The City in the Sea
by Edgar
Allan Poe
(1809-1849)
(1809-1849)
Lo! Death has reared himself a
throne
In a strange city lying alone
Far down within the dim West,
Where the good and the bad and the worst and the best
Have gone to their eternal rest.
There shrines and palaces and towers
(Time-eaten towers that tremble not!)
Resemble nothing that is ours.
Around, by lifting winds forgot,
Resignedly beneath the sky
The melancholy waters lie.
Far down within the dim West,
Where the good and the bad and the worst and the best
Have gone to their eternal rest.
There shrines and palaces and towers
(Time-eaten towers that tremble not!)
Resemble nothing that is ours.
Around, by lifting winds forgot,
Resignedly beneath the sky
The melancholy waters lie.
No rays from the holy heaven come down
On the long night-time of that town;
But light from out the lurid sea
Streams up the turrets silently —
Gleams up the pinnacles far and free —
Up domes — up spires — up kingly halls —
Up fanes — up Babylon-like walls —
Up shadowy long-forgotten bowers
Of sculptured ivy and stone flowers —
Up many and many a marvelous shrine
Whose wreathéd friezes intertwine
The viol, the violet, and the vine.
So blend the turrets and shadows there
That all seem pendulous in the air,
While from a proud tower in the town
Death looks gigantically down.
On the long night-time of that town;
But light from out the lurid sea
Streams up the turrets silently —
Gleams up the pinnacles far and free —
Up domes — up spires — up kingly halls —
Up fanes — up Babylon-like walls —
Up shadowy long-forgotten bowers
Of sculptured ivy and stone flowers —
Up many and many a marvelous shrine
Whose wreathéd friezes intertwine
The viol, the violet, and the vine.
So blend the turrets and shadows there
That all seem pendulous in the air,
While from a proud tower in the town
Death looks gigantically down.
There open fanes and gaping graves
Yawn level with the luminous waves;
But not the riches there that lie
In each idol's diamond eye —
Not the gaily-jeweled dead
Tempt the waters from their bed;
For no ripples curl, alas!
Along that wilderness of glass —
No swellings tell that winds may be
Upon some far-off happier sea —
No heavings hint that winds have been
On seas less hideously serene.
Yawn level with the luminous waves;
But not the riches there that lie
In each idol's diamond eye —
Not the gaily-jeweled dead
Tempt the waters from their bed;
For no ripples curl, alas!
Along that wilderness of glass —
No swellings tell that winds may be
Upon some far-off happier sea —
No heavings hint that winds have been
On seas less hideously serene.
But lo, a stir is in the air!
The wave — there is a movement there!
As if the towers had thrust aside,
In slightly sinking, the dull tide —
As if their tops had feebly given
A void within the filmy Heaven.
The waves have now a redder glow —
The hours are breathing faint and low —
And when, amid no earthly moans,
Down, down that town shall settle hence,
Hell, rising from a thousand thrones,
Shall do it reverence.
The wave — there is a movement there!
As if the towers had thrust aside,
In slightly sinking, the dull tide —
As if their tops had feebly given
A void within the filmy Heaven.
The waves have now a redder glow —
The hours are breathing faint and low —
And when, amid no earthly moans,
Down, down that town shall settle hence,
Hell, rising from a thousand thrones,
Shall do it reverence.
DENİZDEKİ ŞEHİR
Görüyor
musun!
Ölüm,
bir taht kurdu kendine;
Puslu
batının derinlerine varan
Yabancı
bir şehirde bir başına duran!
İyinin
ve kötünün, en iyinin ve en kötünün
Ebede
açıldığı eşikten yola çıkan!
Oradaki
mabetler, saraylar ve kuleler
Görmüş
olduklarının hiçbirine benzemezler
(Kuleler
ki; onları zaman kemirdiyse eğer
Sanma
ki sarsıntıya meyil verirler)
Etrafında
kasvetli sular
Rüzgarlarca
unutulmuşluğuna razı
Kimsesiz
bir göğün altında uzanırlar
Cennetteki
yıldızların ışığı düşmez buraya
Yalnız,
o derin sulardan yükselen aydınlık
Kulelere
akıp gider sessize…inceden…
Tırmanıp
aydınlatır her yeri aniden
Gözünün
alabildiğine özgür ve derinden
Kubbeleri,
görkemli dehlizleri
Kiliseleri
hatta ‘günahkarlar şehrini’
Çoktan
unutulmuş çardakların kasvetini
Budanmış
sarmaşıkları ve taştan çiçekleri
Saçaklarla
örtülmüş viyola, menekşe ve
Asma
bahçeleri… Her şeyi, bildiğin her bir şeyi…
Çıkıp
baksan buradaki vakur bir kuleden
Ölümdür;
aşağıda, tüm heybetiyle görünen!
Kapısı
açık mabetler,
Aralık
bırakılmış mezarlar var
Hepsi
bu dalgaların ışığıyla dolar
Ne
tapındıklarının süsü,
Ne
rüzgarların süngüsü
Hiçbirinin
bükmeye yetmez gücü!
Salınıp
duran esintinin dilinde bir övgü:
“Başka
bir denizde daha mutlu olamam!”
Şuraya
bak, havada bir kıpırtı!
Bir
dalga var orada! Bir çalkantı!
Sessizce
batan akıntıya kapılacak!
Kuleleri
elinin tersinde bırakacak!
Cennette,
cennetten öte bir yol açacak!
Dalgalar
gittikçe harlanacak!
Zaman,
acıların koynunda şuursuzca akacak!
Burası,
aşağıya, daha da aşağıya batacak!
İşte o
zaman;
Cehennem,
binlerce taht sunup görkeminden
Bu şehrin
karşısında,
El
pençe divan duracak!
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