Rúfus, Milan: Deposition from the Cross (Snímanie z kríža in English)

Snímanie z kríža (Slovak)

V kraji, kde iba vietor snímal z kríža,
prichádzal človek s klincom na dlani.
Ním pribili ho k zemi milovanej.
Tak žil, tak umieral.

A všetko je už preč.
Klinec i kríž. Zem, nie už milovaná,
neprijíma. Zem nikoho. A zvyk
poháňa ešte ťažkú od nej dlaň.

Kríž chudoba. Len spomenie si naň
básnik. A niečo tuší. Šepká si:
„I snímajúc ho z kríža, zabili ho.“

Ale i on je mŕtvy. Nekričí.
A bojí sa, že nevie.
A bojí sa, že vie.

Source of the quotation	Dielo I. MilaniuM 2002, s. 213

Deposition from the Cross (English)

In a land where the wind alone lifted from the Cross
man was born with a nail in his palm.
With it he was nailed to the land he loved.
Thus he lived, thus he died.

Now everything is gone.
The nail and the Cross. The land, no longer beloved,
does not receive. No man’s land. And habit
still urges his heavy palm.

The Cross that is poverty. Only a memory now
for the poet. He surmises something. And whispers:
- And while lifting him down they killed him.

But he is also dead. He does not scream.
Afraid he doesn’t know.
Afraid he knows.

Osers, Ewald

Source of the quotation

Sister Hope. Poems in Eglish