Confusion
III
You approached me, smiling mildly,
As by civility’s demand,
Then, half tenderly and half idly,
With a kiss you brushed my hand —
And the faces, mysterious, ancient,
Cast their gazes on me forthright…
All ten years of my trepidations,
Each and every sleepless night
I then placed in a quiet word
And I voiced it — in vain, unsure.
You walked off and with order restored,
My soul was empty and pure
Смятение
3
Как велит простая учтивость,
Подошёл ко мне, улыбнулся,
Полуласково, полулениво
Поцелуем руки коснулся —
И загадочных древних ликов
На меня поглядели очи…
Десять лет замираний и криков,
Все мои бессонные ночи
Я вложила в тихое слово
И сказала его — напрасно.
Отошел ты, и стало снова
На душе и пусто и ясно.
«Still darkness, darkness everywhere. / And still so early in the world, / Innumerable stars appear / And each so bright in the night air / That if the earth could count them there, / It would sleep through Easter, lulled / By chanted psalm and chanted prayer. Still darkness, darkness ev...»
«A girl is freezing in a telephone booth, / huddled in her flimsy coat, / her face stained by tears / and smeared with lipstick. She breathes on her thin little fingers. / Fingers like ice. Glass beads in her ears. She has to beat her way back alone / down the icy street. First frost. A...»
«A girl freezes in a telephone booth. / In her draughty overcoat she hides / A face all smeared / in lipstick and tears. She breathes on her thin palms. / Her fingers are icicles. She wears ear-rings. She'll have to walk home alone, / Along the ice-bound street. First ice. The very first...»
«Now, with your palms on the blades of my shoulders, / Let us embrace: / Let there be only your lips’ breath on my face, / Only, behind our backs, the plunge of the rollers. Our backs, which like two shells in moonlight shine, / Are shut behind us now; / We lie here huddled, listening br...»