W.S. Merwin and Hadrian's Poem

 A few weeks ago I had the wonderful oppourtunity to see the wise poet W.S. Merwin speak and read some of his poetry. He closed by reading his translation of the Roman Emperor Hadrian's poem "Little Soul" which was so striking and haunting that the rush of mysticism and beauty his reading of it transfered to me lasts to this moment.
I've included Merwin's notes about the poem, his translation, and a link to a video of him reading it:

"It must have been at some time during my years at the university that I first encountered this brief, mysterious poem. It is ascribed to the Emperor Hadrian (76–138 AD) without any scholarly question that I know of, but it has always seemed surprising to me that a poem so assured in its art, so flawless and so haunting, could have been the only one he ever wrote. Perhaps he wrote poems all his life and this was the only one that was saved, or this one alone was unforgettable."

Little Soul

By Hadrian

Translated By W.S. Merwin

Little soul little stray 

little drifter

now where will you stay

all pale and all alone

after the way

you used to make fun of things.

Start at 30:35