Adam Cast Forth

2017-04-29

Was there a Garden or was the Garden a dream?

Amid the fleeting light, I have slowed myself and queried,

Almost for consolation, if the bygone period

Over which this Adam, wretched now, once reigned supreme,

Might not have been just a magical illusion

Of that God I dreamed. Already it's imprecise

In my memory, the clear Paradise,

But I know it exists, in flower and profusion,

Although not for me. My punishment for life

Is the stubborn earth with the incestuous strife

Of Cains and Abels and their brood; I await no pardon.

Yet, it's much to have loved, to have known true joy,

To have had — if only for just one day —

The experience of touching the living Garden.

Translated by Genia Gurarie, 4.1.

http://www.princeton.edu/~egurarie/

For permission to reproduce, write personally to the translator.