Daedalus says: br br Go on sonny but remember that you are walking and not flying br the wings are just an ornament and you are stepping on a meadow br that warm gust is just the humid earth of summer br and that cold one is a brook br the sky is full of leaves and small animals br br Icarus says: br br The eyes like two stones return straight to earth br and see a farmer who knocks asunder oily till br a grub which wiggles in a furrow br bad grub which cuts the bond of a plant with the earth br br Daedalus says: br br Sonny this is not true The Cosmos is merely light br and earth is a bowl of shadows Look as here colors play br dust rises from above the sea smoke rises to the sky br of noblest atoms a rainbow sets itself now br br Icarus says: br br Arms hurt father from this beating at vacuum br legs are getting numb and miss thorns and sharp stones br I cannot keep looking at the sun as you do father br I sunken whole in the dark rays of the earth br br Description of the catastrophe: br br Now Icarus falls down head first br the last frame of him is a glimpse of a heal childlike small br being swallowed by the devouring sea br Up above the father cries out the name br which no longer belongs to a neck or a head br but only to a remembrance br br Commentary: br br He was so young did not understand that wings are just a metaphor br a bit of wax and feathers and a contempt for the laws of gravitation br I cannot hold a body at an elevation of a great many feet br The essence of the matter is in having our hearts br which are coursed by heavy blood br fill with air br and this very thing Icarus did not want to accept br br let us praybr br Zbigniew Herbertbr br