I have seen in a dream a juniper brush,
I have heard a distant metallical crush,
A ringing of amethyst berries I caught,
And quietly sleeping, I liked it a lot.
I sensed through the dream the sap in the air.
Looking in through the branches I was aware,
In the gloom of the wood, the arboreal shroud,
A hint of your smile could be made out.
Juniper bush, O juniper bush,
Treacherous lips that murmur and hush,
Delicate chatter whiffing of sap,
Piercing me with a death-dealing stab!
Golden skies on the other side of the glass
See the floating clouds coming to pass,
My garden is barren and nothing is lush...
May heaven forgive you, juniper bush!
Я увидел во сне можжевеловый куст,
Я услышал вдали металлический хруст,
Аметистовых ягод услышал я звон,
И во сне, в тишине, мне понравился он.
Я почуял сквозь сон лёгкий запах смолы.
Отогнув невысокие эти стволы,
Я заметил во мраке древесных ветвей
Чуть живое подобье улыбки твоей.
Можжевеловый куст, можжевеловый куст,
Остывающий лепет изменчивых уст,
Лёгкий лепет, едва отдающий смолой,
Проколовший меня смертоносной иглой!
В золотых небесах за окошком моим
Облака проплывают одно за другим,
Облетевший мой садик безжизнен и пуст…
Да простит тебя Бог, можжевеловый куст!
«The air is whipped by the frequent rain-drops; / The ice is grey and mangy. Ahead / You look for the skyline to awaken / And start; you wait for the drone to spread. As always, with overcoat unbuttoned. / With muffler about his chest undone. / He pursues before him the unsleeping / Sill...»
«Unforgettable September is strewn about Spasskoye, / Is to-day not time to leave the cottage here? / Beyond the fence Echo has shouted with the herdsman. / And in the woods has made the axe’s stroke ring clear. Last night outside the park the chilling marshes shivered. / The moment the su...»
«Stars raced headlong. Seaward headlands lathered. / Salt spray blinded. Eyes dried up their tears. / Darkness filled the bedrooms. Thoughts raced headlong. / To Sahara Sphinx turned patient ears. Candles guttered. Blood, it seemed, was frozen / In the huge Colossus. Lips at play / Swelled...»
«That year! How often “Out you fall!” / That old year's whisper at my window said. / The new year makes an end of all / And brings a Dickens Christmas tale instead. He murmurs: “Shake yourself, forget.” / Mercury rises with the sun outside, / Just as the old year strychnine set / ...»