Williams, William Carlos: The Act

There were the roses, in the rain.
Don’t cut them, I pleaded. They won’t last, she said.
But they’re so beautiful where they are.
Agh, we were all beautiful once, she said,
and cut them and gave them to me in my hand.

S a rózsák ott kinn, az esőn.
Ne vágd le, kértem. Nem maradnak meg, mondta.
De mikor olyan szépek ott ahol vannak.
Ugyan, mind szépek voltunk egyszer, mondta,
s levágta s ideadta őket a kezembe.