The springtime of our lives is brief - Petar II Petrović-Njegoš

The springtime of our lives is brief,
A scorching summer follows behind,
A turbulent autumn and a freezing winter;
Day after day strings together
Each of them bears our personal torment.
Not a day that we desire,
Nor a bliss that we wish for;

Whoever could restrain the wild winds,
Keep the oceans from foaming,
Or assign limits to man's desire?

Take a look at man from every angle,
Then judge him as you find fit -
Man is man's own most mysterious secret!
Man is The Maker's stuff of choice:
If the East indeed gives birth to light,
If the being indeed seethes in a radiant glow,
If the earth is indeed no mirage at all;
Then indeed the human soul is immortal;
We are the spark in death's dust-cloud,
We are the light engulfed by the darkness.

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Petar II Petrović-Njegoš (1813 - 1851) Montenegro
Translated by Gavrilo Stanojevic
Source: Serbo-Croatian Poetry Translation