The light will burn and darken, then burn with stronger blaze,
But unreturning darkens the sheen of youthful days.
Glow then, and be enkindled, the while thou still art young,
Let ever more undwindled the heart's loud chords be strung,
That something be remembered in waning years of woe,
That chill old-age be lighted by that decayless glow,
Born of exalted fancies, and headstrong youth's ado,
Heedless, but full of splendour, heedless and hallowed, too.
Свеча горит и меркнет и вновь горит сильней,
Но меркнет безвозвратно сиянье юных дней,
Гори же, разгорайся, пока ещё ты юн,
Сильней, полней касайся сердечных звонких струн.
Чтоб было что припомнить на склоне трудных лет,
Чтоб старости холодной светил нетленный свет —
Мечтаний благородных, порывов молодых,
Безумных, но прекрасных, безумных — и святых.
«I while away my life in stride, / It’s senseless to me and redundant: / Today, I’m soberly — triumphant, / Tomorrow, I will — sing and cry. What if my death is getting nearer? / What if, behind me, stands a man, / Who, reaching with his massive hand, / Will block the image in t...»
«The night, the pharmacy, the street, / The pointless lamppost in the mist. / A quarter century recedes — / There’s no escape. It all persists. You’ll die — and you’ll begin anew, / As in the past, all will repeat: / The icy channel flowing through, / The lamp, the pharmacy, t»
«You were most charming, most loyal, most bright, / Don’t curse me, so cruel and so stern! / Like the song of the gypsies, my train is in flight, / Like the days that will never return... And all that we loved — went by us, went by us... / Our future...»
«I yearn to live a life of meaning: / Make every thing — immortalized, / Make all the formal — humanized, / Bring non-existent — into being! This dream will choke me, I’ll collapse, / This dream will rob me of my breath, / But then, a cheery youth, perhaps, / Might say of me af...»