Polish Literature: My Song (II) by Cyprian Kamil Norwid (1821 - 1883)

For that land where a scrap of bread is picked up
From the ground out of reverence
For Heaven’s gifts.
I am homesick, Lord!

For the land where it’s a great travesty
To harm a stork’s nest in a pear tree,
For storks serve us all.
I am homesick, Lord!

For the land where we greet each other
In the ancient Christian custom:
“May Christ’s name be praised!”
I am homesick, Lord!

I long still for yet another thing, likewise innocent,
For I no longer know where to find
My abode.
I am homesick, Lord!

For worrying-not and thinking-not,
For those whose yes means yes
— and no means no —
Without shades of grey.
I am homesick, Lord!

I long for that distant place, where someone cares for me!
It must be thus, though my friendship
Will never come to pass!
I am homesick, Lord!

- translated by Walter Whipple

■ Cyprian Kamil Norwid (1821 - 1883) was a Polish poet, playwright, painter, and sculptor who was one of the most original representatives of late Romanticism.

■ Norwid led a tragic and often poverty-stricken life (once he had to live in a cemetery crypt). He experienced increasing health problems, unrequited love, harsh critical reviews, and increasing social isolation. He lived abroad most of his life, especially in London and in Paris, where he died.

■ His work was only rediscovered and appreciated during the Young Poland art period of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. He is now considered one of the four most important Polish Romantic poets.