by Pinchas Sadeh

Egyptian Night

The Maid;  

On the sandy path
So slowly - my heart was sinking -
I have born the basket
With my little sibling.
Water, reeds around;
I lay there a-shiver;
Afar now I knell
 Dusk sets on the river.

The Waters;

 From the springs in hills unknown
Abyssinian abysses
Shaded by brown date-palms
And carobs like molasses
By the yellow dunes
Dry and dead reed and grass
Under the silver moon
Endless we flow and pass.

 The Maid;

 Ho you holy waters
Please flow still and deep.
There in the reed basket
The child is now asleep.
Please do not wake him
Flow by slow and mute
Carry him tenderly
He's a boy so cute.

 The Waters;

 In most deadly silence
Like angels in the ether
Amidst mourning shores
We pass and travel.
Not like you, the maiden
Kneeling on the shore,
Doomed for ever
To live and suffer sore.

 The Maid;  

Now the night has come
Darkness reigns and quiet.
The sky is calm.
The earth is silent.
Ho you holy water
Please flow still and deep
There in the reed basket
The child is now asleep.










trans.   Moshe Ganan
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