"I have often observed that a poet departed, taking with him the most valuable part of a farm, while the sullen farmer thought he had only plundered a few scraps. But the farmer often has no idea for years that the poet took his farm into a poem, that is, drove it into an invisible pen, milked it, skimmed it, kept all its color for himself, and left only the skimmed milk for the farmer.
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Author
Henry David ThoreauAll Translations
All Translations
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I have often observed that a poet departed, taking with him the most valuable part of a farm, while the sullen farmer thought he had only plundered a few scraps. But the farmer often has no idea for years that the poet took his farm into a poem, that is, drove it into an invisible pen, milked it, skimmed it, kept all its color for himself, and left only the skimmed milk for the farmer.
""Gyakran megfigyeltem, hogy egy költő elvonult s magával vitte egy-egy tanya legértékesebb részét, míg a mogorva farmer azt hitte róla, hogy csak néhány vackort zsákmányolt. De hát a gazda sokszor évekig sem sejti, hogy a költő versbe szedte tanyáját, vagyis afféle láthatatlan karámba terelte, megfejte, lefölözte, a színét mind megtartotta magának, s a gazdának csupán a lefölözött tejet hagyta meg."