Classic Poem

Sad guard
Haven't you slept?
When will you go to sleep?
You've been awake in our lamps
for a thousand years
crucified between your outstretched hands
for a thousand years
Won't you go to sleep?
— For the twentieth time ... I want to sleep
but I fall into sleep
and do not sleep
for the fiftieth time
I fall into sleep and do not sleep.
Sleep to the sorrowful guard
is like the blade of a knife.
I'm afraid of falling asleep
I'm afraid of waking up in dreams.

— Let them burn Rome, let them burn Berlin
Let them steal the China Wall!
You must fall asleep.
It's time for the sad guard
to have a moment of rest, to sleep.

— Sleep? When every moment
Berlin is burned again and again?
When every hour a wall
is stolen from China?
When between one glance and another
a dragon is born?
I'm afraid of sleeping
for slumber to the sad guard
is like the blade of a knife.