A FORM AM I

 
A form am I,
but the stuff the primordial flame.
Fire is my gaze
and flames my hands.
In drunkenness that creates
twine the fire's tongues
insatiably around that play of lines
that is your being. 
Form also you,
but form that is through-annealed,
etherealized
raised from the depths' sea of fire -
mirage and image,
half-created and growing
- like all gods -
bubble above chaos. 
Of all things 
the gods are most transient,
of all things 
worship is most enduring.
O bubble bubble
moment and delusion
and through the fire
the goal of eternity!
Translated into English by David McDuff in "Karin Boye: Complete poems".

Swedish original


Copyright © 2005:
Translation from Swedish into English: David McDuff

Published with the permission of:
David McDuff, translation.
May and Hans Mehlin, Layout.

For more information, please visit the website of David McDuff and his own pages with the translations.