My heart beats smoothly, steadily,
What are long years to me?
Under the Galernaya arch,
Our shadows, for eternity.
Through half-closed eyelids,
I see, I see that you’re with me,
And forever held in your hand
Is my unopened fan.
Because we stood together,
In that blessed miraculous moment,
The instant of the rose-red moon
Lifting over the Summer Garden —
I’ve no need to wait
At some hateful window,
Or grow weary with meeting —
My thirsty love is quenched.
You are free, and so am I,
Tomorrow will be better than yesterday —
Above the Neva’s dark waters,
Below the Emperor Peter’s
Cold smile.
Сердце бьётся ровно, мерно.
Что мне долгие года!
Ведь под аркой на Галерной
Наши тени навсегда.
Сквозь опущенные веки
Вижу, вижу, ты со мной,
И в руке твоей навеки
Нераскрытый веер мой.
Оттого, что стали рядом
Мы в блаженный миг чудес,
В миг, когда над Летним садом
Месяц розовый воскрес, —
Мне не надо ожиданий
У постылого окна
И томительных свиданий.
Вся любовь утолена.
Ты свободен, я свободна,
Завтра лучше, чем вчера, —
Над Невою темноводной,
Под улыбкою холодной
Императора Петра.
«1 The river spreads wide. Flows sluggish, sad, / and washes at its banks. / Above the yellow cliff’s barren clay, / hayricks stand sadly in the steppe. O, Russia! My wife! Our long road lies / painfully clear ahead! / The road has pierced our breas...»
«2 At midnight, You and I, halted in the steppe: / No returning, no looking back. / The swans, beyond the Nepryadva, cried, / and again and again, they cry… On our road — the white burning stone. / beyond the river — the pagan horde. / Over our host the shining banner / will neve...»
«3 That night, when Mamai went to ground / on the steppe, by the bridges, / we were in the dark plain together, You and I — / Did you know this? Before the Don, ominous and shadowed, / my prophetic heart / heard your voice in the plain at night / ...»
«4 Again with age-old anguish / the grass bends to the earth. / Again beyond the misty river / You summon me from afar. The herd of mares fled the steppe / and vanished without trace, / Wild passions are unleashed / beneath a waning moon. And I, with age-old anguish / A wolf beneath ...»