The Heart of Herakles

Lying under the stars,
In the summer night,
Late, while the autumn
Constellations climb the sky,
As the Cluster of Hercules
Falls down the west
I put the telescope by
and watch Deneb
Move towards the zenith.
My body is asleep. Only
My eyes and brain are awake.
The stars stand around me
Like gold eyes, I can no longer
Tell where I begin and leave off.
The faint breeze in the dark pines,
And the invisible grass,
The tipping earth, the swarming stars
Have an eye that sees itself.

~ Kenneth Rexroth ~

(The Collected Shorter Poems of Kenneth Rexroth)

 

Croí Herakles

I mo luí dhom fé na réaltaí,
oíche shamhraidh,
déanach, agus réaltbhuíonta
an fhómhair ag dreapadh na spéire,
fad is ata Braisle Earcail
ag titim siar
cuirimse an teileascóp i leataobh
agus breathnaím ar Dheneb
is é ag gluaiseacht i dtreo an fhorair.
Fá shuan atá mo cholainn. Níl
ina ndúiseacht ach mo shúile is m’inchinn.
Seasann na réaltaí im’ thimpeall
gona súile órga, ní heol dom a thuilleadh
an tús ná an chríoch.
Leoithne lag sna giúiseanna dorcha,
agus an féar nach bhfeictear,
An domhan crochta, na réaltaí ina saithe
agus súil acu a chíonn í féinig.