In the state there is the law
Citizens cannot ignore.
In the anti-state the sheep
Have a private rule they keep.
Under rule of law the folk
Serve what gives them food and drink
But rebellion has no book
And revolt no pen and ink.
When rebellion goes to press
When revolt takes up a pen
It has donned official dress
Nourishes the sons of men
Codifies its rights and wrongs
Rids the aged of their qualms.
Revolutionary songs
Are replaced by hymns and psalms.
У государства есть закон,
Который гражданам знаком.
У антигосударства —
Не знает правил паства.
Держава, подданных держа,
Диктует им порядки.
Но нет чернил у мятежа,
У бунта нет тетрадки.
Когда берет бумагу бунт,
Когда перо хватает,
Уже одет он и обут
И юношей питает,
Отраду старцам подает,
Уже чеканит гривны,
Бунтарских песен не поет,
Предпочитает гимны.
Остыв, как старая звезда,
Он вышел на орбиту
Во имя быта и труда
И в честь труда и быта.
«God has no mercy on gardeners and reapers / And ringing, the rains fall awry / And the mosaic of wide cloaks now shimmers / In waters, that once showed the sky. The kingdom of water holds meadows and ranges, / And streams freely sing as they play, / The plums start to burst on the long sw...»
«We’re not in the forest, no need to bellow, — / Such mockery fills me with dread, / Won’t you sing lullabies in order to mellow / My wounded conscience instead? You have many other cares, / And a wife, I realize… / And the Petersburg spring stares / Deep into my withered eyes. ...»
«He was promised to me by it all: / The pleasant dream at Christmastime, / The tarnished sky of red and gold, / And Easter winds that seemed to chime, The red rods of the twigs, all nestled, / And waterfalls within the park, / And two big dragonflies that rested / Atop the fence corroded...»
«Each and every day, I get / One letter, like a bride. / I’m responding to my friend, / Writing late at night: “On my way into the dark, / I’ve stopped in white death’s den. / My dear, — don’t leave an evil mark / On another man.” And a brilliant star gleams / Between tw...»