Recluse

Luís de Camões

The whole world judges me as lost. My days
seem wasted on unrequited love,
cut off from other people, wary of
their ordinary and often insensitive ways.
I know this world too well. I know its rules.
Twice I’ve traveled this world, and I believe
that those who can’t comprehend why I grieve
and suffer are shallow, self-deluded fools.
O Earth, and Sea, and Wind! Others were meant
to search for riches and fame, subduing fire,
and steel, and heat, and cold. But I console
myself, in my humble state, to live content,
with the image of the lover I still desire
chiseled forever into my heart and soul.

translated by: William Baer