11

By Ricardo Reis

Translated By Margaret Jull Costa & Patricio Ferrari

Translated from the Portuguese

12 June 1914

Crown me with roses.

Yes, really, crown me

With roses.

I want to hold the hour

In my hands paganly,

Lightly,

Barely feeling life,

Barely feeling the sun

Beneath the branches.

Crown me with roses

And with ivy leaves,

Nothing more.

Notes:

Translation copyright: Copyright (c) 2026 by Margaret Jull Costa and Patricio Ferrari. Used by permission of New Directions.

Read the translator's note by Margaret Jull Costa and Patricio Ferrari.

Source: Poetry (January/February 2026)