Arseny Tarkovsky
In the Winter

Oh, where I wonder, is she leading —
Oh this, my fate, oh this my fate?
We blunder as this sphere is speeding
And balk at sight of coffin’s plate.

We cannot see where moon is shining,
Our crutches falter in the snow,
Our white-eyed souls with glance declining
Upon the land gaze as they go.

Old woman, tell of how we struggled,
Of how it was, do you recall?
Of how, beneath this stone-built wall
Did once upon a time come call,
Its muffled sound to us was smuggled,
Its whisper with its hush we juggled,
Its echo boomed behind it all.

Translated by Rupert Moreton