From a Wayfarer's Letters
V
And this I solemnly declare:
That I have lived no worthless year,
Nor trodden any road for naught,
Nor closed any mind to any thought,
Nor closed my ears to any news,
Nor given gifts where none were due.
Neither do I my Love regret,
Deceived and wounded and unsure,
Whose light, imperishably pure,
Is with one yet,
is in me yet.
And it will never be too late
To start afresh,
begin again...
Yet from the past obliterate
No single word, no gasp of pain.
А я вам говорю, что нет
Напрасно про́житых мной лет,
Ненужно пройденных путей,
Впустую слышанных вестей.
Нет невоспринятых миров,
Нет мнимо розданных даров,
Любви напрасной тоже нет,
Любви обманутой, больной,
Её нетленно чистый свет
Всегда во мне,
всегда со мной.
И никогда не поздно снова
Начать всю жизнь,
начать весь путь,
И так, чтоб в прошлом бы — ни сло́ва,
Ни стона бы не зачеркнуть.
«There was no bourgeoisie, the need was not for it: / For the revolution they needed capitalism, / So they could make it in the name of a proletariat. / They slapped it together out of shopkeepers, / Out of merchants, landowners, cadets, and midwives. / They mixed it with the bl...»
«“Confess to me, what’s wrong. You’re in dejection.” / — I love, my friend! - “Which lady holds you captive?” / — She does. — “Glisera? Chloe? Lila’s so attractive!” / — O, no! — “To whom do you submit your soul’s affection?” / — To her! — “You’...»
«The lies of fame and love’s resolve / Have vanished now without a trace, / Our youthful passions have dissolved / As though a dream or morning haze. / Yet, still, we’re burning with desire, / And with impatience in our souls, / Beneath the yoke of strength and fire, / We hark our c...»
«Lily, Lily! I am sighing / With despair and hopeless woe. / I am tortured, I am dying, / And my soul has lost its glow, / But my love evoked no pity: / You consider me pathetic. / Keep on laughing: you are pretty / Even when unsympathetic. »