Sonnet
You are equally ready consorts in the
Service of flattery or reverie; should
One call you you, or call you
Thou, Second Paeon, Fourth Paeon?
As on coins, your once bright
Features are eroded, and you
Pour out mossy lines of a
Gravestone, like icing on cakes.
You are the deathly pale photo
Of ghostly blue heights in a well.
You are a drunken beer bung,
You are that messenger at the
New Year who brings us orchids.
Breathing into his iced hood.
Сонет
На службу Лести иль Мечты
Равно готовые консорты,
Назвать вас вы, назвать вас ты,
Пэон второй — пэон четвёртый?
Как на монетах, ваши стёрты
Когда-то светлые черты,
И строки мшистые плиты
Глазурью льёте вы на торты.
Вы — сине-призрачных высот
В колодце снимок помертвелый,
Вы — блок пивной осатанелый,
Вы — тот посыльный в Новый год,
Что орхидеи нам несёт,
Дыша в башлык обледенелый.
«A grinning ape, an ass of stubborn air, / A long-horned goat, a bow-legged, grizzly bear, / Met one fine day, and soon their minds were set / To end the party with a fine quartet. / They have a viola, two violins, / A 'cello too, and music up to date, / For hall, the shady turf where cro...»
«My sweet black midget gave me many pleasures / And was so good in worshipping my feet, / I trusted him my gold and other treasures / To keep them in my gilded chest so neat. But day has come, and he began to grow / And grew so big that broke my lady nest. / I kissed his feet, but all I he...»
«When partners can't agree / Their dealings come to naught / And trouble is their labor's only fruit. Once Crawfish, Swan and Pike / Set out to pull a loaded cart, / And all together settled in the traces; / They pulled with all their might, but still the cart refused to budge! / The loa...»
«A Rascal-Monkey / Donkey / Billy Goat / And klunky Bear / Set out to play a string Quartet. / They found some scores, viola, bass, two violins / And sat down in a lea beneath a linden tree / To charm the world with art. / They struck their strings, and sawed with all their heart. / ...»