At The Death Of Prince Stirbei Poem by Peter Mamara

by M. Eminescu (1850-1889)

The towers toll in mourning their bells of bronze,
And an angel with black wings and a tiara of thorns,
With his crying song, moves and calls the community,
Like the wind, which blasts on the surface of the clear sea.

And with one suffering heart, made from millions of hearts,
The Romanian nation sees with its eyes full of tears
How a star with its divine blaze dies in the clouds.
People hear a thunder in the sky, and a sigh on the lands…

The dark wing of sadness stretches over the nation.
All is quiet, since the pain is subdued, like meditation.
Today, the people can't see a thing; their eyes can't spot an item
Other than the trail of a star, which smashes on a tomb.

Who is the eagle that plummets? Who is the rock-face that shatters?
Who is the lion that closes his eye in pain?
Who is the thunder that dies, filling the people with fear?
"He is Barbu Dimitrie Stirbei, the sovereign of Romania! "
(1869 April 6)

Translated by