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“Transformation” by Stefan George 🇩🇪 (12 Jul 18684 Dec 1933)
Translated from the German by Olga Marx & Ernst Morwitz
On twilit paths when shadows fall,
Over bridges and on toward tower and wall,
When lilted cadences call,
In a golden chariot ferried
On pearl-grey pinions, and carried
Where scent of linden beguiles,
Swing down to earth
With gentle smiles
And anodyne breath.
Under the mast of a ship which forges away
Over the glittering web of water and ray,
Entranced to be free of the bay,
In a silver chariot ferried
On chrysolite mirrors, and carried
Where cinnabar vapour beguiles,
Swing down to earth
With joyful smiles
And sensuous breath.
Jubilant dyes of the end, and the sun floated under,
Breakers snatch at the planks and tear them asunder,
And tempests rumble and thunder.
In an iron chariot, ferried
On clods of lava, and carried
Where cinnabar vapour beguiles,
Swing down to earth
With savage smiles
And smouldering breath.