Marina Tsvetaeva
Where does such tenderness come from...

Where does such tenderness come from?
These curls that I stroke with my hand
Aren’t the first that I’ve stroked, and I
Knew lips that were darker than yours.

The stars rose in the sky and faded,
Where does such tenderness come from? —
And glowing eyes also rose and faded
Right next to my own two eyes.

And I used to listen to greater hymns
In complete darkness, at night,
Betrothed — Oh, tenderness! —
On the chest of the singer himself.

Where does such tenderness come from,
And what do I do with it, you, sly,
Adolescent, vagabond singer,
Whose lashes couldn’t be longer?

Translated by Andrey Kneller