A Study on Solitude
A curse
on the whole human race —
Loneliness, estrangement
and apathy...
I have always feared these things,
and have tried to flee from them
my entire life.
Or rather —
I have tried to flee
from myself.
But it’s no use — oh... —
such vain aspirations.
For as was said in antiquity:
“OMNIA MEA MECUM PORTO” —
“All that is mine I carry with me,”
in the springtime of life
and the fall.
And from such a burden,
as from one’s own shadow,
it is not possible to run...
Yes, that hopeless flight
resembles running in a magic circle.
And yet —
we flee, we flee
from it — that spiritual desert,
accursed solitude.
(You can name the act
by any other name:
to wander, roam or travel —
but the sense remains the same...)
And that flight
will continue always —
it always has—
even at life’s end...
...The curse of the whole human race
is loneliness, estrangement and apathy...
March 1979, Kiev
Man Needs Peace
Who is stronger than man
and who, weaker?
By now man has travelled
to the very limits of the Earth,
has split the atom
and torn the breast of the planet.
But he himself remains
the same fragile vessel,
the same delicate vase,
with the same scarlet blood,
which pulses madly
through his veins...
And here — strange fate:
Man can explode the firmest rocks
but is often killed
by a little bullet—
or an invisible bullet
or a cruel joke
or a harsh word.
So what does man need
most in the world
to enjoy life,
breath free,
know the mysteries of Nature
and ascend to new heights?
The answer is clear:
Above all things
man
needs
PEACE!
Written by Nadija Hordijenko-Andrianova | Translation by Adam Kuplowsky
’Etudo pri soleco’ and ‘Homo bezonas pacon’, Vagante tra la mondo maltrankvila, 1987
Nadija Hordijenko-Andrianova (1921–1998): Ukrainian writer and translator. She published journalism and poetry in Paco, Hungara Vivo and other Esperanto periodicals.