Surely the young king must have been blind to pity
As he spoke the order: «Destroy Thebes utterly.»
The old general gazed, and knew this place to be
No better than he remembered it, a haughty city.
Put it all to the fire! There were wonders — gate
And tower and temple – everywhere the king searched,
But suddenly his face brightened with a thought:
«Be sure that the house of the Poet is not touched.»
Наверно, страшен был и грозен юный царь,
Когда он произнес: «Ты уничтожишь Фивы».
И старый вождь узрел тот город горделивый,
Каким он знал его еще когда-то встарь.
Все, все предать огню! И царь перечислял
И башни, и врата, и храмы — чудо света! —
Но вдруг задумался и, просветлев, сказал:
«Ты только присмотри, чтоб цел был Дом Поэта».
«I have not heard the tales of Ossian, / I have not tasted age-old wine — / why then do I seem to see a field / and Scotland's murderous moon? And in the sinister silence I seem to hear / the roll-call of the raven and the harp, / and, streaming in the wind, the scarves of men-at-arms / ...»
«For joy’s sake, from my hands, / take some honey and some sun, / as Persephone’s bees told us. Not to be freed, the unmoored boat. / Not to be heard, fur-booted shadows. / Not to be silenced, life’s dark terrors. Now we only have kisses, / dry and bristling like bees, / that die ...»
«Take — for the sake of joy — out of my palms / a little sunlight and a little honey, / as we were told to by Persephone’s bees. You can’t untie a boat that isn’t moored, / nor can you hear a shadow shod in fur, / nor — in this dense life — overpower fear. The only thing that...»
«The flowers say good-bye to me, / They bend their heads and bow low down / Which means that I will never see / Her lovely face and my home town. / / Well, that"s the way it is, my love! / I saw them all in habitation, / I take this deathly trepidation / For tender feeling, still a...»