White on the blue, the sail has gone,
to vanish with the breeze;
what does the sailor seek alone
in far-off seas?
His tackle tautens in the stress
of favouring winds astir;
alas, he seeks not happiness,
nor flies from her.
The sun is bright above; below,
the ripples curve and crease;
he, rebel, craves a storm, as though
in storm were peace.
Белеет парус одинокой
В тумане моря голубом!..
Что ищет он в стране далекой?
Что кинул он в краю родном?..
Играют волны — ветер свищет,
И мачта гнется и скрыпит...
Увы! он счастия не ищет,
И не от счастия бежит!
Под ним струя светлей лазури,
Над ним луч солнца золотой...
А он, мятежный, просит бури,
Как будто в бурях есть покой!
«To A. M. Petrova It was for your sake, was it not, / That Suzdal and Moscow towns / Gathered the land in great domains / And garnered coffers abrim with gold, / Heaping your dowry high with store / And raising you as a royal maid / In your cramped but gilded halls? It was for your sake...»
«(The model of disintegration of the old army) To gallop in grand review / With a cockade on the head, / In melted Petrograd, / In revolutionary Moscow. In delirium and in drunken fervor / To surrender to the spirited game, / To stand up for the Motherland — in March, / For the Bolshe...»
«There was no bourgeoisie, the need was not for it: / For the revolution they needed capitalism, / So they could make it in the name of a proletariat. / They slapped it together out of shopkeepers, / Out of merchants, landowners, cadets, and midwives. / They mixed it with the bl...»
«“Confess to me, what’s wrong. You’re in dejection.” / — I love, my friend! - “Which lady holds you captive?” / — She does. — “Glisera? Chloe? Lila’s so attractive!” / — O, no! — “To whom do you submit your soul’s affection?” / — To her! — “You’...»