Elisaveta Dmitrieva
The golden bough

To my teacher

Among starry runes, in their signs and symbols
The weary centuries treasure their delirium,
And all the petals of the heavenly crown
Whisper of happiness and torments.
On them burn rubies of crimson blood;
In them, sorrowful, in a sparkling shroud,
My love lies close to your dreams.

My love lies close to your dreams
In all its wanderings, in all its concerns,
Your sadness is no burden to my love,
Your sadness remains in my memories,
The imprint of my love is on your face,
My love has engraved our names
Onto a magical ring in a single inscription.

A shared anguish has engraved our names
On the pattern of Fate as a single inscription;
But I am alone, alone in my searchings,
And Saturn’s course runs deep...
Yet I myself chose the agate gloom,
Evening’s hand leads me across the flames of sunset
Into the Constellation of Dreams.¹

Into the Constellation of Dreams
Evening’s hand has woven a vision of white Jordan,²
Of the purity of the heavenly flower.
Of the wedding feast at Cana in Galilee...³
But there is a blank in the design of my Fate...
All of me trembles, all of me seeks supplication...
But there are no prayers for the ocean of stars.

But there are no prayers for the ocean of stars...
Before this assembly of suns the voices grow still...
The wreath burns on the tearful Constellation Eridanus,⁴
And the Hair of Veronica flutters.⁵
I have passed through the fiery bounds;
Above me is a diamond dew
And the unwound fabrics of our thoughts.

The unwound fabrics of our thoughts
And the wide river of withered days
Flow, like a dream, into the opal mist.
May our power beyond the world be strong,
For the terrestrial symbols of power are alien to us;
Our narrow path, our difficult deed of passion
Anguish has twined with gloom and radiance.

Anguish has twined with gloom and radiance
My love in all its glitter;
How agonizingly fragile is the thread of life,
What sadness there is in its distant outlines!
No matter what dreams we might wish to enfold us,
May that which is bequeathed to us come true
Amidst the starry runes, in their signs and symbols.

Amidst the starry runes, in their signs and symbols,
My love is close to your dream,
Evening s hand has engraved our names
As a single inscription in the Constellation of Dreams.
But there are no prayers for the ocean of stars,
And the unwound fabric of our thoughts
Anguish has twined with gloom and radiance.

____
1. The poet may also be referring to Somnus — in Roman mythology, the god of Sleep, son of Night, and twin brother of Death; identified with the Greek Hypnos.

2. Reference to Jordan River, where Jesus liked to stroll and where He is said to have walked on the water.

3. At this feast Jesus performed His first miracle by turning water into wine. See John 2:1, 11; 4:46, 54; 21:2.

4. It is also possible that Cherubina de Gabriak refers to Eridu, the ancient Samarian City of southeastern Iraq. The place was a center for the water god Ra.

5. Reference to the Constellation Coma Berenices — Berenice’s Hair — so named by Ptolemy III, whom Berenice had married. Berenice (273-221 b.c.) was a queen of Egypt.

Translated by Temira Pachmuss