(i.)
Thou earth with guile and irksome woe,
Art yet a mother unto me!
Mute mother mine, I love thee so,
Thou earth with guile and irksome woe!
How sweet in earth's embrace to be,
Nestling to her when May's aglow!
Thou earth with guile and irksome woe,
Art yet a mother unto me!
(ii.)
The earth, the earth, ye men, revere,
Green secrets of its moistened weeds,
Its secret ordinance I hear:
— The earth, the earth, ye men, revere,
E'en its delights, where venom breeds! -
Earthy, untaught, I hold it dear.
The earth, the earth, ye men, revere,
Green secrets of its moistened weeds.
(iii.)
Quivers the heart with joyousness,
North afresh, return of rain,
Slender, tender moss again, -
Despair is one with joyousness
And torment with a sweet caress, -
Soft visions of a wooded lane,
And trembles the soul with joyousness, -
Beloved North ! Beloved rain!
(iv.)
Church-spire, crucifix, and sky,
And around, the sorrowing fields, —
What more peace and radiance wields
Than this sheen of living sky?
And, my friend, I would descry
Where in holier fashion yields
To the glad secrecies on high
This soft legend of the fields!
(v.)
What delight, — from place to place
With uncovered feet to fare
And a scanty scrip to bear!
What delight, — from place to place
With austere and humble grace
To entwine a tuneful air
What delight, — from place to place
With uncovered feet to fare!
(i.)
Земля докучная и злая,
Но всё же мне родная мать!
Люблю тебя, о мать немая,
Земля докучная и злая!
Как сладко землю обнимать,
К ней приникая в чарах мая!
Земля докучная и злая,
Но всё же мне родная мать!
(ii.)
Любите, люди, землю, — землю
В зелёной тайне влажных трав.
Веленью тайному я внемлю:
«Любите, люди, землю, — землю
И сладость всех её отрав!»
Земной и тёмный, всё приемлю.
Любите, люди, землю, — землю
В зелёной тайне влажных трав.
(iii.)
Сердце дрогнуло от радости.
Снова север, снова дождь.
Снова нежен мох и тощ, —
И уныние до радости,
И томление до сладости,
И мечтанья тихих рощ,
И дрожит душа от радости, —
Милый север! Милый дождь!
(iv.)
Купол церкви, крест и небо,
И вокруг печаль полей, —
Что́ спокойней и светлей
Этой ясной жизни неба?
И скажи мне, друг мой, где бы
Возносилася святей
К благодатным тайнам неба
Сказка лёгкая полей!
(v.)
Какая радость — по дорогам
Стопами голыми идти
И сумку лёгкую нести!
Какая радость — по дорогам,
В смиреньи благостном и строгом,
Стихи певучие плести!
Какая радость — по дорогам
Стопами голыми идти!
«This, not graveyard roses, is my gift; / And I won’t burn sticks of incense: / You died as unflinchingly as you lived, / With magnificent defiance. / Drank wine, and joked — were still the wittiest, / Choked on the stifling air. / You yourself let in the terrible guest And stayed al...»
«After plodding year after year / through towns in an alien land, / we have ground enough to despair — / and despair is where we must end. For despair is our final refuge — / as if, midwinter, we had come / from Vespers in a nearby church, / through Russian snow, to our home.»
«Bring visions when you ring my bell / or all the loveliness of hell, / of God, if you belong to that band. / But little acts of meaning well — / just leave them outside on the hat stand. On this small pea in endless space / be shining angel or be demon. / But not mere man, though, for...»
«Through the closed nursery doors, the sugar angel / stares through the chink to see / the children playing at the Christmas party, / the brightly candled tree. Nana is making up the crackling fire, / a blaze for Christmas Day. / Only the sugar angel — he is German — / wastes, warm a...»