The Greeks Poem by Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen

To the gods we attributed a dazzling existence
Consubstantial with the sea the clouds trees and light
In them the waves' glinting the foam's long white frieze
The woods' secret and soft green the wheat's tall gold
The river's meandering the mountain's solemn fire
And the great dome of resonant weightless free air
Emerged as self-aware consciousness
With no loss of the first day's marriage-and-feast oneness

Anxious to have this experience for ourselves
We humans repeated the ritual gestures that re-establish
The initial whole presence of things -
This made us attentive to all forms known by the light of day
As well as to the darkness which lives within us
And in which the ineffable shimmer travels

Translation: 2004, Richard Zenith