On a Line by Attila József
The tune we sing will never change the text.
The two thousand year chant can testify:
salvation is reached through a needle's eye,
and the poor in spirit are the blessed.
You could see through the Scriptures? I suggest
it was the Maya's veil. For heavens lie
as does the earth. The moon's a boat on high,
the mesh is woven out of light and mist.
Only the hangman finds delight in pain:
the hard nails – camels through the needle's eye –
went through the hands and feet of Christ the king.
One day the words will shake off every chain,
and if the tune won't change the text, then I
predict: the text will change the tune we sing.
Translation: March 2005
Translated by Peter Zollman