră lunec;

Pierdut e totu-n zarea tinereţii
Şi mută-i gura dulce-a altor vremuri,
Iar timpul creşte-n urma mea… mă-ntunec!

6 thoughts on “Years Have Trailed Past by Mihai Eminescu (English and Romanian Versions)

  1. Huguette says:

    beautiful! despite the dominated melancholy

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Ronnie says:

      Unfortunately his final days were very sad.
      “Hospitalized in inappropriate places and treated by incompetent physicians, he suffered not only physical, but moral, distress and died prematurely. According to a letter he sent to a friend, he rightly considered himself a sacrificed man.”

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Huguette says:

        This is extremely sad and awful! Hope he is in a better place now and sorry for your loss and the grief you have experienced as well

        Liked by 1 person

        1. Ronnie says:

          Thank you, Huguette.

          Liked by 1 person

  2. BroadBlogs says:

    Beautiful beautiful!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Ronnie says:

      Yes, it is. Thank you.

      Like

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