Konstantin Batyushkov
Should you deplore the loss of youthful days?..

Should you deplore the loss of youthful days?
You haven’t changed, in all your splendour,
With time your charming grace
Has come to be more glamorous and tender.

Your friend does not appreciate
The art of love, mysterious and pleasing,
Her eyes are silent, lifeless and inanimate
Her kiss is shy , without feeling.

But you, great mistress of my love,
Will even breathe in passion
in a boulder,
and in the prime of your unfading life
the flame in living blood will never moulder.

Translated by Alec Vagapov