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.
«to Valentina Serova I want to say to you "You are my wife!" / Because you were not called that by the rest, / Because to my old home, destroyed by war, / You're hardly likely now to come as guest; Because I have not always wished you well, / Because I've had no sympathy from you, / Becau...»
«to Valentina Serova As I recall the year that's ending / I can't decide the happy time / When, more than any other moment, / I truly felt that you were mine. Was it that night at your rehearsal? / The light that came on suddenly — / And your admonitory whisper / "You mustn't — eve...»
«to Valentina Serova Peace will be signed and we’ll be at your door / At twelve o’clock at night, with noise and mirth, / Your humble servant, just as in the war, / And all his dearest friends — those that remain on earth. / That night I wish that you may be again / That woman who is...»
«to Valentina Serova With death an inch above my head / Upon the blackened ridge I lay / And I was grateful in my heart / That you were very far away. / And thunder was not in your ears, / And hell was not before your eyes, / And somewhere in a distant town, / A peaceful house and gard...»