The Sonnets To Orpheus IV

O you tender ones, walk now and theninto the breath that blows coldly past,

Upon your cheeks let it tremble and part;
behind you it will tremble together again.

O you blessed ones, you who are whole,
you who seem the beginning of hearts,
bows for the arrows and arrows' targets—tear-bright, your lips more eternally smile.

Don't be afraid to suffer; returnthat heaviness to the earth's own weight;
heavy are the mountains, heavy the seas.

Even the small trees you planted as childrenhave long since become too heavy; you could notcarry them now.

But the winds…But the spaces….

Translated by Stephen Mitchell