HARBOUR > WRITINGS > UPON VIDOULE HILL
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Jáchym Novotný

Upon
 Vidoule Hill 

Sonet

EN


At oakwood’s edge

where fields and fragrance meet,

Where shimmering sun

bejewels the ghostly mist,

The grasshoppers, by morning dew-drops kissed,

Seek mossy mists to shun the searing heat.


A bunting pipes a plaintive, pearly lay,

The babbling brook in shallow duet flows,

A rainbow-revel where the water glows,

For pearls of which a dreaming faerie’d pray.


In sudden surge, the world seeks leafy screen,

I climb and crave what heart alone can hold,

While pollen-powder veils the stones in gold.


Sated with shadows,

in that scent-drenched scene,

An ancient root—my faithful, gnarled throne—

Would speak of spells that leave the soul alone.

CS


V lem doubravy,

kde šeřík s polem splývá

a slunce třpyt

je skvostem bledé mlze,

kojivši z jitra žízeň v rosné slze,

teď v mechu hejno kobylek se skrývá.


I tklivou píseň jarem strnad zpívá.

Na duet bystřina sním v mělké struze

lahodně hraje měníc svůj part v duze

za perly o nichž luzná víla snívá.


mžikem vše hledá úkryt v náhlém spěchu

výš stoupám hledu po tom srdce touží

jen kámen slunný zvolna halí pyl


syt stínů

a těch bluzných vůní v dechu

mě starý kohát křeslem věrně slouží

co smysly mámí hned bych vyslovil.

Upon Vidoule Hill

Vidoule

Author’s Note: Upon Vidoule Hill

“Upon Vidoule Hill” is a lyrical reflection on one of Prague’s hidden natural gems. This sandstone sanctuary rises above the city’s bustle, just a stone's throw from the historic Cibulka estate. The poem was inspired by the gentle brook that flows through Cibulka's newly restored park—a place where the murmuring water and the stillness of the heights create a mystical duet. This sonnet captures a fleeting moment of transition, where the oak forests meet the golden, pollen-dusted silence, and an old root becomes a faithful throne for the soul.