No picture now
is left to me.
no portrait here
below,
no likeness of
you, mother dear,
remains for me
to show.
No drawing and
no photograph,
no chiselled thing
of stone,
unless it be
that memory
you left in me
alone.
Oh may I, all
unworthy, dear,
that picture ever
cherish,
and honoured let
it live in me,
and honoured with me
perish.
Guido Gezelle (1830 - 1899) Belgium
Translated by Clark and Frances Stillman
Source: Lyra Belgica I; Two Flemish Poets by Clark and Frances Stillman, Belgian Government Information Center, 1950
Thank you for this
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