Pesnici budući! Govornici, pevači,
muzičari budući!
Nije današnjici dano da me pravda i
odgovori čemu sam kadar,
Nego vama, novom jednom rodu, domaćem,
atletskom, kontinentalnom, većem od
ranije znanog;
Dižite se! Jer vi me morate opravdati.
Ja lično samo pišem reč-dve nagoveštaja
za budućnost,
Ja samo napredujem za trenutak, da okrenem
se i pohitam natrag u tamu.
Čovek sam koji tumara, a ne zaustavlja se
sasvim, pa na vas pogled slučajan skreće
i zatim odvraća lice,
Prepuštajući vama da dokažete ga i
odredite,
Očekujući ono glavno od vas.
Volt Vitmen
(Walt Whitman 1819-1892)
1860
Prevod: Ivan V. Lalić
Poets to come
Poets to come! orators, singers, musicians to come!
Not to-day is to justify me, and answer what I am
for;
But you, a new brood, native, athletic, continental,
greater than before known,
Arouse! Arouse—for you must justify me—you must
answer.
I myself but write one or two indicative words for the
future,
I but advance a moment, only to wheel and hurry back
in the darkness.
I am a man who, sauntering along, without fully stopping,
turns a casual look upon you, and then
averts his face,
Leaving it to you to prove and define it,
Expecting the main things from you.
