You Shall Walk in the Field
By Lea Goldberg
Translated By: Rachel Korazim
Is it true - will there ever come days of forgiveness and mercy?
And you'll walk in the field, and it will be an innocent's walk.
And your feet on the alfalfa's small leaves will be gently caressing,
And sweet will be stings, when you're stung by the rye's broken stalks!
And the drizzle will catch you in pounding raindrops' folly
On your shoulders, your breast and your neck, while your mind will be clean,
You will walk the wet field, and the silence will fill you -
As does light in a dark cloud's rim
And you'll breathe in the furrow in breaths calm and even,
And the pond's golden mirror will show you the Sun up above,
And once more all the things will be simple, and present, and living,
And once more you will love - yes, you will, yes, once more you will love!
You will walk. All alone. Never hurt by the blazing inferno
Of the fires on the roads fed by horrors too awful to stand,
And in your heart of hearts you'll be able to humbly surrender,
In the way of the weeds, in the way of free men.
Dark clouds overhanging, the wind going strong.
The job is now done, praise the lord!
We’ll toast Capitaine, let us bless capitaine,
We shall meet once again, and we’ll ford.
The path we have traveled does not have a name,
In the Lloyd’s capitaine it’s not noted.
But even if it is not there on the maps,
In the histories it might be quoted.
Yet this fleet that is small, and is shy and is grey,
Will be mentioned in novels and song.
It may be that of all capitaines capitaine,
You’ll be envied before very long.
Our young fellas toil shall be covered by night,
We shall bless it like blessing the bread.
For you’ve now seen just how from ships on the shore
Their people they carry and tread.
Let us bless then this cold, this very bold night!
Let us bless both the labor and fray!
Let us toast all the ships that are there capitaine,
Let us drink to the ships on the way!
Let us bless the young fellas who got the command
In the darkness they have set the course,
To be there at the place, to be there at the time,
Without map and against mighty force.
And of them we might tell a small history yet,
For the waves of the sea and the sky
See how in the Trafalgar battle we stand
For one single boat that will fly!
Dark clouds overhanging, the wind going strong.
We’re doing the job, praise the lord!
We’ll toast Capitaine, let us bless capitaine,
We shall meet once again, and we’ll ford.
Days will come, and then you at the table shall sit
With a meal and a bottle of wine.
You will smile, and a piece of tobacco shall spit
You will say, I’m too old for the brine.
I have seen quite a lot on the old rounded world
Yet I still quite recall and hail Mary,
How I got on that night to be wet as a fish,
On the beach near the bay that was scary.
We will then tell you how we have opened the gates.
They were opened a long time ago!
They were opened by this very group of young lads
Who were there on that night on the low.
You will laugh how the frigates did not help at all,
We were not even scared of the radar!
You will end what you say with Italian curse…
From the port we will look at the sea star.
T’will be so, and therefore on this very bold night!
Let us bless both the labor and fray!
Let us toast all the ships that are there capitaine,
Let us drink to the ships on the way!
