Centre for Romanian Studies

POETRY IN TRANSLATION (CCXLI): Herbert ASQUITH, (1881-1947), ENGLISH Poet, “The Fallen Subaltern”, “Soldatul-Erou”

The Fallen Subaltern
Hebert Asquith
(1881-1947)

The starshells float above, the bayonets glisten;
We bear our fallen friend without a sound;
Below the waiting legions lie and listen
To us, who march upon their burial-ground.

Wound in the flag of England, here we lay him;
The guns will flash and thunder o’er the grave;
What other winding sheet should now array him,
What other music should salute the brave?

As goes the Sun-god in his chariot glorious,
When all his golden banners are unfurled,
So goes the soldier, fallen but victorious,
And leaves behind a twilight in the world.

And those who come this way, in days hereafter,
Will know that here a boy for England fell,
Who looked at danger with the eyes of laughter,
And on the charge his days were ended well.

One last salute; the bayonets clash and glisten;
With arms reversed we go without a sound:
One more has joined the men who lie and listen
To us, who march upon their burial-ground.

Soldatul-Erou
Herbert Asquith
(1881-1947)

În cânt de clopote şi în sclipiri de săbii
Tovaraşul de arme-l îngropăm,
Iar în ţărână suflete-adormite
Ascultă cum păşim mormântul lor.

Acoperit în laurii de luptă,
Salut de tunuri şi de goarne sună:
Ce giulgiu de prea-sfânt o să-l cuprindă?
Ce imn o să ridice serafimii?

Când săbii de război sclipesc în soare
Şi steaguri sfinte flutură în ceruri,
Eroul va surâde, în izbândă,
Căci datoria şi-a facut-o bine.

În veci îi vom aduce osanale,
Căci pentru noi eroul a căzut,
Sfidând în faţă riscurile morţii,
Când din izbândă şi-a făcut un scut.

În imn de slavă, goarnele răsună:
Eroul sfânt îl vom lăsa in urmă,
În loc de veci, de-apururi să asculte
Ai noştri paşi, ce calcă pe morminte.

Rendered in Romanian by: Constantin ROMAN,
© 2013, Copyright Constantin ROMAN, London

SHORT BIO:
Herbert ASQUITH (1881-1947) was the second son of H. H. Asquith, British Prime Minister, with whom he is frequently confused, and younger brother of Raymond Asquith. His wife Lady Cynthia Asquith, whom he married in 1910, the daughter of Hugo Richard Charteris, 11th Earl of Wemyss (1857–1937), was also a writer.

Asquith was greatly affected by his service with the Royal Artillery in World War I. His poems include “The Volunteer” and “The Fallen Subaltern”, the latter being a tribute to fallen soldiers.