C.D. Warner, et al., comp. The Library of the World’s Best Literature.
An Anthology in Thirty Volumes. 1917.
Sonnet: ‘The tricks of pleasing thou hast aye disdained’
By Adam Mickiewicz (1798–1855)
Translation of Charles Harvey Genung
T
Thy words are plain, and simple all thy ways;
Yet throngs, admiring, tremble ’neath thy gaze,
And in thy queenly presence stand enchained.
Amid the social babble unconstrained,
I heard men speak of women words of praise,
And with a smile each turned some honeyed phrase.
Thou cam’st,—and lo! a sacred silence reigned.
Thus when the dancers with each other vie,
And through the merry mazes whirling go,
Abruptly all is hushed: they wonder why,
And no one can the subtle reason show.
The poet speaks: “There glides an angel by!”
The guest all dimly feel, but few do know.