Covered with a glory that had lost it luster,
Ringed by cretins, tricksters, hypocrites,
The two-headed eagle1 did not fall in battle
But died a horrible, degraded death.
Grinning, one man said: "He made it!"
Another sobbed: "Lord, forgive..."
But no one guessed it was a stuffed bird
They'd carried into exile, and the grave.
___
1. From the tsarist coat of arms.
Овеянный тускнеющею славой,
В кольце святош, кретинов и пройдох,
Не изнемог в бою Орел Двуглавый,
А жутко, унизительно издох.
Один сказал с усмешкою: «дождался!»
Другой заплакал: «Господи, прости…»
А чучела никто не догадался
В изгнанье, как в могилу, унести.
Я научился понемногу
Шагать со всеми — рядом, в ногу.
По пустякам не волноваться
И правилам повиноваться.
Встают — встаю. Садятся — сяду.
Стозначный помню номер свой.
Лояльно благодарен Аду
За звёздный кров над головой.
«All transient regimes that crumbled / All fleeting rules that were effaced / Have not disturbed Ravenna's slumber, / Lulled in eternity's embrace. The toiling slaves no longer carry / Mosaics through the Roman gates. / And glowing sunset colors tarry / On tall cathedrals' golden plates....»
«Far off at sea the sails were roving. / Oblivious to the heat, plane-trees / Unfolded their flowers slowly / And lost them to November breezes. I n the old park the branches crowded / Over a bench with whitewashed planes; / The smell of grapes seemed like a cloud / Embracing Georgian wo...»
«Today has not yet come, / And yesterday has melted. / The morning's face is wan: / An actress with no make-up. Her eyelids puffed, the dawn / Is creeping, nude and moody, / And with a weary yawn / Sinks into daily duties... Wise mornings have no haste: / The day is barely shaping, / ...»
«In the evenings, the sultry air above the restaurants / is both wild and torpid, / and drunken vociferations are governed / by the evil spirit of spring. In the dusty vista of lanes / where reigns the suburban tedium of clapboard villas / the gilt sign of a bakery — a giant pretzel — ...»