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.
«Don’t berate me! It just so happens — / I'm no type to sell words off-rack. / Golden head of mine, growing heavy, / Has reclined altogether back. Neither town nor the country endear me: / That my love should have still been true! / I’ll quit everything. Grow a beard, / And move of...»
«I will not deceive myself, admitting / I have worries in my heart, so dreary. / Why am I reputed as a cheating / Crook and trouble-maker, really? / / I am not a villain nor a thief in hiding, / And I never shot imprisoned convicts. / I am just a thoughtless idler, smiling / Friendl...»
«They carouse, fight and sob again ‘ere / To harmonika’s yellowish rues. / They bad-mouth again their failures, / Reminiscing the Muscovy Russ. I myself, engrossed head over ears, / Am diluting my eyes with hard drinks / So as never to notice the lethal, / And to dream about differe...»
«Sing, old man, to the bloody guitar, and / Let your fingers show natural bent. / I would choke in this drunken enchantment / You"re my last and my only friend. / / Don"t you look at her wrist and the blooming / Silky shawl hanging down her head. / I was looking for joy in this woman ...»