Burdened with family feelings, I went
To my aunt's place,
to see my uncle,
To press my girl cousins to my breast,
Who were so carried away,
as it happened,
By music and the other arts!
I found neither uncle nor aunt,
I did not see my cousins either.
But I remember,
remember
to this day.
How their neighbours,
looking down at the ground,
Said to me quietly: They were burnt.
Everything's gone up in flames: the vices with the virtues,
And children with their aged parents.
And there am I, standing before these hushed witnesses.
And quietly repeating:
burnt.
Отягощенный родственными чувствами,
Я к тете шел,
чтоб дядю повидать,
Двоюродных сестер к груди прижать,
Что музыкой и прочими искусствами,
Случалось,
были так увлечены!
Я не нашел ни тети и ни дяди,
Не повидал двоюродных сестер,
Но помню,
твердо помню
до сих пор,
Как их соседи,
в землю глядя,
Мне тихо говорили: «Сожжены…»
Все сожжено: пороки с добродетелями
И дети с престарелыми родителями.
А я стою пред тихими свидетелями
И тихо повторяю:
«Сожжены…»
«Share with me your dreams of living, / Address yourself directly to my soul; / What cannot be expressed in words alone – / Fan into my soul in the form of sound.»
«How the chest breathes, fresh, voluminous – / Words are incapable of expressing a thing! / How in the ravines at midday loudly / Into milky froth cascade rivulets! The ether pulses and melts with song. / In the planted field rye gathers green – / And a gentle voice is heard humming: /...»
«Aflame with a thirst for light / The dawn is ashamed to arise; / Frigid, clear, and albumine, / A bird's wing sprung up. / The sun is still invisible, / But the soul is alright.»
«In strange greetings / I hear speech's soft tones, / See familiar eyes, / Sense the heart's pulse. — Common-bond manacles / Are sanded by sounds... / Their silent suffering / Only you will understand!»