Chinese Journey 10
By Lyrikline Collaboration Poets
Published 12 February 2021
By Olga Sedakova
Translated by Jena Woodhouse
Great is the artist, knowing no duty
except the duty of the brush at play:
and his brush penetrates the heart of mountains,
penetrates the happiness of leaves,
at one stroke, with sheer gentleness,
with delight, with mere confusion
he penetrates immortality itself –
and immortality toys with him.
But he whom the spirit abandons, from whom
they remove the ray of light,
who for the tenth time in a turbid place
gropes for the pure key,
who, fallen out of the hand of miracles, will not say:
empty are miracles! –
before him, in reverence,
the heavens bow.
Click here to hear Olga Sedakova read this poem read on Lyrikline.org.