Marina Tsvetaeva
Beggars’ and doves’...

God

2

Beggars’ and doves’
Lonely run of scales.
These would be your
Clothes laid out over
A run of trees?

Groves’, copses’.
Books and temples
Returned to us — you rise up.
Like a secret escort
Pine forests rush by:
— We hurry! — And won’t let you!

Using a goose foot
He christened the earth to dream.
Even as an aspen
He rushed by — and pardoned her:
Even for having a son!

Beggars sang:
— Dark, O, dark are the forests!
Beggars sang:
— The last cross is cast off!
God is risen from the churches!

Translated by Mary Jane White