Long centuries of centuries will pass, unsighted
Millenniums as locusts in deathy clouds descend,
And in the muttering of centuries affrighted
The same enduring firmament will watch the end.
The dumb, dead firmament—that God will not remember,
Who breathes Eternity behind the farther skies,
Beyond the fading of the last star's last slow ember,
Beyond the utter threshold words may scrutinize.
Forever cold, that starry desert, clouds out-topping,
Is flung forth, alien to the end, on space,
When tearing comet-fires will crumble with it, dropping
As dumbly burning tears from a despairing face.
Пройдут века веков, толпы́ тысячелетий,
Как туча саранчи, с собой несущей смерть,
И в быстром ропоте испуганных столетий
До горького конца пребудет та же твердь, —
Немая, мёртвая, отвергнутая Богом,
Живущим далеко в беззвёздных небесах,
В дыханьи Вечности, за гранью, за порогом
Всего понятного, горящего в словах.
Всегда холодная, пустыня звёзд над нами
Останется чужой до горького конца,
Когда она падёт кометными огнями,
Как брызги слёз немых с печального лица.
«The wooden barge of life / Somehow ran aground. / Far away, the screams / Of the crew resound. / On the shallow river, / There’s alarm and song. / Suddenly, a peasant, / Powerful and strong, / Turned the wooden rudder, / And let the sails spread, / Sent the boat-hook flying, / ...»
«A girl was singing in the old church choir, / About the ships that sailed in the mist, / About those abroad, whose lives turned dire, / And those who’ve lost their happiness and bliss. / Up in the cupolas, her voice had filled the room, / The sun, upon her shoulders, made them white, / ...»
«I love You, My Guardian Angel, in gloom. / In gloom, that has followed me out of the womb. / Because you were once my fair gorgeous bride. / Because you have seen all the secrets I hide. / Because we are bound by secrets and night. / Because you’re my sister, my daughter, my bride. / B...»
«Night. The city grew calm. / Behind the large window / The mood is solemn and somber, / As if a man is dying. / But there someone stands simply sad, / Troubled by his misfortune, / With an opened collar, / And looks at the stars. / “Stars, stars, / Tell me the cause of grief!” ...»