Избранное. 359. I gained it so

Лилия Мальцева
Мне удалось —
Хотя  пришлось—
Взбираясь к счастью вкривь и вкось,
Хвататься за кусты,
Вдали — маня —            
Стратегия
Небесной высоты —

Его добилась —
Вот оно —
В него вцепилсь,
Чтоб не ушло —
От удовольствия наград —
Иду я, нищая,
С лицом, что было радостно
Всего лишь — час назад —



359

I gained it so —
By Climbing slow —
By Catching at the Twigs that grow
Between the Bliss — and me —
It hung so high
As well the Sky
Attempt by Strategy —

I said I gained it —
This — was all —   
Look, how I clutch it
Lest it fall —
And I a Pauper go —
Unfitted by an instant's Grace
For the Contented — Beggar's face
I wore — an hour ago —

                Emily Dickinson


"But although the first stanza ends with what seems a great achievement, the second stanza has a rather bitter sadness to it. "I said I gained it", she writes, but that was all there was to it. She does not admit to any betterment or lasting gain. Rather, she draws our attention to how she clutches it. Like the merchant in Jesus' parable in "Matthew", she has found a pearl of great price and given everything she has for it.  She feels herself a Pauper. As a beggar she was content; as someone with a great Pearl, she has nothing."


                Стихи.ру 21 сентября 2023 года