The rain has held back for days and days
Language: English after the Bangla (Bengali)
The rain has held back for days and days,
my God, in my arid heart.
The horizon is fiercely naked -
not the thinnest cover of a soft cloud,
not the vaguest hint of a distant cool shower.
Send thy angry storm, dark with death,
if it is thy wish, and with lashes of lightning
startle the sky from end to end.
But call back, my lord, call back
this pervading silent heat,
still and keen and cruel,
burning the heart with dire despair.
Let the cloud of grace bend low
from above like the tearful look
of the mother on the day of the father's wrath.
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Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [
Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2010-11-03
Line count: 15
Word count: 106
Für lange Tage kam der Regen nicht
Language: German (Deutsch) after the English
Für lange Tage kam der Regen nicht,
mein Gott, in mein verdorrtes Herz.
Der Horizont ist unerbittlich blank -
kein Dunst, kein Wölkchen ist zu sehn,
nicht mal die Ahnung eines fernen kühlen Nass’.
Schick, Herr, mir deines Sturmes Wut und Todesschwarz,
so du dies willst, und schreck’ den Himmel auf
mit deiner Blitze Peitsche von Horizont zu Horizont.
Doch nimm von uns, Herr,
diese schwere heiße Last, ruf sie zurück,
die wortlos, stechend, grausam uns das Herz verbrennt
mit Schrecken und Verzagen.
Lass sie herab, die Wolke deiner Gnad'
gleich einer Mutter tränenvollem Blick
am Tag des väterlichen Zorns.
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This text was added to the website: 2014-05-18
Line count: 15
Word count: 99
