Psalm  71
  
by Karel  Kryl  (1944 - 1994)

Three black ants in the tear
of a doe about to drown
The slogans on the wreath
and the thorns on the crown
Crushed under weight and loss
we try to climb in vain
dragging on wooden cross
our loneliness and pain

The skies are colored rose
Past Via Dolorosa
we finally rest installed
like a wheat in a sheath above
We shall rest angerless
grown into wooden trestle
'Cause the greatest crime of all
is to preach love

We ride in carriages
that last us all life long
Emperor's images
we garnish with a song
We weep for youth - our ploy
we we age thanks to God
We shout the Ode to Joy
that martyrs we are not

The skies are colored rose
Past Via Dolorosa
we may yet rest installed
like a wheat in a sheath above
We shall rest angerless
grown into wooden trestle
'Cause the greatest crime of all
is to preach love

Ninth Symphony is through
Comedy swiftly ends
Instead of Pilate now
the world washes its hands
Itself it makes its cross
itself forges its nails
and king is of the cross
C Minor sings and wails

The skies are colored rose
Past Via Dolorosa
we may yet rest installed
like wheat in a sheath above
We shall rest angerless
grown into wooden trestle
'Cause the greatest crime of all
is - to preach - 
love -


     Translated by Jirina Fuchs
     Translation Copyright C 1988 by Jirina Fuchs

KAREL KRYL is today the most famous poet
of the generation born in the forties.
He broke unto the Czech scene after the 1968
Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia with
his immortal song "Bratricku, zavirej vratka"..
Today, many of his poems/songs became a part
of the Czech song folklore - people sing them
without knowing the name of their author...
 Karel Kryl lived in exile since 1969.
Twenty years later, Czechoslovak government
let him enter Czechoslovakia only to come
to his mothers' funeral...
 Karel Kryl, like many Czechoslovaks even today,
died in Munich, in exile, shortly before
his fiftieth birthday, without ever having
his Czech citizenship recognized by Czech
authorities...
 On January 17, 1989 Karel Kryl, as the third
Czech poet thus honored, received the
JAN ZAHRADNICEK PRIZE for Czech poetry.
 Karel Kryl's importance in contemporary
Czech literature is comparable to importance
of KAREL HYNEK MACHA in Czech literature of
XIXth Century.