HARBOUR > WRITINGS > THE RESTING BENCH
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Jáchym Novotný

 The Resting 

Bench

══U lavičky

EN


O'er the homeland, birds fly past,

vanished, though you hold them fast.

Before the count of five is done,

to the ends of earth they’ve run.


Forget thy flight across the sky,

embrace the land that greets thine eye.

Cherish the flock in memory,

grieve not, just stay a while with me. —


Through hollow way and forest lane,

I walked in mist and morning rain.

Beneath the moss, a shadow’s trace,

A snow-white feather I embrace.


My heart with joy was briefly blessed,

Yet I have lost my winged guest.

A song remains, to rise and bloom,

Of slate and resin’s sweet perfume.

CS


Rychle letí ptáci nad krajem,

sotva vzhlédneš, sletí celou zem.

Než-li stihneš napočítat pět,

rozletí se v celý širý svět.


Pomiň letu ptáku na nebi,

přiviň zemi, jež nám velebí.

Vzpomínku na svoje hejno chraň,

neteskni, jen u nás chvíli staň. —


Úvozem i lesní pěšinou

bloudím z jitra mlžnou krajinou.

V kraji lesa mechem stín se mih‘,

pírko bělostné jsem sobě zdvih‘.


Srdce plné radosti já měl,

ptáčka však už více neviděl.

Zbyla jenom píseň, tryskajíc

vůní břidlice a pryskyřic.

The Resting Bench

U Lavičky

Lookout Point The Resting Bench

This poem has special meaning for me. It was written as a memorial to a place close to my heart. The viewpoint on the rock above the village of Bratříkov in the Železný Brod region, which bears the picturesque name Měkotov, has been here since time immemorial. During my childhood, there was a bench between two pine trees, from which there is a beautiful view of Černá Studnice. After my grandfather's death, I built a completely new bench here and created an information board, which included this poem. I think it is still there today and people occasionally visit it while mushroom picking or when they happen to pass by from Liškův háj, Končiny, Skála in Kostřavec, through Na Rouvněch, or from Červený dům.