Streets were empty, it was just another
Boring night!
Why were you so innocent, and rather
Filled with pride?
Drops of soaking darkness falling down...
I will rise,
And I'll throw a challenge, with a frown,
To the skies.
There's no happiness on earth, undoubted,
Here we stand.
Now and then we think about it
Gun in hand...
And again we laugh and shed a tear,
Life goes on!
Well, it's just another day; it's clear:
We'll be gone!
Ночь — как ночь, и улица пустынна.
Так всегда!
Для кого же ты была невинна
И горда?
Лишь сырая каплет мгла с карнизов.
Я и сам
Собираюсь бросить злобный вызов
Небесам.
Всё на свете, все на свете знают:
Счастья нет.
И который раз в руках сжимают
Пистолет!
И который раз, смеясь и плача,
Вновь живут!
День — как день; ведь решена задача:
Все умрут.
«As it had promised, no cheating, / The sun at dawn sneaked in and entered, / Its slanting beam of saffron slipping / Across the floor toward the center. / / It clothed in warmth of ochre lighting / The grove, the roofs, the village square, / My bed, my pillow,...»
«A house of unimagined beauty / Is set in parkland, cool and dark; / Gates with an arch; then meadows, hillocks, / And oats and woods beyond the park. Here, with their crowns each other hiding, / Enormous linden trees engage / In dusky, quiet celebration / Of their two hundred years of a...»
«Wait for me and I'll return, / Only please, do wait. / Wait when yellow autumn storm / Takes your joy away. / Wait while snow downfall, / Wait while summer heat. / Wait when no one at all / Was waiting, as you did. / Wait when letter faraway / Wouldn't come to you. / Wait when ev...»
«For three long months continues the bombardment. / The bloodstained Malakhov withstands it still. / The hoarse-voiced drum drives on the British redcoats. / Once more they throw themselves against the hill! But by the far Pacific on Kamchatka / The fortress slumbers on in peace profound. / ...»