When I have fears
When I have fears that I may cease to be
Before my pen has glean'd my teeming brain,
Before high-piled books, in charactery,
Hold like rich garners the full ripen'd grain;
When I behold, upon the night's starr'd face,
Huge cloudy symbols of a high romance,
And think that I may never live to trace
Their shadows, with the magic hand of chance;
And when I feel, fair creature of an hour,
That I shall never look upon thee more,
Never have relish in the faery power
Of unreflecting love; - then on the shore
Of the wide world I stand alone, and think
Till love and fame to nothingness do sink.
John Keats
Kada me uhvati strah
Kada me uhvati strah od moguće smrti
Pre nego olovkom skupim rasute misli,
I napunim redove knjiga, slovo u njima se vrti,
Kao u ambaru punom žita miševi pokisli;
Evo me sada, pod noćnim zvezdanim nebom,
Velikih oblaka znaci daleke romanse,
I mislim da nikad neću poći tragom
Njene senke, vođen čarobnom rukom šanse;
I onda osetim, najdivnije biće u noći,
Da nikad te videti neću više,
Nikad uživati u prividu moći
Neuzvraćene ljubavi; - od koje diše
Čitav svet u kom stojim sam i gledam
Kako da ljubav i slavu ništavilu predam.
Džon Kits
(Prepevao Nebojša Krstić)