A Vicious Cycle

The flitting firefly once again complained:
"Would that I was that torch-like, big blond star,
In ever blue to burn, and never waned!"
And yet the star, moon-jealous from afar:

"That the translucent shine I could so mime,
That saw with sighs the sweet and cherished sight
Of Grecian column and of Gothic time!"
But, gazing at the sun, the moon wants light:

"Alack! if I could have that great, oh, that
Immortal blaze, that all of light subsumes!"
Yet said the sun, heeling that rutilant hat:

 
"This halo, light of numen, weighs, consumes…
    This boundless blue umbrella, wearisome sky…
    Oh, why was I not born a simple firefly?"

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This is a translation of a sonnet by Machado de Assis:


Círculo Vicioso

Bailando no ar, gemia inquieto vaga-lume:
"Quem me dera que fosse aquela loura estrela,
Que arde no eterno azul, como uma eterna vela!"
Mas a estrela, fitando a lua, com ciúme:

"Pudesse eu copiar o transparente lume,
Que, da grega coluna à gótica janela,
Contemplou, suspirosa, a fronte amada e bela!"
Mas a lua, fitando o sol, com azedume:

"Mísera! tivesse eu aquela enorme, aquela
Claridade imortal, que toda a luz resume!"
Mas o sol, inclinando a rútila capela:

"Pesa-me esta brilhante auréola de nume...
Enfara-me esta azul e desmedida umbela...
Por que não nasci eu um simples vaga-lume?"