Out of the fog two eyes burned
The mute blackness of the snow.
And the smoke remained in the
Air as a fountain’s hot gold.
I know that a fiery dragon all
Coverуd in downy snow will now
On its riotous course break the
Sleep of the spellbound distance.
And with it weary slaves doomed
To a cold pit drag along
Heavy coffins, creaking and
Clanging with their chains.
Meanwhile with its broken lantern
Half extinguished, amid the
Nightmare of thoughts and dozing.
Midnight walks through the cars.
It is like a ghostly monk, and
The more muffled its patrols the
More fumes in the black dreams.
The more numbnesses and suffocations:
The more words that are unlike
Words, the more disgusting the
Breath, and the jolting of heads
Lolling in the red cushions.
Like a thief aiming at a pocket.
Midnight is quiet while we are alive;
It only pours out its dope silently
And stifles the black influxes.
And from below, a clatter; and from the
Side, a rumble; and ever more aimless, more
Anonymous... and the chaos of semi-existences
Is abominable to those who have not fallen asleep
But the night is dwindling... Both decrepit
And gray, still yesterday the autumn Sunset,
Daybreak rises up from its
Sickbed of languishing Shadow.
Torment again looks in the eye those
Who during the night had forgotten their
Infirmity, and the clatter jars more
Strongly, breaking up the films of frost.
The steam has obscured the red
Flame with a yellow wall...
...And the diseased tooth must
Steadily gnaw through the cold stone.
Снегов немую черноту
Прожгло два глаза из тумана,
И дым остался на лету
Горящим золотом фонтана.
Я знаю — пышущий дракон,
Весь занесен пушистым снегом,
Сейчас порвет мятежным бегом
Завороженной дали сон.
А с ним, усталые рабы,
Обречены холодной яме,
Влачатся тяжкие гробы,
Скрипя и лязгая цепями.
Пока с разбитым фонарем,
Наполовину притушенным,
Среди кошмара дум и дрем
Проходит Полночь по вагонам.
Она — как призрачный монах,
И чем ее дозоры глуше,
Тем больше чада в черных снах,
И затеканий, и удуший;
Тем больше слов, как бы не слов,
Тем отвратительней дыханье,
И запрокинутых голов
В подушках красных колыханье.
Как вор, наметивший карман,
Она тиха, пока мы живы,
Лишь молча точит свой дурман
Да тушит черные наплывы.
А снизу стук, а сбоку гул,
Да все бесцельней, безымянней…
И мерзок тем, кто не заснул,
Хаос полусуществований!
Но тает ночь… И дряхл и сед,
Еще вчера Закат осенний,
Приподнимается Рассвет
С одра его томившей Тени.
Забывшим за ночь свой недуг
В глаза опять глядит терзанье,
И дребезжит сильнее стук,
Дробя налеты обмерзанья.
Пары желтеющей стеной
Загородили красный пламень,
И стойко должен зуб больной
Перегрызать холодный камень.
«Springtime doesn’t always resemble joy. / And the sand is yellow not because of the sunlight. / Your weather-beaten skin exuded / The rays of buckwheat-colored fuzz. Near the sky-blue watering hole / Over the fields of prickly orache / We swore that we shall be two / And will never ev...»
«To Klyuev Now my love is not what it used to be. / Oh, I know, you are grieving, you are grieving / That the broom of the moon / Didn’t splash around the puddles of verses. Feeling sad and rejoicing at the star / That falls down onto your eyebrows / You have given the cabin a heart thr...»
«There’s crazy happiness in friendship. / And the convulsion of wild passions — / The fire melts the body down / As if it were a stearine candle. Oh my beloved! give me your hands — / I’m not used to doing it any other way — / I want to wash them at this time of parting / With ...»
«You loose your darling only once, / And never find his trace on planet. / And he was so close before, / But, he had left, and darkness settles. And even if he left at day, / This does not matter any longer. / Let’s get him back, before too late, / Before he reached his final road. Y...»