Grandfather,
Great Mysterious One, You have been always,
and before You nothing has been.
The Star Nations all over the Universe are Yours,
and Yours are the grasses of the Earth.
Day in, day out, You are the life of things.
You are older than all need, older than all pain and prayer.
Grandfather, all over the world the faces
of Living Ones are alike.
In tenderness they have come up out of the ground.
Look upon your Children with Children in their arms,
that they may face the winds and walk the Good Road
to the Day of Quiet.
Teach me to walk the soft earth, a relative to all that live.
Sweeten my Heart, and fill me with Light.
Give me the strength to understand and the eyes to see.
Help me, for without You,
I am nothing.
~John Neihardt
~Beannaichte'
23 October, 2012
John Neihardt was the Poet Laureate, for the State of Nebraska, for many years. John became a friend to Black Elk. Black Elk was a Holy Man of the Oglala Souix, a sub-tribe of the Lakota Indian Nation. John translated this beautiful prayer, for Black Elk, into the English Language.
ReplyDeleteIt is believed, due to John's understanding of these people, and their language, little was lost, if any, in the translation process.
The correct spelling for this Indian Nation is the Oglala Sioux. A name is incredibly important, especially for a people who have lost so much. Please forgive my error. ~Beannaichte'!
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