2. SLUNEČNÍ HODINY.
Dům v rozvalinách. Po děravých zdech
se rozlez' žravý mech
a lišejníků cizopasná cháska.
Na dvoře bují kokotice
a prales kopřiv. Studna otrávená
je napajedlo krys.
7. THE SUN-DIAL.
A house in ruins. On the crannied walls
Moss gluttonously crawls
And lichens in a spongy rabble.
The yard is rank with nettle-thickets
And toad-flax. In the poisoned water-pit
Rats have a drinking-lair.
A chorá jabloň, bleskem rozražená,
neví, zda kvetla kdys.
V dnech jasných padnou hvízdajíce
stehlíci v rumy. V zářných slunných dnech
ožije oblouk hodin v průčelí,
a po něm rozmarný a veselý
stín času tančí
a recituje vážně nebesům:
Sine sole nihil sum.
Neb vše je maska.
„Sluneční hodiny“ (1913).
A sickly apple-tree, by lightning split,
Knows not, if it bloomed e'er.
When days are clear, the whistling finches
Invade the rubble. Beaming, sunlit days
Liven the dial's arc that fronts the place,
And freakishly and gaily on its face
Time's shadow dances
And to the sky recites in words of gloom:
Sine sole nihil sum.
For all is mask.
“The Sun-Dial” (1913).
This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published before January 1, 1927.
The author died in 1970, so this work is also in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 50 years or less. This work may also be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.