Lament
Oh! All things are long passed away and far. A light is shining but the distant star From which it still comes to me has been dead A thousand years ... In the dim phantom boat That glided past some ghastly thing was said. A clock just struck within some house remote. Which house?—I long to still my beating heart. Beneath the sky's vast dome I long to pray ... Of all the stars there must be far away A single star which still exists apart. And I believe that I should know the one Which has alone endured and which alone Like a white City that all space commands At the ray's end in the high heaven stands.
Translated by Jessie LamontLament - meaning Summary
Longing for Enduring Light
The speaker observes that everything familiar is gone and perceives a light whose source is already dead, creating a mood of loss and temporal dislocation. They recall a distant, phantom scene and hear a remote clock, then express a private longing for steadiness and prayer. The poem ends with a desire to find a single enduring star — an emblem of permanence and hope amid transience.
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