Magdalene
3
I will not say a thing about your wayward
path, for now you are fine, my dear.
I was barefoot, but you shod me
with cascades of hair —
and tears.
Nor will I ever ask you at what cost
you bought these fragrances and oils.
I was naked, but you engulfed
me like a wave — you formed
my roof and walls.
I will caress your naked body now —
softer than water and lower than grass.
I was upright, but you forced me down
and warped me with your tenderness.
Set aside this flax and make my swaddling
by tearing out a patch of hair.
Anointer! What use to me is ointment?
Your very body washed me
like a wave.
Магдалина
3
О путях твоих пытать не буду,
Милая! — ведь всё сбылось.
Я был бос, а ты меня обула
Ливнями волос —
И — слёз.
Не спрошу тебя, какой ценою
Эти куплены масла́.
Я был наг, а ты меня волною
Тела — как стеною
Обнесла.
Наготу твою перстами трону
Тише вод и ниже трав.
Я был прям, а ты меня наклону
Нежности наставила, припав.
В волосах своих мне яму вырой,
Спеленай меня без льна.
— Мироносица! К чему мне миро?
Ты меня омыла
Как волна.
«Not weeks, not months — years / We spent parting. Now at last / The chill of real freedom, / And the gray garland above the temples. No more treasons, no more betrayals, / And you won’t be listening till dawn / As the stream of evidence / Of my perfect innocence flows on.»
«Clouds melt in the sky. / Beaming in the heat, / the river runs, sparkling / like a steel mirror. It's hotter by the hour. / Shadows retreat to silent oak thickets. / From whitening fields / wafts honey-scent. What a wondrous day! Centuries will pass / and in the same eternal order ...»
«Snow is still white in the fields / but spring is in the water's voice. / Running, the waters wake the sleepy banks. / They run, they glisten, they rejoice. "Spring is coming, spring is coming!" / in every direction they shout. / "We're the young spring's runners, / with the news she ha...»
«1 Be manly, my friends, in the fight do not tire. / The struggleТs unequal, the conflict is dire! / Silent above you — the stars in the sky. / Beneath you are graves. Just as silent they lie. Olympus leaves gods not a thing to desire. / Eternally carefree, from work they donТt tire. ...»