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| You Are a Vision of an Agate, Dear by Shaul Tchernichowsky Written in Tel Aviv (Israel) 19.Feb.1934 You are a vision of an agate, dear, That brown agate… And I don’t mind if the wise and the experts Will look and say: ”Well, it’s merely a semi-precious gem”. I cherish the sparkle of the Serene glitter and glow, The fractions of shine And the warm deep light. It makes thee the prettiest Of all the chalcedony dynasty. ‘Cause my heart doesn’t yearn for the onyx - The dark tenebrous onyx, That moans in inanimate silence. It reminds me of a monk’s cloak - Stripes of white and black - Which I loath. Nor am I fond of the sardonyx That looks like A nouveau-riche bourgeois, Adorned in his red-and-white Lined jacket. And, indeed, among her sister gems With all their numerous hues, Agate is the unembellished indigent one That does not softly shine - Like a diamond-dropping tear; And does not burn In an impudent red ruby flame; Her colors do not melt into each other Like the opal – the vicious stone; And does not smile gloomily Like the perfumed violet amethyst; And does not have the greenish duckweed Of a meadow-swamp at the end of summer Like the verdant emerald; And is not soaked with the burning Ethiopian sun Like the sacred topaz; And its inclusions are not moving clouds Inside the weary, dreaming sapphire; And it lacks all the golden stars Set in the colored skies of the Grayish-orangey ligure. For me, my dear, You are the vision of an agate, Agate, the brown agate… |
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