Kristijonas Donelaitis

thumb| Kristijonas Donelaitis (Latin: Christian Donalitius; 1 January 1714 – 18 February 1780) was a Prussian Lithuanian poet and Lutheran pastor. Quotes Metai / 'The Seasons' (wr. c. 1760–70; pub. 1818) Jau saulelė vėl atkopdama budino svietąIr žiemos šaltos triūsus pargriaudama juokės. The climbing sun again was wakening the worldAnd laughing at the wreck of frigid Winter's trade. "The Spring's Joys", l. 1, translated by Nadas Rastenis Krūmus ir girias visokios ošino dainos;O laukus visur bei pievas skambino garsai.Gegužės ir strazdai sumišai lakstydami žaidėIr sutvertojį linksmai rykaudami gyrė.Kregždės su lengvais sparnais aukštai pasikėlėIrgi bešūtydamos nei kulkos šaudė per orus. Bush, forest, grove and hurst resounded with sweet song;Green fields and meadows rang with mingling melodies.The cuckoo and the thrush sang their most joyous songsThat gave glad, grateful praise to the Eternal Lord.Light-winged swallows rose beyond the distant cloudsAnd filling all the skies with melancholy song. "The Spring's Joys", l. 65, translated by Nadas Rastenis Diksas, ans žioplys, mieste didei pasipūtęsIr su rūbais blizgančiais kasdien išsirėdęs,Nei dievaitis koks tarp būrų skiauturę rodo;O kad kartais mes jo glūpą girdime kalbą,Tai ir būrs tur spiaudyt ir didei nusidyvyt;Ypačiai kad apjekėlis toks niekina dievąIr besišypsodams kaip pons glūpumą parodo. Take Diksas, that sluggard, displaying city airs;Attired in foppish clothes, he treads the village streets,And struts among the boors like some rare demigod.But when at times we chance to hear him speak his mind,Then e'en a simple boor must spit to hide a blush;And all the more when he proceeds to scorn the Lord —And with each utterance displays his ignorance. "The Spring's Joys", l. 120, translated by Nadas Rastenis Ten, kur meškins ant kelmų bites kopinėjo,O meška vaikus glūpus murmėdama žindė;Ten, kur briedžiai draskančių vilkų nusigando,O vilkai savo veislę kaukt ir plėšt pamokino;Ten, kur vanags su vaikais daug sulesė vištų,Ir varnai pulkais žąsyčius pavogė mūsų, —Ten, žiūrėkit, ten džiaugsmai taipo pasidėjo,Kad tikt varnos dar biaurybę rudenio garbin,O paukšteliai su dainoms ankštai pasislėpėIrgi be rūpesčių šaltai sapnuodami miegti. Dove l'orso spiccava le api dai tronchi, e l'orsa mugolando allattava gli stupidi orsacchiotti: dove l'alce spaventata fuggiva il dilaniare dei lupi, e i lupi insegnavano ai lupicini a urlare e a sbranare; dove l'astore e i suoi piccini divorarono assai cuciattoli, e i corvi a stormi ci rubavano le oche; ecco, vedete, fuggita è di là ogni gioia, e solo le cornacchie ora cantano lo squallore autunnale. Gli uccellini, con i loro canti, stretti l'uno all'altro si rannicchiano, e, senza affanni, finché dura il freddo, dormono e sognano. Where the bear used to pull the bees from the tree-trunks, and the she-bear, whining, nursed her silly cubs; where the frightened elk fled the tearing of the wolves, and the wolves taught their whelps to howl and to rend; where the goshawk and its young devoured many little chicks, and the crows in flocks stole our geese—behold, you see, all joy has fled from there, and only the jackdaws now sing the autumn desolation. The little birds, with their songs, huddle close to one another and, without cares, while the cold lasts, sleep and dream. "The Autumn's Riches", l. 45, translated into Italian by Giuseppe Morici, "Il poeta nazionale della Lituania, Cristiano Donalitius", Studi Baltici, vol. 3 (1933) pp. 41-61, and translated therefrom into English by ChatGPT (24 February 2026) Translations Nadas Rastenis, with an introduction by Elena Tumas; extracts quoted in the review by Antanas Klimas, "Kristijonas Donelaitis, 'The Seasons', Translated by Nadas Rastenis", Lithuanian Quarterly Journal of Arts and Sciences'', vol. 13, no. 2 (Summer 1967) Extracts translated by Clark Mills, Demie Jonaitis, and Theodore Melnechuk, in Algirdas Landsbergis and Clark Mills (eds.) The Green Oak: Selected Lithuanian Poetry (New York: Voyages Press, 1962) pp. 53-58 External links Metai at Lithuanian Wikisource — text used above