I am deprived of everything,
of health, of will, of air, of sleep.
A vengeful God has let me keep
just you — to keep me praying to Him.
Всё отнял у меня казнящий бог:
Здоровье, силу воли, воздух, сон,
Одну тебя при мне оставил он,
Чтоб я ему ещё молиться мог.
«It's priceless — wine, that falls in love with us, / And bread, that sits for us in oven, — priceless treasure, / And priceless is a woman that, at last, / After all torments, we possess for pleasure. But what to do with clear light of dawn, / When sky's, like heaven, peaceful, deep an...»
«It seems the sea, that scourge of ages, / contrives your genius to inspire? / You laud upon your golden lyre / old Neptune’s trident as he rages. Don’t waste your praise. These days you’ll find / that sea and land have no division. / On any element mankind / is tyrant, traitor, or...»
«How is your life with the other one, / simpler, isn’t it? One stroke of the oar / then a long coastline, and soon / even the memory of me will be a floating island / (in the sky, not on the waters): / spirits, spirits, you will be / sisters, and never lovers. How is your lif...»
«I was washing at night out in the yard, / the heavens glowing with rough stars, / a star-beam like salt upon an axe, / the water butt cold and brim full. A padlock makes the gate secure, / and conscience gives sternness to the earth — / hard to find a standard anywhere / purer than th...»