THE STARS' SOLACE
I asked a star last night
- far away, where no one lives, a light -:
'Whom do you light, strange star?
You move so large and bright.'
It made my pity grow mute,
when she looked with her starry gaze,
'I light a night eternal,
I light a lifeless space.
My light is a flower that withers
in the skies' late autumn, rough.
That light is all my solace.
That light is solace enough.'
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.