Anna Akhmatova
There are Four of Us

Is the lithe gypsy really also fated to experience
All Dante’s torments?
O. M.

This is how I see your face and glance.
B. P.

O, Muse of Weeping…
M. Ts.

Komarovo Sketches

...And here I renounced everything,
All earthly blessings.
The forest tree stump became
The spirit, guardian of "this place".

We are all a little like guests in life,
To live — is just a habit.
It seems to me that on the airy highways
Two voices call to one another.

Two? But still, by the eastern wall,
In a thicket of sturdy raspberry bushes
There’s a dark, fresh branch of elder...
It’s — a letter from Marina.

Translated by Alexandra Harrington