Nikolay Gumilev
- The Sick Man, by Alla Burago and Burton Raffel
- The Sick Man, by Arthur Lehman
«I have a mom on the cornflower-blue wallpaper. / I stroll in mottled slacks, / and torment the whirly daises with measured steps. / An evening begins to frolic on rusty oboes, / I come to the small window, / believing, / that I shall again see / the cloud / seated on top of the house...»
«The street collapsed, as a syphilitic’s nose. / The river — drivelling voluptuousness. / Casting off their garments until the last leaf, / the gardens lay obscenely spread in June. I went to the square, / put on a burnt quarter / on my head, as a red-headed wig. / The people are afr...»
«This evening was to decide — / should we become lovers? — / it’s dark, / no one to see us. / I bent forward truly, / and truly / I, / bending forward, / said to her, / as a kind parent: / “The precipice of desire is steep — / be so kind, / step away. / Step away, ...»
«We went out of the stuffy room / Outside, the air languorous and sweet; / The lilac siblings of an indifferent family / Were staring from the balcony. The piping of sea reeds / And rubies, tossed about the splashes… / We strolled aimlessly for a long while / In between rocks on the lo...»