O Clitumne! Lyrics

Listen to the whisper
From the headlong height
The fall of waters!
Rapid as the light…
A green wudpecker
Flies through the twisted branches
It guards the crystal waves
Which howl and hiss!
The hell of waters!
From rock to rock!
Overthrows its majesty
Along the thriving valley
Charming the eye with dread
Horribly beautyful!
Embrace the darkest rocks
While the Hades opens its gates
Listen to the wishper
Terror and delight
The roaring waters is cradling your mind
And mounts toward the sky
where the stars pierce distant nights
Like hope upon a death-bed
Which shines so bright
In rays of scarlet light!
Flowers like sapphire adorn the shores
An Iris sits between the infernal surge,
From rock to rock
Beneath the glittering morn!
Janus gathers it for the new dawn
Under his hand
A new nymph is born.
From time to time
In the Clitumnus sight!