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Nemes Nagy Ágnes: Ice (Jég in English)

Portre of Nemes Nagy Ágnes

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Jég (Hungarian)

Belémfagy lassan a világ,
mint téli tóba nádbugák,
kis torlaszokban ott ragad
egy kép, egy ág, egy égdarab –
ha hinnék Benned, hallgatag
széttárnád meleg tenyered,
s az két kis napként sütne fönn
a tél felett, a tó felett,
hasadna jég, mozdulna hab,
s a tárgyak felszökellve mind
csillognának, mint a halak.

1946-1957



Ice (English)

Slowly the world freezes into me
like clumps of reed into a wintry lake
in ice-bound blocks the jagged fragments ache,
a patch of sky, a scene, a sound, a tree...
I believed in you, you Silent One,
you'd spread out your two warm palms for my sake,
they'd shine above the ice, above the lake
in twofold glory like a small Twin Sun.
The ice would break, the surf awake,
and all the objects leaping high
would gleam against the morning sky.




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