Poesia kaiera
Aintzirako irla
Oi Jainkoa, Oi Venus, Oi Merkurio, lapurren
Zaindaria,
Emadazue otoi, arren, tabako-denda ttipi bat,
Kutxa ttipi distirantak
artoski pilaturik apalategian
Eta mastekatzeko tableta solte usaingozoak
eta tabako xehatua,
Eta Virginiako gorri distiranta
solte beirazko estalki distiratsuen azpian,
Eta pare bat haztakin, ez sobera koipetsuak,
Eta emagalduak, aitzinetik pasatzean, sar-jalgika
ele gose,
Ele goxo irrigarri baten xerka edo ilearen
amińi bat apaintzerat.
Oi Jainkoa, Oi Venus, Oi Merkurio, lapurren
Zaindaria,
Emadazue tabako-denda ttipi bat, edo bestela
ezar nazazue edozein lanbidetan,
Idazle lanbide malapartatu honetan salbu,
non eta burmuinak erabili behar baitira tai
gabean.
The Lake Isle
O God, O Venus, O Mercury, patron of thieves, / Give me in due time, I beseech you, a little tobacco-shop, / With the little bright boxes / piled up neatly upon the shelves / And the loose fragrant cavendish / and the shag, // And the bright Virginia / loose under the bright glass cases, / And a pair of scales not too greasy, / And the whores dropping in for a word or two in passing, / For a flip word, and to tidy their hair a bit. // O God, O Venus, O Mercury, patron of thieves, / Lend me a little tobacco-shop, / or install me in any profession / Save this damn’d profession of writing, / where one needs one’s brains all the time.