Nikolay Rubtsov
A farewell song

I shall leave, I shall leave this village...
Streams will start to be covered with ice.
Doors, at night, will start slightly creaking.
Deep yard mud won't gladden the eye.

She will come, fall asleep... mournful Mother.
In this lost gloomy-grey land of mine
My betrayal of love will you bother:
By the cradle this night you will cry.

Say, what for, screwing up long eyelashes
You were feeding me right from your palm,
Like a bird, with the ripe red cranberries
Far away near stub of the swamp.

Do you hear, by sheds wind's howling,
Daughter's laughing in sleep, so nice?
With her, probably, angels are playing,
Flying up with the girl to the skies.

Don't stay with sad look by the river!
Don't wait for the ship in the spring!
Love was short in my heart, my dear.
Let us have our farewell drink.

We are birds of a different feather.
We can't wait on the same riverside.
I shall come back, perhaps, forever
Or, perhaps, I'll escape from your sight.

You know not all the roads I wander.
Anywhere I go at night,
Someone's stamping, — malicious like thunder, —
Overtakes me and follows behind.

But some day I'll remember the berries
And your love in the woods and sunshine.
And I'll send you a dall like a Fairy,
As the final tale-story of mine.

So that it be rocked by the girlie.
So that she rejoice, play and smile.
— Mother! Mummy! Oh! What a dolly!
It is able to wink and to cry...

Translated by Lyubov Kalmykova