Эмили Э. Дикинсон. Не видев, все же знаем

Не видев, все же знаем —
Не зная, угадав —
В улыбке своей прячем,
Значенья не придав —

Дрожим — и отвергаем,
Святое вне земли —
Вдруг рай — инсинуация —
"Посмеешь ли"?

1518

Not seeing, still we know —
Not knowing, guess —
Not guessing, smile and hide
And half caress —

And quake — and turn away,
Seraphic fear —
Is Eden's innuendo
"If you dare"?
   
         Emily Dickinson



Thomas Johnson's Note on Poem 1518
MANUSCRIPT: Late in 1881 (Esty). It concludes a note written to Mrs. Edward Tuckerman.
It is a diminuendo in which Emily says:
'if we don’t see each other, we know the warmth of our friendship. Or, if we don’t know, we can guess it. And if we don’t even guessthat it exists, we can smile at the possibility, half hiding it and half caressing it, and quaking with a joyful fear, and wondering if we dare confess it, much as the serpent cunningly suggested to Eve that she didn’t dare eat the fruit of the tree."

                Стихи.ру 23 января 2014 года