Alexander Blok
Oh, yes, love is free as a bird...

"Oh, yes, love is free as a bird,"
But all the same I am yours!
And all the same I will dream
Of your figure, all aflame!

The ravening strength of your fine hands,
Your eyes saddened by betrayal
Are all the madness of my vain passion,
Are all my nights, Carmen!

Of you I will sing to the sky
Of your voice I will sing!
Like a priest, with the stars as witness,
I will perform your rite of fire!

You will rise like a stormy wave
In the river of my poems,
And I will never wash my hands
Of your perfume, Carmen...

And in the still of night, ablaze
Like a momentary flame,
I'll see the flash of your white teeth
And your persistent face.

How I am haunted by the sweet hope
That you, in a foreign land,
That you will find a moment
For secret thoughts of me.

Beyond life's storm, beyond the cares,
Beyond the sorrow of all betrayals, -
May this solemn thought arise,
Simple and white, like a road,
Like a long road, Carmen!

Translated by A. Wachtel, I. Kutik and M. Denner