Prije mnogo, i mnogo ljeta
U kraljevstvu na obali
Življaše djeva znana sred svijeta
Pod imenom Anabela Li,
I življaše sred briga i radosnih sjeta
Da me voli i da se volimo mi.
Bio sam dijete i bila je dijete
U kraljevstvu, što plaču valovi,
No ljubavlju većom od ljubavi svete
Ljubljasmo se ja i Li,
Te nam na ljubavi nebeske čete
Zaviđahu, anđeli svi.
I tako prije ljeta i ljeta
U kraljevstvu, što plaču valovi,
Vjetar iz oblaka skrši poput cvijeta
Moju lijepu Anabelu Li,
I tako njoj brata žalost dopa,
Da je ponese daleko od mene,
Da je u kamenom grobu zakopa,
Što ječi od umorne pjene.
Anđeli nesrećni i u raju
Zaviđahu njoj i meni
I, zato (svi ljudi znaju
U kraljevstvu, što ga more mi)
U noći iz magle zaduhaju
Vetri i ubiju moju Anabelu Li.
No naša je ljubav jača od one
Njih, što bjehu stariji no mi,
Njih, što jesu umniji no mi,
Pa ni anđeli s vrh vasione,
Pa ni bjesovi, što pod morem rone,
Dušu ne mogu rastaviti: dušu mi
Od duše lijepe Anabele Li.
Kad mjesec sine, nosi mi sanje
O lijepoj Anabeli Li;
Kad zvijezde izađu, sinu oči danje
Prelijepe Anabele Li;
I tako noću za noći ja sjedim
I dragu, moju ljubav i moj život gledim,
Tamo u grobnici na valu,
U njenom grobu na zvučnome žalu.
Edgar Alan Po (1809-1849)
Preveo s engleskog Tin Ujević
Annabel Lee
It was many and many a year ago,
In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
By the name of Annabel Lee;
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
Than to love and be loved by me.
I was a child and she was a child,
In this kingdom by the sea,
But we loved with a love that was more than love—
I and my Annabel Lee—
With a love that the wingèd seraphs of Heaven
Coveted her and me.
And this was the reason that, long ago,
In this kingdom by the sea,
A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling
My beautiful Annabel Lee;
So that her highborn kinsmen came
And bore her away from me,
To shut her up in a sepulchre
In this kingdom by the sea.
The angels, not half so happy in Heaven,
Went envying her and me—
Yes!—that was the reason (as all men know,
In this kingdom by the sea)
That the wind came out of the cloud by night,
Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.
But our love it was stronger by far than the love
Of those who were older than we—
Of many far wiser than we—
And neither the angels in Heaven above
Nor the demons down under the sea
Can ever dissever my soul from the soul
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
For the moon never beams, without bringing me dreams
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And the stars never rise, but I feel the bright eyes
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
Of my darling—my darling—my life and my bride,
In her sepulchre there by the sea—
In her tomb by the sounding sea.
