Venice masks

Friday, 23 August 2024

Native Land - Olavo Bilac

Love your native land with faithful pride and care!

Child! you'll never see a land like this so fair!
See what skies! what rivers! forests! and what sea!
Nature celebrating, here, perpetually,
A mother's bosom overflowing warmth and love.
See what life upon the ground! in nests above,
Which sway among the moving branches in the air!
See what light, what heat, what clouds of insects there!
See the great expanse of jungle that presides
Where fertile, luminous, eternal spring resides!

Good land! that never has denied to man its favors
Of raiment, shelter, daily bread to him who labors…

He who pays the price with sweat and tears shall see,
His work repaid, and rich and happy he will be!

Child! you'll never see a land like this so fair:
Imitate the greatness of your land with care!

Olavo Bilac (1865 - 1918) Brazil
Translated by Frederic G. William
Source: Babelmatrix : Babel Web Anthology

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