Mikhail Svetlov
At Night

The street-cars at midnight
Are quiet in the street,
The law-abiding people
Are all fast asleep.
Midnight near the balcony
The branches is stirring,
Quiet is Arithmetic
And Algebra’s snoring.

Midnight has arisen
O’er the Soviet Union.
Side by side with angles,
Sleep the Hypotenuses.
Try counting the lot! God Almight
A whole family, I’ll bet...
Why are you not sleeping,
My snub-nosed little pet?

Does your high position
Deprive you of ease?
An engineer
Feels seldom at peace.
Please do have some sleep.
The Commissar of Transport
Is, no doubt,
Now resting in comfort.

I am also sleepless.
Behind the frail walling,
The engineer continues
With her girlish walking.
Then she mutters softly,
Dips pen into ink,
That’s why I probably
Cannot sleep a wink.

On a tower nearby
The hour is ringing.
Bashful damsels
Of boyfriends are dreaming.
Midnight has been weaving
A web of magic thread,
My comrade engineer,
Do try going to bed.

Behind the partitioning
The steps sound unceasing.
Then a fine soprano
Comes across quite pleasing
“Do go on sleeping,
I’ve nothing against it!”
She’s got self-possession,
There’s no gainsaying it...

Putting aside
Its heavy burden,
Resting meantime
Is the Soviet Union.
Above us the sunrise
Is lowering a trail
To where the pink cloudbank
Has hidden its tail.

Translated by Lidia Kmetyuk