De profundis... My generation
Had been fed without honey. Aft that
Just a wind sings in gloomy recession,
And remembrance of them who is dead.
Our business have never been finished,
Our time had been marked by the end;
‘Till the watershed of our wishing,
‘Till the spring’s top, that might be so grand,
‘Till the blooming with fiery passion —
There was distance in only one breath...
By two wars, my generation,
Had been lighted your awful path.
De profundis... Моё поколенье
Мало мёду вкусило. И вот
Только ветер гудит в отдаленьи,
Только память о мёртвых поёт.
Наше было не кончено дело,
Наши были часы сочтены,
До желанного водораздела,
До вершины великой весны,
До неистового цветенья
Оставалось лишь раз вздохнуть...
Две войны, моё поколенье,
Освещали твой страшный путь.
«You’re sitting on your wooden planks in the middle of Moscow. / Your head’s spinning from blind anguish. / On the window is a muzzle, freedom’s the other side of the wall. / the thread between you and me is broken. / Behind the iron door struts a soldier... / Forgive him, mom, he’s...»
«When a speech begins, saying that spirituality has been lost, / that the way for people from now on lies through darkness, / in their astounded eyes and in their souls a holy readiness / to go forth and perish trembles like a new flame. / / And this is not delusion or error, / it is the...»
«My son seems to be finding seclusion hard to take. / But the beautiful can’t be born in noisy company, can it? / There, you can’t keep a hold on a little thought that suddenly appears: / into ears wide open only pointless speech asks lo enter. / / Your daddy bas deliberately construct...»
«Monster war, take a look at your handiwork: / In our courtyards the silence is keen. / Our young boys have grown serious suddenly. / All at once, much too soon, they are men. / We got barely a glimpse of the somber eyes / When as soldiers they left, one by one. / It's time for goodb...»