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Elegy
Translation by Chris Beckett
The fall of every leaf diminishes me,
so when I hear a rustle
I send my eyes out of the window
to look at the trees in the yard.
Alas! where there were woods,
now I see flag-poles standing.
Men have swept nature’s nest away
to build their cities.
The melody of the nightingale
has lost its immortality
and I am sitting on a dead land,
writing my elegy in the sand.
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- About the translation:
- Poet:
- Bewketu Seyoum
- Translator:
- Chris Beckett
- Original language:
- Amharic
- Issue:
- Series 3 No.10 - The Big Green Issue
About the author
Original poet
Bewketu Seyoum
Bewketu Seyoum is a popular young Ethiopian poet and writer. He has published two much-acclaimed collections of poems in Amhar...
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Translator
Chris Beckett
Chris Beckett grew up in Ethiopia in the 1960's. He won the Poetry London competition in 2001 and his first collection, The D...
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