Innokenty Annensky
Winter Lilies

This winter night I travel out,
This winter night, I cannot sleep:
From corners, shelves, from all about,
Across and through its heavy shroud,
The rosy-colored twilight seeps.

Having flipped the silver goblets
Over in the drowsy air,
The lilies pour me fragrant droplets
Of a drink beyond compare, —

In such poetical immersion,
Holding up their living cups,
I drink sweet poison’s final drops
Of cerebral exertion...

Chains of recollections melt
In the white glass and, demolished
By the poison for a spell,
Ignorance appears as knowledge.

Translated by Andrey Kneller