Milan Rakić – Iskrena pesma

O, sklopi usne, ne govori, ćuti,
ostavi misli nek se bujno roje,
i reč nek tvoja ničim ne pomuti
bezmerno silne osećaje moje.

Ćuti, i pusti da sad žile moje
zabrekću novim, zanosnim životom,
da zaboravim da smo tu nas dvoje
pred veličanstvom prirode; a potom,

kad prođe sve, i malaksalo telo
ponovo padne u običnu čamu,
i život nov i nadahnuće celo
nečujno, tiho potone u tamu,

ja ću ti, draga, opet reći tada
otužnu pesmu o ljubavi, kako
čeznem i stradam i ljubim te, mada
u tom trenutku ne osećam tako.

I ti ćeš, bedna ženo, kao vazda
slušati rado ove reči lažne,
i zahvalićeš bogu što te sazda,
i oči će ti biti suzom vlažne.

I gledajući vrh zaspalih njiva
kako se spušta nema polutama,
ti nećeš znati šta u meni biva -
da ja u tebi volim sebe sama,

i moju ljubav naspram tebe, kad me
obuzme celog silom koju ima,
i svaki živac rastrese i nadme,
i osećaji navale ko plima!

Za taj trenutak života i milja,
kad zatreperi cela moja snaga,
neka te srce moje blagosilja.
Al’ ne volim te, ne volim te, draga!

I zato ću ti uvek reći: ćuti,
ostavi dušu nek spokojno sniva,
dok kraj nas lišće na drveću žuti
i tama pada vrh zaspalih njiva.

English Translation

An Honest Song

O, close your lips, don’t talk, be quiet,
let your thoughts pollulate,
and may your word do nothing to spoil
my unmeasurably deep feelings.

Be quiet, and now let my veins
burst with a new, enchanting life,
so that I’d forget that the two of us are here
facing nature’s splendor; and then,

when it’s all over, and the exhausted body
again falls into plain boredom,
and the new life and the entire inspiration
silently, quietly sinks into the darkness,

Then I will, darling, again, tell you,
a trite poem of love, about
me longing and suffering and loving you, though
in that moment I might not feel that way.

And you, miserable woman, will, as always,
gladly listen to these false words,
and you will thank God for creating you,
and your eyes will be wet with tears.

And while watching the top of the sleeping fields
silent semidarkness falling,
you won’t know what’s going on inside me -
that the thing that I love about you is myself,

and my love before you, when it
comes over me with all its power,
and shakes up and inflates every nerve,
and the feelings come rushing like the tide!

For that moment of life and delight,
when all my strength trembles,
may my heart bless you.
But I don’t love you, I don’t love you, darling!

And that is why I will always tell you: be quiet,
let the soul dream peacefully,
while the tree leaves beside us are turning yellow
and the darkness is falling on top of the sleeping fields.

Requested Translation