To cure wounds is so rigid: <br />They drank the air and poisoned bread. <br />Young Joseph who was sold to Egypt <br />Could not be more deathly sad! <br /> <br />The nomads under starry dome, <br />With eyes, half-closed, and on horse, <br />Compose sagas, while they roam, <br />About day they vaguely crossed. <br /> <br />Few things they need for inspiration: <br />One lost his quiver in the sand; <br />One changed his horse ... . In peaceful fashion <br />The daily mist comes to its end; <br /> <br />And if a song is simply gaining <br />Your heart with non-predicted grace, <br />All vanish -- only they are reigning: <br />The stars, the singer, and the space!<br /><br />Osip Emilevich Mandelstam<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/to-cure-wounds-is-so-rigid/