6
And the silk sash is falling
To his feet — a snake heavenly..
And "someday, when she's underground,
You will calm down" they tell me.
I see my profile, old
And arrogant in brocade white.
And somewhere — guitars — guitars —
And youths in a cloak like the night.
And somebody under mask hiding:
"Recognize!" — "I don't know" — "Recognize!"
And the silk sash is falling
On a square round like paradise.
6
И падает шёлковый пояс
К ногам его — райской змеёй…
А мне говорят — успокоюсь
Когда-нибудь, там, под землёй.
Я вижу надменный и старый
Свой профиль на белой парче.
А где-то — гитаны — гитары —
И юноши в чёрном плаще.
И кто-то, под маскою кроясь:
— Узнайте! — Не знаю. — Узнай! —
И падает шёлковый пояс
На площади — круглой, как рай.
____
1. На заре морозной...
2. Долго на заре туманной...
3. После стольких роз, городов и тостов...
4. Ровно — полночь...
5. И была у Дон-Жуана — шпага...
6. И падает шёлковый пояс...
7. И разжигая во встречном взоре...
«Dear, I ventured out of the house late this evening, merely / for a breath of fresh air from the ocean not far away. / The sun was smoldering low like a Chinese fan in a gallery / and a cloud reared up its huge lid like a Steinway. A quarter century back you craved curry and dates from Sen...»
«Falling snow leaves the world outnumbered. / At such times, the Pinkertons lose their mind, / and you catch yourself wherever you’ve wandered / by the prints that you've left behind. / Don’t expect a reward, this will not get you far; / the precinct’s din is reduced to naught. / ...»
«I was but what you’d brush / with your palm, what your leaning / brow would hunch to in evening’s / raven-black hush. I was but what your gaze / in that dark could distinguish: / a dim shape to begin with, / later — features, a face. It was you, on my right, / on my left, with ...»
«I’ve raised a statue to myself that’s some! / To shameful century’s its back to run. / To its lost love that’s turned with stony face. / Like cycle wheel is bent its stony chest. / And buttocks is to sea of half-truth faced. / And if I would with nice landscape well dressed, / Wh...»