Alexander Blok
At first she turned the whole thing to a joke...

At first she turned the whole thing to a joke,
Then understood, and started to reproach me.
Shaking her lovely head from side to side
She started wiping tears away with her handkerchief.

And teasing me with her teeth she laughed,
Unexpectedly forgetting the whole thing.
As suddenly remembered — and sobbed,
Scattering hairpins on the tablecloth.

Grew ugly, walked away, turned round,
Came back, as though waiting for something;
Cursed — turned her back on me, and then
Walked out, it seemed, forever.

And so, it is time to take up matters again,
One’s own long-standing affair...
It is possible, life too, left —
Left with a swish as your dress did then?

Translated by Geoffrey Thurley