Fyodor Sologub
And, oh! how blue is heaven’s glimmer...

And, oh! how blue is heaven’s glimmer,
And, oh! how lofty is the hush!
It seems, O child of night-pitch shimmer,
You plunge to earth in headlong rush,

As joyous eyes you’re now inclining
Upon this valley of despair,
Where now must start your doleful whining,
As painful fall o’ercomes you here.

Yet you must harbour aspirations
and quake at what you find amiss.
The waterfall’s concatenations
Delay your leap across abyss,

The sun can never lose its vision,
It will not waste its burning rays
So those who’re born of heat’s collision
Are more consumed by solar blaze.

So gust, and aspiration, passion
Are forces governed by the sun.
Discharge upon the earth your ration,
The heaven-purloined hoard you’ve won.

Translated by Rupert Moreton