At the new moon, he walked out,
The friend I loved. I’ll be okay!
“Tightrope dancer,” He joked loud,
“How will you survive till May?”
As to a brother, I replied then,
Without gripes or jealousy,
But four new cloaks just aren’t likely
To replace this loss for me.
Let there be danger where I walk,
The way of grief fills me with dread…
The bottom of my shoes are chalked,
My Chinese parasol shines red!
The orchestra plays gleefully,
And lips are smiling with delight,
And yet the heart, the heart can see
The fifth lodge is unoccupied.
Меня покинул в новолунье
Мой друг любимый. Ну так что ж!
Шутил: «Канатная плясунья!
Как ты до мая доживёшь?»
Ему ответила, как брату,
Я, не ревнуя, не ропща,
Но не заменят мне утрату
Четыре новые плаща.
Пусть страшен путь мой, пусть опасен,
Ещё страшнее путь тоски…
Как мой китайский зонтик красен,
Натерты мелом башмачки!
Оркестр весёлое играет,
И улыбаются уста.
Но сердце знает, сердце знает,
Что ложа пятая пуста!
«I, the genius Severyanin, / Intoxicated with my triumph, / I am screened in every town, / I am confirmed by every heart. From Bayazeh to far Port Arthur / I have drawn a stubborn line, / I have conquered literature / And aimed my thunder at the throne. A year ago I said, “I’ll be!...»
«The piano, trembling, makes the lips grow dry. / This frenzy cuts you down and overthrows. / You whisper: Dearest! — No, o no! I cry — / Here, with the music?! — Yet, can one be closer, Than in the twilight, flinging chords in sets — / Like diaries into the fire — in sets, complet...»
«Do I not know that groping for light in darkness, / Darkness will never find the hidden door? / And that to me — a freak — the happiness of thousands / Is as remote as pleasures of a score? Does not the five-year plan decide my measure? / Does it not raise me high, does it not sink me l...»
«The shifting riddle glitters, / the siege goes on, days go on, / the months and years go by. / One lovely day, the messengers, / panting and falling off their feet, / came bearing news: the fort had fallen. / They believe and don’t believe, set fires, / blow up the vaults, seek the p...»