Tajna ljubav
Tajna ljubav
Uzdahnu devojka,
Uzdahnu i ja,
Uzdisaji, njen i moj,
Jedan drugog vija.
Leteli su prolecima,
Po cvetov'ma svima,
Zumbul trenu pa oba
U sebeka prima.
Slavujak se napio
Iz case zumbula,
Lin'o pesmu iz srca,
Zora ga je cula.
Cula ga je devojka,
Cuo sam ga i ja,
Opet uzdah njen i moj
Jedan drugog vija.
Zna se mesto izabrano
Nasih uzdisaja,
Otkud slavuj svaku noc
Srdasce napaja.
A ujutru peva nam,
Mi slusamo nemo,
Pa sve bolje i bolje
Pesmu razumemo.
O, zumbule, zumbule!
O, ti zoro sjajna,
O, prolece, prolece,
O, ljubavi tajna!
[1839]
Mysterious Love
INTO the air I breathed a sigh ;
She, afar, another breathed
Sighs that, like a butterfly,
Each went wandering low and high,
Till the air with sighs was wreathed.
When each other long they sought,
On a star-o'er-twinkled hill
Jasmine, trembling with the thought,
Both within her chalice caught,
A lover's potion to distil.
Drank of this a nightingale,
Guided by the starlight wan
Drank and sang from dale to dale,
Till every streamlet did exhale
Incense to the waking dawn.
Like the dawn, the maiden heard ;
While, afar, I felt the fire
In the bosom of the bird ;
Forth our sighs again were stirred
With a sevenfold desire.
These we followed till we learned
Where they trysted ; there erelong
Their fond nightingale returned.
Deeper then our longings burned,
Deeper the delights of song.
Now, when at the wakening hour,
Sigh to sigh, we greet his lay,
Well we know its mystic power
Feeling dawn and bird and flower
Pouring meaning into May.
Jasmine, perfume every grove !
Nightingale, forever sing
To the brightening dawn above
Of the mystery of love
In the mystery of spring !
(Translated by Nikola Tesla and Robert Underwood Johnson)
L'Amour Secret
La jeune fille a soupiré,
Je soupirais aussi,
Nos soupirs, le sien, le mien,
L’un l’autre poursuit.
Ils volaient par le printemps
Et par toutes les fleurs,
Soudain cligna la jacinthe
Et les prit dans son cœur.
Un rossignol s’enivrait
D’un calice de jacinthe,
Douce fut ensuite sa chanson,
L’aube entendit sa plainte.
La jeune fille l’entendit,
Je l’entends aussi –
Que de soupirs, le sien, le mien,
L’un l’autre poursuit.
Là est le lieu d’élection,
La source des soupirs,
D’où s’abreuvent chaque nuit
Les cœurs près de périr.
Chante à l’aube le rossignol,
On l’écoute en silence,
Puis comprend de mieux en mieux
De la chanson le sens.
(Traductions de Boris Lazić)
