“Vidin”

When we look at person’s face, we always focus on the eyes. The eyes are a mirror of the life within; they are the most beautiful truth. In children’s eyes we see the future, and in the elderly we see the past. The eyes, the dry wrinkles and the silent gaze – they carry within themselves the factor of temporality and decay. Once I felt her eyes, I felt the life within, I heard her voice… and within her gaze, I felt the words of the poem…

(accompanied by a poem from the Bulgarian poet Hristo Botev)
——————————————————————————————-

О, майко моя, родино мила,
защо тъй жално, тъй милно плачеш?
Гарване, и ти, птицо проклета,
на чий гроб там тъй грозно грачеш ?

Ох, зная, зная, ти плачеш, майко,
затуй, че ти си черна робиня,
затуй, че твоят свещен глас, майко,
е глас без помощ, глас във пустиня.

***
(English translation)

O you, my Mother, my Native Land,
Why is your cry so sad and heart-rending!
And you, O Raven, accursed bird,
On whose grave croak you of ill impending?

I know, ah I know, you weep, my Mother,
Because you’re a slave in bondage lying,
You weep because your sacred voice
Is a helpless voice in a desert crying.

Share your thoughts