As the first signs of winter
Hover above the Neva's expanse,
We compare the scattered leaves
Along its banks to summer's radiance.
But I admire these old poplars
Whose branches refuse to shed
Their dry and rusty armor
Till winter's first storms ahead.
How to describe our similarity?
Like the poplar I'm growing old,
And I too should meet, in my armor,
Winter's coming, its mortal cold.
При первом наступлении зимы,
Блуждая над просторною Невою,
Сиянье лета сравниваем мы
С разбросанной по берегу листвою.
Но я любитель старых тополей,
Которые до первой зимней вьюги
Пытаются не сбрасывать с ветвей
Своей сухой заржавленной кольчуги.
Как между нами сходство описать?
И я, подобно тополю, не молод,
И мне бы нужно в панцире встречать
Приход зимы, ее смертельный холод.
«A far-off time arises in my memory, / The house in the Petersburg Quarters, / A humble daughter of the modest gentry, / Born in Kursk, you are here taking courses. You are cute, — you have many admirers. / This white night, it is only us two, / Sprawling out on your windowsill, tireless...»
«Onto my barely living chest, / The stone of the verdict fell. / But I was ready for this test, / Somehow, I’ll bear this hell. So much that I must do alone: / I’ll start by erasing the past, / I’ll turn my living soul to stone, / And learn to live, at last. Or else... The summer,...»
«I loved you, and that love to die refusing, / May still — who knows! Be smoldering in my breast. / Pray, be not pained — believe me, of my choosing / I’d never have you troubled nor yet distressed. I loved you mutely, hopelessly and truly, / With shy yet fervent, tenderness aglow; / ...»
«I loved you; and I probably still do, / And for awhile the feeling may remain — / But let my love no longer trouble you: / I do not wish to cause you any pain. I loved you; and the hopelessness I knew / The jealousy, the shyness — though in vain — / Made up a love so tender and so t...»