Beyond The Seas

I’ll put up a boat
And I set it free off the shore
I’ll let it take me away from this eerie land,
where nobody calls up the sleeping heroes
from the midst of their long, lonely trance.

I’ll put up a boat,
and I set it free off the shore;
a boat with no net, with no seine,
and with my heart cleansed of wish for pearl.

I’ll sail away on the tides
I’ll sing all along the ride.

Neither the blues of the deeps,
Nor the mermaids, natives of the seas
will captivate me from my solitary glide
I’ll move on with pride.

I’ll sail away on the tides,
I’ll sing all along the ride:

“I’ll leave this eerie land behind;
its men failed to recall the tales of their legends,
its women were not as luscious as clusters of grape,
its mirrors evaded from celebration of the shapes.
I did not see a torch,
I did not see a loch.”

I shall sail away,
I am tired of the reign of opaque panes
Now it’s time for the verse of the glass.


I’ll sail away on the tides
I’ll sing all along the ride:

“Beyond the seas,
There is another land;
Its windows open to the virtue of the lights
On its roofs, doves constantly gaze at the soar of human mind
Its children walk with the backpacks full of wisdom and trust.”

“Beyond the seas,
There is another land;
People there, they care
for the airs of a gentle hill
for the feel of brief dream.
Its soil listens to the song of your soul,
Its wind carries the scent of wings of the birds.”

“Beyond the seas,
There is another land;
Its dawn is white, clear and vast,
alike the freshness of the day’s first sight
Its poets are heirs of the water, wind and light.”

Beyond the seas,
There is another land:

I shall put up a boat,
I will put up a boat.


By: Sohrab Sepehri

Translation: Maryam Dilmaghani

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