to hear from in the thick of briars

To shelter at noon, pallid and rapt,
back against a scalding orchard wall;
to hear from in the thick of briars
blackbirds’ blatter, the slither of adders.

To spy how over the tares’ stalks, along cracks
in the earth, lines of red ants break
and close ranks, intertwine
atop miniature haystacks.

To observe through boughs the sea’s
distant shimmering of scales
while from bald heights the cicadas
unleash their tremulous calls.

Then emerging into the dazzling sun,
to feel, grimly amazed, how all
of life, its drudgery, is in
this slow trek hard by a wall
whose top is harled with jagged shards.

Noon, Eugenio Montale, translated from the Italian by Jamie McKendrick