Poem
Vasco Graça Moura
the road to ohrid*
from the heights of the walls of ohridto where he’d run upon hearing the screams
of the look-outs, king samuel beheld his disfigured
army dragging through the macedonian mountains.
the eyes of the fourteen thousand men had been
gouged by order of the emperor, basil the second,
who had instructed that one eye be spared in every
hundredth man so that they could lead the return
of that blind herd. having crossed over the high snows
they now came rushing down toward the lake,
stumbling and grabbing on to one another,
the torture mirrored in their facial contortions,
blood soaking their tattered clothes, and the king,
seized by anguish, uttered a shout of grief and died
on the heights of the walls over the hill and his forests and groves
which the lake so peacefully reflected.
in that instant he understood just how ambiguous
the blind force of destiny was, and in no monastery
could the screens of icons have elucidated that cruel mystery:
the saints, whose faces resembled fayumic portraits,
remained silent in their frescos amid the flickering
flames, and the voices of the young monks,
in their austere and unyielding chant,
were lifting up a grave spring in the shadows.
© Translation: 2005, Richard Zenith
*King Samuel (976-1014) conquered the Bulgarian throne by force, after
rebelling against Bulgaria’s monarch, and he expanded his empire through Macedonia, Serbia
and Bulgaria, having been the first to reject the dynasty of the Bulgarian kings. He requested
from the pope (rather than from the patriarch of Constantinople) a new crown for his empire,
whose seat was in Ohrid and Presa (two lakes in Macedonia), and this was yet another reason
for the bloodthirsty hatred of Basil II, his lifetime adversary.
o caminho de ohrid*
o caminho de ohrid*
do alto das muralhas de ohrid ondeacorrera aos gritos desvairados dos vigias,
o rei samuel avistou o seu exército desfigurado,
arrastando-se entre as montanhas da macedónia.
aos catorze mil homens tinham sido
arrancados os olhos por ordem do imperador
e a um em cada cem mandara ele, basílio II,
fosse poupado um olho para conduzirem o regresso
dessa manada cega. depois de atravessarem altas neves
vinham-se agora despenhando para o lago,
tropeçando, agarrados uns aos outros,
a tortura espelhada nas contorções das faces,
o sangue a empapar-lhes os andrajos. e o rei,
tomado pela angústia, deu um grito de dor e morreu
no alto da muralha sobre a colina e os seus bosques e pomares
que o lago placidamente reflectia.
nesse instante compreendeu como era ambígua
a força cega do destino e em nenhum mosteiro
podia a iconostase explicar-lhe esse cruel mistério:
os santos, com feições dos retratos do fayoum,
entre as chamas trémulas emudeciam
nos seus frescos e as vozes dos jovens monges,
no seu canto austero e imperturbado,
elevavam uma grave primavera na penumbra.
© 2005, Vasco Graça Moura
From: Laocoonte, rimas várias, andamentos graves
Publisher: Quetzal, Lisbon
From: Laocoonte, rimas várias, andamentos graves
Publisher: Quetzal, Lisbon
*O rei Samuel (976-1014) conquistou o trono búlgaro pela força, depois de uma rebelião contra
o rei da Bulgária, e expandiu o seu império através da Macedónia, da Sérvia e da Bulgária,
tendo sido o primeiro a rejeitar a dinastia dos reis búlgaros. Pediu ao Papa (não ao arcebispo de
Constantinopla) uma nova coroa para o seu império, cuja sede era em Ohrid e Prespa (dois
lagos da Macedónia), o que era também uma razão para o ódio encarniçado de Basílio II, seu
adversário de toda a vida
Poems
Poems of Vasco Graça Moura
Close
the road to ohrid*
from the heights of the walls of ohridto where he’d run upon hearing the screams
of the look-outs, king samuel beheld his disfigured
army dragging through the macedonian mountains.
the eyes of the fourteen thousand men had been
gouged by order of the emperor, basil the second,
who had instructed that one eye be spared in every
hundredth man so that they could lead the return
of that blind herd. having crossed over the high snows
they now came rushing down toward the lake,
stumbling and grabbing on to one another,
the torture mirrored in their facial contortions,
blood soaking their tattered clothes, and the king,
seized by anguish, uttered a shout of grief and died
on the heights of the walls over the hill and his forests and groves
which the lake so peacefully reflected.
in that instant he understood just how ambiguous
the blind force of destiny was, and in no monastery
could the screens of icons have elucidated that cruel mystery:
the saints, whose faces resembled fayumic portraits,
remained silent in their frescos amid the flickering
flames, and the voices of the young monks,
in their austere and unyielding chant,
were lifting up a grave spring in the shadows.
© 2005, Richard Zenith
From: Laocoonte, rimas várias, andamentos graves
From: Laocoonte, rimas várias, andamentos graves
*King Samuel (976-1014) conquered the Bulgarian throne by force, after
rebelling against Bulgaria’s monarch, and he expanded his empire through Macedonia, Serbia
and Bulgaria, having been the first to reject the dynasty of the Bulgarian kings. He requested
from the pope (rather than from the patriarch of Constantinople) a new crown for his empire,
whose seat was in Ohrid and Presa (two lakes in Macedonia), and this was yet another reason
for the bloodthirsty hatred of Basil II, his lifetime adversary.
the road to ohrid*
from the heights of the walls of ohridto where he’d run upon hearing the screams
of the look-outs, king samuel beheld his disfigured
army dragging through the macedonian mountains.
the eyes of the fourteen thousand men had been
gouged by order of the emperor, basil the second,
who had instructed that one eye be spared in every
hundredth man so that they could lead the return
of that blind herd. having crossed over the high snows
they now came rushing down toward the lake,
stumbling and grabbing on to one another,
the torture mirrored in their facial contortions,
blood soaking their tattered clothes, and the king,
seized by anguish, uttered a shout of grief and died
on the heights of the walls over the hill and his forests and groves
which the lake so peacefully reflected.
in that instant he understood just how ambiguous
the blind force of destiny was, and in no monastery
could the screens of icons have elucidated that cruel mystery:
the saints, whose faces resembled fayumic portraits,
remained silent in their frescos amid the flickering
flames, and the voices of the young monks,
in their austere and unyielding chant,
were lifting up a grave spring in the shadows.
© 2005, Richard Zenith
*King Samuel (976-1014) conquered the Bulgarian throne by force, after
rebelling against Bulgaria’s monarch, and he expanded his empire through Macedonia, Serbia
and Bulgaria, having been the first to reject the dynasty of the Bulgarian kings. He requested
from the pope (rather than from the patriarch of Constantinople) a new crown for his empire,
whose seat was in Ohrid and Presa (two lakes in Macedonia), and this was yet another reason
for the bloodthirsty hatred of Basil II, his lifetime adversary.
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