My Testament

I lived with you — I suffered and wept with you.
 Not a single noble man has ever been indifferent to me.
Now in the shade — with the ghosts — I leave you
 As though happiness was to be found here — I am unhappy.

I have left no successor to follow me,
 Neither for my lute — nor for my name —
My name has passed like lightning
 Its hollow sound will last for generations.

But you, who knew me, make this legend last —
 How I wasted my youth for my homeland,
While the ship was in combat — I was on the mast,
 When sinking — I sank with it to the very sand…

Yet once — pondering about the sad fate of
 My poor homeland — any noble man will admit…
That the cloak on my soul was not cadged,
 But the splendor of my ancestors adorned it.

Let my friends gather at night
 And burn my poor heart in aloe,
Give it to the one who gave me this heart:
 This is what mothers get — when the ashes glow…

Let my friends sit down with the cup
 And drink for my funeral — and to their poor lot…
If I am a spirit — as a ghost I will show up,
 If God frees me from torment — expect me not…

But I implore — let not the living lose their hearts
 And carry the lamp of wisdom before the nation,
And when necessary — go to death one by one,
 Like stones thrown by God on the rampart…

As for me — I am leaving my friends sullen,
 Those who came to love my proud heart;
Who knew I fulfilled the hard service of God…
 And agreed to have here — an unlamented coffin…

Who else… without applause will depart…
 As indifferent as I am toward the world,
And will be the helmsman of a boat of spirits
 And so quietly fly away — like a ghost?

Yet, this fatal power will remain after me,
 Which was nothing to me in life… only embellished my head —
But after death this unseen force will crush you,
 Until into angels it transforms you, eaters of bread.