Hope(full)

Ehhh....stop the music. Why, why, are people allowed to impress themselves onto others in the name of tradition. Why are the values behind a particular tradition not re-evaluated at least occasionally, to ascertain the continued value of the occasion? 'Tradition' should not mean an action that is justified a priori, and whose consequences are not to be questioned. Why is the human condition full of these lazy short-hand actions?

Ah, well, now that I've had this little rant of exasperation, I turn to something more pleasant, and perhaps more revealing. I spent the afternoon in my first attempt to translate a poem from Russian to English. It caught my attention first as it is also a beautiful song (do look it up) by: Владимир Высоцкий "Надежда". 

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Hope

Now that the trembling in my hands has stopped,

Now – higher.

Now that my fear has down the chasm slipped,

Forever, ever…

There’s no reason to stop,

I continue, slipping,

And the are no peaks in this world,

Which cannot be scaled.

Amongst the untrodden paths

Let one be mine,

Amongst the unconquered borders,

Leave one to me,

And the names of those, who fell here

The snow will conceal…

Amongst these untracked roads

One is mine.

Here the sky-blue radiance of the ice

Pours forth over the horizon.

The secret of another’s footsteps

Is harbored by the granite,

And I gaze into my dream

Above their heads

And faithfully believe in the purity

Of snow and words…

And let no short term pass

I will not forget

How here, the doubt within me

I managed to destroy.

That day the water whispered to me:

“Good luck, always!”…

But what day, what day was that?

Oh, yes, Wednesday…

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