Искусствоед
W. H. Auden
Look, Stranger! (1936)
XVIII
The sun shines down on the ships at sea,
It shines on you and it shines on me
Whatever we are or are going be.
Tomorrow if everything goes to plan,
Tomorrow morning you'll be a man:
Let wishes be horses as fast as they can.
The dogs are barking, the crops are growing,
But nobody knows how the wind is blowing:
Gosh, to look at we're no great catch;
History seems to have struck a bad patch.
We haven't the time - it's been such a rush -
Except to attend to our own little push:
The teacher setting examinations,
The journalist writing his falsifications,
The poet reciting to Lady Diana
While the footman whisper "Have a banana",
The judge enforcing the obsolete law,
The banker making the loan for the war,
The expert designing the long-range gun
To exterminate everyone under the sun,
Would like to get out but could only mutter; -
"What can I do? It's my bread and butter."
In your house tonight you are flushed and gay;
Twenty-one years have passed away;
Tomorrow morning's another day.
Benjamin Britten, "The Sun Shines Down"
Look, Stranger! (1936)
XVIII
The sun shines down on the ships at sea,
It shines on you and it shines on me
Whatever we are or are going be.
Tomorrow if everything goes to plan,
Tomorrow morning you'll be a man:
Let wishes be horses as fast as they can.
The dogs are barking, the crops are growing,
But nobody knows how the wind is blowing:
Gosh, to look at we're no great catch;
History seems to have struck a bad patch.
We haven't the time - it's been such a rush -
Except to attend to our own little push:
The teacher setting examinations,
The journalist writing his falsifications,
The poet reciting to Lady Diana
While the footman whisper "Have a banana",
The judge enforcing the obsolete law,
The banker making the loan for the war,
The expert designing the long-range gun
To exterminate everyone under the sun,
Would like to get out but could only mutter; -
"What can I do? It's my bread and butter."
In your house tonight you are flushed and gay;
Twenty-one years have passed away;
Tomorrow morning's another day.
Benjamin Britten, "The Sun Shines Down"