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.
«I will be silenced soon!.. If on the tragic day, / The strings would pensively begin to play; / If adolescents, sitting quietly, immersed, / Began to marvel at my passion’s madness; / If only you, surrendering to sadness, / In silence mumbled melancholy verse / And loved the way my ard...»
«This time’s the final time, my friend, / I enter through your door. / Love’s quiet hour has been spent / And now, there is no more. / Don’t wait for me all night and mope, / Held captive by the deceitful hope, / Don’t burn your candles, in a daze, / Til morning rays.»
« My friend, I have forgotten all that’s passed, / The passion of my youth was rather brief. / Don’t ask about the things that didn’t last, / Or how I felt in the times of joy or grief, / Or what I loved, on how I was betrayed. / I may not know true happiness today: / But...»
«Don’t covet goods of other beings — / My Goodness, You’ve commanded so; / The limits of my will You know — / Am I to manage tender feelings? / I wish not to offend my friend. / His village I do not desire, / And for his steer I don’t aspire, / I’m gazing at it all, content:...»