Brezen
Pozdravte jeste jednou zimu,
Sklonte se k snehu tajicimu.
Kus jara uz k nam padlo z vysek:
Podleska, modry vetrnicek.
Otvira ocka jeste spici,
Jako kdyz dite na polstari
V den jiz se rozednivajici
Diva se po matcine tvari.
A ta, jez nemuze se vynadivat,
Musi se smat a pocne zpivat.
Written by Jaroslav Seifert, Nobel Prize Winner in Literature, 1984
March
Welcome once more the winter,
and gently kneel beside the melting snow.
There, sent from the heavens, a herald of spring:
Delicate petals of yellow and blue unfurl.
A drowsy spring flutters open wide eyes,
like a child resting on a pillow at dawn,
searching for his mother’s gentle face.
And she cannot take her eyes from him;
Smiling, she begins to sing.
Translated from the Czech by Pavel Cenkl in collaboration with his Mother;
as posted on his blog, Orion Rising
as posted on his blog, Orion Rising