Endre Ady: I should love to be loved, I wish to be of someone

A poem “I Should Love To Be Loved” by a Hungarian turn of the century poet Endre Ady (1877-1919) which I would love to share today.

Paul Burty Haviland, Florence Peterson nourrissant le poisson rouge, New York, 1910s

I Should Love To Be Loved

I am neither infant nor happy grandfather
Nor parent, nor lover
Of anyone, of anyone.
I am, as every man is, Majesty,
The North Pole, the Secret, the Stranger,
The will-o’-the-wisp in the distance, the will-o’-the-wisp in the distance.
But alas! I cannot remain this way.
I should like to show myself to the world,
So that someone sees me, so that someone sees me.

This is why I sing and I torment myself.
I should love to be loved.
I wish to be of someone, I wish to be of someone.

(translated by Eli Siegel)