By The Side Of The Poplars With No Pair Poem by Peter Mamara

by M. Eminescu (1850-1889)

By the side of the poplars with no pair,
Lots of times I walked in despair.
All the neighbours knew me well.
You didn't know me at all.

At your window, which was full of light,
I looked a lot.
Everyone knew about it.
Only you did not know.

How many times I've stopped by
Wanting to get from you a whisper as a reply?
You should've given me one day of your life.
One day, and it would've been enough.

If we've been friends for one hour,
And would have loved each other with passion,
So I could listen to the sound of your say,
One hour, and then I could die.

You will give me a hint deliberately
With your passionate eye
In times yet to come
And a star will twinkle.

You could've lived on and on,
And you could've had many lives.
Or you could've died
And your hand could've got cold.

Like those fairies,
Which roam since old times,
You are one of a kind
Forever, your face is highly praised.

And full of agony,
I loved you with my cruel eye.
Since the old times, from father to son,
These were left to me as inheritance.

So far, today I'm not sorry
That I visit you much less frequently;
Your head turns with little hope.
Which to me is akin to sadness.

Now you look like someone else
In the way I look, and what I do.
I look at you with cold eye
Which is like that of a dead woman.

You should've wrapped yourself
Into that attraction which is sacred;
And you should've lit at night
— The love-candle on this world.

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