The Shining Hours (V) - Emile Verhaeren

Each hour I brood upon your goodness, so simple in its depth, I lose myself in prayers to you. 

I came so late towards the gentleness of  your eyes, and from so far towards your two hands stretched out quietly over the wide spaces. 

I had in me so much stubborn rust that gnawed my confidence with its ravenous teeth. 

I was so heavy, I was so tired, I was so old with misgiving. 

I was so heavy, I was so tired of the vain road of all my footsteps. 

I deserved so little the wondrous joy of seeing your feet illuminate my path that I am still trembling and almost in tears, and humble, for ever and ever, before my happiness. 

---

Emile Verhaeren (1855 - 1916) Belgium

Translated by F.S. Flint

Source: The love poems of Emile Verhaeren, Translated by F.S. Flint, Constable and Co., 1916