You, whom I do not tell that all night longI lie weeping,whose very being makes me feel wantinglike a cradle.
You, who do not tell me, that you lie awakethinking of me:—what, if we carried all these longings within uswithout ever being overwhelmed by them,letting them pass?
Look at these lovers, tormented by love,when first they begin confessing,how soon they lie!
You make me feel alone.
I try imagining:one moment it is you, then it's the soaring wind;a fragrance comes and goes but never lasts.
Oh, within my arms I lost all whom I loved!
Only you remain, always reborn again.
For since I never held you,
I hold you fast.(From the diaries of Malte Laurids Brigge)Translated by Albert Ernest Flemming
