“I will neither resurrect the past nor return.
Sleep, Romeo, Juliet, on your headrest of stone feathers.
I won't raise your bound hands from the ashes.
Let the cat visit the deserted cathedrals,
its pupil flashing on the altars. Let an owl
nest on the dead ogive.”

— Czeslaw Milosz

"Farewell" (1945), trans. Renata Gorczynski and Robert Hass
Rescue (1945)

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

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Czeslaw Milosz 106

Polish, poet, diplomat, prosaist, writer, and translator 1911–2004

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“I will neither resurrect the past nor return.Sleep, Romeo, Juliet, on your headrest of stone feathers.I won't raise your bound hands from the ashes.Let the cat visit the deserted cathedrals,its pupil flashing on the altars. Let an owlnest on the dead ogive.”

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Czeslaw Milosz 106

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“I will neither resurrect the past nor return.
Sleep, Romeo, Juliet, on your headrest of stone feathers.
I won't raise your bound hands from the ashes.
Let the cat visit the deserted cathedrals,
its pupil flashing on the altars. Let an owl
nest on the dead ogive.”