Translation:At a Friend's Burial

They gave him to the earth one awful afternoon in the month of July, beneath the blazing sun. A step from the open tomb, there were roses with rotten petals, between harshly fragrant geraniums and red flowers. The sky pure and blue. A strong dry wind blew. Heavily, with thick ropes suspended, the two gravediggers lowered the coffin to the bottom of the grave... And when laid to rest the thud sounded out solemnly in the silence. The thud of a coffin in the earth is something entirely serious. Over the black box dusty clumps of earth crumbled. The air rose from the deep grave with a pale breath. –And you, now without a shadow, sleep and rest, a long peace to your bones... For good, sleep a tranquil and true sleep.