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Williams, William Carlos: Murok (Queen Anne's Lace in Hungarian)

Portre of Williams, William Carlos

Queen Anne's Lace (English)

Her body is not so white as
anemone petals nor so smooth - nor
so remote a thing. It is a field
of the wild carrot taking
the field by force; the grass
does not raise above it.
Here is no question of whiteness,
white as can be, with a purple mole
at the center of each flower.
Each flower is a hand's span
of her whiteness. Wherever
his hand has lain there is
a tiny purple blemish. Each part
is a blossom under his touch
to which the fibres of her being
stem one by one, each to its end,
until the whole field is a
white desire, empty, a single stem,
a cluster, flower by flower,
a pious wish to whiteness gone over--
or nothing.



Uploaded byP. T.
Source of the quotationhttp://www.web-books.com/Classics/Poetry

Murok (Hungarian)

Teste nem oly fehér mint az
anemóna-szirmok, nem is oly síma - és
nem olyan távoli. Teste
vadmurok-föld, mely a földet
erővel foglalta el; a fű
nem növi be.
A fehérséghez kétség sem fér itt,
fehér, mint lehet, bíbor anyajeggyel
mindegyik virág közepén.
Mindegyik virág arasznyi
fehérség. Bárhova
teszi kezét, parányi
bíbor pecsétre lel. Minden íze
az érintéstől virág lesz,           -
mellyel létének rostjai
sorra tusáznak, halálukig,
míg az egész mezőség fehér
vágy lesz, üres lesz, egyetlen hajtás,
csomó, buja virágfürt,
kegyes óhaj ájult fehérségre -
vagy semmi.



Uploaded byP. T.
Source of the quotationE. I.

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