And if my early songs shall end
And I, a stranger to return
My speech forgetting to defend
The holy ground where I was born
Serene and sweet the tongue in which
My lips for prayer whisper-thin,
O, motherland, can I beseech
Forgive my ordinary sin?
Would you take notice of my song,
My heavy toil to bless and shore,
Just like a mother to her young
Who might, tomorrow, go to war?
(from the volume Testament - 400 de ani de poezie românească - 400 Years of Romanian Poetry - Daniel Ionita - editor and principal translator, assisted by Daniel Reynaud, Adriana Paul and Eva Foster - Minerva Publishing- 2019)
Translator: Daniel Ioniță
see more poems written by: Elena Văcărescu
