You lost your Russia. 'Tis the end.
Did you oppose an element
Of bliss to one of evil and dark?
No? Then shut up! Missing the mark,
Your fate has sent you to a land
Cold, not affectionate, foreign, and
Your moans and sighs there in vain.
Russia 's not free. One has to gain...
Ты потерял свою Россию.
Противоставил ли стихию
Добра стихии мрачной зла?
Нет? Так умолкни: увела
Тебя судьба не без причины
В края неласковой чужбины.
Что толку охать и тужить —
Россию нужно заслужить!
«Alone I stare into the frost’s white face. / It’s going nowhere, and I — from nowhere. / Everything ironed flat, pleated without a wrinkle: / Miraculous, the breathing plain. Meanwhile the sun squints at this starched poverty — / The squint itself consoled, at ease... / ...»
«I'd rip out / bureaucracy's guts, / I would. / No reverence for mandates — / good riddance! / Pack off to very...»
«I'd tear / like a wolf / at bureaucracy. / For mandates / my respect's but the slightest. / To the devil himself / I'd chuck without mercy / every r...»
«Four words. / Heavy, like a punch. / "Render unto Caesar what is Caesar's — unto the Lord / what is the Lord's." And for one / such as me, / where do I turn? / Where is my rest prepared? Where I / an infant, / like the Great ocean, / I would stand on tiptoes like the waves, / ...»