I’ll tell you bluntly
One last time:
It’s only maddening cherry brandy,
Angel mine!
Where the Greeks saw just their raped
Beauty’s fame,
At me through black holes gaped
Only shame.
But the Greeks hauled Helen home
In their ships.
Here a smidgen of salty foam
Flecks my lips.
What rubs my lips and leaves no trace?
Vacancy.
What thrusts a finger in my face?
Vagrancy.
Quickly, wholly, or slowly as a snail,
All the same,
Mary angel, drink your cocktail,
Down your wine.
I’ll tell you bluntly
One last time:
It’s only maddening cherry brandy,
Angel mine!
Ma voix aigre et fausse...
P. Verlain
[Мой голос пронзительный и фальшивый...
П. Верлен (фр.).]
Я скажу тебе с последней
Прямотой:
Всё лишь бредни — шерри-бренди, —
Ангел мой.
Там, где эллину сияла
Красота,
Мне из чёрных дыр зияла
Срамота.
Греки сбондили Елену
По волна́м,
Ну, а мне — солёной пеной
По губам.
По губам меня помажет
Пустота,
Строгий кукиш мне покажет
Нищета.
Ой ли, так ли, дуй ли, вей ли —
Всё равно;
Ангел Мэри, пей коктейли,
Дуй вино.
Я скажу тебе с последней
Прямотой:
Всё лишь бредни — шерри-бренди, —
Ангел мой.
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