Love conquers, deceitful and slow,
With a soft amateurish refrain.
So strange to think — not long ago
You weren’t dejected and gray.
In the garden, at home, in the field,
Whenever she flashed her smile,
Wherever you were, you believed
You were free and out in the wild.
Once taken by her, you glowed
And you drank her poisons, content.
Because all the stars seemed to grow,
And fields had a different scent,
Autumn fields.
Любовь покоряет обманно,
Напевом простым, неискусным.
Еще так недавно-странно
Ты не был седым и грустным.
И когда она улыбалась
В садах твоих, в доме, в поле,
Повсюду тебе казалось,
Что вольный ты и на воле.
Был светел ты, взятый ею
И пивший ее отравы.
Ведь звезды были крупнее,
Ведь пахли иначе травы,
Осенние травы.
«It’s cold in the world! A bed / Seems like heaven in autumn. / The hop is wavered by wind, / The hop prattles above the barn; / The rain repeats: pit-a-pat, / Onto the courtyard, pours and pours... / The light from the window — so weak! / To a child’s heart — so bitter! / The...»
«An evening smoke appeared above the city, / Into the distance, docilely went the train cars, / Suddenly, a streak, more limpid than an anemone / In one of the windows, a half-child’s countenance. On the eyelids, a shadow. With a crown’s likeness / Lay the curls… I stifled a scream. / ...»
«I do not know you and do not want / Our meeting to wipe away illusion / With a face like this in worse abysses / One is still faithful to the starlight. / / Everyone marked by fate / Has their face closed. / You, a page in a book still unread / And never you can turn a slave. / ...»
«A mouth like blood, green eyes, / And a smile, haggardly evil... / Oh, there’s no hiding it, I see: / You’re the pale moon’s beloved. Even in daytime, over you did not weaken / The night legends of distant childhood, / That is why you are no one’s from birth, / That is why you h...»