U pet i petnaest je zvonio sat jednoga jutra na kraju leta u šest i deset je kretao voz s nekog perona na kraju sveta mene je čekao taj voz
Kraj mojih nogu je spavao pas rekoh mu tiho: "Hej, beži odatle" Otvorih vrata, izađoh na trem na kom su cvetale bele muškatle pomislih, to je možda taj dom
Nije me čula, mirno je snila svoje lepeze, i sveće, i čipke snila je dane, mirne i nežne k'o crno bele klavirske tipke a u životu, sama na svetu u menuetu tražila spas
Siđoh pred kuću na prašnjavi put k'o neki lopov, polako i tiho ja nisam bio taj vitez za nju mada mi govore da sam Don Kihot al' to je sasvim druga stvar
Bila je zvezda, bila je pesma svaki dan druga, a večito ista snila je dobra stara vremena i svog Šopena, i Baha, i Lista možda će sama u grubom svetu u menuetu naći svoj mir
Od tad je prošao vek ili dva Javi se retko, ponekom kartom i ko zna gde je, ne želim da zna koliko čeznem za dalekim martom kad sam je sreo prvi put
Bila je zvezda, bila je pesma svaki dan druga, a večito ista snila je dobra stara vremena i svog Šopena, i Baha, i Lista a u životu, sama na svetu u menuetu tražila spas
Jos uvek lutam, gde je kraj puta pamte me mnoge provincijske pruge kriju me mračne, jeftine krčme noći su ponekad puste i duge
Nestajem tada u nekom svom svetu i menuetu, i menuetu...
English Translation
Minuet
At five fifteen the alarm went off one morning at summer’s end ten minutes after six, a train was leaving from a platform at the end of the world The train was waiting for me
A dog was sleeping next to my legs, I told him quietly: hey, get lost! I opened the door, went out onto the porch where white pelargoniums blossomed I thought: maybe that’s the home
She didn’t hear me, she was peacefully dreaming of her fans and flowers, and laces she was dreaming of days, peaceful and gentle like the black and white piano keys and in reality, alone in the world, she sought salvation in minuet
I went off in front of the house on a dusty road like a thief, slowly and quietly I wasn’t the knight for her although they say I’m a Don Quixote but that’s an entirely different thing
She was a star, she was a song every day different, but eternally the same She dreamt of the good old times and of her Chopin, Bach and Liszt Maybe alone in a harsh world she will, in minuet, find her peace
A century or two have passed Now and then she sends a card And who knows where she is, I don’t want her to know how much I long for the long gone March when I first met her
She was a star, she was a song every day different, but eternally the same She dreamt of the good old times and of her Chopin, Bach and Liszt and in reality, alone in the world, she sought salvation in minuet
I’m still wandering, where’s the end of the road many provincial railroads remember me dark, cheap taverns are hiding me the nights are sometimes thick and long
Then I disappear into a world of my own and in minuet in minuet