Afanasy Fet
Waterfall

Coated with moss a grey granite
Sprawls there prostrated like Titan
Fallen amid rocks and stones
Fitting a lock on the chasm;
Still the wild violent flow
Rushes downward through the obstacles
Casting on wet blackened boulders
Pearls of a nice sparkling foam.

Look! — how quickly a branch is
Advancing approaching the abyss!
Look! — how badly it’s being
Thrown to the stones, drawn in deeps!
Now, again it’s appeared!
But vain is a faint and vague hope —
The drear black chasm for the fallen
Never comeback would provide!

While watching the flow of the torrent
Discover: afar it's calms down —
It is for the heaven to look at
Its wonderful beauty reflected.
Why! — there it is, that branch sunken!
It’s drifting stright off the dark abyss,
Carefree of the dreadful adventures,
Along the nonstop timeless water.

Translated by Vyacheslav Chistyakov