He was born painlessly, in bless,
But we are born in awful torments,
Yet, even heavens will be stressed,
When heard the song that now floats.
Not a sweet voice, but fierce cries
Will cut the womb, so dark and heavy:
The sightless embryo denies
His coffin-like ways for behavior.
The Bible’s eastern star did not
Jet into skies in dazzling flare –
But its bright image was absorbed
By a transmuted look, forever.
Wake up, blest spirits, and arise!
We’re the reserved and bare heathens...
Pulling their hats over their eyes,
They go – the unknown wizards.
Без мук Младенец был рожден,
А мы рождаемся в мученьях,
Но дрогнет вещий небосклон,
Узнав о новых песнопеньях.
Не сладкий глас, а ярый крик
Прорежет темную утробу:
Слепой зародыш не привык,
Что путь его подобен гробу.
И не восточная звезда
Взвилась кровавым метеором,
Но впечатлелась навсегда
Она преображенным взором.
Что дремлешь, ворожейный дух?
Мы потаенны, сиры, наги...
Надвинув на глаза треух,
Бредут невиданные маги.
«to Valentina Serova Above our submarine's black nose she rises — / That Venus, which is like no other star! / We men, long missing out on girls' caresses, / Await her like a woman from afar. Like you, each day she rises slightly later, / And as the heavenly bodies rise and sink, / Some...»
«to Valentina Serova If God in his almighty power / Called me to heaven when I died / And I was asked, at heaven's gate, / What I should choose to take inside, I should not want, in paradise, / A tedious girl of honest worth. / I'd take with me the very same / With whom I'd shared this ...»
«to Valentina Serova Don't be angry if I write / Only just from time to time, / Writing now, and then again, / Waiting till another time. Letters come in many forms: / Some are sick and some are sad, / Brilliant just occasionally, / Far more often very bad. Letters leave a lot unsaid, ...»
«to Valentina Serova I remember two girls at the door in the night, / (Your shows ended later the year before last) / Two fans at the door of the theatre with me, / Who hoped for two words from your lips as you passed. / Yes, I was to go with you. And yet to them / I think you were kinder ...»