Mirra Lokhvitskaya
The four horsemen

(A Ballad)

I

    Morning burst forth, burning crimson,
    A golden dawn glimmered through the window...
    — “Are you asleep, Maya, beloved daughter?
    Come help me welcome a guest;
    My guest outshines early spring,
His curls are spun from sunbeams,
His young laugh resounds with tenderness,
He brings gaiety and life!” —
    — Let me doze in my charmed dream.
    Curly-haired youth, forget me!
    My reveries are filled with ecstasy...
Let me finish my inspired dreams!” —

II

— “Come out! O Maya, beloved daughter,
Help me welcome another guest,
Dress in your finest array and your crown.
See, there breaks a glorious dawn!
My guest is quite famous and noble —
Look, his white steed approaches,
His azure cloak billows behind,
Magnificence and riches does he bring!” —
    — “Your guest is handsome — but his deceptive visage
    Hides so many infinite cares,
    So many cares of the petty — the earthly...
    Let me be lost in sweet dreams!..”

III

The purple sun has long since hidden;
Mysterious evening gazes through the window...
— “Come out, O Maya, beloved daughter,
Come help me close the shutters!
Someone sad, in mute silence,
Just now swiftly skirted the window;
Hesperus in his radiant brilliance
Shines his star above a clear brow...”
    — “In vain did you refuse this guest...
    Do you sense, the flowers have grown more fragrant?
    Fling open the shutters quickly, my mother,
    To drink in the fresh air is sweet to me!” —

IV

— “Sleep, my Maya, beloved daughter!
See, deep night already has descended;
Someone on a handsome black steed
Has softly approached and paused neath the window...
His wondrous face fills me with fear,
The moon plays in his locks,
His dark eyes so brilliantly burn.
His finery is shrouded in mourning crepe!..”
    — “Arise, dearest, and open the doors —
    It’s my love who approaches,
    I’ll merge with him in a burning embrace,
    And depart forever to the starry sky!” — 

Translated by Temira Pachmuss