Among the priests a young Levite
As morning sentinel for long remained
Judean night grew denser over him,
A ruined temple stood in bitter pain.
He spoke: The yellow of the sky is menace
Run, Jews, over Euphrates it is night.
And old men thought: We should not take the blame here.
This joy of Judea, this black and yellow light.
He was with us, as on the riveshore
We draped the Saturday in precious linen
And with a heavy menorah he lit
Jerusalem's night and vapour of nonbeing.
А .B. Карташеву
Среди священников левитом молодым
На страже утренней он долго оставался.
Ночь иудейская сгущалася над ним
И храм разрушенный угрюмо созидался.
Он говорил: небес тревожна желтизна.
Уж над Ефратом ночь, бегите, иереи!
А старцы думали: не наша в том вина;
Се черножелтый свет, се радость иудеи.
Он с нами был,когда по берегу ручья
Мы в драгоценный лен субботу пеленали
И семисвечником тяжелым освещали
Ерусалима ночь и чад небытия.
«The infinite passing of time is much quieter / Than every tiptoed walk. / Work in great secret and rustle, like mice, / Gears in our clock. The sly time just playing with very one minute, / No golden coins it takes. / But suddenly, in its account appear / Hours, seasons and ages. A ...»
«A forest goes black when touched by warmth, / Moistered by the wet of spring. / As pearles on threads are shivering a lot — / The drops of water in the wind. The buds of the round bells are closed / And are tough and solid. / But sun uncovers the aureolas / Of that bellflowers of spri...»
«There lived an absent-minded lad, / Whom on Basseynaya street we met / / In the morning, on his bed, / He, when putting on his shirt, / In the sleeves then placed his arms — / Sleeves turned out to be his pants. / / Such an absent-minded lad / There once lived in Basseynaya str...»
«How proud and festive the parade, / The thundering trumpets lead the way, / And lines of soldiers in array / Follow one another. His wife is joyful like a bride, / His daughter watches full of pride, / Only his mother turns aside: / "Where are you going, mother?" The silent guns have l...»