Now Bow Your Head in Shame by Jaun Elia

In this dark and deeply introspective poem, Jaun Elia meditates on the helplessness of the human spirit in the face of overwhelming sorrow and estrangement. The poem delves into themes of love’s disillusionment, the body’s estrangement from the soul, and the futile attempts at rebuilding after devastation. Elia’s profound reflections on the human condition paint a grim portrait of existence, caught between the divine and the grotesque.

Translation: "Now Bow Your Head in Shame"

Now bow your head, steeped in shame,
For sleep begins to descend in your absence.

Though reasons rise against you, countless,
I still lean towards your defense.

The soul beguiled by love’s deceit,
While the body stands estranged from itself.

Only habits now remain, an empty exercise,
The spirit no longer dwells in complaint.

Speak not of love, lest I cry out,
Impoverished by the body’s destitution.

It is no simple matter that we still,
In courtesy, manage to quarrel.

The edifice once destined to rise,
Now reduced to ash in its foundation.

How will this life proceed, I wonder,
When the heart no longer finds solace in love?

What reward remains in this ruined world,
Built in haste, and full of fleeting moments?

Once more, God fashioned Adam,
In His likeness, yet trapped in such a form.

And man, now gazing deep in thought,
Finds beauty in the lizard’s craft.

O God, who resides nowhere at all,
What fate have You inscribed for us?

Translated by:
Mason Carter