Thank You, My Fate

Great humility fills me,
great purity fills me,
I make love with my dear
as if I made love dying
as if I made love praying,
tears pour
over my arms and his arms.
I don’t know whether this is joy
or sadness, I don’t understand
what I feel, I’m crying,
I’m crying, it’s humility
as if I were dead,
gratitude, I thank you, my fate,
I’m unworthy, how beautiful
my life.

— Anna Swir
Translated from the Polish by Czeslaw Milosz and Leonard Nathan

2 Comments on “Thank You, My Fate”

  1. Murray Malakoff (Malaschkowsky)

    Always been interested in the Warsaw ghetto. WOW. Have read Mila 18. Know abourSt.Edith Stein. Just appecta mortality a little better after reading this poem.

    Reply

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