Graceful Shades

Calmly and gracefully
thou movest along the path of life,
tearless and smileless,
and scarce a heedless glance of indifferent attention
ruffles thy calm.
Thou art good and wise
and all things are remote from thee,
and of no one hast thou need.
Thou art fair,
and no one can say,
whether thou prizest thy beauty or not.
No sympathy hast thou to give;
none dost thou desire.
Thy glance is deep,
and no thought is in it;
in that clear depth is emptiness.
So in the Elysian field,
to the solemn strains of Gluck's melodies,
move without grief or bliss thy graceful shades.
- Ivan Turgenev.